GodTube

Posted on November 27, 2007 by marc meyer

It’s official, social networking has got religion. GodTube the website which set the record as the #1 fastest growing website in the U.S. according to ComScore during its first official launch month, continues to break new ground by announcing an innovative new partnership which, for the first time in history, brings together 50 diverse, faith-based organizations that span across the wide array of denominations, ranging from Protestant to Catholic.

These Ministry Partners will join with GodTube.com to extend the website’s reach to 300,000 out of the 360,000 US churches and a global/domestic audience of more than 1.2 Billion. Thomas Nelson Publishers, American Bible Society, Liberty University and the Crystal Cathedral are among the initial leaders on this distinguished roster which
includes some of the most respected and renowned faith-based organizations in the world.

The website has attracted 4 Million visitors per month, and is currently on track to attract 5-7 Million unique visitors per month for the month of November. GodTube.com recently launched its Social Network and already has over 200,000 registered users and approximately 25,000 churches with active profiles.

With more than 38,000 videos representing over 800,000 hours of footage offering a wide array of content and its live and interactive technology, GodTube.com provides users face-to-face interaction in virtual Bible studies, chats, and live broadcasts, as well as opportunities to connect through messaging, email, and video blogs.

So social networks have now reached into the US churches and can now connect with its flock on a more one to one level. We wonder how open the door is to other religious beliefs? Only time will tell, but could this end up being the largest social network on the planet? If it makes the world a more peaceful place then bring it on.

Lemonade.com deserves to succeed

Posted on November 19, 2007 by marc meyer

I’ll tell you why. Last week I checked out their site and was impressed by their product, their site and their plan of action. What I didn’t like was the business model. It wasn’t solely based on affiliate marketing but enough of it was to throw it in that direction. I wasn’t so much railing on their business model as I was the whole notion of affiliate marketing in general as a business model. I just have never been wild about having to rely on other peoples traffic for the success of my product or business.

Well after saying as much, about an hour later or so I received the following email from Thomas Zawacki the Co-founder and CEO of Lemonade.com:

I read your blog and appreciate your opinion. Like you, I have been in the internet marketing industry for a long time. I agree with you that relying on an affiliate program as your sole source of income is a very difficult business to be in. That is exactly why we have built the Lemonade Social Commerce Server to be able to receive data feeds from a variety of revenue generating opportunities. Currently, we have integrated revenue from commissions from sales (affiliate deals), cost per acquisition offers (CPA deals), cost per click ads (CPC) and cost per thousand online advertising offers (CPM deals). The Lemonade Social Commerce Server also has the flexibility to add auction based revenue streams (e.g., Ebay) and revenue a user might get from selling their own products. All coming soon. In addition to aggregating revenue streams in our flexible back-end, the user experience must allow for three things to happen: 1) easy to join and set up the application (e.g., widget or Lemonade Stand); 2) easy for the consumer find what they want and interact with; and 3) the Lemonade Stand owner must make a significant amount of money per month to make it worth while – this is a combination of impression levels, click-through rates, conversion rates, etc.It takes under 3 minutes to set up a Lemonade Stand. Lemonade Stands live at http://www.lemonade.com and/or as a widget/application on Facebook, Blogger, and other key distribution points. This means that there is a built in amount of traffic to the stands that our users can monetize. Lemonade Stand owners can then make money via four different revenue streams, commissions from sales, CPA deals, CPC or CPM ads. This aggregated revenue is what makes it worth it to the user, not solely the returns from affiliate deals.Thank you for validating our model. We hope millions of people have fun setting up their Lemonade Stands, enjoy the social community aspects of http://www.lemonade.com, and make a bit of money along the way to pay their cell phone bills, donate to a good cause, or buy that gift for the holidays that their loved one really wants.

TRZ

So riddle me this. Here is the CEO of a company, taking time out from his busy daily schedule to actually reply with thought, meaning and honesty on a) why I was partially right and b) why I might be wrong. And yet, he feels that it is worth his while to respond.

This tells me a few things. First, here is someone that knows what the viral effect of blogs can have on a company. Second, rather than getting defensive, he decides to point out why he thinks their product will bet better. So now, instead of me saying, “boy what a jerk”, he gets, “Boy, what a class act”!

I don’t know if his widget will set Web 2.0 on it’s ear, but if I were to teach how to be the CEO of a company, what he did would certainly be a lesson. he took the time to address a blog that mentioned his company, spun it in his favor and didn’t burn a bridge in the process. He made an ally. So what if he only responds to one a day, or whatever. The fact is, he took time out, to handle a little guerilla marketing on his own. A little hand to hand, if you will. Good Job TZ.

Social Retailing. Going to the mall with all my social networking friends.

Posted on November 12, 2007 by marc meyer

So you really thought that this social networking thing might not catch on in the mainstream? Well guess what? Why don’t we mash the mall with Facebook or Myspace and see what we get? Social Retailing.

A New York-based designer has come up with a mirror equipped with infrared technology that sends a live video feed to any cell phone, e-mail account or personal digital assistant device selected by a shopper. OMG u looook so goood!

Christopher Enright, chief technology officer for digital design company IconNicholson, said putting these mirrors outside store fitting rooms meant women could go shopping with their friends — remotely.

Essentially, you can be anywhere in the world and your friends or relatives can be elsewhere and yet you can all talk, and view what you are trying on.

Using the interactive mirror, a shopper’s friends can then text message back with comments about the outfit IconNicolson which has rolled out this “social retailing” vision, has mashed up social networking and bleeding edge communication technologies with youth shopping habits – to target young adult shoppers. In part, the interactive mirror can send a live video feed to any cell phone or e-mail account selected by the shopper.

Shopping will now take on new meaning. But the question is, isn’t part of the fun of shopping at the mall, travelling in large packs, hanging out in the food court, and essentially buying nothing? Time will tell, but at the least, we can add anew term to the ever-growing lexicon of social media terms.

The top 44 social music sites

Posted on November 9, 2007 by marc meyer

In no particular order, we present one of the fastest growing and extremely loyal aspects of social networks. That would be the networks that revolve around Music. Music being the social creature that it is, it is no surprise that this aspect of social networking is so attractive and so appealing to so many. So the fact that social networks, not the least being Myspace, which is the mother of all music social network sites, has evolved so quickly is no big surprise. Look for this sector to continue to explode and surprise as it straddles the hump between Web 2.0 and Web 2.5 within the next year. If not already. Feel free to add!

VOIS, What do you know about it?

Posted on November 8, 2007 by marc meyer

Vois is one of the fastest growing, global social networking communities for people ages 18
and over today. And you’ve never heard of it. Go figure huh? Now let the word global sink in for a second, and then read the following stats. Social networking growth is quickly becoming a worldwide phenomenon. By the end of this year, Asia will account for 35% of the world’s social networking users, with 28% of users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, 25% in
North America, and 12% in the Caribbean and Latin America, according to research firm Datamonitor Plc. That means that ASIA is the largest user of social networks in the world. That’s right, the world.

According to a Goldman Sachs report, the fastest growing economies in the world are Brazil, India, China and Russia or BRIC’s. The next 11 countries or the N-11, that are the next future important economies are Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Korea,
Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Philippines, Turkey and Vietnam.

So follow me here because you’ll see why VOIS (pronounced voice) in particular could be bigger than Facebook and MySpace combined. Due to the incredible growth rates of the BRIC economies, their combined GDP is predicted to overtake the combined GDP of the major developed economies of the US, Western Europe, and Japan in the next 40 years or less.

Now here’s the skinny on VOIS. VOIS accordingly has made significant inroads in obtaining significant market share in many of the BRIC and N-11 nations. According to Alexa.com, VOIS ranks within the top 15,000 websites worldwide and within BRIC and N-11 nations VOIS is already within the top 5000 websites in Egypt (523) and Iran (4,575), within the top 10,000 websites in Indonesia (3,778) and within the top 20,000 websites in India (12,223) and Mexico (18,871).

VOIS.com’s goal is to become a top website within many of the BRIC and N-11 nations within the next year and plans to pursue more market share and expand global reach by launching localized language-specific content-specific versions of their website in each of the BRIC Countries and the N-11.

According to the CIA World Factbook, the BRIC countries collective presently possesses more mobile phones and Internet users than in the U.S., while the Internet News Agency reports that the BRIC middle class is expected to exceed 800 million in the next ten years, a demographic larger than the United States, Western Europe and Japan
combined.

So if you are a marketer, or advertiser, or a cell carrier, etc etc and you think you’re little world here in the United States is all about you and your social network, and your niche, well you better think again. it’s a big world out there and they are coming fast and they are coming hard.

Digital Narcissism, The Me Too Brand

Posted on November 6, 2007 by marc meyer

One of the more facinating aspects of Web 2.0 these days, is the emergence of self made online stars. Or for that matter, self-created personas. Not that it’s something that has appeard overnight, but it is something that seems to be growing at an exponential rate.

Let me explain. Part of the reason that YouTube, MySpace and Facebook, to name a few, have become so popular is the freedom to express oneself in creative ways. The tools that these sites provide empower the user. 7 years ago we wanted to package these tools and sell them as “content managment solutions”. Someone beat everyone to the point and said, “why don’t we just release these tools as a free web service that users can use to communicate and share and interact with others?”

What this has fostered though, is the desire for people to show the world or their web audience what they’re all about. In some cases, with all it’s flaws, cracks, and boorish moments. It’s their way of creating their own star vehicles without the assistance of PR companies, 8×10 glossies and breakout movie roles. All it takes is for someone to virally pass the message, the image, the words or whatever of that person on to another, and it spreads faster than dead grass burning in the summer. It will appeal to someone. In some cases, it will appeal to a lot of people. But in essence, their is a niche waiting for you, somewhere!

If that happens, ( web notoriety) some web savvy individuals take that to the next level and parlay their instant web street cred stardom in dollars. Think William Hung for instance.

It’s perpetuated though by the users, the audience and the readers who for whatever reason have this voyeuristic thirst for this type of content. Amateur content if you will, thrives online because it’s real. Why do you think Americas funniest videos was able to thrive? Because, we were seeing people as they really were. In their worst and best moments. That same premise exists today currently with viral emails, social networking sites, and historically with online chat. The package isn’t packaged, it’s not watered down, it’s real. Real to the extent, that who we are watching or what we are reading is who they really are. Or what they want us to think. Or what we want to believe.

Lets not forget that the Net has a way of distorting things, even when it comes to social networking. We can create a version of who we are, and we can step into that skin and be that person. (Think Second Life) even to the extent that that person can go on a webcam and be someone that they are not. Why? Digital narcissim. A desire to be something that we are not. To enjoy and revel our exposure to nameless and faceless peers to the extent that we are willing to go farther online then we would ever go in our real world lives.

It’s almost as if the 20 minutes of fame can be extended online indefinitely. Because the lights never go off online, there is always an audience somewhere for your brand. Even communication has taken on a new meaning online. A new universal language is spoken online. TTYL, BBL, OMG. Your brand, as niche-like as it can possibly be, has an audience somewhere. Because of the diverse nature and universal appeal of everything digital, you can feed the habit, grow your brand and extend it as far as you can, merely by finding your clan. Your pack. Your tribe.

Once you find it, you can be whoever you want to be and market and package yourself, whatever way you want to be perceived; and people, Your people, have no choice but to buy what you are selling, because you have found each other. You’re the brand they were looking for. My only other question would be, How cannibalistic are these tribes? Do they eat their own? My guess is that there are unspoken and unwritten rules that are played out time and time again. If the rules are violated, regardless of your brand. You can flame out pretty quickly. So my guess is yes, the web does eat its own. One final note, there are currently over 350 social networking out there and growing every day. Which one is yours?

How wired are you? Let me count the ways.

Posted on October 30, 2007 by marc meyer

Look around, what do you see in your house right now. Cell phone, home computer, ipod, laptop, PDA, wireless router, VOIP, Digital Cable, Digital Camera, DVR…

OK now look around aagain, who’s wired more? You? Your Friends, Your neighbor, their kids or your kids?

We now live in a world where 5 and 6 year olds are more computer savvy and accustomed to the computer than adults were 5 and 6 years ago! However, a sad thing is happening in the new digital universe. Actual parks and playgrounds that adults once enjoyed as children are being replaced by the virtual places like social networking sites like MySpace and FaceBook. Additionaly text messaging, instant messenging, video-music swapping sites and gaming have supplanted the outside world for the inside world.

So the questions is to many parents and educators puzzled by the social habits of this young and wired generation, do you go along? or do you stand on the sideline and worry and fret about how their child is going to turn out?

According to Anastasia Goodstein, author of “Totally Wired: What Teens and Tweens are Really Doing Online” and blogger for Ypulse.com, theirs is a virtual space wherein they play games, experiment with self-expression, and socialize with friends.

As an adult, you can do the same. As a parent and an adult, you shouldn’t let technology scare you into powerlessness, or intimidate you. There are many social networking sites that speak to your challenges and your niche, believe it or not. As well, there are many forums and BBS groups that are niche like in nature that can help you get a feel for the online world. Understanding how these groups interact, will help you in understanding the larger networks.

As an adult you should also try to balance the virtual world with the real world as well. being wired is not a bad thing, but remember there is no substitute for some type of physical activity or actual face to face encounters. Here’s an idea! Self Express face to face.

According to Donna Bogatin You are too wired if:

YOU PUT A BLUETOOTH HEADSET IN YOUR MOTORCYCLE HELMET

YOUR CELLPHONE IS YOUR MOST IMPORTANT BATHROOM ACCESSORY

YOU PREFER YOUR CELLPHONE OVER TOM CRUISE

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO A CELLPHONE IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN A RIGHT TO A FAIR TRIAL

YOU BELIEVE YOUR RIGHT TO YAK IN PUBLIC IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN PUBLIC SAFETY

YOU LIVE BLOG A HOSPITAL PROCEDURE

YOU SUFFER FROM A WORK-INDUCED TECH ADDICTION

YOU INTERRUPT SEX TO ANSWER YOUR CELLPHONE

So remember, balance the gadgets, or just wait a little longer and all of the gadgets will be on one device. It sure does make you wonder how anything got done before computers and cell phones. By Balancing now you reduce the chance that you or your kids will lose any type of social people skills that you have cultivated up to this point. When you think about it, Isn’t the social network almost anti-social because it reduces the actual encounter down to your ability to type a coherent message? The coherent message resembling something like this: C U L8R, GTG. How is that social interaction? I can see it now, in 10 years our society will consist of text based face to face conversations where no one looks at each other. Hell they may even use their devices to speak for them as they stand next to each other at a function. Social gatherings will certainly take on new meaning.

Do you think we are too wired for our own good? Do we improve on it? How so?