Facebook is white hot!

Posted on October 25, 2007 by marc meyer

If you haven’t already heard, Facebook has a valuation of $15 billion. That’s fifteen billllion dollars, I’m quoting Doctor Evil there. Why is it valued so high? Every day Facebook adds another 100,000 users. It has 35 million active users and underneath that it has over 6 million active user groups.

According to the WSJ, Facebook is going to make close to $30 million this year. More incredibly Facebook costs nothing to use. So this begs the question, how is it going to make 30 mill and why is it valued so high? The answers are traffic, data, and advertising. Similar to what Google has done with AdWords, Facebook has the built in luxury of 35 million users with deep data points to pitch. The other reason why the valuation is so high is that what makes Facebook so attractive is that the data is essentially user data.

Google Adwords relies on keyword contextual data but Facebook can get down and dirty. If it wants to go after sophomore high school students in Trenton, New Jersey, it can. Or lets say, college graduates from UCLA from 2004, that hail from Long Beach, it can do that too. It has the ability right now to target by age, gender and location. Eventually it will be able to automatically target its users based on the personal information that users have supplied.

What we don’t know is what the finished product of Facebook will eventually be. Mark Zuckerberg has stated that it could be 30 years before we finally see what the last iteration of Facebook could be, and that it could be very different from what it is now. It’s amazing that when he started Facebook, he was 19. His initial intent was to create a site that showed you who was in certain classes at Harvard, so that you could make a more than educated decision of what classes you wanted to take and with whom. Amazing how something that started out as a mere tool or app for a college campus has turned into a social networking phenomenon. It reminds me of Napster.

I’m sure what a lot of people are thinking, or rather a lot of marketing people are thinking, is how they can get in the slipstream of Facebook. What this means is, how can a marketer create a business that is a direct result of the creation of Facebook? Google has spawned the creation of 1000’s of companies that are around because of Google. I’m sure we can expect the same thing with Facebook.

What do you think will happen with Facebook? Are you a part of Facebook? Do you use it regularly? What will the landscape of social networks look like in 2 years?

Social Networks continue to evolve with myfamily.com

Posted on October 23, 2007 by marc meyer

If you’re thinking of creating your own social network, you better hurry. Myfamily.com, today announced a new release of myfamily.com 2.0 beta available at http://www.myfamily.com. The new release lets families connect online to share news, recipes, family history, photos and video in a safe, private and media-rich environment. Myfamily.com 2.0 beta offers several new features and services, including the ability to leave voice messages directly on the site or narrate photo slideshows using a phone.

Since its launch in 1998, myfamily.com has enjoyed a subscriberbase of nearly two million members. Originally a free service, myfamily.com moved to a subscription-only service in 2001, and now with the new 2.0 beta is introducing a free option once again. Families are using myfamily.com to build private spaces where invited members and guests can participate in sharing photos, news, videos, slideshows, recipes, files, family-trees and events. Many are also creating sites reflecting the social groups their family interacts with, including sports teams, schools, hobbies, or other groups. The new 2.0 site is currently available at http://www.myfamily.com andis in open beta for anyone to try out. One feature called‘SnapGenie’ allows members to select and sort photos into a slideshow andthen add voice narration by calling a toll-free number and clicking throughthe photos on their computer screen. These multimedia stories are viewable by family members on the site and can also be shared via email invitation to others, or embedded in web pages or on a blog. For times when you want to contact the family and just can’t get to acomputer, the new myfamily.com site provides a phone number and PIN that you can call from anywhere to leave an instant voice message on your site. Any member of a myfamily.com 2.0 site can create additional password protected sites and invite the people they want to share in the new experience. So you can have a ‘cousins-only’ site, or a ‘Family ReunionPlanning’ site, or a ‘Mrs. Johnson’s 5th Grade Class’ site to communicate,share photos, art, and upcoming events with other families at your child’sschool. Individuals can be a part of as many family or group sites as theywant and easily switch between them. Myfamily.com 2.0 can also deliver reminders to your extended family forall the important events in life including birthdays, anniversaries,reunions, or other special events. And, if you need a unique gift forsomeone, the integrated shopping features let you order prints, t-shirts,mugs and other photo creations using the photos shared on the site. Myfamily.com 2.0 free sites will be supported by advertising andcommerce. Members who prefer an ad-free environment will be able topurchase a reasonably priced annual subscription, much like the originalservice. Details of the subscription service have not yet been announced. As myfamily.com transitions to the new 2.0 version, members of theoriginal 1.0 version will still be able to use their existing family sitesduring the beta period. Many of these loyal members are also contributingto the development of the beta site by participating in member surveys,advisory groups, and the 2.0 blog at http://blog.myfamily.com.

7 great tips you need to know when marketing to Moms.

Posted on October 19, 2007 by marc meyer

Did you know that there are more than 80 million mothers in the United States and 51 percent of all US Internet users are women? In addition, did you know that mothers of children under the age of 18 are “significantly more likely to go online than the rest of adult Americans?” This, according to the Pew Internet Project.

The translation then is that ” Moms” will tend to disproportionately influence household purchase behavior. So how, as a marketer do you reach them?

1) They are savvy buyers/shoppers. More and More of them are using the internet to influence future and current buying decisions with the possible exception being electronics.

2) Working women ages of 24-54 — of whom the U.S. has some 55 million — have emerged as a potent force in the marketplace. If you’re product is not aimed at them, you are mssing the boat. These women are not only balancing work, but chances are, also a family.

3) Women make more than 80% of the buying decisions in all homes. And women shop differently from the way men do: Females research more extensively and are less likely to be influenced by ads. Men buy, women shop. and Mom’s compare. They make buying “decisions”. Even in the online world, when selling a product, it’s imperative that you have features and benefits as well as savings.

4) According to data compiled by AdAge, there are more than 30 million moms who read up to five blogs on a daily basis. Within these blogs can be the basis for buying decisions. More importantly, women talk, they are social, so if something is worthy in regards to a purchase, they will tell others. Viral marketing is an untapped resource in marketing to Moms.

5) The average household income of these moms is $70,000. They are computer savvy. They are educated. If they cannot find their info through traditional search, they will find it in blogs, If not a blog, then chances are, a social network or a forum will provide the answers and or information they are seeking.

6) Early in 2006 a company called Lucid Marketing, which specializes in targeting moms, issued data that reflected just over 20 percent of stay-at-home moms and another 19 percent of moms who work part time visit “message boards” or “chat rooms” on a daily basis. A great place to market, but also an area where marketers need to be sensitive and not pushy sales peple.

7) Women’s decision-making authority has grown in part because more households are headed by women — 27% at last count, a fourfold increase since 1950-according to Businessweek. What does this mean? As online marketers, if you don’t realize that you need to segment your online marketing efforts into distinct niches, then you’ll be sure to see a reduction in overall conversion numbers.

So given the purchasing power of Women and or Moms. If you underestimate, ignore them, and don’t bother to find out what they want. Then chances are they will ignore you and not bother to find out what you have to sell. It’s as simple as that.

What do you think women want online marketers to know about the way they buy and shop online? Do women use social networks for the purpose of making buying decisions?

Web 2.0 Discussion

Posted on October 16, 2007 by marc meyer

So I’m talking to my friend Randy who works at an inventory optimization software company called Smartops (simple name for a mouthfull of an explanation) about a site of called Howzitsound that really needs in no particular order ….angel investors, a face lift, some marketing, and some people to do the heavy lifting. I mentioned that the site needs to be pushed into the Web 2.0 stratosphere, and in saying that, I asked,”you do know what web 2.0 is don’t you?” Below is our email conversation.

Me:

“on a locallized level… i.e www.howzitsound/pittsburgh.htm Myspace was developed for bands and music fans but morphed into a major big ass social networking site predominantly because of the cool tools associated with creating…”your space” 200 million users and going strong

Randy:

Is this a quiz? From what I know, Web 2.0 is a next step in online networking, where the users create much of the content ie- MySpace, wikipedia, etc. It’s a wave I have not ridden. I know it’s enormously pervasive and popular since everyone seems to have a myspace, but frankly I still feel like it’s a teenager phenomenon and I don’t care to follow. Not to say that I wouldn’t like to have some of the myspace $$

Me:

well you’re somewhat right, but where you are wrong is thinking its a teenager phenomenon, what you will eventually see is that content and content creation will become more interactive and robust than it already has. web 2.0 is more about the tools and apps used as well as the sites that have evolved from it such as a myspace. web 2.0 is more about getting your information and sharing your information and creating it as well, through social networking sites but also individually as well i.e. blogs.

What you will eventually see is that social networking will evolve onto enterprise levels, it already has in some aspects. What it does is, it creates better communication between entities working on a project, or collaboration on a contract, or temporary virtual communities, etc etc. So the easier the tools are, the more apt are the client to embrace the notion. Think Ajax, and xtml..

Him:

Interesting take on it and a valid point. I think your point on it developing to an enterprise level is where more focus needs to be placed. I tend to ignore a lot of the “real” applications because I’m sick to death of everyone talking about their myspace or their blog as if they’re someone who I should be paying attention to just because they have a webpage. Everyone wants to be a celebrity now, and it frustrates the hell out of me.

Sorry for the rant, I think there is tremendous application for the content development tools, I just wish it was limited to people that actually have something to say

Me:

Yea I guess everyone is a pundit and a builder of web pages now even if it is with wizards and what not. so having said all of that, howzitsound/pittsburgh for example would not be totally user generated but could be user driven. i think on a local level a branded sight that i knew i could go to that had THE places to go for live music and possible just cool clubs would far outweigh fucking doing a local search and ending up on myspace or about.com….

Him:

Exactly, if I wanted people’s opinions I’d give it to them. Ha.

I’m still a big fan of the howzitsound concept. keep me in the loop for it

So that’s where we left it. What do you think? Did we get it right? Someone out there needs to give me the definitive explnantion of what web 2.0 will be, or what it is and what form it will eventually take as we go forward.

Digital Narcissism and The “Me-Brand”,

Posted on September 26, 2007 by marc meyer

One of the more facinating aspects of Web 2.0 these days, is the emergence of self made online stars, and social media experts. 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.

If that happens, some web savvy individuals take that to the next level and parlay their instant web street cred stardom in dollars.

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 the 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.

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, 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 the exposure of our 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.