[puravida]

Ok. So, social media is definitely not going anywhere. It just took a looong time to catch on because the Internet was so "new" to so many for so long. Now, it is beginning to do what it was really intended to do: bring people together to share information.

This is a wave that is already growing huge but it still hasn't seen its day and we can still surf it to success. We just have to start paddling now to get in front of the wave.

The key to social networking and social bookmarking sites is to build networks of friends. Those friends help to increase the importance of any one friend. The downside is the potential for any one person to try to abuse the system and drag down other friends (i.e. those looking for a quick buck and not willing to give back to the community).

So, how do we build a powerful network of friends with each other's best interests in mind? First off, to get the big boys attention, you have to have money, be a good writer, and have something unique to offer. But, what about for the rest of us who may still be struggling?

I propose that we form a "social marketers club." I tried to do this back in 2001, but it was an idea before its time and ultimately failed to catch on. I did make quite a bit in affiliate sales for marketing software but the Internet was still just too new for people to join a club like that.

Now, the time is right.

At first, we could have it be free to join (or very low fees), and eventually we could have some sort of revenue-sharing (i.e. beyond simple affiliate commissions) for those who have been vested. Any membership fees would be used to pool together for use in a shared marketing pool and for putting on events (i.e. giving back to the community!), etc.

As with all successful programs, we would have to work on how to weed out anyone who is not giving back to the community (i.e. spammers) and only help those who are pumping out truly unique and helpful content and services. I will say that it is a constant battle to fight off spam -especially in this forum- but it can be done and we've managed to keep this forum very clean. I know we can bring the same value to the social media sites as well.

I have a ton of ideas, but I don't want to stump anyone else's creative juices here.

So, what do you all think?

Catch the wave,

Brandon
p.s. I'm just now beginning to build my network of friends on the various social sites, so don't be intimidated or feel "you're too late" --that's what we are ALL trying to avoid! :)

[puravida]

For those that are interested, I just found a site last night (called SocialMarker.com) that makes it simpler to join and submit articles and sites.

http://www.socialmarker.com

Join as many of those sites as you can stand --at least the major ones.

Once finished (or if you already have accounts), let me know. We may be able to be friends -as long as you haven't been "spamming" (which is something we all need to discuss).

Ciao,

Brandon

[woomedia]

Thanks for the social bookmarking site. I signed up and found some competing sites and information. It's amazing that the service is free although they do ask for donations.

I may even write a blog about them and give them a link.

Thanks,

I also think your idea about creating social marketing networks is valid. Social networks are not going anywhere, anytime soon.

I have experience on Myspace, YouTube & Gibline. I also manage a few video social networks.

Thanks again.

[ICU812B4]

I agree with you, their here to stay and have a lot of potential. I'm a member of Myspace and Facebook for some time and can definatly see the potential. Alot of issues to look at before moving ahead though.

Here's an idea you might consider...just found this website that has its members join 3 social sites and they sell votes...they pay their members for voting and sell their votes. Right now it looks like they pay $1 each time your asked to vote and it costs $2 per vote you buy. The $2 sounds high to me, but they just raised it to that so they must be getting alot of orders. As I said I just joined so I don't know the full details...they also pay 10% of your referrals earnings when they vote. Payout via paypal.

Ummmm, am I allowed to post my referral link for the program? Sorry, just got off work...gonna post it, if its not allowed forgive me, admin can remove:

http://subvertandprofit.com

I'm new here too and haven't had a chance to read all the forum rules so bepatient with me please,lol.

[puravida]

Hello ICU,

I did edit your link, but no problem on that...

I have researched this site, and while they do take measures to "protect" the voter and the votee from detection, I am not going to endorse such a program for widespread use. The typical person who would want to use that site is going to be a spammer and I wouldn't want to see someone's site get permanently banned once they buy votes to the same site -say- 5 times and get 100 diggs for an article that is instantly tagged as spam.

Please keep in mind that once you are banned; you are banned. That's it.

While I'm on the topic of spam, I might as well give an example for those who might not think they are spamming. If someone has a site full of advertisements (i.e. google ads or the like) and they have an article -on say, credit cards- and they try to get it to the front page of Digg by buying votes. That is a spammer. Not only will that person almost instantly get banned from Digg, they also won't make back their money in credit card applications nor will anyone from Digg find them worth linking to. So, it's a complete waste, but the "quick buck" syndrome can be quite compelling for many. :)

Since I want to build long-lasting partnerships with members of this "club" and I want those members to have long-term goals and visions for their companies, I don't want to jeopardize their sites in anyway.

Having said that, buying a couple of votes here and there -just to make your site appear a little more active and/or to bump traffic a little in the beginning is something each person will have to judge for themselves. I won't do it, but I'll leave the link for others who might want to check into it.

[ICU812B4]

Good point, i certainly wouldn't use it to buy diggs, but I don't mind them paying me to give a Digg,lol. Seems I had a few things wrong...there are only 2 sites they use and the amount they pay varies depending on the "job".

I still agree with you that money can be made from the social sites. Facebook has a lot of user created applications that you can easily get thousands of instant users if its a popular app. That's one route...then you can create groups...so many possibilities with just that one program.

[puravida]

ICU812B4, on Jan 21 2008, 03:53 PM, said:

Facebook has a lot of user created applications that you can easily get thousands of instant users if its a popular app. That's one route...then you can create groups...so many possibilities with just that one program.

That's a good point. Personally, I don't have the time to develop an app that facebook will own -on the hopes that it generates some buzz. But, if someone does that, kudos to them! That would definitely make their profile a valuable place to spread the word about products and services -as long as it's not overdone. It's kind of like buying ad blasts on myspace from those people who have 15,000+ friends. I haven't done that before but only because I haven't had the time.

I think it might be a good way to generate a little buzz -just as long as it's not that stupid "Lower Your Mortgage" offer that I keep getting spammed onto my bulletin list. Does ANYONE really fall for that?

-Brandon

[meniniu]

I really love the idea of this.. and while I am not yet a tech social butterfly anymore.. I might recall how fun it was and jump back into the pool ~

[igetmoney]

I don't have time to read everyones post, sorry about that. I did notice something I think I can refer to or help with though. I seen socialmarker.com was posted and I know of a bookmarlet site sort of the same where you can easily get your link, article, website, etc spread out to many social networks as well..


Http://onlywire.com check it out.

[multimastery]

puravida, on Jan 20 2008, 12:41 PM, said:

For those that are interested, I just found a site last night (called SocialMarker.com) that makes it simpler to join and submit articles and sites.

http://www.socialmarker.com

Join as many of those sites as you can stand --at least the major ones.

Once finished (or if you already have accounts), let me know. We may be able to be friends -as long as you haven't been "spamming" (which is something we all need to discuss).

Ciao,

Brandon

How would I actually install this button on my browser. I states that this on the page "All you need to do is simply drag this button to your bookmarks toolbar, in order to create a submission bookmarklet."
But I can't get drag the button to my browser, it doesn't move...am I missing something here ?