New York SBDC Research Network

From SmallBusinessNewz : For some time now I’ve been suggesting that social media as we’ve come to address it over the last few years doesn’t really matter anymore because it just is. We’ve given up on seeing it as some separate practice and accepted that it’s simply a function of marketing that must be integrated. Lately I’ve begun to wonder if social behavior, not social media, is actually much more than we’ve made of it. We’ve bolted certain socially enabled practices on to our businesses to provide greater reach, customer service and the pretense of connection, but I wonder if we’ve stopped dreadfully short of the true potential of social. Even those that preach social strategy are generally talking about finding ways to use social tactics to support existing business strategies and models. My belief is that the real opportunity is to build a fully social business model, one that addresses the total picture of social behavior. One that moves beyond social tactics to a pl...

At our staff training, this week we heard a series of presentations from Josepf Haslam of DragonSearch. "We are at the dawn of a new Age with social media. It’s both an evolutionary and revolutionary age. It’s a truly disruptive technology and social system for businesses and individuals. "I assert that you need to get social or die . If this is your view of social - and believe me, a couple years ago when I looked at Twitter, I had the idea [it was the] perfect combination of narcissism, ADHD, and stalking -... for you and for businesses, you need to change this. You need to make it your force for being found and getting business.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn have been all the rage for the past few years, but the big question of profitability was always looming. Sure, they had a lot of members, but did these companies have any way to make money? Well, Twitter seems to have figured it out, at least for the time being. Twitter has just signed two agreements which will allow Twitter posts to be searchable by Google and Bing (Microsoft). The respective $15 and $10 million dollar agreements will open up your Twitter tweets to data mining, and will make the company profitable (we think - Twitter is privately held, and isn't giving away all their financials.) Read more at BusinessWeek: " Content-Search Deals Make Twitter Profitable "

For many months after learning about the social networking tool Twitter, I failed to see its benefit for small business owners. I have since developed a new outlook on Twitter and its usefulness. In the past, when I discovered information that was not only incredibly pertinent to our clients and business advisors but also time-sensitive, I would ponder ways to distribute the information in a useful and timely manner. Now I "tweet". Below are articles that will help you "tweet" to the maximum effect. How to Tweet to be Useful, Helpful, and Get Re-Tweeted" Social Media is How You Need to Communicate A Businessperson's Guide to Using Twitter

It was only last year that Facebook surpassed MySpace in Web popularity, but MySpace’s visitor count has totally leveled off, while Facebook continues to grow (at the end of 2008 Facebook had 220 million visitors, MySpace had 125 million). Is there any hope for MySpace? Can a site this big reinvent itself and survive? History says no. Can you even remember the search engines you used before Google? Still, MySpace is making an effort, and perhaps focusing on the music scene where its unique music player has an advantage over the other social networking sites. Read more from CNN: Can once-cool MySpace stage a comeback?

Facebook is not just a virtual community for friends; it has evolved into a networking utility for businesses and professionals. Today, there are over 175 million active users on Facebook with the fastest growing group of users those 30 years and older. College graduates and young professionals, the original target audience of Facebook when it launched in 2004, are now using the site to foster professional growth. Should your business create a Facebook Page and join this growing online community? Below are some thoughts about businesses on Facebook: Ten Reasons to Use Facebook for Business Facebook caters to a diverse audience including professionals and businesses. It is a free online tool to facilitate networking with professionals and businesses. 30+ Apps for Doing Business on Facebook This blog provides a list of the applications available on Facebook and how businesses may be able to use the applications for their business needs. Should your business be on Facebook? “The secret is...

An article in the Wired Blog Network recently discussed YouNoodle , a social networking site for startup entrepreneurs. The website has "introduced a dynamic scoring system purports to indicate the viability of early-stage ventures." "A YouNoodle Score is a quantitative measurement, on a scale of 0 to 100, of a startup's impact and importance based on its traction, activity, and buzz. The score is based on information pulled in from thousands of online sources: traffic, mainstream media, the blogosphere, conversations on Twitter, and other key factors." Currently in it's Beta phase, click here to go directly to the You Noodle website.

Are you on Facebook, but wondering what it can do for your small business? On June 24 th , Visa unveiled a new Facebook application, the Visa Business Network . While still in beta, the application claims that "Here you can connect with other small business owners, learn ways to manage your business more efficiently, and grow by reaching the millions of potential customers on Facebook." Visa's also partnered with the Wall Street Journal, Google and Entrepreneur to bring small business content and applications to its Facebook presence. Read more about the Visa Business Network in this article from ComputerWorld: Visa, Facebook unveil social network for small businesses

On Monday, I got a notice from an old college friend via Facebook. Yesterday, I received a request from someone to connect to my LinkedIn account. Today, I read an article from Computerworld on which of these sites was better for business. Call it karma. LinkedIn has always been designed as a networking site solely for interaction among those in business. Facebook originated as a networking site amongst those with college or university email addresses. However, it is being adapted more and more by those in the labor force as a means of finding better opportunities, contract employees, and so forth. The article presents six scenarios, and asked separate writers to argue the merits of one versus the other in that situation. Needless to say, the article doesn't provide an answer to the question of "Which is better?" (unless you consider "It depends" as a worthwhile conclusion). I only dabble at both, but I can certainly see why people get hooked on these sites.

For those of your clients who would like to make and maintain contact within their industry but may feel a bit out of place in Facebook or MySpace, the social network arena still appears to be narrowing to a few main players. As much as people who write about these products often make it sound like there is only one reasonable choice: theirs; I'll be interested to see what lasts in the long run and becomes the standard. Will it play out that this is something we really need or will social network sites never replace the usual ways we keep in touch and make new contacts? It seems that whatever social networking program used has to come out of email. It seems silly to me to have to read my email to tell me to go to Facebook to read the message. What for? It has to be integrated - I have enough stuff to check up on with multiple email addresses. I was not aware of VisiblePath but now it sounds like a good solution. www.Jigsaw.com Jigsaw is an online directory of business people who...

Lending and Borrowing from the General Public YOUR MONEY Person-To-Person Lending Flourishes on Web by Jessica Smith Morning Edition, NPR , November 2, 2007 “Welcome to the era of coffee shop money lending.” I read this story on NPR.org about person-to-person lending on the Internet which just seemed like an amazing idea. It is fascinating that this exists and that it seems to work. The idea is that a person writes a profile of how much they want to borrow and for what and what their top limit on the interest they are willing to pay and then people bid on the loan request. The borrower is vouched for by friends, colleagues or family and the amount raised from various lenders is consolidated by Prosper.com and then the money is distributed. These are not small loans either- they can run from $50 to $25,000. It seems a risky proposition but interesting to see how people will take things into their own hands. Prosper.com "Prosper generates revenue by collecting a one-time 1% or 2% f...