If you’ve logged into Facebook in the past few weeks, you’ve probably noticed that it looks different. Dramatically different. So how are you supposed to navigate through your favorite social media website with these newly integrated features?

To better understand the new Facebook and continue to connect with friends in social media, here is a quick tutorial that you can use to navigate through the changes:

1. Understand the new Newsfeed. With the major changes made to the Facebook newsfeed recently, users have been complaining that they want their old newsfeed back. Most recently, Facebook has decided to come to a compromise. They’ve made a small change in the newsfeed to let users check out recent stories in reverse chronological order, just like in the old days of Facebook. The good news for Facebook users is that Facebook is listening to your feedback and will take action if enough people are unhappy. Facebook will now have a new drop-down menu for the newsfeed with either Recent Stories or Highlighted Stories first – user’s choice.

2. Get acquainted with the Ticker. At the right side of the page, you will now find a real-time Ticker that tells you exactly what friends are doing, similar to the real-time updates on Twitter. This real-time Ticker is a live feed of all Facebook activity in your group of friends. All you have to do is click on any post in the Ticker to see activity and comment – without ever leaving your home page. If you find this annoying, you are not alone. Many Facebook users feel that the new Ticker makes the page too busy and distracting. But it also provides you with the opportunity to stay connected to all activities that your friends engage in every second of the day.

3. Use the Subscribe Button. If you are like most of the world, you have quite a few Facebook friends that you would rather not hear from on your newsfeed. Maybe they talk too much about themselves, maybe they shamelessly promote their business, or maybe they post a picture after picture of their baby. Whatever the reason, using the new Subscribe button will let you determine how much information you want to see from a specific friend. You can use this Subscribe button to weed out friends you don’t want to hear from as often and keep tabs on close friends in the newsfeed.

4. Change your friend settings. If you are going to send a friend request to a new friend, hover over the Friend Button on their profile first. This will give you options to add someone as a Close Friend or Acquaintance, determining how many of their posts that you will see in your feed.

Guess Author:  Joel Newman is a freelance writer experienced in Internet marketing and social media marketing. For more information on top registry cleaners to speed up your PC, you can visit Joel Newman’s Registry Repair website.

I wanted to share this amazing infographic about social media usage in the United States.  Check out these astounding stats, share away, and leave your comments below.                                          

Source:  AgentGenius is a rapidly growing real estate social media, tech, news, and opinion site built and designed by and for the on-the-go agent. Their mission is to be a positive force in the industry, led by people inside of real estate. They aim to keep you up to date on trends that we study closely in order to forecast what’s next on the horizon.

What do you think of these astonishing stats?  Please leave your comments below.

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What started as a mere trend several years ago has now evolved into its own culture. Social commerce is gaining popularity by leaps and bounds in the virtual world and shows no signs of slowing down. Selling products online was once reserved for major retailers with massive inventories and the selling power to reach the masses. Now, thanks to sites like eBay, web stores, and applications for social media platforms such as Facebook, anyone can market and sell their products online.

Having a successful social commerce campaign hinges on a number of factors. It’s not something you should venture into blindly without having done at least some minimal research. Although once you get your ecommerce campaign up and running, it can run on autopilot to some extent. However, there are certain areas in which you always have to be proactive instead of reactive when it comes to selling your products online.

Let’s take a look at the four most important ingredients in a successful social commerce campaign:

A Multifaceted Approach

Simply using one or two of the array of free social media tools available today won’t get you very far in your social commerce campaign. The key to making these tools work for your brand is not just using them, but using them in tandem with other avenues of marketing to gain maximum exposure. Add Facebook and Twitter widgets to your business website and blog. Add links to your website and blog to your Facebook Fan Page and Storefront and your Twitter account. Tweet about sales, promotions, new products and services. Blog about these events as well and announce the blog updates on your Fan Page. Let everything you do online reciprocate what you’ve already done, allowing the campaign to come full circle.

Get Personal

Customers want to feel like their opinions matter and achieving that strengthens the bond between the buyer and the seller. Try to involve your customers in your business as much as you can. Constantly ask for feedback about their experiences and take their suggestions. Ask them to vote on which products should be introduced next and which services they would like you to offer in the future. Asking for their opinion lets your customers know that you are listening to them, which works to establish brand loyalty. On the flipside of that, don’t forget to interact with your fans on a personal level. Respond to their comments and posts. Let them know you’re reading and listening.

Reward That Loyalty

Reward your loyal social media followers with exclusive discounts and specials that are not available to other customers. Not only does this show your appreciation for your loyal followers, it also provides the incentive for them to recommend your brand to others.

Don’t Oversell

Instead of always posting about products you have for sale, ask questions or create polls to get your customers involved. Share relevant industry news or even some candid insights into your personal life. If your company is involved in other events or causes, let your fans know it. Random trivia, current events and human interest stories are always good conversation starters. Yes, the point of social commerce is selling your products and services, but nobody likes high pressure tactics or feeling like they’re being “sold” to all the time.

Guest Author: Helen Fang is the social media expert at Vendio, an ecommerce software company that enables online businesses to sell on Facebook, eBay, Amazon, and Google from one platform.

One of my favorite authors, Bob Burg let me borrow this great post.  Remember, the same applies to social networking and anything else we do online as well.  God did give us two ears and one mouth for this reason!

Yes, I heard it again; while a young kid talked endlessly, a person nearby, with a wink in his voice, commented that “he’ll be a good salesperson one day.”

As I grow older and wiser (first one a definite; second one debatable) I find there are fewer and fewer phrases that elicit within me a visceral negative reaction. That statement always does though.

I mean, think of it…it is based on the premise that a person who just incessantly talks and talks and talks…is a good salesperson.

I’ve asked countless people, “do you tend to buy from salespeople who simply yap non-stop about their product?” They always – yes, always (and often emphatically) – tell me “no.”

Yet, I still hear it.

Recently, on my Facebook page, I posted the following:

Those with the “gift of gab” can be good salespeople…providing they are willing to lose, or at least misplace, their gift of gab and listen. Really listen.

One friend wrote, “Yes, so true! I had a sales manager once who said the challenge many potentially great salespeople had was knowing when to shut up.”

While that is indeed true, that wisdom is often given within the context of “after” the presentation…in other words, to shut up and not “talk past the sale.” And, that is certainly very valid advice. I believe the real point of the quote, however, goes far beyond that. It’s an attitude from the outset and throughout the sales process.

My good friend, presentation and communication expert, Felicia Slattery commented, “Listening is the other side of the speaking coin. To be an effective communicator you must do BOTH well.” She then suggested listening twice as much as talking. Good idea.

As any professional salesperson knows, listening more than talking during the presentation typically results in a much better outcome, both for the salesperson and the prospect who will then get to enjoy the benefits of that which they purchased.

Listening; focused, active, caring listening allows you to direct your attention on the prospect and understand their needs. Only then can you build value because, after all, it’s the prospect who determines what the actual value is.

So sure, can that young kid with the “gift of gab” grow up and become a top-notch, professional, value-creating, high-income earning salesperson? Sure he can. But only if he loses that “gift” along the way.

Guest Author: Bob Burg is coauthor of the International bestseller, “The Go-Giver.” To download Chapter One visit www.Burg.com.

Social Espionage?

The very term “Social Espionage” gives rise to images of an Orwellian future, or a really cool new John Le Carre novel. It could be imagined the book received funding solely on the creation of the term, which would be not too far from the truth. The term comes from Umberto Milletti, the CEO of InsideView.

InsideView, in business since 2005, just announced a $12 million round of funding. However, most are quick to point out that they are using the term to describe high-level sales executives gathering information on potential sales contacts, who don’t have the time to waste in letting a salesperson get to know them, being busy CEOs and all. Get all the inside scoop-hence the product name, InsideView-on your target before you strike; learn from twitter posts that he’s against continued fossil fuel production, or the current administration’s policy on such-n-such.

It’s Not That Kind Of Spying

While CRM’s stated purpose is to codify business intelligence with regard to sales prospects using social networking, it is hard to imagine a sales person that wouldn’t be tempted to keep tabs on the key people at his or her’s nearest rival for signs of what they may do.

Hey, if it is out there why not use it? This could lead to a blackout of information and the use of social networking for many business professionals in an effort to avoid giving their competition too much information. Which many do already. There has been a controversy boiling over default business policies regarding social networking and its proper use. Employers have fired employees, and even sued them over the use of social networking in the work place. This is not going to help.

The kind of high-level tool that this new start up represents has been in the hands of enterprise level executives for a while. Business is war and in war, intelligence rules. The difference here is that salespersons and small companies all over the place will be spying on each other and making that first contact with the prospect count by already knowing the answers and the questions. Maybe, as most people in business use social networking for business and sales prospecting is already an online experience. What this package does is use semantic search and online information aggregation to make it a lot easier.

What about real Espionage?

Could this be a tool in the hands of governments to conduct real spying? No, as it would be a step backwards for the government, since our government is orders of magnitude beyond this. “Social Espionage” is the beginnings of the trend for real business intelligence to be packaged and sold as a product for those who cannot afford the bigger one. The explosion of social networking and its use has made the market ripe for these kinds of start-ups.

Social networking is already the new background check for prospective new employees and most professional employment consultants know that your online profile is your resume. Tracking the buzz on twitter for this or that keyword is the insider secret to what’s really trending, and Facebook information is the most sought after of all. This trend is here to stay. Of course, “Social Espionage” has yet to become an industry buzzword and it may never, but it is even more exciting to the John Le Carre novel fans that real business insiders use it.

Guest Author: Jon T. Norwood is a managing partner at High Speed Internet, a site dedicated to providing information on Internet providers and technology.  Jon can be reached at jon@webexordium.com.

Some people think just because they are behind the computer, etiquette rules do not apply. But, online image and etiquette are just as important and may make a huge difference with how you build and nurture relationships.

The Internet can be one of the most ambiguous channels of communication. However, it is also one of the fastest and greatest ways to communicate. Nowadays, many of us find it hard to survive without email or social networking sites.

Networking online is an art; building mutually long term relationships requires the same quality of professional courtesy and dual respect as any other means of communication. Inner wellness can be expressed in many forms through social networking sites and email.

Netiquette is a code of ethics for the Internet. Unlike the code of professional conduct of accountants, lawyers or doctors, which is supported by legislation, the code of conduct for the Internet requires high levels of self discipline that is ultimately dependent upon our inner quality. When no one can see what we are doing, what else do we have, but our soul, to keep our decorous behavior?

The suggestions below are a basis of good universal code of conduct for email and online networking:

Email

- Never contain too much personal opinion, emotional elements, cartoons, slogans or jokes when sending formal business email.

- Learn to use the emoticon chart (below) as they are all appropriate for informal business emails to keep us up to date:

- Do not show a humorous character that may be offensive to others as we have no way to support our humor with proper body language or to see if our message is being interpreted correctly. Even self depreciating humor could cause others to see you as a low esteemed person.

- When forwarding appropriate jokes to co-workers or friends, do not send them too often. Also, be careful of sending attachments with huge file sizes.

- Forwarding should not be sent to everyone in your address book. One good principle to remember is that no one has the ability to stop the mail delivery once you click “Send.” So, make sure you choose wisely before sending a forwarded email.

- It could be rude to use BCC on personal or family emails. “Season greetings” messages or e-cards for special events should be sent individually. For some people, the CC function is marginally acceptable.

- Do not forward any unverified warning or urgent assistance to others. Experts claim that currently there is no way for anyone to count the number of copies of an email in circulation on the Internet; nor can the number of times something has been forwarded be counted.

- Keep flaming at a minimum. Flaming stands for deluge of critical e-mail, the directing of a large volume of abusive and insulting email at somebody, often as part of a flame war.

However, flaming also describes a situation in which a person or group of people express their criticism or negativity about something. It could be news, current affairs or world events. When a flaming is directed toward a country, a race, group of people, a person and his/her beliefs, prejudice and offensive elements are hard to avoid.

This kind of flaming should be minimized as much as possible. Unnecessary confrontation is a target of avoidance on the Web. When you find that you are inevitably involved in flaming, notify your readers and maintain your objectivity. A professional individual maintains their professionalism, even when he has to fight or confront it.

Social Networking and Online Forums

You do not have to travel to meet interesting people from different places of the world because now, we have Facebook and other social networking sites.  There is nothing more fascinating than talking with interesting friends from around the world or joining insightful forums without having to pay entrance fees.

However, it pays to remember some basic rules to remember when talking to your global friends:

- Netiquette itself has no legislative standards at the moment and is different in other countries. Do not expect everyone in your discussion group to follow the same rules. Stay positive and keep an open mind.

- While you are free to express your opinions, do not expect everyone to agree with you or to share your beliefs.

- Never jump to conclusions, especially when you join a forum that is in the middle of a discussion. In such situations, be patient to observe and catch up in the discussion– before posting any comments.

- When posting your point of view, be sure that it is a constructive and informed one. Sending premature messages gives people negative feelings and may even lead to flaming. It is very immature to be discussing something that you know nothing about.

- Utilizing FAQ is a good way to avoid asking stupid questions. In reality, more than 85% of your questions are answered by the preset FAQ.

- Finally, remember that you are actually talking to human beings. Your computer is no more than a tool to communicate; it is a tool of technology and limitation at the same time.

In conclusion, email and social sites are here to stay. Every day, there seems to be something new “popping up” for us to decide to join. So, we always have to remember to maintain a professional image and practice common etiquette rules anywhere we decide to network.

Do you have any other suggestions for online networking and communicating?  How about any stories to share or comments to make about maintaining a professional image online?

Guest Author: Since 1985, Dr. Joyce Knudsen, AICI CIM (Certified Image Master) has been President of The ImageMaker, Inc.® and has been an International Trainer, Author, and Mentor. For more information, go to www.imagemaker1.com. You can also read inside her new book here: http://amzn.to/a92p7V

It is fair to say that most consumers consider Google and Facebook the Internet in its entirety.  While they may be aware of other sites, when they think about the Internet, what they are thinking about is one of the above corporate giants. Social networking has been around for a long time. One of the first online communities was “The Well,” which still exists and was created in 1985 as an extension of the “Whole Earth Catalog.” MySpace, Xanga, and many others were very popular until the Facebook juggernaut took over the entire Internet. So will there be only one search engine or a single social network in the end?

The Faceless Book

It was not too long ago that Facebook was, while successful, just one of a number of social networking sites that people used to keep track of friends, communicate, and post pictures and messages. Friendster, MySpace, Xanga, Classmates, and others all served different demographics and markets.

Facebook on the other hand was originally a social network strictly built for Harvard students, and because exclusivity breeds desire, it led to Facebook expanding to include all Ivy League students. It later expanded again to include all college students of any school, and, finally, anyone with an Internet connection. This “forced scarcity” and tiered rollout created a huge demand and now we have the Facebook of today.

Facebook now claims to have 500 million users, which, if true, constitutes 25 percent of all Internet users. The other social sites have faded fast and while some have survived, many are no longer in business. With the social networking side of things well in hand, and Google the largest gateway to the web, Romulus and Remus rule us all and we are experiencing the end of the Internet. Or is it?

The Little Guys Strike Back

Like Twitter, Facebook has become awash with companies and individuals seeking to make a name for themselves, generate sales, and drive traffic to their sites; however, nothing could be more annoying. A certain amount of that is to be expected, but when the party population is more networkers than friends, it starts to go flat, and for this reason, other sites are starting to strike back.

Angie’s List is a good example. The website serves as a clearinghouse for reports and reviews on services rendered by contractors in order to aid others in finding good help and avoiding bad service. The company’s recent television ad campaign is proof that it is not fading. Recently a rush of sign-ups for Quora and Aardvark exploded; these websites provide question and answer services in which people can ask a question and get answers from other people on the network.

Increasingly, other social media efforts are gaining back the ground that Facebook claims to own. Actual social networking sites like Path and CollegeOnly are gaining momentum by limiting membership and limiting the number of friends a user can have; up to 50 in the case of Path. These sites are indications of a trend; people are looking to get away from the giant crowd and to a more personal place.

Create Your Own Social Network

SocialGo and Ning are not social networking sites, but they could be the beginning of the end of Facebook’s domination. With services ranging from free to $150 a month, anyone can create their own social network. Do you really want a stranger watching you share pictures with your family in Oregon?  Why not create a social network for only your family and friends and end the problem. Facebook has many privacy issues and this is a clear answer to most of them. Are you an avid Fly Fisher? There is a site for that called Troutpad, as a site exists for just about any hobby or interest.

Facebook may have created the social network as a popular new “Killer App” for the Internet, but the future may not belong to them. History buffs will remember that at the turn of the twentieth century, America fought back against monopolies and won. Maybe it is time for that to happen again only this time users can do it for themselves. There are many alternatives out there and users are starting to find them. The social networking monopoly, or claimed monopoly, will be temporary and people will begin to break off into more exclusive, “walled communities” that are private and safer driven by the increasing security threats and information privacy issues. Teens used Xanga as a way of keeping away from parents eyes. Perhaps the adults are doing the same thing.

Guest Author: Jon T. Norwood is a managing partner at Broadband Internet, a site dedicated to providing information on Mobile Broadband News.  Jon can be reached at jon@velocityguide.com.

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Twitter can be an amazing way to reach your ideal clients and build a relationship that makes them want to do business with you.  Twitter sends 13x more traffic with fewer followers than Facebook…If you do it right.

But how do you know what to tweet?

You DON’T want to end up with a Twitter account full of meaningless twatter no one cares about.  You know the tweets I’m talking about…

“Meeting my girlfriends for a grilled cheese sandwich and fries.”  “Can this day get any worse?  I hate the rain.”

Do your clients really want to read that stuff?  Probably not.

What kind of tweets do you want to write?  The kind that make people click through to your website.  The kind that transition them from Twitter follower to paying client.  You want to write re-tweetable tweets.

71% of tweets produce NO RESPONSE.  Only 23% get replies and a mere 6% get retweeted.

But some Twitter superstars get re-tweeted all the time.  What’s their secret?

The easiest way to write re-tweetable tweets if by letting other people do the hard work for you.

Here’s what I mean…

Thousands of people in your industry are blogging about topics your followers would love to know about.  All you have to do is locate those blogs and share them with your followers.

Why would you want to do that?

• The more cool stuff you share with your followers, the more attention they pay to your Twitter stream.
• Your followers are more likely to re-tweet your tweets to their friends who share the same interests…which means your tweets can go viral in minutes.
• You’ll be training your followers to look to you as the trusted resource for the latest news in your industry.  Then when you tweet about your own business…between all your other re-tweetable tweets…they’re going to click through and buy your stuff.

Here’s a formula adapted from Don Crowther for writing re-tweetable tweets in only 5 minutes a day.  It takes a little time to set up initially, but after that, you’ve got a fountain of re-tweetable topics that runs on autopilot.

1. Make a list of the information your ideal client is interested in.  Good ideas for topics: their biggest questions or challenges, things they want or need to learn about.  Also consider any hobbies they have outside their relationship with you. For example, I’m working with small business wedding professionals.  Topics of interest to them include wedding business tips, wedding trends, and wedding fashion, as well as general marketing and sales strategies.
2. Search the Internet for the best 20 blogs on these topics.  (If you really want to take this to the next level, find 100-500.) Grab the RSS feed of each blog.  You’ll find this by clicking the little orange RSS feed icon in your browser bar or on the blog page.
3. Import your list of RSS feeds into Google Reader or another feed reader of your choice.
4. Whenever you need something new and cool to tweet about, look at the posts in your feed reader.  You’ll automatically have the latest industry trends and strategies at your fingertips.  Pick one and tweet about it.

Watch this video below to learn how to find those RSS feeds and put them into Google Reader:

This strategy makes it simple and easy to come up with fascinating, totally re-tweetable tweets that your ideal clients will love.  And guess what?  It’s a great resource if you’re looking for ideas for blog posts and Facebook updates, too.

What’s your best strategy for getting re-tweeted?  Leave a comment and share with us.

Guest Author: Want to learn more business strategies like this? Visit BookMoreBrides.com; Stephanie Padovani  specializes in helping wedding professionals build a 6 figure wedding business without fighting about price or wasting money on advertising that doesn’t work.

Everybody’s waiting for the next big thing. You’ve heard this phrase before. You’ve even seen the proof, but you are hesitant to jump on the social media train yourself. Trust me, it is the next big thing, and it is already here.

We all love rags to riches stories. Perhaps a few kind folks are altruistic and are genuinely pleased when a little guy hits the big time. Most of the rest of us just think, “If that person can do it, surely I can.” Success stories breed more success, so in that spirit, read on for the impact social media can have on your business, no matter what niche you are in.

IdeaPaint is a Boston-based company. They have a website, and on this website they maintain a blog. How do you blog about paint, you may wonder? The answer is that if you are passionate and customer-centered, you can write enthusiastically about anything. This company was smart enough to share their blog on their company Twitter and Facebook pages. They take advantage of the social aspect of this media and take time to interact with their customers via these friend and information generators known as social media. The impact of choosing to market this way? These social media platforms are now the company’s largest source for increasing their leads and traffic. The growth is not only maintaining but ramping up, and that means good things for this business.

There is so much available to business owners now, which was unfathomable to previous generations. Pictures have been around for a long time, but when you have friends on Facebook who also take pictures of your product and post online about how much they like your exclusive merchandise X, suddenly the possibility of reaching more people from the trusted status of friend increases dramatically. If you choose to tweet about what is important to you – not just your product – but you as a person – your base grows and grows as you get the word out and contact more people.

The key to succeeding with social media is to try every aspect of it and give it your concentrated effort. If videos serve your business best, track down a talented script writer and actors who can pass on a touch of wild and crazy, and you will immediately appeal to the social networking crowd. Be active in promoting your brand, in being out there, being real and becoming the person they will look to when they want your merchandise or service X. Just don’t be afraid to stick your neck out a bit – it is really the only way to snatch up that coveted attention and get yourself known.

Guest Author: Margo Smith graduated with a B.S. degree from BYU. She draws from her experiences as a modern day children’s governess, her time spent in New England, her years in the corporate world and an author’s perspective on life when writing articles about all kinds of subjects from communications to online classes to social media.

It was only a few short years ago that mobile searching meant driving to the nearest library and ploughing through dusty tomes to find information that would at best be slightly out of date, and at worst, utterly wrong.

The development of mobile phones has changed all this, and it is now easy to search for information wherever a phone signal can be found. This has opened up a whole vista of possibilities and has been extremely successful. Now many businesses, as well as millions of individuals, not only use mobile searching as one of their key methods of accessing information, but as a new way to access tools such as mobile billing.

Recently, there have been a number of developments that promise to take mobile searching to a whole new level and maximize its potential to such a degree that it may even become the dominant search platform of the next decade.

Google has fired the first salvo in the battle for mobile search dominance with the launch of Google Instant. Essentially a real-time search engine, current estimates are that it can on average take two seconds off a search. This, of course, may not seem like much but when you consider how many searches an average business’s employees carry out in a month, the total time saving becomes significant.

It is therefore unsurprising that this is often the single most important point for millions of users. Time is a commodity that has never been more in demand and it therefore follows that anything that can provide the user with a time saving is something that will play a pivotal role in the future.

Beyond this what does the future hold? Although predicting the future in the world of technology is always a risky business, there are some things that we can say with a degree of certainty:

• Google Instant will continue to develop and at the same time, other search engines will move towards the real-time model.

• Search engine focus will move in the direction of personalized searches. These will utilize an individual’s data (with their permission) to help narrow down search criteria. For example if a user has a large database of music, web articles and images of the Rolling Stones and they then use a search engine to look for “stones”, it will automatically look for relevant information on the rock group and ignore anything to do with pebbles.

• Social networks will play an increasingly important role in search engine results. In practice this will mean that a search engine will use the information not just about the user, but that of the user’s social network. This promises many great advantages chief among them a much more focused set of search engine results.

• Perhaps the most exciting development and the one with the potential for biggest leap forward in mobile search is the possibility of automatic searches that continue even when the user is not online. This could work by using a combination of search history, social networks and a predictive element that will result in future searches being much more focused and efficient.

This ability to have a much more user-centric mobile experience will benefit not just the ability to advance mobile searching, but other key elements such as mobile payments. A more receptive and intelligent mobile platform will help it become much more intuitive and along with the ability to have much more refined search results, the outcome will be an enhanced mobile experience.The future of search is both exciting for the user and full of possibilities for the business.

It is time to ask: what can my mobile search do for me?

Guest Author: Vera Mosley is an expert in mobile marketing. She is also a blogger and freelance writer for a mobile aggregator.  Additionally, Vera loves to spend time outdoors with her family.

The Moment You Have Been Waiting For Is Finally Here…

You may already know that I recently launched a Facebook page, and I’m already giving some great giveaways every Friday.  And now, I have an even BIGGER announcement…drum rolls please…

At last, the time has come to announce some very EXCITING giveaways to my online community!

For the past few years, everyone online has been so amazing with supportive comments, compliments, retweets, shares, and referrals.  I feel very blessed to have a career that I am greatly passionate about.  I have special appreciation for all my supporters who keep me going every day…you all make me look forward to logging into my social networks every morning.

SO NOW, it is my turn to give back to the community through this one-of-a-kind EXCLUSIVE giveaway!

I am doing this for several reasons:

• To show my community how much I appreciate them for all the kindness and support they have given me.

• To get to know all my supporters on a stronger level.

• To educate my community on the power of the Internet and the endless possibilities of social media.

• To help the winners start 2011 with a powerful and sustainable online strategy to help them enhance business results.

• To officially announce the launch of my Facebook page, and YES of course to bribe you a little to join the community of innovators.  I know, it’s a little tricky, but I am being authentic .

• To have some social media fun and put a smile on everyone’s face!

Simple Giveaway Guidelines:

• Must be a LIKER of Facebook page.

• You must also engage on the page as much as you can between October 1, 2010 and November 30, 2010.  My assistant and I will be taking note of the people who comment and communicate with me during this period.  To make this easier for many of you, I will be throwing out discussion questions and sharing posts to create dialogue on the page.   Only people who engage with me at least once per week during the specified time period will be added to the raffle.  Remember, this is a social media learning experience as well!

• Must be a business owner or be working in a corporation that has an online presence or wants to start an online presence.

• My assistant and I will also keep track of everyone who shares this giveaway to their networks, on their blogs, forums, etc.  We have monitoring tools in place to help us keep track of this as much as possible.  Of course it is not required to help me spread the word, but you may get some bonus points, and you may even get a bonus prize for sharing the wealth.

• Must be 18 years of age or older.

• No purchase necessary to win.

• Must be willing to have a little fun and be determined to win.

• Important Note:  This giveaway is no way associated with Facebook.

On December 1, 2010, I will randomly select four winners to receive the below prizes.

So, what are you waiting for? Become a LIKER and join us for all the exclusive giveaways and FUN learning experience!

If you have any questions regarding this giveaway, please comment below and I will be sure to answer them.

From high school students to executives, everyone is using social media to connect in different ways. It may be because with such a large user base tapping into the web, there really is something for everyone. Job seekers turn to LinkedIn for career connections. Musicians are still turning to MySpace to make a name for themselves. Marketers are giving their products a voice through Facebook and Twitter. Publishers are re-inventing themselves with new ways to deliver content.

With this infographic, we’ll take a look at a few of the fears and promises of each of these points of view and try to shed some light on why it works.

More Social Networking History

The first social computer network was created in 1978 with CBBS, the Chicago Bulletin Board System. Bulletin Boards were hosted on personal computers connected through telephone-based modems.  These systems allowed for access to decentralized forums (Usenet), social gaming and file transfer.

The next evolution was dial-in networks such as America Online and CompuServe.  One of my favorites in this time period Sierra’s ImagiNation Network which replaced the text based BBS systems with a rich gaming environment that took the form of an amusement park. You could create avatars, chat and connect for games.

Even before Friendster, the connection concept was online with SixDegrees which started in 1997 with the idea of connecting contacts, then it was MySpace with its powerful database.

Now it’s all about Facebook, which has more users than the population of any country in the world outside of the U.S., China or India.  Television took 13 years to become as popular as the Internet, which only took four years.  More than 100 million people have joined Facebook over nine months.

Guest Author: This is a guest post by Brian E. Young, a graphic designer and illustrator who blogs and podcasts about creativity at www.Sketchee.com.

As you may already know, I launched my new Facebook page a couple of months ago.  My goal for this page is to educate likers on how to properly use the social web  for their business and to empower them to think of unique and creative ways to engage their audience as part of a long-term strategy.

On October 1, I will be announcing a huge giveaway exclusive to all likers of the page.  If you are not already a liker, I would love to have you as part of the community so you can join all the excitement!

A couple of weeks ago, I announced “Fun Friday” to give back to my community. This is my attempt to create a fun learning experience, get to know and educate my community as much as I can as well as give them an opportunity to get to know me better.  Every Friday, I post a trivia question or scavenger hunt at 9 a.m. Pacific.  The first person to answer the question or find the item I hide of the hunt, will receive a 1-hour complimentary phone/Skype consultation with me.

I already gave away three free consultations and all were extremely excited about what they learned just from a 1-hour phone call.  Below are the unsolicited comments they posted on Facebook and Twitter:

This week, Jarrett Gucci of Dynasty Web Solutions (the brilliant mind behind my Facebook page design and a WordPress WIZ) helped me come up with a fun scavenger hunt.  All participants had to find “Mini Mirna” (a small image of me) on Jarrett’s page, then double click my image to receive a social media tip (see images below).  The first person who reported the tip back on my page won the scavenger hunt.  There were approximately 30 people who liked Jarrett’s page to try to find me.

A lot of creativity and planning went into this, and I hope many of my Facebook likers learned a new fun way to engage their audience with social networking.  This is what it means to entertain, educate, and collaborate — all essential elements of social media.

There I am standing on top of the world!

It’s been a blast every week, and I hope a lot of you will join us every Friday and spread the word, please!