Network effects or network externalities

"Network effects" of "network externalities" refers to the idea that something becomes more valuable as more and more people use it (telephones, faxes, etc.). This may be an application of the concept in the social media space ...

http://digital.venturebeat.com/2009/10/23/why-wont-location-based-networks-grow/

Fast food and social media based contests

Dunkin' Donuts and Cousins Subs are basing contests in the social media space.

http://www.qsrweb.com/article.php?id=16284&na=1&s=2

More on Ford's use of social media

Ford is also tying social media into the promotion of its Fusion brand.

http://www.wired.com/autopia/2009/10/ford-tries-social-media-for-the-fusion-too/

Using social media to listen

This post underscores the importance of using social media to listen to customers and other stakeholders.

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/137264

Promoting your career by blogging

Here's a good idea ... maintain a career blog. If done well, it may convince employers that you have skills they need.

http://www.personalbrandingblog.com/4-tips-to-write-a-career-blog-that-gets-you-noticed/

BzzScapes

Thanks to Benjamin Clos for forwarding this to me. I am aware of the company BzzAgent, but I believe believe BzzScapes is new!

http://www.bzzagent.com/bzzscapes/

Social media and the legal department

Social media marketing is sometimes in conflict with an organization's legal department. Here are some suggestions for coexisting:

http://www.socialmediatoday.com/SMC/136644

Social media as a competitive advantage for 20-somethings!

Social media as a competitive advantage for 20-somethings!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-sun-social-mentors-oct25-,0,7142585.story

Studying your networks with PeopleMap

Want to know how you are connected to someone else in the "6 degrees of separation" world? According to this post, PeopleMap can show you --

http://b2bmarketingpost.com/2009/10/05/peoplemap-a-real-tool-for-sales-enablement/

Ford Motor Company & social media

See what Ford is doing with social media --

http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3844086/Social+Media+is+Fords+Marketing+Fiesta.htm

The constitutionality of the FTC's new rules

The CEO of the Interactive Adverrtising Bureau thinks the FTC's new rules are unconstitutional --

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=115563

Dave Knox of P&G on the future of social media in marketing

Thanks to Dr. Tim Johnston for calling my attention to this excellent post about the future of social media in a marketing context.

The content is primarily attributed to Dave Knox, corporate marketing brand manager for digital business strategy at Procter & Gamble.

http://www.warc.com/News/TopNews.asp?ID=25796&Origin=WARCNewsEmail

New book on social networks entitled "CONNECTED"

This is an CNN post about a new book, entitled "CONNECTED," on social networks. The review itself provides some interesting insights --

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/10/08/social.networks.connected/index.html

The FTC and blogging

The FTC has passed guidelines requiring that material connections between bloggers and sponsors be disclosed --


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/05/AR2009100503620.html

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,560501,00.html?test=latestnews

http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2009/10/endortest.shtm

http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005endorsementguidesfnnotice.pdf

Could Google have the next great thing in social media?

This post talks about Google Wave which will be available to the general public in 2010. It is billed as "e-mail for the 21st century." Could it be???
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1217341/With-Wave-Google-aims-conquer-network.html

Interesting stats on social media and the news

Thanks to Louanne Young for forwarding this interesting post on social media and the news. It also contains some good stats about social media usage.
http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/news.aspx?id=22071

NY Times article on Netflix and crowdsourcing

This is an excellent article on Netflix's use of crowdsourcing to predict customers' movie preferences --
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/21/netflix-awards-1-million-prize-and-starts-a-new-contest/?hp

The FDA and social media

The FDA, like the FTC, is preparing to establish guidelines about using social media for promotional purposes (for products under its purview) --
http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2009/09/fda.html

This is how Ford does it

This is a good blog post on how Ford utilizes social media in its promotional efforts --
http://www.clickz.com/3635034

Integrating social media with the rest of the promotion mix

This is an interesting article about integrating social media with the rest of the promotion mix, as opposed to treating it as a stand-alone vehicle --

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=113964

How to get re-tweeted on Twitter

This is an interesting article from Fast Company on how to get re-tweeted on Twitter --
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/dan-macsai/popwise/report-nine-scientifically-proven-ways-get-re-tweeted-twitter

Ford, Papa Johns, Levi Strauss & Chevron use social media in their promotion mixes

This Courier Journal article addresses how Ford, Papa Johns, Levi Strauss, and Chevron are incorporting social media into their promotion mixes --
http://www.courier-journal.com/article/20090919/BUSINESS/909190352/-1/Category=search

Buying Facebook friends & Twitter followers

I'm not sure what I think of the practice described in this blog post:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14460087&fsrc=nwl

Men vs. women on social media

This post provides some interesting insights about how people use social media, including gender deifferences --
http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6156.html

This is an interesting quote from the article:

"Corporate marketers by and large struggle with how to use social networking sites to reach potential customers ... The problem is that execs think of online social networks as social media and treat it as another channel to get people to click through to a site ... To be successful, you need to shift your mindset from social media to social strategy."

B2B & B2C social media channels

This blog post gives the author's opinion about which social media channels are best suited for B2B applications and which are best suited for B2C applications.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/smc/118475

Starbucks is number 1 on Facebook

Check out this blog post about Starbucks and Facebook --
http://www.brandweek.com/bw/content_display/news-and-features/digital/e3idee9d1f93a71c5753e010d72c630f4eb

Three groups on whom to focus

Andy Sernovitz recommends that you focus on your customers, your employees, and your competitors for the purpose of generating word-of-mouth.
http://smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2009/08/11/andys-answers-3-people-you-should-be-earning-love-from-every-day/

Linking social media and e-mail campaigns

The company discussed here is suggesting that companies can achieve synergies by linking their e-mail campaigns with their social media campaigns.
http://news.prnewswire.com/ViewContent.aspx?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/08-10-2009/0005074817&EDATE=

John McCain's online brand

It looks like John McCain has successfully gone digital.
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2009/08/07/brand-mccain-beating-barack/

Pay for tweets?

Looks like companies are now paying Twitter users to tweet about their products (sponsored Tweets):
http://www.fastcompany.com/blog/lydia-dishman/southeast-innovation/izea-calls-transparency-can-twitter-remain-pure?partner=homepage_newsletter

The Marines and social networking

It looks like the Marines are banning access to social networking sites --
http://www.smartplanet.com/business/blog/smart-takes/smart-move-marines-block-social-networking-sites/159/

YouTube and the local news business

It looks like YouTube is getting into the local news business --

http://www.webpronews.com/blogtalk/2009/08/03/youtube-bringing-local-news-to-you-traditional-outlets-cringe
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/03/business/media/03youtube.html
http://www.youtube.com/news

Interesting metrics from FireClick

Check out the metrics provided by FireClick --
http://index.fireclick.com/

Word-of-Mouth campaign spending

It looks like companies are spending more to stimulate WOM --
http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/media-agencies-research/e3i98008be32bed3d6cf5b7e3d0a7c934d6

Academic studies on social networks

We are finally starting to seem some empirical academic studies relating to social networks and social contagion:
http://www.msi.org/publications/publication.cfm?pub=1474

http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2170
http://www.msi.org/publications/publication.cfm?pub=1564&utm_source=publications&utm_medium=email&utm_content=pub%2Bins09s-3&utm_campaign=pub%2Bins09s
http://www.msi.org/publications/publication.cfm?pub=1572

More about blogola

More discussion about the practice of accepting gifts and other incentives in exchange for blogging about products --

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111083779

Social media careers

Check out this post from CNN.COM & CareerBuilder.com to learn about potential careers in social media. Thanks to LaDonna McCuan for bringing it to my attention.
http://www.edition.cnn.com/2009/LIVING/worklife/07/28/cb.best.job.facbook.addict/index.html

Intuit uses social media for customer service

This Business Week article talks about how Intuit is saving money by using social media for customer service. Thanks to Chris Wooldridge for bringing it to my attention.
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_28/b4139066365300.htm
http://www.thefreelibrary.com/+BUILDING+A+SOCIAL+NETWORK+THAT+PAYS-a01611924597

Small businesses use Twitter

Twitter is becoming an outstanding communication tool for small businesses. Thanks to Edie Busija for forwarding this NY Times article--
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/23/business/smallbusiness/23twitter.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Starbucks is top Facebook brand

It looks like Starbucks is not the top Facebook brand --
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110369

Zappos' customer service

This is an excellent article about Zappos' customer service --
http://adage.com/cmostrategy/article?article_id=138080

Social media and revenue

These posts suggest that social media activity may be positively correlated with revenue.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/?fa=Articles.showArticle&art_aid=110120
http://www.altimetergroup.com/2009/07/engagementdb.html
http://www.engagementdb.com/downloads/ENGAGEMENTdb_Report_2009.pdf

Social Media and Customer Relationship Management

This is an excellent white paper by Brent Leary on social media and customer relationship management.

http://www.sagenorthamerica.com/assets/Sagenorthamerica/documents/PDFs/White_Papers_PDF/SocialCRM_Final.pdf

Razorfish's Social Influence Marketing Report

Razorfish's Social Influence Marketing Report is definitely worth noting, especially the discussion about the SIM score beginning on page 24.

http://www.goingsocialnow.com/2009/07/launching-fluent-the-social-in.html

http://fluent.razorfish.com/publication/?m=6540&l=1

Social media and customer service

This is an interesting post about a person who used Twitter to get a service organization to provide ... well ... service!

http://womma.org/word/2009/07/07/how-to-get-that-plane-off-the-tarmac/

Still more on blogging for pay

These links add to those below on the topic of blogging for pay:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/may2009/tc20090518_532031.htm
http://www.adventuresinbabywearing.com/
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=5288280519513576492
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/2.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/3.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/4.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/5.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/6.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/7.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/8.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/9.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/10.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/11.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/12.htm
http://images.businessweek.com/ss/09/05/0518_blogger_paid_endorsements/13.htm
http://mashable.com/2009/04/29/general-mills-moms/
http://www.blogcatalog.com/topic/myblogspark/

More about blogging for pay

This post is a follow-on to the one below:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/05/18/army-of-paid-bloggers-sud_n_203740.html
http://www.whineymomma.com/2009/05/have-your-bases-covered.html
http://www.blogopinionz.com/quick-no-fax-payday-loans/
http://www.glenndzblissfullife.com/?p=1504
http://www.thelaborparty.co.cc/2009/faster-friendly-payday-loans

Blogging for pay

Blogging and the use of other social media posts for pay is going to be addressed in the soon-to-be-released FTC guidelines. Here is some background information on the practice:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124026415808636575.html
http://www.blogherald.com/2008/07/15/blogging-jobs-how-much-are-bloggers-paid-to-blog/
http://payperpost.com/home.html
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/ap/20090621/ap_on_hi_te/us_tec_bloggers_freebie_disclosures
http://technorati.com/blogging/state-of-the-blogosphere/blogging-for-profit/
http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_much_do_top_tier_bloggers_make.php
http://www.businessinsider.com/henry-blodget-us-now-has-more-paid-bloggers-than-lawyers-2009-4
http://econsultancy.com/blog/4073-ftc-goes-after-paid-bloggers
http://www.smorty.com/
http://www.bloggersblog.com/blog/629051
http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2005/06/26/for_a_fee_some_blogs_boost_firms/?page=1
http://www.contentcurrent.com/write?gclid=CPzT-4TzxpsCFSQMDQodKgntBA
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124045072480346239.html
http://www.barefeetstudios.com/2009/05/19/paid-bloggers-still-get-google-downgrades/
http://www.payingpost.com/get-paid-to-blog.php
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/12/08/politics/main659955.shtml
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/16/AR2006091600575.html
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2349166,00.asp
http://www.sponsoredreviews.com/
http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20090629/BUSINESS/906290306/Are-bloggers-paid-to-be-nice-about-what-they-review
http://oreilly.com/pub/a/javascript/2002/08/12/megnut.html
http://workforward.org/2009/05/20/paid-bloggers-promoting-payday-lending/

LEGOs co-creates with lead users

http://ceciliaweckstrom.com/2009/02/01/the-full-value-of-lead-user-innovation/
http://outsideinnovation.blogs.com/pseybold/lego/

Co-creation

This is a good blog post about co-creation where the company and its customers work together to create new products and services:
http://blog.freshnetworks.com/category/series/co-creation-series/