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Posts Tagged ‘social networking’
Why Facebook will be the next $100 Billion company. And how it gets there.
Mike Mothner | January 21st, 2011
Why Facebook will be the next $100 Billion company. And how it gets there. People balked when Facebook turned down a $1 billion offer from Yahoo. They said the $15 billion valuation when Microsoft invested was insanity. And with Goldman Sachs’ recent investment at a valuation of a whopping $50 billion, the naysayers are crying foul once again. Well folks, mark my words: Facebook will be worth $100 billion in under 5 years, and I think it could be half that time. Here’s how I think it is going to happen. Before I get to that however, let’s recap the naysayer’s argument. At a valuation of $50 billion, that is a whopping 25 times their estimated revenue of $2 billion last year. By comparison, stalwart Microsoft is valued at about 4x revenue, Apple about 5x revenue, and Google about 8x their revenue. So 25x is obscene. The other arguments that Facebook’s value is grossly inflated include: They may have 650 million users globally but many are international and hard to monetize They may deliver an enormous number of page views (about a quarter of all page views in the US belong to Facebook, which is an astonishing statistic) but they aren’t worth much to advertisers They haven’t really figured out their revenue model yet It’s just a big photo site and place to post worthless information; there’s no true utility Social network users are not loyal; Facebook could become the next MySpace All of those are completely valid arguments. What Continue reading…
Google Me & You: Taking Social Seriously
Michael Block | June 30th, 2010
Kevin Rose, the founder of social aggregator Digg and all-around Internet bigwig, recently tweeted that Google was up to something big and that it was purportedly called “Google Me.” After much hoopla, major online news channels were confirming the story and already speculating on what Google Me meant to the social fabric of the Internet. Would Google Me become an adequate competitor or even replacement to Facebook? Is Google taking this project seriously? Would it be a huge success like Gmail or a huge bust like Google Buzz? When can we expect it to launch? The one thing that we know for sure, though, is that we don’t know much yet. Much like all the speculation about Lebron James, it seems that we’ll just have to just wait until Google Me is finally unveiled before we have the real scoop. If you’re interested in reading more about Google Me, I’d recommend the following resources: Former Facebook CTO: ‘Google Me’ Is Real, And It’s Gunning For Facebook [TechCrunch] Openness Would Decide Whether ‘Google Me’ Is Genius or Garbage [Wired] A new social network? ‘Google Me’ [CNNMoney] These articles not only give you a great cheat sheet on what you may be able to expect from Google Me, but they also detail what may cause Google Me to succeed or fail, how it might be different from Buzz and how it may choose to fight Facebook. It’s really riveting stuff and I wouldn’t deign to suggest that I know better than any Continue reading…
Tags: facebook, Google, Google Me, social marketing, social networking
Posted in Social Media | 3 Comments
Tues News: 10/6 (Online Takeover Edition)
Michael Block | October 6th, 2009
In general, parents love their kids. Even still, for every father, there is a secret angst that builds every time his son passes another milestone in life. That angst is caused by the fear and the inevitability that, some day, his son will surpass him. It could come in the form of a mean crossover dribble on the basketball court or as a brilliantly written essay in history class. You never know when it’s coming but you know it’s coming. There has always been a similar relationship between traditional media and online marketing and I think that everyone in the industry has been feeling it for some time. We’re at the cusp now; online advertising is surpassing traditional advertising and–much like the dad who got juked on the basketball court or who could never write such a great paper–it was really only a matter of time. In the UK, the Internet has already passed TV as the largest advertising medium. This is the first country of economically significant size to encounter this. The UK is a nation of people who are extremely well-versed online. On many popular English-language sites, Americans are often surprised by the amount of Brits sharing thoughts in the comments section. Despite the level of online literacy in the UK, I don’t expect the other major developed nations of the world to be far behind the UK as ad spends moves more and more online. [The Guardian] We all know that magazines are in decline, however, did Continue reading…
5 Social Media Don’ts to Avoid If You Want to Make a Positive Impression
Amanda Moshier | September 14th, 2009
With the popularity of social media on the rise, more and more companies are entering the fray. Many recognize the value of branding themselves online in a low-cost, transparent way and engaging with consumers in their target demographic, many of whom have become accustomed to ignoring traditional advertisements and basing their purchase decisions instead on word-of-mouth recommendations from friends and peers. For this reason alone, any brand seeking a foothold in the future can almost not afford to leverage social media on some level; the problem is many brands simply don’t know how. If you are a business looking to get started in social media, you are on the right track. But just as social media done well will help expose your brand to the right consumers, committing social media faux pas can leave you worse off than before you started. Don’t let this happen. To help you get a handle on navigating what is still very much a new frontier, we have compiled a list of five social media don’ts and what to do instead. 1. Don’t use an alias When conversations about your brand are taking place online, valuable knowledge can be gathered regarding what the consumer wants and how your company is stacking up against competitors. While it may be tempting to eavesdrop on these conversations without revealing your identity, doing so would defeat the entire purpose. Identify your social media profiles with your company name rather than an alias and you will have taken the first Continue reading…
Tues News: 8/18 (Social Edition)
Michael Block | August 18th, 2009
Recently, I made the decision to put a halt to my tweeting for the time being. A friend of mine visited me from New York this past weekend and told me that if I didn’t knock it off with all the tweets, Facebook updates, suggestions and funny articles, he was going to defriend me… in life. That got me to thinking, “What’s going on in the world of social networking anyway?” As it turns out, the answer is, “Lots!” Today’s edition of the Tues News puts the spotlight on social networks. If you don’t know what social networks are, then I want to know where your cave is because boy, does it sound secluded! Of course, we’re talking about Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and the like. I recently saw this funny, artistic interpretation on such sites and thought I’d pass it along even though I don’t think it’s very accurate. Still, if I were to tweet about it, it might make me more popular (@mblock, everyone)! Enough chit chat, let’s get going! Have you ever wondered what kind of twitterer you are? Well, Yahoo has a new feature called “Know Your Mojo” that will tell you. As it turns out, if you ask Yahoo, I’m a “Matchmaker,” meaning that I like to send out a lot of URLs to people to keep them aware of the newest cool, funny or quirky things going on online. Of course, if you ask my friend Doug, I’m an “annoying nuisance who needs to take Continue reading…
Tags: facebook, myspace, social marketing, social networking, Tues News, Twitter
Viral Marketing Debunked, Part 2: 5 Viral Transmission Tactics to Make Your Content a Smash
Amanda Moshier | August 6th, 2009
Welcome back to the second part of our series on viral marketing! In part one, we dispelled some common viral marketing myths and explained the value of viral tactics in a time when engaging consumers with traditional methods is becoming more difficult. This is not to say viral marketing is ‘easy,’ however, and the success of any viral campaign is largely dependent on two factors: the quality of the viral content, whether a video, microsite, widget, game, or otherwise, and the transmission tactics used to seed it. Today, let’s discuss five time-tested viral transmission tactics that can be used to seed any viral content and how to make them work for you. 1 – Blog Outreach One of the fastest ways to get your viral content seen by your target demographic is to secure coverage on influential blogs in your niche. For example, if your product is something targeted at moms, you would want to reach out to the most highly read bloggers in the parenting niche. If your product is targeted at college students, you would want to reach out to top bloggers in that niche, and so on. When reaching out to key bloggers, a common tactic is to keep it simple and make your intent clear. Write a friendly email introducing yourself and let the blogger know what you are promoting and why you think it makes sense for their audience. Include a link to your content and wait for responses. 2 – Social Networking Social networking Continue reading…
Tags: blog outreach, digital PR, digital press releases, Microblogging, microblogs, social bookmarking, social bookmarks, Social Media, social media optimization, social networking, social networks, Viral Marketing, viral marketing tactics, viral seeding, viral seeding tactics
Posted in SEO, Social Media, Viral Marketing, Wpromote | 4 Comments
