Looking to start your own social networking? There are many choices available that can help you begin a profitable online community, one that is designed like MySpace or Facebook.
You can even offer paid memberships, making your profits soar. Three of the most popular choices right now include Ning, Handshakes, and AlstaSoft eFriends software programs. Not all programs are created equal, so let’s review the pros and cons of these three.
Ning.com - This website is perfect for someone wanting to create their own social network, about anything. If you are not ready to create your own network, there are thousands that you can join.
The pros of Ning include that it is easy to use, flexible, and it integrates easily with Facebook and Flickr, upload any pictures and promote your Ning site on those sites, too. You can purchase premium services, such as hosting on your own domain so that you can make money from ad space, if that’s what you’re looking for.
The cons of Ning are really few; some say it is confusing to learn how to use because it is so flexible and there are so many ways to use it. Also, there is no quick link to your particular social network right from the main site. Takes a few clicks to get there.
HandShakes - This is a fully-customizable social networking software program that allows you to build a social networking service using a membership-type system. Pros of HandShakes include the excellent admin console, tag clouds, profiles with flexible questions, audio and video blogging, classifieds, event calendars, forums, and more.
Cons of HandShakes include that it can be difficult or confusing to make modifications. Limited documentation may make it difficult for a less-skilled programmer to make changes because of a zend-encoded script. Some complaints have been made about slow customer service for handling questions or concerns.
AlstraSoft eFriends - Another one of the many online social networking scripts that help you to start your own membership community, AlstraSoft eFriends has many flexible features. Personal networks, online friends, matchmaking, dating services, blogging, and more make AlstraSoft eFriends a popular choice. Pros of AlstraSoft eFriends include responsive customer support, customizable features, ability to upload photos, and an advanced admin control panel.
Cons of AlstraSoft include difficult features that require programming skills, and there are many steps involved to get the networks up and running smoothly with the ability to upload pictures and have members be fully interactive.
Social bookmarking and social media is now dominating the Internet. Initially intended as a way for Internet users to organize information and share their favorites (articles, blogs, sites, etc.), social bookmarking has now become probably the number one way that Internet users interact at this point.
A huge percentage of Internet traffic goes to these social sites. Search engine rankings take into consideration some social bookmarking techniques, and more popular items and sites get ranked higher.
Today’s social bookmarking sites have become competitive and powerful Internet forces, with advertising space at a premium and potential members banging down the doors.
The ability to bookmark, save, highlight, comment on, and rate items seriously appeals to the masses. Sites such as digg.com, del.icio.us, and StumbleUpon are now practically ruling the roost when it comes to driving traffic.
More “diggs” means more visits, plain and simple. More visits means more money.
Learn about how to use tags and metatags to help your information and your site be as organized and as noticeable as possible. Tags are basically categories, or keywords, that users would find helpful.
Users can search for information using these tags, so having the best and most powerful ones is important.
The whole idea of using tags is an interesting concept, because they are really chosen by actual human beings, but searched for and organized by search engine spiders, a completely automated algorithmic system.
Trying to select the most powerful and most useful tags is both a science and an art at this point.
So, who are the biggest names these days in the social bookmarking world?
What buttons do you need to add to the end of every blog to allow users to bookmark, highlight, comment on, or rate your blogs and articles?
Here’s a list of the top 10 biggest survivors in social bookmarking—these are the big ones to watch, for sure.
These sites were chosen and ranked by eBizMBA based on a combination of factors, including the number of inbound links, page ranking for various search engines, and overall traffic data.
It’s important to remember that, although these are currently the top ranking social bookmarking sites at this time, there are literally thousands of these sites available, and the top spots could change.
Digg.com
Technorati.com
Del.icio.us
Propeller.com
StumbleUpon.com
Reddit.com
Fark.com
MyBlogLog.com
Slashdot.org
In short, if you are looking to drive some more traffic to your site using social media techniques, these are the particular social bookmarking sites that you should pay most attention to, since they are most likely to provide you with the Internet exposure and the links that you need, leading to increased traffic.
Find the best online networks and the most accessible audiences, enhance your niche, and dominate the Internet using these top tools.
You’ve heard all about blogs. How about social community blogs?
If you’re ready to get started with your social community blog, you really want your thoughts, ideas, comments, and information about your product or service to get out there to the masses, then listen up.
How exactly should you get your social community blog started?
Follow these very simple tips on getting started with your SC blog in 5 easy steps, and you’ll be well on your way to success.
1. Pick your first social network, and build your profile there.
Many people get started with their blog with one of the “big” ones, such as MySpace, Facebook, or Twitter. These sites allow you to develop a profile-which you should fill out as completely as possible to show that you are serious about networking and building contacts!
2. Send out “friend” or “contact” invitations.
One great way to start is to send the invitations to friends you already have in your contact list for your email. It’s pretty likely that some of those people will sign up for the social networking service that you have subscribed to, giving you more contacts or friends there.
Not all of your contacts will be interested in this type of networking, but the way to increase your visibility and gain exposure is to build up your number of “friends” online.
3. Once you’ve tried to get all of your contacts to join (and it’s likely that many of them have at this point), then start growing your list of friends and contacts within the site.
Often you can search for common interests, geographical locations, and other targeted information that will assist you in building a useful, relevant network with your blog site.
Build up more and more contacts for your blog and build up your online “community.”
This is the best way to build credibility within the social networking world.
4. Now that you’ve got your first blog site up and running smoothly, and you’re starting to build a network there, look for other blog sites and social networking sites that are out there.
Try Ning, Digg, Plaxo, or LinkedIn for more ideas.
There are literally thousands to choose from. Each one of these sites is a little bit different in terms of focus, function, or purpose, so poke around and decide which ones might fit you best.
But, whichever ones you choose, you will want to build your list of these sites up and build contacts on each one-this will ultimately drive a lot of traffic to your site, based on how popular you can become with the social networking sites.
5. After you’ve gotten your blog site started, you will need to provide regular updates.
With multiple sites, this can become very time consuming, so it may help to have a rotation or a plan to keep current with all of them.
Add information consistently, so that your profiles stay current and lively. Join discussion forums, comment on other people’s blogs, leave trackbacks, exchange links, ask questions that stimulate conversations, and do everything you can to increase your contacts and network connections.
Do you have any other great ideas about how to get a social community blog started?
This is a controversial topic and has been around on the web for a while now.
Let’s have a deeper look at what social media publishers are saying about it…
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Wednesday, May 21, 2008
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