And the world continues to go round and round. The amazing thing is that technology continues to bring the world closer and closer. The Internet is a prime example of that. Not to mention it is at the forefront of it all in many ways.

In some ways it has exceeded projected predictions. Some of the applications have enhanced more than the area or niche they were targeted at. The Social networks are a classic example of that.

Obviously the key role the social network sites were created to bring social connections to a different level than ever reached before. Of course, in the beginning many have seen it as a crafted teeny or pre teen outlet. An adolescent “web hookup” I some people’s eyes. Making the first and loudest noise was Myspace.

It wasn’t long before it grew from the “kid’s only Net playground” to a viable marketing and social network. Yeah you read correctly, a marketing tool, one worth looking at and learning from.

In the Close up series we are putting our focus on seeing examples of what people are doing with the ideas that we are interested in applying. Today’s example is Myspace. Remember we took a look at Facebook and Twitter in Part 1.

Now this is not to say you have to have a Myspace page, no, but it is a good idea to see what social networks have to offer and how you can use them. So let’s get on it!

In my opinion Myspace is an outstanding outlet for musicians. So as our first example let’s use a random musician and their web page. First up is http://www.myspace.com/katevoegele. Go ahead a pull that up.

Now, one really great thing about Myspace is that it has been around for quite a while now and the do it yourself lay out choices are a plenty. In fact there are sites that have been created to the customizing of Myspace sites. So when we pull up Kate Voegele’s Myspace page we are seeing her touch, or her people’s touch.

One common feature however on every Myspace page is the “Add to Friends”, and “Contact Me/Send Message” options. Now these are very important on a social site as you want to build up your network so many others will then have a chance to learn about you. For a musician like Kate that is paramount. And as a result she has been very successful in promoting her music through Myspace.

You will also see a place to view photos and videos which is very easy and beneficial to do. She also offers a music widget box. That is also a great tool for musicians to promote themselves and their songs. You can also use your widget to showcase other artist’s music that you enjoy.

Notice as you scroll down she features her shows and her own blog. Myspace also allows you to advertise links. You will see how she takes advantage of that and promotes her music and merchandise through banners. This is a valuable tool for you also. Whether you are a musician or have another business, be sure to feature your links and display your links or your affiliate links on your page. This of course works regardless of it is a Myspace page or another social network page.

Just to demonstrate that it is not all about music check out http://www.myspace.com/walmart_myspace. And then you have this example http://www.myspace.com/heinzketchupbottle. Both sites are examples of how a die hard following can lead to big things.

And then you have the official style pages like http://www.myspace.com/gibsonguitarcorp on the corporate level or http://www.myspace.com/appleipodsny on a store level. And then you have “small” businesses at http://www.myspace.com/laptopbaby. Or something like http://www.myspace.com/bobstarwebdesignsis another example.

In fact take a look at the variation of how they use Myspace for their marketing. I thought bobstart had a truly clever and eye appealing delivery, a nice use of flash and imagery. They also give you the adequate link to their main web site. The great thing is they have enough eye candy to deliver the message as well as the right mix of information. It is not too much and it’s not too little, very simple also. All of these are essential and very useful. They are words to live by.

Now with more emphasis on business you also have the social business network sites http://technorati.com/ and http://www.linkedin.com/. A simple example is http://technorati.com/people/BevyHost.

We can discuss some of the specific features of these sites in future articles.

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Okay so the more familiar phrase is climbing the social ladder. But for today’s discussion we are going to review the use and the benefits of the social ladder, more specifically the social network that has exploded on the Internet scene.

From individuals, to celebrities, public figures, to corporations, we have seen the bandwagon of using social sites become a necessity in promotion, marketing, networking, and just getting your “name” out there. And why not? It is very successful. I just got an electronic memo from the creator of Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg, saying they have surpassed or reached 350,000,000 users! Kudos to you Mark.

Anyhow the question is: are you using the social network sites? It isn’t just a trendy thing to do anymore you know? Although I am shockingly amazed at the amount of people who ask: “what is Facebook?’, or “Myspace”. Or “what is a Tweet?” Are you one of these people lagging behind a bit? (LOL)

Well our Close – up focus today is going to remedy that. By taking a look at some actual sites on these sites, we are going to examples of what they are and how they are used. It will also give you an idea of what you can do with them.

Disclaimer time: Listen up my friends. Remember this is not an advertisement for anyone. This is simply examples of what people are doing and a “model” that you can learn from. It is also proof that is successful and effective quite frankly.

Anyhow, let’s start by looking at http://twitter.com/bevyhost. Yes our Twitter site. As you take a look see at our Twitter site I want to explain something to those who have never been to Twitter. The use of Twitter and the general lay out is the same for every single Twitter page. Now that does not mean that every Twitter page looks exactly the same. The layout is the same.

You have flexibility with the background and color combinations. Note that the title of your page is prominent and you can, as we have, put your logo or a photo next to the name of your page. Under the main section, basically in the center of the page is a scrolling page. On the left side of the page that you can scroll up or down is a series of brief messages which are called “Tweets”. Each “Tweet” can be a maximum of 140 characters. You can use those “Tweets” to interact with other Twitter members and/or promote your site/business. Which you should be doing if you’re not already!

In the scrolling section and in the right column you will find a brief bio along with a person’s name. That is usually the person managing the Twitter page. Also most pages offer a link to their site of interest. Back to the “Tweet” section on our (Bevyhost) page you will notice that we wisely use a number of our “Tweets” to highlight reasons to visit Bevyhost.com. And other sites we wish to direct people to.

In your case you too would highlight your business and any other affiliate or partner, or maybe just something of interest to you. But you get the general idea. But just to get the flavor check out:

• http://twitter.com/ComcastSports
• http://twitter.com/CALISTATOOLS
• http://twitter.com/WeberChevrolet
• http://twitter.com/walmart_shop
• http://twitter.com/Jonasbrothers

Above I mentioned Facebook and I should clarify that using Facebook for promotion is a little trickier. They do not have a direct business page. In order to promote a business and/or business site you need to have a personal site and create a page link. Then people will have the possibility to access your business link page and become a fan of that page.
An example is this site set up to feature a blog of an American Major League Baseball Team, the Philadelphia Phillies.

• http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/pages/Philliesmaniacom/122509288854

If you pull up this example you will see a lay out a little more detailed than you saw on Twitter. Part of Facebook is similar in some ways. It can have the similar purpose but it is more extensive. Let’s take a look at some of the features and ways you can use it for your marketing strategy.

When you visit Facebook you will have these business link pages accessible to you to visit. When you go these pages you will see the name of the business and page and an image/logo also. If the site manager provides it there will be a comment next to the user name of the site. It can be a fun comment or a marketing line or anything in between. The manager and the visitor’s can use the “What’s on your mind?” box to join in or add comments.

Through the middle section are a few options. You have a message “Wall” as one of them. The “Wall” is somewhat like the “Tweet” on Twitter. Only it is not limited to 140 characters. The “Info” option allows the link/page sponsor to give the official URL and an overview and company mission. The “Photo” option is pretty self explanatory. And a 4th choice is “Discussions” in which you can start a thread or a topic, were others can participate. Actually the “Wall”, along with personal messages, is open to visitors to contribute to.

Along the left is a column that provides site related information. You have a box that you can offer a brief description of what your objective is, a section where people can see who your fans are.

On the other side, in a column on the right is as section that offers ad space for other business pages on Facebook.

All in all the interaction between visitor and the site management is always a good idea and successful. The “ongoing” concept is also a great idea because it is an incentive for people to continue to come back to see what you and others are posting.

Another good provision by these 2 sites is you can set it up so that you are updated through an email account of new activity. These social sites also are easy for your “fans” or visitors to pass on your link to their friends, which is always the most reliable source of advertising.

Oh but there are more. As we mentioned earlier you have the well known Myspace and there are others to take a look at. The truth is you can get a fine start and learn a lot by carefully reviewing Twitter and Facebook. And keep in mind regardless of what Internet business and/or Internet presence you are planning to maintain you should be interested in the social network ladder and be prepared to use it.

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Everybody likes to hang out don’t they? Every culture has places to go and people to see. We all have experienced or have witnessed people counting the minutes until work is done so they can hit the scene, haven’t we?

The world social scene has expanded beyond imagination. And it couldn’t have come at a better time for those who find meeting people awkward and difficult. For those people the new social outlet would circumvent those problems and fears.

The Internet opened a door to meet and greet people without the face to face or phone to phone clumsy interaction. The advent of chat rooms, discussion sites, and the social networks relieved the self conscious feelings of inadequate looks or intelligence and so on. These outlets allowed people to relax and get comfortable with a vast audience on the web. The Internet social explosion has also allowed anyone and everyone to locate and keep up with friends all over the place.

Sadly these social outlets also gave incentive for poor judgment like pretending to be someone you are not or deceiving others for dishonest gain. But this discussion is not about the degenerates of society. Instead we are going to review how these social sites are more than just social outlets. They are in fact marketing tools for your web page.

Let’s focus on the popular social sites. Why? For one their overwhelming success is phenomenal. Let’s check it out.

As of January 2009, Facebook boasts over 68,000,000 users who visit over a BILLION times a month! Myspace is packing over 58,000,000 subscribers who frequent the site over 800,000,000 times a month! Twitter has risen to an estimated 6,000,000 subscribers who visit over 50,000,000 times a month! Linkedin, which is more of a business themed social outlet, has over 11,000,000 subscribers and over 40,000,000 hits a month! And there are plenty more. We are narrowing our target to the biggies of the big ones.

The moral of the story is that these sites have turned into prime and fertile ground to announce to the world about your web page. The basic premise of these social outlets is that you create an account and build a nice lay out. You then invite or befriend as many people on the network as you can. As you build this “friend list” you are linked to their social page. This means you have access to all of them and you can invite them, inform them, and include them in all of your activity.

The ideal application of this is to keep open dialog with all of your friends and give them incentive and compelling reasons to visit your page and any page you have linked on your social pages. And if you reviewed the numbers above you can see the potential number of persons you can reach or invite. In fact you will learn to find those who would be more inclined to the topic, interest, or theme of your web site.

So is that it? No. The concept is that simple but the effort and thought behind the application and practice is a bit more involved. As we have already discussed, you need to spend considerable time searching out like minded friends to add to your network. And then you need to be persistent and creative in getting the word out to those in your network.

Now there is something else to consider. Often times people use their personal site to spring board their business site. Whether it is a blog, an e-tail site, information site, a tutorial, and so on, many people have successfully followed through with the task at hand and their traffic has increased. And this is a good model to imitate. But here is some food for thought.

There are those people who do not like mixing business with pleasure. And there are some of us who have quite an eclectic and broad spectrum of interests. So there may be cause to ask yourself “should I use my personal social page as my sole promotional page for my web site?”

Yes, there are a number of Internet marketing wizards who find separating our business venture from a personal site is advantageous. Now that does not mean we shouldn’t use our personal site to promote our business site. What it means is we are adding a page dedicated to the business page.

Here are a couple of examples: You have a Myspace/Facebook/Twitter page “named” Tom Terrific (your name of course). On this page you Tweet away about your life and friends but you also promote your site TomsToys.com. However you also maintain a Twitter/Myspace/Facebook page aptly “named” TomsToys. Or you have your Facebook/Myspace/Twitter page “named” Jenny of Hearts. And as you blog and blurb about your interests and wonderful life you promote your informative blog about arts and crafts “named” JennysCreations.com. Likewise you maintain an additional social page devoted to Jenny’sCreations featuring what you have going on and what is available there.

Often times the seasoned marketers use multiple social outlet sites (Facebook,Myspace,Twitter,etc), usually the big 3 or 4, but why not more? Also often times you can link your actual business page with these social outlet sites. There is an awesome feature in fact, for example if you post an article or content it may automatically or easily be bookmarked to your social pages straight from your business page. Cool huh?

So don’t go insane trying to re-invent the marketing wheel. Use your social sanity and make use of the growing social scene and plug away on your social networks.

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As the winners are announced they approach the podium with a big smile and a small acceptance speech. Ultimately it is the time to thank those who helped get them to this moment, and rightfully so. We all accept the reality that none of us gets anywhere or attain a level of success completely on our own.

In fact we all have heard or perhaps even said ourselves, “it’s not always what you do but it’s who you know”., which may be a bit over used and/or over simplified at times and yet basically true. Nevertheless we all need to be connected and interwoven in a network.

What is a network you may ask? For the purpose of this post we are talking about a circle of friends and associates that we share work related activity with, correspond with, and bond with. And it is not always as simple as that definition sounds. Why is that?

Quite frankly some of us are just not very good at it. Others do not give it enough thought or attention. Then there are those of among us who have no clue of how to build a network. Let’s address some of these obstacles.

However first we ask, why would you need a network or to engage in networking? Embellishing on our introduction let’s delve a little more into the why.

Connections are not always a “someone on the inside” doing you a favor. Connections often times are simply relationships that we have established that has established a trust and a familiarity with others in the field of interest that we are. So let’s continue in that theme in an Internet business endeavor. Your network is going to assist you and get you and your business “out there”. Yes a network gets people to know who you are and what you’re about.

Okay there you are in whatever aspect of the Internet business arena that you are in. Maybe you run a site, or write for websites, design, program, manage, promote, market, and so on. No matter where you are in the on line food chain you should be connected to those who are in the other areas that we just mentioned. And of course those who do the same things you do should be in your circle or your loop. This is your network. Not to be left out is trying to mingle with prospective customers or participants of your Internet enterprise. That would be your extended network.

The key is you need to build a network but you also must network (as in verb). Aside from the work that you do in line with your primary on line job, you should set aside a reasonable amount of time to connect with people and to instigate friendships, associations, and affiliations. You’re basic schmoozing and rubbing of elbows. Naturally this leads to obvious benefits.

Yes the net gain of networking is vast and important. With more friends and legitimate associates you can learn a lot and improve yourself at what you do, for beginners. You also will gain access to events and happenings that you would probably never find on your own.

Among the people you bond with, their newfound trust in you and your reliability will open opportunities. Perchance they need your help or know of others who need your help, which the probability of either and/or both is enormous. The more they know about you and the more confidence your network associates have in you will only improve the likelihood that you will be called upon. Frankly it will greatly increase that likelihood significantly.

The wider you extend and the more expansive you make your network, will only augment and broaden the potential for letting others know of your talents and your abilities. And it will also widened the net that will catch feelers of the needs of others who need your know how.

Assembling a network will be calculated but also a voluminous aim. That means you need quality “friends” but you also need quantity. Now that doesn’t mean that everyone and anyone will be included. In time you will learn the proper balance of where to draw the line of who to network with. The trick is to keep the pool of friendships related to the Internet goals you are striving for.

Another vital must is: do not be transparent. Be genuine and do not use people or give the impression that you are using them. Just like our entertainer in the beginning, the people in your network will become part of a support group and a team that will accomplish things together. So don’t burn bridges or try and guilt people or make them feel they owe you. This also means that you will have their best interests at heart. It should be a help each other operation.

Where to start? Any business network starts in the terrestrial world. Yes with your friends in your daily life. But it goes far beyond that. It goes to their friends for example. But with the Internet the world has gotten smaller. So reach out and touch the world through the Internet connections. Utilize social sites, forums, email, instant messaging and so on. And remember their friends can be your friends in no time.

Don’t forget now, this is a win/win situation. And what about those who are thinking right now “I do this and it isn’t helping?” Well for one thing chances are you are to heavy in quantity an lacking in quality. You may have made many good friends and you may have been helped some or have helped others. Only it hasn’t gotten you where you want to be. That is because your network is not complete or expansive enough. Many of your friends are basically in the same boat as you. Or you are on the same cruise ship but you are networking with people on the same floor as you. You need to fraternize with those who have had more success than you.

Now look I am not suggesting a social status inferior/superiority complex or that there is anything good or bad about being who you are. What we are talking about is learning and initiating a healthy friendship with people who are more experienced than you are in the field you want to be successful at. Simply put, 2 beginners can only help each other so much. And a beginner and a novice will only get so far. Neither of which is a bad thing. But the people who make progress are people who team up or network with others who are more accomplished and more plugged in then you are.

New to the network game? Or have you networked and yet feel as if it’s gotten you nowhere? Relax, this is not a reason to panic or give up. This is a time to go through your network and identify what is missing. It may even be a matter of reaching out to some of your friends who have a better knack for developing a network, which ironically is a part of the point of having a network.

So now that we have come full circle, that leaves the rest up to you.

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All of us love the expression “mixing business with pleasure” don’t we? It sounds scintillating or maybe even titillating. Oooooooh. Okay let’s get a hold of ourselves here. Figuratively speaking that is.

We all have heard of the social scene on line. Heck even the few people hiding in their closet from modern technology have heard of MySpace, Twitter or Facebook, to name a couple of the biggies. I suppose many people still see these social sites as a “kid” thing or an unemployed person’s pastime. (Just kidding about the unemployed person thing)

Truth is many “normal” busy people have a network of friends they converse with via their social site of preference. Even major news networks like CNN and Fox have segments where they entertain messages from their own social site page. Oprah even did a special show about her setting up her own Facebook page.

Which nicely segues into our discussion. Hey people, wake up! Social sites are not just about socializing anymore. Reality is that over recent years a new trend or more like a new application has revealed itself in the form of these mega popular social sites. Subscribers are using them as a marketing vehicle. For many it is a personal/business venue and for others it is primarily business.

As hinted at above, this practice is not limited to unknown and want to be’s. Search virtually any music artist or actor you know and they most likely have a social page in addition to a standard web page. Even politicians and other persons of note are jumping in on the act. I will shamelessly announce that even I have a MySpace page to share my music with the unsuspecting world.

Guess what? The overwhelming consensus among those utilizing the social pages is that it works! You know what that means don’t you?

Yes! If you don’t have one, get one. Subscribing and setting up your own page is as easy as tying your sneakers. There are also a variety of options to customize the appearance of your lay out if you wish. And you don’t have to choose just one social host either. And if you already have a page?

Learn how to use it to the fullest. Keep in mind this is not an exact science. Your approach will be contingent on what your business is and what you wish to accomplish by marketing your web page. Say what?

If you are offering a product form the creative arts, such as music, art, or literature then your page and marketing strategy will be pretty straightforward. Some sites, like MySpace even offer sites in category fashion. For example my site is a band site since I am highlighting my music.

Now if you sell real estate or you are a chiropractor and you are simply using your social site as an advertising outlet you will need to be a little more innovative. You may take a “this site is about me and what I do” or you could take a more direct “this is my business” presentation. Either can be successful. After all you can have a “Suzie the Realtor” site and a separate “Suzie the social gal” site and mix your business with pleasure that way or simply combine your personal life and business. This option will present yourself as a professional and yet a personable person.

Warning: Any on line marketing plan must be content driven! You need to be interesting regardless of the angle you come from.

It is important also to target an area if you are presenting a “local” service. As you build a list of friends and contacts, try and add persons in your local area. If your product or service has no boundaries, by all means add whoever you can from where ever you wish.

I find myself less anxious marketing myself across the social host site world because of the pleasure and business mix. You don’t have to put on just the salesman hat when you are on line at your social page.

Best of all they are free. Which by the way if you are new to the on line world it may be good practice to start on a social page and practice your marketing and content writing skills before you expand to the personal web page application.

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