As the 2008 year draws to an end, online marketing predictions for the New Year are ushered in by the Kelsey Group; they claim that 2009 will be the year when more local marketers jump to fill the social networking space.

While an economic forecast laden with negatives, analysts show nothing but positives in the social networking sphere. Some of the biggest social networking sites, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn are also among the fastest growing. If the Nielsen’s report, Fastest Growing Social Networks for 2008, is correct, Twitter has had a 343% growth since September 2007, with LinkedIn growing 193% and Facebook following with a 116% growth.  

So what do all these predictions and numbers mean for online marketers? Every one, and I mean every one, is getting in on the action.

"Oh!" said @RedRidingHood, "what fine tweets you have!"

"All the better to entertain you with," said @Wolf.

"And what good listening skills you have!"

"All the better to hear you with, my little dear. It’s all about listening."

"And your eyes; what great vision and insight you have!"

"All the better to guide you with, my pet," grinned @Wolf.

"And oh! oh!," tweeted @RedRidingHood, in a bright fit, "what sharp wit you have!"

"All the better to participate in a relevant and helpful way with” tweeted @Wolf, adding @RedRidingHood as a new Facebook friend.  

With everyone flocking to the social networking space, chances are your niche customer is hanging out online, ready for your fabulousness. In mapping out your new media marketing strategies for 2009, take the time to research. The first step in engaging customers online is to know where to find them. Unless you know where to find your people, your social media strategy will not be effective.

In honor of brevity and to focus your efforts, I’ve collated a minimal list of sites I’d recommend to anyone just starting out with social networking. Assuming you have done your do diligence and created a primary place to express yourself aka a website or a blog, developing profiles on the following sites will help you begin to communicate, connect and share with your particular audience.

            Social Networks:

·        LinkedIn

·        Facebook

·        Ning

Chances are you can find your particular audience among the millions of people populating these fast growing online networks.

            Microblogging Networks:

·        Twitter

·        Plurk

·        Kwippy.

Microblogging platforms offer a good mix of community size and ability to hold conversations which is a quick and effective way to connect with existing or potential customers.

Social Aggregators:

·        Friendfeed

·        Social Thing

Social aggregators are still unproven when it comes to brands engaging with customers, but aggregators can help keep track of buzz and conversations occurring around a specific topic.

By all estimations, people are continuing to stampede to the online space; rally the wagons and gather up your flags so you too can stake out your claim of the market.

I began to write an article about time-saving tips and tricks to be found online, but everyone is all-a-buzz about the release of LIFE photo archive. The collection contains the historic photos that LIFE published through the decades, in addition to many never-before-seen pictures of Hollywood stars, sports heroes, important people and events from the '30's though the '90's.

I did a search for the famed playwright, Tennessee Williams and caught a glimpse of the infamous writer sipping on a fruity beverage while filming a movie of his award winning play, “The night of the Iguana.” Ah, the life of a poet on location.

It wouldn’t be Google if there wasn’t a revenue stream built-in. Can I get a “monetize me?” Curious browsers or fanatical fans like me can click on a link to purchase image merchandise in the form of framed fine art photographs. Hey, what about a mug shot? I too could have my morning cup o’ joe with the fabulously rich and talented people of yore. 

The new LIFE photo archive hosted by Google is a massive nod to the flow of information and research streams found online. It’s cause for pause and reason to ask oneself, “Do I ever need to go to the library again?”  With a mission statement that clearly posits its desire "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful," you have to wonder if Google is trying to take out the library.

I put the question to you, dear reader, when was the last time you went to the library instead of hitting up the big “G” spot and googling your query? For me that was, um…I can’t remember. Have you hugged a librarian lately?

Business Week’s Jay Greene, Seattle based Business Week Bureau Chief, recently sat down with Stefan Olander, General Director of Digital Content for Nike, to discuss Nike + technology and the huge success Nike has had with brand building on the web.

Nike + is a small device that fits inside a runner’s shoe that synchs with an iPod touch or nano to track a runner’s speed, calories, and mileage burned. Once the device is docked, the runner’s data gets uploaded to nikeplus.com, an online global community for runners. With just over two years under their belt, Nike + boasts thousands of users worldwide and nearly one million miles logged in at nikeplus.com.

Between the impressive numbers for nikeplus.com and Greene’s editorial, I began to wonder why so many major corporations and celebrities have failed to make their social networks a success while others, such as nikeplus.com, have become a fertile place for brand building on the web. I believe the formula for successful brand building on the web is threefold: provide a service, make life easier, and engender community. We may not all have the gigantic budgets of Nike, but we can still apply their winning formula to our particular business model and do so with little out-of-pocket expense.

It’s easy to create quick and simple takeaways for people visiting your site and provide a service. Widgetbox is a free online resource that allows you to design embeddable widgets. Be specific and share a ‘tip of the day’ in your area of expertise or aggregate top industry news streams in your specific niche. Align your brand with excellence by becoming a resource that provides helpful and trustworthy information. To sweeten the deal, offer people who embed your widget on their own blogs a special promotion.

Inspire brand pride and make life easier for your clients by dedicating a section on your website for members to pay it forward. Community members can offer all types of freebies from free eBooks to volunteer services, free space for meet-ups or free webinars in your industry, and even movie tickets or air mileage. The idea is to encourage a sense of camaraderie and, especially during hard times, it’s nice to have a place to go where we feel we’re all in this together.

At the end of the day, the success of any social network is all about the community. I like to think of any network that engenders community as a place that typifies ‘water cooler’ mentality; it’s a collection of like-minded people gathered around one another to share trade secrets and feel part of something. FeedBurner provides easy-to-install web-based tools for audience engagement via blogs, podcasts and commercial publications. Make it simple for people to comment on a new product rollout by sending them a personal invitation to give their feedback. Encourage visitors to invite their own friends to come join a particular conversation stream.

Even without the cachet of a proven lifestyle brand like Nike on our side, we all have the ability to get creative and specific when it comes to brand building on the web.

What are you passionate about and not seeing reported in mainstream media news coverage? If you’re looking to support independent journalists and be the change you want to see in the world, it’s worth stopping by Spot.Us, an open source project that just launched in early November.

Notably, Spot.Us is a community driven project created by the Center for Media Change, a 501 (c) 3 organization with a mission to enrich culture and strengthen democracy by facilitating the creation and development of internet-base business models to preserve the economic and professional viability of journalism.

More and more people are tuning into the web for their news coverage by joining social news communities and subscribing to social news aggregators. It’s not surprising that a business model based on community funded reporting is garnering some of the news trafficking happening all over the web. As we turn to our peers online for tips on the best places to eat or purchase, so we turn to our online tribes for news coverage that isn’t touched by advertising dollars or influenced by corporate funded agendas.

People visiting the Spot.Us website can commission journalists pitching compelling issues that might be overlooked stories by mainstream media. All donations made on Spot.Us are all tax deductible and consequently, if a news organization picks up the story, all donations will be reimbursed.

 
Spot.Us is an online networking platform for independent reporters, concerned community members and news organizations that join forces online for both collaboration and support. Spot.Us is an admirable online community celebrating authenticity of voice and the sincerity of community based, collaborative news coverage. Journalists will pitch stories on Spot.Us with a title, short description, and supporting video along the writer’s qualifications and how the reporting will help the issue.

The Bay Area organization was founded by David Cohn and made possible by the generosity of the Knight Foundation, individual funders, advisors, developers, and designers. Spot.Us is an exciting new platform for web based activism and a “must watch” internet based business model for community supported, investigative reporting.

Stay in the know with this exciting new community on their blog at http://blog.spot.us/ or follow their tweets at http://twitter.com/spotus.

For the self-professed logophile (aka a word junkie,) there’s nary a dull moment to be had whilst looking for wordspiration on the web. Social networks abound as do a bevy of online resources such as the venerable A.Word.A.Day site or the critically acclaimed QuotationsBook aiming to be the foremost source for quotations, fortunes and proverbs. User or Villagers are encouraged to chat about the quotes in the Village Inn – a place to talk and meet other logophiles.

If it’s community you crave, Wordie may be the place to satiate your hunger. This is a social network for people who love words and it’s totally like Flickr, only without the photos. Here word junkies can make lists of words and phrases. Words you love, words you hate, words on a given topic, whatever. Lists are visible to everyone but can be added to by just you, a group of friends, or anyone. It’s a veritable word-a-palooza.

And like any wordsmith worth her weight in language, I save the best for last. My go-to-giggle word site of choice is the wildly wily and addictive, Word Spy, devoted to "lexpionage," or rather the sleuthing of new words and phrases. These are just a taste of their lexpionaging skills to wet your palate:

fakeaway n. A homemade meal that is similar to a takeaway meal purchased from a restaurant. [Blend of fake and takeaway.]

adorkable adj. Delightful and charming in a socially awkward way. [Blend of adorable and dork.]

social notworking pp. Surfing a social networking site instead of working. Also: social not-working.—social notworker n.

You can also catch Wordspy on Twitter.

Cheers!

Additional Online Resources for Writers

·  Top 10 Websites for Language Lovers

·  Five Extreme Language Blogs for Grammar Geeks

·  Daily Word Sites

·  Ten Blogs for Writers