Are you willing to pay to meet friends? Twitter may think so.

We are entering another level in the world of cyberspace and social networking. Jut a few years ago chat rooms were the craze, and then came the social networks like MySpace and Facebook, and the business networks likesocial media, social networing Linkedin. Now they are trying to make money on these successful sites. So why not Twitter? Yes, the overnight successful social network is thinking people are willing to pay to meet friends. Would you pay? At present it’s free. But for how long? An article in web pro news discusses this topic further.

There are still other social networks that are free. And new ones are entering the crowded market, such as Twellow.com (still in beta). So how do these social sites profit from an industry that is hungry to meet others? Place banner ads on the sites? Collect the personal data and sell it to prospects? Or begin membership clubs to keep from all the commercials and banners?

I am not sure what the answer is, or if there is going to be an answer that meets what people will be willing to accept. Only time will tell. In today’s rapid pace of social media, we can only wait and see.

I thought this short blog will help my pr clients and “friends” in the publicity industry, as well as publicity professionals are informed about the latest direction for social networks. If you are a pr client, or publicity firm that needs help in developing a social visible network, then give me a call. I’ll be willing to guide you in the direction to take your business to the next level. Good luck, George Carson.

Keeping up with Social Media

I am constantly being asked to give more information about this growing Internet media called “social media”. To help further understand the power this new media offers you need to read my other articles on social media and also this article. Then maybe you will get a better perspective why your pr client needs to become active in social media. If nothing else happens with your pr marketing strategy campaign, make sure you consider adding a blog or other social media network to the program.social media networking

To begin, it is important to know exactly what is Social Media: Defined by Wikipedia (a type of Social Media site) defines it as “the online technologies and practices that people use to share content, opinions, insights, experiences, perspectives, and media themselves. Social media can take many different forms, including text, images, audio, and video. The social media sites typically use tools like message boards, forums, podcasts, bookmarks, communities, wikis, blogs etc.” This quote was in a white paper from More Visibility.

Notice how it describes the different types, and forms this media takes. Such as message boards and forums. If you recall, the web originated from old BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) and Chat Rooms. In a sense, social media is a more advanced network of chat rooms. But today, anyone can create a post, write a blog– from teens to mature adults in their 80’s and make comments. Unlike chat rooms that were by invitations to friends. Yes, some social media like Facebook, and MySpace keep outsiders out if you don’t know them.

How many different types of Social media web sites exist? A lot. For starters there are:

Social Network Sites. Mainly web sites that are becoming a community with the intent to create a social involvement.

Picture Sites are another. You may already be using them. These are pictures you post online to share with others, family and friends.

Video site. Same as pictures, but use videos. The most popular is YouTube. But many other new sites are emerging daily.

Blogs. Most popular among the youth, now is part of a business network. Companies are blogging faster than ever to get the name out.

Many other types are happening like music sharing sites, podcasting (the next big growth area) and gaming sites as well.

Knowing just this information should help pr clients develop stronger pr marketing strategies for their campaign. If you are a pr client and your publicity agency is not getting you to the social media front, call George Carson at Carson Marketing, Inc. He will get you in front of the line.

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Are Chat Rooms good for publicity?

We all know about these little rooms called "chats". Unlike blogging and blog sites, chats were here years before and seem to still be going strong.

Not sure what power the chats have over other forms of communication, but publicity is not in-tune with this media. I am not saying that pr clients, or publicity firms need to get into chat rooms. What needs to be done? A study of these chats in your specific market.

For example, if you are selling Hair products, you might want to know what people are saying about the use or non-use of hair products. Yes, this is marketing, but it relates to publicity as well. How? Glad you asked.

Professional PR agencies can use this information to direct the activity of a campaign. If you find that most hair products are used at a specific time of day, you might market the product when the consumer is NOT using the product to make sure your message is reaching the audience. And you might learn how they are using products. Publicity can then be directed to the places they frequent most to learn about hair products, or you might discover a way to reach these potential consumers when studying these chats. Be careful to not be a sales person in a chat room. Otherwise you might get flagged as a company, not a person in the chat room.

This example can apply to any product just by visiting chat rooms that relate to your market. If you want to know where is a good place to find these different chat rooms, try this link. You’ll be surprised at how many different topics there are. You can also do a search on Google, or any of the search engines as well.

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