Facebook, MySpace, Hi5 and Friendster

I feel comfortable grouping these social networks together. To me they are all basically doing the same thing under the same premise. I mean there maybe subtle differences, but that’s pretty much where it ends. If you disagree with my assessment, feel free to email me and explain where I have erred.

These networks all work at building a social network through various means. After you join you allow them to access your email address book. That address book is scanned to determine if any of your contacts are already members of the network. If they are you can send them an immediate invite. Second, you send out invitations via email to those who are not already on the network to ask them to join. Then you begin the tasks of posting albums and photos, notes, wall posts, greeting cards, post cards, video. Then you join discussion groups and fan pages. From your group you can again post pictures in albums, send invites, provide updates and start discussion. There are also many, many applications for anything you can imagine. Sending a hug, drink, plant to having a snow ball fight (all virtually, of course). Every action you take is logged and noted creating a “News Feed” this enables your friends and networks to follow you and do the same; check out your new photos and the photos you have commented on; wish the same people happy birthday and more.

Facebook was founded on February 4, 2004, here is what the Facebook website says about itself and I am sure the other referenced networks say something similar about themselves, too.”Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected.
Millions of people use Facebook everyday to keep up with friends, upload an unlimited number of photos, share links and videos, and learn more about the people they meet.”

All of these networks have also become part of the myriad of Internet Marketing tools. What does that mean in exactly and how can it be used?

On his blog, Paul Isakson talks about how we should leverage social marketing and that the way we should do that is to, “Do Something Worth Talking About.”

One example of this was suggested by one commenter simply named sandwich,

“I like the way Gibson Guitar put videos on their website, giving teaching lessons. Lovely example of them doing something interesting -  http://www.pauldervan.com/2008/04/be-interesting.html”

So go out there and “Seize the day “with your social network and do something worth talking about!

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Twitter – A Social Network

I have decided to due a series of articles on a few of the social networks. Twitter is a bit different from Facebook and MySpace varieties of social networking. There are no photos or albums and you have followers instead of friends. When you log in to Twitter the first thing you’ll see is the question, “What are you doing?” This simple phrase has caught on all over the net and is nearly as ingenious as AOL’s, “You’ve got mail.”

Twitter see’s it self as an ongoing conversation. I say something, you say something. Tell me what you’re up to and I reply what I am doing and so on.

Many internet based businesses rely on social networks to spread the word about them, twitter is especially a good tool in this regard. One VA forum, VA Revolution has a very good article on Twitter here.

Interestingly with the popularity of Twitter the advent of tools to further extend twitter have been developed, VA Revolution’s article informs:

“Twitter’s arrival has also lead to the creation of different platforms and applications to make it appealing to just about everyone. Popular applications include, Twitter Fox, Twhirl, TweetDeck, and TweetMyBlog. Twitter Fox and Twhirl give users who are prefer the instant messaging look and feel a way to use Twitter in somewhat the same manner. Twitter Fox is an extension for the Firefox browser and Twhirl is a desktop application.

TweetMyBlog is a way to automatically post updates from a user’s blog to Twitter. In order to use it all one needs is a Twitter account and an RSS feed from their blog. It will automatically posts a tweet using your account when your blog is updated.

Tweet Deck is another desktop application that allows for more organization of updates. Instead of posting all a users tweets one right after another, it allows the user to organize tweets into separate columns within the application. For those who have customers and friends on Twitter this is a great feature.”

From Crunch bas, some background on Twitter the company:

“Twitter, founded by Jack Dorsey, Biz Stone, and Evan Williams and launched in July 2006, is a social networking and micro-blogging service that allows users to post their latest updates. An update is limited by 140 characters and can be posted through three methods: web form, text message, or instant message. The company has been busy adding features to the product like Gmail import and search. They recently launched a new site section called “Explore” for external and third party tools that interact with Twitter and a new visualization tool called Twitter Blocks.

The service was started by Obvious Corp, who also started Odeo.

In April 2008 Twitter launched Twitter Japan in partnership with Digital Garage.

So as you can see, Twitter is a relative newcomer as compared to Facebook and MySpace who both have been around since 2004.

So, I end my write up with a poignant question, “What are you doing?” Let me know on Twitter.

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Working from Home –A Wonderful Resource

Several years ago, probably due to sheer boredom working long hours on a helpdesk on a weekend double shift, I discovered social networking and later blogging. It wasn’t until I moved to Bangladesh that I discovered the advantages of Facebook, MySpace and LinkedIn networks.

Now, many people think that these networks are for the teenie boppers, but that is a misconception. Recently I came across this article on CNN that talks about how Facebook is developing controls that appeal to the adult market. Social networks have grown and Internet gurus have seen the marketing potential of these sites. Internet marketing has found new niches using social networks to drive Internet users and potential customers to their sites.

I took the below quote from this website because it truly represents the focus of today’s new workforce.

“As Squidoo and other social media sites like MySpace, YouTube and Facebook become the choice social networking sites for adults (if they aren’t already!) businesses and companies must be prepared for not only the huge exposure opportunities they present but they must also be ready for the fundamental shift in marketing that social media sites will bring.”

A few months ago, I came across job title that was new to me on LinkedIn, Virtual Assistant. Then I did a search on LinkedIn and found many “Virtual Assistants”. So, I began wondering, “what is a virtual assistant?”. This lead to me to do a few google searches. Naturally, Wikipedia was right there with a definition that explained a bit.

Virtual Assistants are basically Administrative Assistants that work remotely or “virtually” from their own home offices. This is the Internet’s new answer to outsourcing and freelancing. Of course there are many other types of freelancers as well, the market is not limited to only Virtual Assistants. In fact, it is inclusive of Web Designers, Programmers, Coding Specialists, Writers, Blog Writers, Internet Marketers and much more.

This set me on many searches and networking sites looking for more information about this interesting new career that I had decided to embark on. Then one day I found a new resource, ODesk. ODesk in the basic sense is a jobsite for freelancers and a resource for outsourcers with their tagline being, “changing how the world works” and it really is true. They connect a coding specialist in Russia with a company in the U.S; or a programmer in India with an Entrepreneur in New York. Not only do they connect these people they coordinate the payment process as well. Pretty much any type of virtual work is available on ODesk, visit them today to find out more.

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Time Management

For business owners, department heads, and entrepreneurs time management is a quintessential component to balancing their work loads and life. What do you do when business tasks require you to choose between missing important milestones in your family’s life or getting mundane business administration tasks done? Sometimes these are the choices you are forced to make.

Is business more important than:

• Your baby’s first step or first word?
• Your son’s first baseball, basketball, football, soccer, or hockey game?
• Your daughter’s first piano recital, ballet program, school concert, or school play performance?

What is your time worth?

It’s a hard choice, but unnecessary if you learn to work smarter by outsourcing the mundane tasks to a virtual assistant.

What can a Virtual Assistant do for you?

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• Manage email correspondence.
• Update databases.
• Help you create that marketing “buzz” in social networks and forums.
• Customer Support.
• and much, much more.

Would you like to know more

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Digital Marketing

Most people have heard of Internet Marketing and for some it conjures op images of get rich quick schemas, yet that is only a small though unfavorable part of what makes up “new age” marketing. Have you heard of Internet Marketing Assistants, Virtual Assistants or have any idea what they do?

In today’s world the context of marketing does not rely only on mass mailing, mass media, or cold calling to attract its prospective customers. While those methods are still employed and depending on the nature of the business, creating a “buzz” on the Internet equally and sometimes more important. Most business make having a web presence a priority, but how do you drive customers to your web site?  Ads are one method, but promotional avenues are vast on the Internet.

About 6 years ago (maybe more) MySpace had launched and many flocked to it. Hi5 followed and made its entrance to the net. The social networks were a new way for people to connect, but were vastly used by young adults and teenagers. Unfortunately, they began receiving bad press because they did not have sufficient controls to protect their young clientele. All of the networks addressed these issues and more social networks popped up everyday. Based on my Internet research in 2004, when there were already over a 100 social networks people had started asking how many is too much. In 2007 there were over 350. The advent of Facebook seemed to boost the industry and revolutionized the social networking scene giving it renewed fervor.

About two years ago, someone sent me an invitation to LinkedIn a “professional” social network aimed at connecting employers, headhunters and job seekers. Last year I discovered that LinkedIn also has groups like Facebook and MySpace. Their groups are generally industry or job function specific and recently they have introduced applications. It was through these avenues I learned about this innovative industry of Virtual Assistants and virtual Internet Assistants.

Groups are a pivotal point when it comes to Internet Marketing on social networks. Many people view these social networks as evil or at least have a personal dislike for them and refuse to be a part of any of them. Yet, new age Marketing “Gurus” knew they were any opportunity to access a large pool of potential customers.

Last year the U.S. and Bangladesh both had national elections. All of the candidates had “Fan” pages on Facebook for the U.S. Elections. There were groups dedicated to hating or promoting specific candidates or parties both for the U.S. elections and for the Bangladesh Elections. The Bangladesh Awami League had a few groups on Facebook (and most likely other social networks, too) and so did the Bangladesh National Party. Below I have posted screen shots of each party’s groups.

The key to any successful campaign is how well you can market your product, party or candidate.

We all now know the results of the Bangladesh Parliament Elections. Look at the members in each party’s groups. Who do you think did a better job?

This is only a small example of the work an Internet Marketing Assistant does and in the “virtual” world this assistant works from the comfort of their own home office. Want to be a Virtual Marketing Assistant? Click here.

 

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What is a Virtual Marketing Assistant?

The way we do business has changed and so have the needs of today’s business owners. Online businesses are everywhere and look for specialists to help them create a “buzz” and draw traffic to their website and increased sales. To do that they look for Web Assistants, Blog Writers, Blog Comment Writers, Social Networking Specialists that all come under the realm of a Virtual Marketing Assistant.

Blog Writing and Promotion -Many organizations want a blog but cannot keep it up to date.  Having a Virtual Marketing Assistant ensure a minimum number of posts and active promotion increases the odds of your blog success.

List Development & Management- We all know how important lists are.  Virtual Marketing Assistants can help you manage your list, promote your subscriptions and develop eNewsletter content.

Social Networking – Do you need help managing your ever-expanding social network?  Virtual Buzz Assistants can help you manage your profile, connect with more people and response when people contact you.  This keeps your network fresh and ready when you need it.

Online Advocacy & PR – Virtual Marketing Assistants can research the web to find the best blogs, websites, podcast shows, etc. where you or your product can get free exposure.

Resource Development – Virtual Marketing Assistants can develop outside resources that point to your products and services.  This increases search engine results and provides new ways for people to find you.

Group Contacting – Many online groups provide you with the opportunity to reach 1,000’s of people.  Virtual Marketing Assistants know how to find the right groups and ask permission, so that you make a great impression.

Employee Profile Management – Every employee in your organization should have their profile online in multiple places.  A Virtual Buzz Assistant can help set up and manage these profiles, assure they meet your standards and promote them.

Community Management – A Virtual Marketing Assistant can participate in a community and encourage membership and growth.  They can also moderate the community to remove unappropriate comments.

And Much More – Get Started

 

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The Top Ten Advantages to Hiring a Virtual Professional

10.   Gaining a fully-trained, highly-skilled administrative professional without time-consuming mass interviewing or perusing mountains of resumes

9.   Reducing operating expenses (no equipment, software or office space required)

8.   Reducing employee payroll taxes and/or benefit expenses

7.   Requires no long-term, permanent commitment

6.   Helping you meet your deadlines and objectives on time

5.   Decreases the amount of time you spend on administrative tasks

4.   Increases the amount of time you spend on your business

3.   Increases your productivity and efficiency

2.   Achieves the highest quality professional results

1.   SAVES YOU TIME AND MONEY AND HELPS YOU GROW YOUR BUSINESS!!

What is a Virtual Professional?

A Virtual Professional is a highly skilled assistant who provides administrative, creative and/or technical services using advanced technology such as e-mail, telephone, fax and other resources.

Professional Virtual Assistants assist clients in their areas of expertise from their own office on a contractual basis.

While the title, Virtual Professional, may be a newer term, this isn’t a new way of working within the executive-assistant relationship.  A large majority of traveling executives already work “virtually” by e-mail, phone and fax with their assistants every week.

Virtual Professionals provide more flexibility to smaller business owners who may not need someone on a full-time or part-time basis, but who still need that expertise for certain projects or administrative tasks.

• If you don’t feel well, call a doctor.

• If you have a legal issue, call a lawyer.

• If you have an accounting problem, call an accountant.

• When you need professional administrative assistance, call LWG International Virtual Professionals!

Business Owners and Companies Hit Hard by the Recession

You’ve started your own business and it’s taken off running…..Congratulations! The problem is you are only one person doing the job of ten, where do you turn for help? Are you ready to hire a full time employee (or two) to do the administrative part of your business so that you can handle the core activities?

It’s in all the newspapers that we’re in the middle of a recession and all companies are cutting back. From laying off employees to hiring freezes. Leaving company managers in the difficult situation of carrying on with insufficient staff and not enough hours in a day.

What do you do?

Virtual Assistants come in all specialties. From Marketing, Information Technology, Office Support. LA Walsh Group is one of those rare breeds that can provide professional assistance…virtually.

Why hire a virtual assistant? There are many reasons that people do. One is that you don’t have the financial and time burden that comes with a full time employee. Take the time to visit our website (http://www.lawalshnet.com ) or email us at l.a@lawalshnet.com for more information.

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About LWG

LWG or LA Walsh Group is a Virtual Services Provider, for more information please visit our website: http://www.lawalshnet.com