Social networking is always associated at the individual level but now there is Weebiz which is a social networking community for business. It describes itself as

“a global business center that connects your company to its business relations, promoting your products and services as well as helping you find what you need to succeed”

It is a really interesting concept as business has often worked through relationships between people - I remember doing many deals on the golf course!So why not a social networking site for companies.

The site allows you to promote, to find potential partners and of course to find customers. Will it work? It will be interesting to see…I think it could as long as people see it as connecting with individuals. It is less of a social network for companies and more for individuals in a business capacity.

At least at any rate may be worth getting your business on there for any future potential revenue.

Each Friday Buzz Networker posts tips and tricks for people who want to get the most out of the web and who wants to know more about social media. Here are this weeks articles

Anna presents Social Media is like building a Town posted at The Engaging Brand

Andre Nilsen presents Using Social Network Websites to Grow your Business posted at QualityNetworkers, saying, “Marketing online is changing rapidly. A short time ago no one cared anything about the social network websites, at least not as far as business promotion is concerned. The world has changed…..”

Sheila Scarborough presents Are blogger fam trips a good idea or are they Jurassic PR? posted at Sheila Guides You to the Good Stuff, saying, “When bloggers are invited on fam trips/press trips/fam tours by tourism organizations, they may not realize some of the minefields that come with that invitation, starting with disclosure issues and content reputation.”

Missy Diaz presents Twitter Tees: How To Nominate A Tweet posted at G34 Media

Ace presents Adding A Profitable Online Solution To Your Offline Business: Your Website Part II posted at Internet Marketing Ace
>.

isabella mori presents twitter rant posted at change therapy, saying, “i’ve been using twitter for over two years. lately, two things really get my goat: mysterious replies and unsolicited DM’s.”

Alvina Lopez presents 100 Useful Twitter Tips & Tools for Web Designers posted at Web Design Schools Guide.

Alvina Lopez presents 100 Tips, Tools, and Resources for Locking Down Your PC posted at e-Justice Blog.

Brian Terry presents How to make your subscribers love you posted at Big Selling Website Design.

Andre Nilsen presents Starting A Successful Business Online: Test And Track Everything In Your Business posted at QualityNetworkers

Sarah Scrafford presents 100 Firefox Add-Ons to Create a Truly Brilliant Browser posted at Select Courses.

Jeannie Anderson presents My Journey with Gmail posted at The Writer in Me - Teaching, Writing, Living.

Ruoall Chapman presents Online Spyware Removal posted at Online Spyware Removal.

Christian Russell presents Your Internet Business is Just as Much Offline as it is Online posted at Next Level Blogger.

Christian Russell presents Use a Sales Funnel to Blow Up Your Blogging and Internet Marketing Sales posted at Next Level Blogger.

pankaj gupta presents Top 5 Open Courseware Collections in the World posted at Best online university reviews.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of social networking tips and tricks using our
carnival submission form.

Social networking is about sharing and providing value to each other. So each week I publish blog articles that readers send in to help us on the web. Here are this weeks

Ace presents Internet Marketing for Beginners: Google Adsense and Adwords posted at Internet Marketing Ace.

Anna presents Social Media Questions for Small Business posted at The Engaging Brand

Ace presents Internet Marketing For Beginners: Offering Expert Advice Online posted at Internet Marketing Ace.

Ace presents Internet Marketing For Beginners: Offering Expert Advice Online Part II posted at Internet Marketing Ace.

Sarah Scrafford presents 100 Professors You Should Follow and Learn from on Twitter posted at Associate Degree Blog.

Blog SEO Expert presents What is Onsite and Offsite Search Engine Optimization (SEO)? | BlogSEOExpert.com - SEO for Blogs posted at BlogSEOExpert.com - SEO for Blogs.

susan baker presents The Top Audio Visual Products for Schools, Universities and Libraries posted at Interactive Retail Displays.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of social networking tips and tricks using our
carnival submission form.

Nielsen produced a report on social networking which has some interesting facts on Facebook, but also shows that we should nto underestimate MySpace

• In the U.S.  total minutes spent on social networking sites has increased 83 %YOY
• In minutes in April 2008 to 13.9 billion in April 2009, making it the No. 1 social networking site when ranked by total minutes for the month.
• 
• With 120.8 million video streams, Myspace.com was the No. 1 social networking destination when ranked by streams and total minutes spent viewing video. Myspace visitors spent 384 million minutes viewing video on the site, with an average of 38.8 minutes per viewer. In comparison, Facebook visitors spent only 113.5 million minutes viewing video in April, with an average of 11.2 minutes per video viewer.
• In April 2009, visitors aged 25 to 34 and 35 to 49 were the highest indexing age groups on Facebook, being 27 percent and 23 percent more likely to visit the site than the average user, respectively.
• The highest indexing demographics on Myspace.com was people aged 18 to 24 and 12 to 17.

Facebook is clearly the social networking site for adults, however it is important to see that MySpace still has incredible strength especially for the younger generations.

Knowledge Networks has produced a report entitled INTERNET USERS TURN TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO SEEK ONE ANOTHER, NOT BRANDS OR PRODUCTS.

Now I was shocked when I read this report intially as previous statistics has shown that if friends recommend a product then almost 2/3rds of readers would likely click through to the product or service. The report shows

• 83% of the Internet population (ages 13 to 54) participates in social media – 47% on a weekly basis
• Less than 5% of social media users regularly turn to these sites for guidance on purchase decisions in any of nine product/service categories.
• 16% of social media users say they are more likely to buy from companies that advertise on social sites.
• Almost two thirds (63%) of social media users agree that ads are a “fair price to pay” for use of these sites

But then I thought….social networking is not search! It is not about whether people turn to social networking for purchase decisions it is whether they are influenced by friends recommendations and in that I believe they are!

Here is the table showing the breakdown of services.

Buzznetworker tries to bring the latest internet research and tips to develop your social media skills. Each Friday I post articles that include social networking tips and tricks

Anna presents Marketing Online Tips and Tricks posted at The Engaging Brand

Jeremy Smith presents Best in Social Media - May 11, 2009 posted at Social Marketing by Michelle MacPhearson, saying, “Cool blog on the update of Best in Social Media for May 11, 2009 issue”

Silicon Valley Blogger presents Start an Online Business: Open an eBay Store, Build a Website or Blog posted at The Digerati Life, saying, “Some tips on how to start an online business, which include discussion on how to network with others online.”

freesoftware presents List of Best Free Software for New Computer posted at I Love Free Software, saying, “Here is the list of the best free software that you can install on your new computer. We searched all over the web, and compiled this list of best free software. Each one of these is best in its class, and still totally free. You are going to love these!”

Ace presents 10 Tips To Get Free Website Traffic posted at Internet Marketing Ace.

Robert Bravery presents How to make Gatorpeeps or Twitter work for you posted at The Brave Programmer, saying, “GatorPeeps is based on the Twitter model. A Micro blogging service similar to the likes of Twitter, Pownce and Plurk. But you might say, so what’s the big deal? there is Twitter already, how is this going to take off? How will it work for me? But just like anything in life, nothing is automatic. It takes hard work, time and consistency. In this post we will be looking at a 10 points on how you can make Gatorpeeps or Twitter work for you.”

Srinivas Rao presents 7 Simple Traffic Tips for Beginning Bloggers posted at The Skool of Life.

Patricia Turner presents 100 Free Online Tools and Resources to Take Pictures of Space - Photography Colleges posted at Photography Colleges.

Patricia Turner presents 100 Best Blogs for Gadget Lovers posted at Becoming a Computer Technician.

Angel Taylor presents Top 5 Twitter Do’s and Don’t for Internet Marketers posted at Angel Taylor’s MLM Profits Blog.

Blog SEO Expert presents 7 ways to implement internal linking of your posts for better SEO posted at BlogSEOExpert.com - SEO for Blogs.

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of social networking tips and tricks using our
carnival submission form.

Nielsen has reported on the usage for March 2009 on the social networking sites. If you remember yesterday I reported that online retailers receive more traffic from social networking sites than paid search, therefore understanding which are the important sites can help increase traffic to your website.

This data relates to the US and the top 6 sites were

1. Facebook - 69,151,000
2. Myspace - 55,914,000
3. Classmates - 16,457,000
4. Linked In - 15,815,000
5. Twitter - 13,858,000
6. Reunion - 6,678,000

What strikes me is that although there is a great vibe about Twitter - and remember I am a huge fan - I think there is a tendency to forget MySpace. The other factor which struck me was the difference in time spent on the sites. Facebook enjoys 3hrs 16 mins 8 secs compared to MySpace at 1 hr 29 mins 8 secs. Linked In and Twitter are both at the 12 minute level.

For business, this shows the importance and the value potential customers place on connections, on personal friendship. It is a value they enjoy in their life, it is that needs to tap into by earning the right to be a trusted friend.

I often hear business people say that social networking is for private individuals not for business. If you are thinking like that check out the latest Hitwise data which shows that

Online retailers receiving less traffic from paid search, but more from social networks in the UK.

The article continues by giving two examples of the importance of social networking by stating

“For example, fashion retailer ASOS has a strong presence on Facebook and in March received 13.3% of its traffic from the social network. Another example – in a very different market – is online bookseller Abebooks, which currently receives a quarter of all its UK Internet traffic from social networks, more than it gets from search engines.“

This makes complete sense to me, for as we know social media has grown because, in part, of the consumers apathy to traditional advertising. Consumers are trusting the recommendations of friends more than those on a billboard or the TV. It therefore makes complete sense that friends recommending products and services are a great driver of traffic to a site.

Therefore how can you tap into social networking as a generator of traffic?

1. By the brand participating in the conversation and being a trusted friend to the community.
2. By the brand knowing and finding the right community to whom the brand will add true value.
3. By having a personality rather than a slogan.

People network for different reasons. To build their personal brand, career opportunities, sales leads and of course don’t forget friendship

I do believe that there is a difference between pure networking and social networking, a difference that often gets forgotten as the desire for quantity over quality becomes to hard to resist. Here are 

S = Send personal invites or connection requests. Show that you are not just collecting numbers but specifically want t

o connect with them. Personalising the message shows distinguishes you from the rest.

O = Offer value to your contracts by asking what can I do to help you?

C = Create gossip! In social situations people like to talk, share stories, laugh, cry…..create those stories that people can share. The stories are your way of socialising on the web. What do I mean by stories? I mean content that makes people gossip about it ….

I = Interact with your contacts. Answer tweets, answer linked in questions, show your value to their life.

A = Allow people in to parts of your personality. I believe you need to keep some back but show you personality, show a 360 degree picture of yourself.

L = Learn how to be a social hub through connecting people. Be the party organiser who bring people together who they know will enjoy each others company and who can provide value to each other. People enjoy socialising with people who bring people together.

[photo from istockphoto]

Last week Ning achieved the milestone of having 1,000,000 social networks which quite literally surprised me. Ning has fallen into the background with the emergence of Facebook groups, Friendfeed and of course at a different level Twitter. Though I have to say I wonder how many of them are fully active?

For anyone who wants to quickly put together a quick social networking platform then Ning is a great option. Twitter Moms and Mugglespace for Harry Potter fans are examples of how you can grow a thriving community.

Ning is worth checking out not only if you are looking at creating a social network but also if you are trying to reach out to niche communities. What are the key points to create a successful Ning community?

• Understand who your community is and what your community isn’t…
• Promote the community through a combination of traditional and social media techniques.
• Create value and valuable content. You will need to facilitate until the community is ready to manage the site, and during this time ensure that you give people something to talk about…gossip marketing at its best
• Keep the momentum going with fresh value, fresh content and fresh reasons to join