Social Networking For Business Goes (More) Mainstream

Social Networking For Business Goes (More) Mainstream With Microsoft, Google Moves From: Best Small Business Marketing Blog

Today, the Wall Street Journal reports that Microsoft is eying a 5% investment in Facebook for...hold your seat... close to $500 million, valuing Facebook at close to $10 billion. Writes WSJ:

Some industry executives believe the Internet today is facing the sort of turning point that the computer-operating-system sector confronted two decades ago: Whoever controls the technology platform for buying and selling online ads could hold tremendous power over the Internet industry for years to come -- much as Microsoft was able to use its Windows operating system to shape the personal computer.

For small businesses, advertising into social network sites could soon become a key marketing strategy. Social network sites not only have large numbers of users, but they have groups and hubs of users or "friends" making them potentially a perfect venue for the type of viral, word-of-mouth marketing that small businesses crave.

Google is not to be outdone in the social network market, however. Rumors have it the search giant is planning its own major move within weeks, basically aggregating all of its Internet properties -- including search, email, photos and social network site Orkut -- into a new social networking hub.

That's just one more reason for small businesses to keep their eye on the marketing opportunities in the social network area.

My Take

Small business benefiting from social networking... What a concept. And what a great fit - allowing them to exploit their strong local relationships and to cut the high cost of their ineffective, mass media advertising.

It is just a matter of time before a creative combination of business processes is employed in a non-obvious way

Wednesday September 26, 2007 - 12:12pm (EDT)