Social Networking Stuff

Social Networking in the Chinese Market
By Hosea Lim

China provides a significant market and traffic flow when it comes to the internet offers that they instill. It goes without saying that the population in China is to be blamed for their importance in the field of marketing, which is why they are being considered in the development of international sites that offer different services.

China and India are two of the most important destinations when it comes to outsourcing in the field of Information Technology. Because of this, the Chinese search engine is being developed to extend its capability around the world. Some major websites that are known commonly in English are being translated to different languages, one of which is the Chinese language to develop a field that is Chinese-friendly and is culturally relevant. The contents are imbibed with Chinese methods and ideas that come from different perspectives.

Translating the resources into a Chinese-based site is tedious, but it makes the Chinese search engine more effective. Recent developments in the field of technology have made it possible to code snippets of program in the Chinese context, recognizing Chinese characters as significant. The availability of tools that make sure that the translation of the Chinese articles and websites are easily rendered, allowing for localized access.

Social networking sites are also a hit in the Chinese market and along with this is the translation of the pages into the language that its users will understand naturally. It is common that in Facebook, Friendster, Plurk, Twitter and other known social networking sites there are links to be clicked for the pages to be displayed in any language other than English. These sites are constantly looking for translations, preferably those who also use the system, and work on the features of the site part by part.

Social networking is an activity that involves global interactions and features that allow you to talk to people who may be situated in other places and speak a language that is unfamiliar to you. Because it is possible for you to access the same site in different languages, it makes the social network more adaptable and easily preferred over those that only offer the site in English.

Needless to say, there are a large number of Chinese users that are not adept at understanding or speaking English, hence the preference of networking sites that cater to their needs. Chinese search engines make use of the capabilities of translation and see to it that the social networking sites that are available in different languages are ranked higher than that of English-based sites.

Extensions in the web URL can change the language of the site and this even makes accessing easier because of the predefined letters that identify countries uniquely.

Learn Chinese SEO with Hosea. http://www.hosealim.com/

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Comparing Social Networking Sites
By Manisha Kumar

Many people feel that social networking sites are a complete waste of time. But on the contrary, social networking sites are those platforms which help us to stay connected with our friends or relatives. Apart from that social networking sites can be helpful in business purposes also. So not only you gain on relations from these sites, you also benefit monetarily from them. MySpace, Orkut, Zipitin, Facebook, Twitter and Tagged are a few networking sites which have brought together millions of people together.

The key differences of Facebook, MySpace, Tagged, and zipitin.com are bottled below:

Do they provide a legitimate social networking platform?

Zipitin, MySpace, Tagged and Facebook provide a legitimate platform, but though at MySpace your network may comprise of friends, batch mates etc, at Facebook, you can also include colleagues and business professionals. At Tagged, you can make a great profile, chat, flirt, play games and meet your friends. But at Zipitin you have much more - free auctions, classifieds, business directory and more. That’s the difference - the network on Zipitin is more professional and mature. Cute friends and relatives do not really help you in your business, especially if you are looking at a larger audience. You need a broader area of demographic profiles.

Do these networking sites offer an opportunity to reveal your persona?

MySpace has given its users power to create their personality. But on Facebook, there is not much room for creativity. At Tagged things are pretty simple and creativity is minimal. Here you can get creative about the ways on how you can meet someone special. Zipitin on the other hand has space for ingenuity and there is so much you can add to your persona. You can create a free profile. What’s more - even a 14 year old can create his or her profile, which is not allowed on some social networking platforms including Facebook and Orkut. This aspect will help you reach younger audience who may be your potential customers.

What about compatibility with Web 2.0?

MySpace offers some good widgets, but with an ever evolving new generation, they need to offer more. Facebook also offers lots of things, like you can now import Flickr photos directly to your Facebook account. Tagged has some features like tagged tip where you can send message to your previous buyer to alert that you have a new collection of pets. But Zipitin has gone a step ahead and offers you to write blogs, post events, see videos, listen to music, solve quizzes, play games and even read your horoscope!

Which one of these sites is gaining momentum?

Facebook has been there for several years now and even though it keeps offering new features, there are some features like advertising for a business, need to be changed. If you have to advertise on Facebook, you need to pay money for their PPC. Similarly you have to pay for ads on MySpace for PPC advertising. However, at Zipitin, you can post your advertisements for free in the classified section. Additionally there is a business listing, where you can see a wide range of business opportunities.

Overall, Zipitin is there to stay and shine amongst rest of the social networking platforms.

Author advises on which social networking site is good. There are many but people who are into online business should opt one which will give them maximum exposure.

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How to Use Social Networking For Website Marketing
By Elijah Jordan Kim

Social network marketing is now a major component of website marketing plans. This is the new buzz of website marketing! There’s no doubt that social network marketing is the next goldmine ready for the taking!

Expert internet marketers mention again and again how big the potential of networking sites are since they can generate massive traffic in no time from networking sites. However, a lot of business owners don’t know how to approach the social marketing arena. They are basically clueless on what are the principles and practical steps to take to gain positive results for their website marketing. Here are the basic steps that a business owner can take in joining Social Networking sites to successfully generate traffic and succeed in website marketing:

Establish Your Network of Friends

The most important thing to keep in mind when you first enter networking sites is you must not brag about your website right away. By doing this, you may just be thinking of website marketing, but if you make this move at the onset, people will see you like a spammer trying to trick them. You have to first build a network of friends who have similar interests and like minded goals. Join networks that have a community related to your niche.

For example, you can join a network that advocates for “Saving the Earth” if your niche is selling solar powered electric generators. Don’t forget to put a link to your profile to make sure that when people visit your profile they would be curious about your website and take the time to visit. This is one way to generate traffic. Remember, don’t promote your product or business in the first several weeks after joining a network, otherwise you will be ignored by the whole community and your website marketing wouldn’t take off in that web community.

Don’t Forget to Socialise Often

Schedule a specific time everyday to socialise in every social networking site that you join. This will give you more exposure to the community and it will be easier for you to connect with people since they often see you around and will likely to trust you. If they trust you, they will trust your website, too, and you will slowly gain authority within the group. Being an authority in social networking sites will boost your website marketing campaign.

Present Your Site Links Slowly

Once you have built trust and rapport among your network of friends, slowly introduce them your websites and tell them how they can benefit from it. If you have multiple sites, do not give all of these, just chunk by chunk so it will be easy for them to digest. Make sure that your website links are relevant to the theme of the community. In addition, don’t just introduce to them your website links but also if you’ve found some sites that you think would interest your network friends, don’t hesitate to share it. Again, website marketing is all about building trust and relationship to gain authority.

Stay Pro-Active

Regular interaction is a must so be consistent in joining conversations. Taking a time off for too long is not a good idea. Regularly post comments and updates to maintain friendships and relationships to keep the traffic flow steady.

If you haven’t started using social networking sites yet as one of your website marketing strategies, then why don’t you start right now! RAs right this moment, while you’re still reading this article, many of your competitors are getting leads from this powerful strategy, so take action!

The author is a website marketing specialist located in Sydney, Australia.

Elocalise.com specialises in helping local businesses to expand their potential customer base by placing their business online strategically through local website marketing. This involves consulting with the local business on their current offline and online marketing methods to formulate a strategy with proven internet marketing methods, to eventually convert a potential online querying customer into a buying customer.

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Using Social Networking Sites to Your Advantage
By Ashley Wirthlin

Public relations changed when the Internet came into play. Now, with more and more people getting online, having your own online presence is important and at times vital.

Here are a few things to consider when launching a social networking PR plan:

1.) This is not intended to be advertising. Most people (your customers) are on these networking sites to talk with friends, share things they like, and network with people. Your role on these sites is to remind people you are around and that you are an active participant in their world.

2.) Being an active participant does not mean advertising yourself. Instead, contribute to forums, comment on blogs, and join groups. As a company, create a group in your industry that offers resources for members. Encourage others to get involved as well; people love sharing their opinions, so make sure they know they are welcome. (They may assume it anyways, but knowing that it is the case always helps.)

3.) Offering benefits to joining your network is always great incentive. You don’t have to bribe everyone, but if you show yourself as being genuine and helpful to others in the industry whether they be customers or professionals, they are likely to spread the word for you. For example, offer some helpful advice, write articles, make it so people can ask you questions, and be active.

4.) Being genuine is a great way to get others to trust you. We all know that your end goal is to make a sale (or increase your traffic, whatever you cause may be), but by coming across differently, consumers can accept that you may really have their best intentions at heart. As such, convey yourself honestly.

5.) If you want to forgo representing yourself in a more professional manner, consider creating a social networking site for a company mascot, such as the Gil the crab from the Honda Element campaign, who has a MySpace and over 58,000 friends. Although Honda’s ads are all over the page, people add Gil to their network because the character works, and people enjoy him. They may even love Honda, and just want to show that to their present network. Either way, humor works in many ways.

People who love your brand will find you, and tell others about you, especially if there is something useful or beneficial once they get there. Incorporate current events in your industry to help drive traffic, and be honest when consumers interact with you. If something comes up that shines a negative light on your company, don’t ignore it and only reply to the positive things. Rather, reply and, if at fault, apologize, accept responsibility, and provide a remedy. Otherwise, help set the story straight (without pointing fingers), and move on to the next question. Encourage people to get in touch with you, offer advice as consumers, and leave feedback on the forums and blog posts you create. You build your own online credibility, so start taking action.

Ashley Wirthlin is the author of http://PublicRelationsBlogger.com. Visit Public Relations Blogger for more PR resources, including hundreds of original content articles, a 450+ term glossary, a list of useful PR Videos, and a blogroll of useful PR Blogs.

Ashley is a Marketing Associate of the H Media Group and writes, edits, and manages the blog daily. You can email Ashley at ashley.wirthlin@gmail.com.

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The Art of Relationships Through Social Networking
By Andrew M Nathan

So do I really have to be social on social networking sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and MySpace?

Well, yeah silly. That is the name of the game. Social Networking Is Getting Interesting, because people are getting to the point that they are starting to use it correctly. Previously it was all about using this as another ad channel. I know that I did this, and mea culpa still do from time to time.

However, what those of us who continued to use the platform have realized is that it is not enough to get followers and plaster ads to them. Instead we have to be relationship builders, friends, confidantes, and then finally business partners and sales people. The shift is hard at first, for those who like myself saw the potential of having massive followings of people who could be sent advertisements to for no expense.

Why pay money on newspaper ads when you had a built in, targeted newspaper online for free. Well, it does not work that way. So here is what I have found that does work.

Connect with as many people as possible and then start building relationships with them. Some people will say it is about quality over quantity. I disagree and say that the quantity will provide more quality people. If you see that someone is just a spammer and does not really want a mutual relationship then feel free to not connect. Otherwise, connect with as many people as possible.

Then once you have connected start reaching out to people. If you connect with 100 people, it might be possible to reach out with everyone to begin building a relationship. At the same time when you connect with 400-500 people every day through different social networks, like I do then it becomes more challenging to connect with everyone. Do not fret. The idea is to make quality contacts. You will know who the quality people are by their response to your messages and the posts they make.

Once you have found quality continue the relationship and take the process offline as well. Have coffee, talk on the phone if that is not possible. The point is that you will find people who will fill in the missing pieces of your business. The key is to connect with them and add to the relationship.

Overtime you will meet more people this way then you will ever do through networking alone, so use this to your advantage and connect with people today to start building your business.

Andy Nathan
http://www.andynathan.net
Twitter Goal: 10 Million Followers

Check out my blog for daily article, photo, and video updates for news on twitter that is not only informational, but also entertaining. Also, for those who want training on social media, check out http://www.regillos.com, so you can get your slice of the web. Note: we do not sell pizza.:)

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