Social networks all require a new user to sign up with a login and password and then create a social network profile. A social nework profile is information on the user, which include the basics of name, gender, contact information and if the user desires can include as much detail as you can think of.

Social networks revolve around the friend’s concept. A friend is someone you can trust and ask for recomendations. Friends are approved by the user and allowed to access information and features that can be prohibited to non friends. A friend can be someone you know, has similar interest, someone you found interesting, and anyone that you decide to approve to give certain access to your profile information.

Friends can be found in one way or another in all Social Networking Sites. Search features allow you to look up an old college buddy, a former co-worker, someone with similar interest, and so on. Social Networking Sites also allow users to join groups, which is another way to find friends and build “your community”. There are groups for virtually everything, including college alumni, sports teams, music, personal interest, and much, much more.

Groups are a great way to meet new people who share an interest with you. Groups are also useful for education on a particular topic or interest, with sometimes thousands of experts available to communicate with. 

So now you know what a social networking profile, a friend and groups are, let get you Social Networking. Below is a list of three of the more popular social networking sites that I belong to. If you join, make sure to look me up, and check out my group Podcast Marketing For Business.

Not only has Social Networking exploded with individuals, but we are finding many of our clients asking us for help in setting up a professional corporate social networking site. Nicole Bailin of Move Ahead 1 will be setting up a series of seminars on using social networking for business. Business Bits will  make sure to keep you informed of the upcoming seminars.
 

FaceBook

MySpace

Linkedin

Ever since I was in High School I always read newspapers to keep current on news. New York Times, Wall Street Journal, NY Post, etc. The day did not feel right, until I read the paper, besides it was something to do on the subway to work. Ever notice today that not many young business executives are reading the print newspaper. Where are they getting their news? The answer of course is the internet, in the form of Web pages, blog post, schedule updates on PDA’s and yes business people are using Podcast to keep current on news.

News today has adapted to an on-demand society. Want it right now, it’s available, want it tomorrow, it’s available, need to read, hear or see it next week and it is available. People are continuing to abandoning Print News for internet news. Statistics released by the Newspaper Association of America reveals that the decline of print newspapers is much more rapid than previously thought, with total print advertising revenue in 2007 plunging 9.4% to $42 billion compared to 2006, the biggest drop in revenue since 1950, the year they started tracking annual revenue.

Tonight’s question is “Can you get quality news from podcast?”

We are going to take a look at what Podcast are available on both CNN and Fox to answer the question. Both CNN and Fox are major sources of news both online and on television. Lets take a look at what is available via Podcast News on these two networks.

Both CNN and Fox seem to have virtually every one of their shows available for Podcast Listeners. The quality for both was excellent. Shows can be searched for in many ways, by title, topic, popularity, etc. As expected, news on both networks was readily available, easy to listen to, and of high quality. Sorting and searching of Podcast quickly narrowed your news demands and got you listening to what you wanted in a matter of seconds. Great Job of Podcasting News by both networks, and I am quite sure other networks also have high quality Podcast News available.

A Podcast is an audio show that can be downloaded from the Internet and listened to using an audio helper application, or subscribed to via and RSS feed and listened to either on your computer or with an Apple iPod.

Corporations are increasingly using both Podcast and Blogs to communicate with their customers. The use of Corporate Podcasting is only limited by one’s creativity. I have my own Podcast Show “Business Bits With Jim Farrell” and have found it to be an excellent tool in communicationg the business educational messages defined by my show. We often recommend and create Podcast Shows for our clients, as it can deliver a consistent, regular, and relevant message to the Show’s Listeners. One of the great benefits of both Podcast and Blogs is the fast immediate statistics available to analyze. This allows for adjustments to better serve your listeners.

Corporate Podcast should include the following minimum characteristics:

• Always remember, it’s about the listener.
• Podcast should be consistent in theme and always produced for the listeners’ needs.
• Podcast time length should be optimal for your subscribing listeners; my recommendation is 10 to 20 minutes. Remember over 70% of Podcast is listened to on computers and attention span is generally very limited.
• Podcasts should be considered a long term tool for delivering a message to listeners. Doing one Podcast is not an effective Podcast Marketing Strategy. Doing Podcasts on a regular schedule, one a week, one a month, is an effective way of bringing a consistent, and relevant message to your listeners.
• Podcast must interesting and on relevent topics for your listeners.

Please visit our “Podcast Marketing For Business” group on both FaceBook and MySpace to communicate with me and other business professionals interested in corporate podcast.

For more information on Corporate Podcasting visit our business only podcast directory www.timbremedia.com.