I just found an easy way to invite all of my LinkedIn contacts to my Ning community. Ning is a leading white label social networking platform which means you can brand it so to your members it looks like your very own online community. I’m using it now for the Massachusetts Innovation and Technology Exchange (MITX), a community called MITX Exchange. I’m sure it works in a similar way for other community platforms.
If you are promoting a blog or website you can make use of the various social bookmarking sites. After all the word ‘social’ tends to make you think of anythi
ng other than online business issues, as it doesn’t really give a fair representation of what these sites actually do.
But if you are not taking advantage of them you are missing a valuable – and free – trick that you can put to good use as a marketing tool.
Sites such as Stumble Upon, Digg and del.icio.us make it easy to share the latest advances and additions to your website with the world at large, and they can provide a good stream of traffic once you know how to use them properly.
Have you ever tried to find something to do by searching on Google. You can easily learn to speak Klingon or look at photos from Singapore but finding some place to get a bite at 1AM isn’t likely. Zync is a new start-up 
that has a solution. Focused on lifestyle activities Zync employs patent pending algorithms that find like-minded people based on your ratings, profile, and a number of other factors, and make suggestions of local activities you might like based on those people’s opinions. We wrapped that core concept with social networking functionality that enables you to receive opinions from your trusted friends.
I met Brad Rosen the founder and CEO at an MIT Enterprise Forum event. The challenge is to get enough people using the system so that the database becomes rich enough to accurately match member personalities. Its kind of a catch 22 in the sense that if the members that join early will not get nearly as good of results as when the site has reached critical mass; which in turn may result in dissatisfied users and a less relevant database. Good examples are sites like Jobster and Naymz where they have provided great tools and functionality but the lack of members and activity lessen their ability to engage members.
I’m going to keep an eye on Zync, I think it has potential to be a long lasting Web 2.0 site and provide significant value. A search engine that helps us find all the local best kept secrets. Have you found any sites that give you a good idea of what’s going on locally?
Web 2.0 and social media are transforming businesses across every industry in how they communicate and interact with people. This impacts the entire HR 
lifecycle. The interactive industry is experiencing a major hiring crunch.
Just as consumers are less influenced by marketing, prospective candidates are also seeking opportunities through social networks. If you want to learn what a company is really like you can learn a great deal from sites like LinkedIn, Jobster and Zoom Info. You can connect with insiders on Facebook and Twitter.
You can even target advertising on social networks like this Facebook ad targeting to Boston area marketing professionals. More importantly companies establish their voice via how they participate and contribute to social content. The idea of transparency has become a key strategy for companies not only in how they engage consumers but how they communicate. What is your company doing to engage talent?
Great video from Common Craft explaining what social networks are. I hope the make one to explain how to get angel financing.
TechCrunch is my favorite blog! It’s like I have my own research department. My previous post featured a fantastic comparison chart about immersive worlds and today they published a comprehensive review of white label social networking solutions - comparison chart and the post “34 More Ways to Build Your Own Social Network“. Its amazing how many there are today, and there are maybe a dozen that weren’t included. The chart below covers both downloadable and custom (made-to-order) white label social networking solutions. For do-it-yourself, hosted solutions, please see this chart and the post “9 Ways to Build Your Own Social Network”.
An early pioneer in interactive media, Dean Whitney is a Web 2.0 and Social media technology evangelist. Start-up veteran, President of Garfield Group Interactive a Boston-based digital agency.
