In an economy that seems to be walking the plank at times, we can’t forget one recreation that will most likely NEVER be in trouble - alcohol (…aka drinking).

One website has grown to become a staple in the midst of chaos (little dramatic - I know), myopenbar.com, a Web site that lists where free drinks can be had across New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Honolulu, and Miami.

The site has been around since 2005, but is now attracting more listings, promotions, and readers then ever, despite a slumping economy, dying advertisement dollars and dwindling liquor sales at bars. The site’s founders, Seva Granik and Jason Fried, said that more bars and restaurants are eager to get their events listed, and drive customers through the doors. And the call for free drinks is always at a high cry - who doesn’t want to know where those will be!?

The website, myopenbar.com has more than 30,000 subscribers in the NY area, and many of those users are in the 20’s to 30’s demographic - the exact demographic liquor companies are chasing! The website grew from one city, to an additional five, which includes Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago, Miami, and Honolulu; they have attracted about 19,000 subscribers. Myopenbar.com has 30 employees, and capitalize on revenue through advertising (Scion and American Apparel are among them) and the consulting fees they collect for holding, marketing, and promoting events. Those events are noted on the website; otherwise, bars and liquor companies do not have to pay to be listed.

The website has been growing rapidly, and their mailing lists is only getting bigger. They also use Twitter to help drive traffic and push some of their listings as well.

In thinking of way to build a business - these guys are all about capitalizing where many others are falling short. Liquor sales are considered recession-proof, though a recent study by the Nielsen Company is suggesting that while sales at liquor stores have increased, people are going out to nightclubs and bars far less frequently. That is where a site like this can slide into that exact issue and help push attention toward the places to catch ‘free’ drinks! I can’t tell you how many times we avoid going out so we don’t rack up $300 bar tabs - (I am not cheap in any sense - but I tend to be smart with my money — sometimes :-))

The point is, these guys are on the brink to start making noise, and not just in NYC. Myopenbar.com needs to start experimenting with marketing on the social networks - be more aggressive with their Twitter account, build out a Facebook and MySpace page, consider some of the second level social networks as well - the demographic they chase live in these social networks on a daily basis. They should consider doing some ‘viral’ contests to help push influence onto the community users and draw up interest in that manner - utilizing YouTube, and then tie direct blogging & outreach into that - and start generating interest in that field as well.

I see so much opportunity here, it’s hard to not get excited about some of the things they could be doing. I look forward to seeing where these guys end up - hopefully Boston soon!

Fin.

This post has nothing to do with social media, online marketing or any kind of branding of the sort. This has to do with life, and I think sits well for an end of the year reflection and 2009 outlook we should all consider.

I think we all have taken this approach - a place where we ‘play it safe’. We think standing by our guards and doing the everyday over and over and over again is going to bring us our just rewards. It might…but in the longterm - is that going to make you happy? I know we need to understand the difference between what is the right thing to do, and what is the smart thing to do - that’s normal. But, think if you were to walk on the other side of the line for a moment - where chances are taken and risks are made - would that work for you?

Is making sure your 2009 budget is where it needs to be going to make you ultimately happy - or are you going to regret not allowing yourself to take those few chances, and speak up - and help push things further beyond a stable budget - all because you were afraid to say yes.

I am not trying to be Tony Robbins here, nor am I suggesting you sacrifice precious revenue on chance. But I am suggesting you think about your life and choices for a moment. How often have you regretted not doing something because you were afraid? Speaking up at a meeting or to your boss - jumping in on a business opportunity that might help your overall goal - even though you were unsure.

My point is not to ramble, but I think denying ourselves a chance at taking part in the conversation - even though we might be a bit timid at first, or might feel out of our element, it’s crucial to realize what you are missing out on, and more importantly, what you are withholding from yourself. There is chance for growth around every corner - even in a chaotic world as today’s is. Your business, your life, your every second is worth something - don’t scold those assets you have by not enjoying and saying ‘I want to do that’ instead of being too afraid. You have no idea the amount of opportunity you could be missing out on by not attending a function or going to a lunch, or just saying I will do it, even if you aren’t sure or maybe thinking this isn’t for you.

Stop Being Afraid.

I know I probably sound like I am rambling a bit - but I am just personally disgusted with those who don’t want to take control of their lives, instead of their lives controlling them. Spontaneity I believe is one of our greatest fears - the ability to take a chance every now and then, without having to ‘think’ so much about it. To go out your ’safety’ zone and experience life, instead of always trying to be the ‘comfortable’ self we seem to be OK with on a regular basis. Go out of bounds every once and awhile, speak at the panel you always been too nervous about, take those lessons you’ve always laughed at or been to nervous to try, open up that new location you are not sure is going to work, climb a mountain, fly a plane, get a tattoo, etc, etc…you see my point - loud and clear!

Stop running away from life, and take hold of what you are, and what you really want to be. Stand up and speak, and stop holding back - you are only hurting yourself. Whether this relates to your work environment, personal life, relationships, friends, family or whatever you believe this could be applied to, stop holding back. Be the person you’ve always wanted to be, stand up and speak your mind, take a chance and go for it!

I am so tired of the people who just do what they do without enthusiasm, or any kind of desire to be better. You are too comfortable - if that makes sense. You are too tied to the everyday and comfortable with that. Stop treading your feet and take chances, open up and take part in life - you will be amazed by what you could discover and what might come of that.

Everything you do is calculated, from the moment you get up to the time you go to sleep. I can’t understand how people can be so comfortable with that.

I say this too often to people I know, and now I want to say this to you: you have one shot in this life, one time to make the most of what you do everyday worth it. Stop holding back and quit being afraid to take chances. I promise, you won’t regret it!

fin.

Late last week, our team at Overdrive Interactive released the first version of the Social Media Map. This map is designed to help marketers and random people alike view the components of the social media landscape and determine how it can be best leveraged for their marketing or personal branding needs.

“We know how complex and overwhelming the social media landscape can be,” said Harry Gold, CEO of Overdrive Interactive. “We wanted to map it all out, so that marketing professionals can use it as a guide to what we believe are the most important social media tools out there. The power of social media is growing exponentially by the day, and now is the time to harness it.”

The map details the ‘key’ social media websites that Overdrive believes you should know about. As a key component in putting that list together - I can’t stress enough the importance of what we did with this social media map.

Our efforts to bring you the most up-to-date social media strategy for you company is key in our mission of social media branding. You have all heard me talk in the past about various websites that come and go, and the social media websites that seem to be flashes in the pan - but remember, they are all relevant in someway. They are helping us shape society on the Internet, and the way people, brands and identities communicate with each other.

Think about the various social engines that are present in the social community; micro-blogging, social bookmarking, groups, life-casting, travel, wikis, B2B social networks, blogs, and more! Many of these have become key points of interest in your daily Internet life, and many of you might still be wondering what certain websites do, and how you can utilize them. That is where this social media map comes into play - for you to see what type of ‘expressions’ on the web you might be curious about, and how you can get started involving yourself in them.

Soon, we will have an interactive version on the web - so stay tuned! Although for now, head to http://www.ovrdrv.com/social-media-map to download your copy today & take part in the revolution!

Fin.

The idea.

Take a concept of the brand and distinguish it as a ’sensation’. I know that might sound complicated - but it’s really so easy, and I don’t understand why other companies aren’t utilizing their ‘usable’ assets for something similar.

This is exactly what the Flight of the Conchords are doing with their new micro-site - “Lip Dub Video Fansterpiece.” The concept is to learn the lyrics of one of the songs the two main characters sing, and then you are supposed to videotape yourself lip-synching the song, and then upload it to the website - where you might be added to a final “Fansterpiece” that will air on HBO. This content is being advertised only on social channels, and is completely viral - meaning this is not having any media or TV dollars spent on the campaign.

The contest was launched in mid-November, and will last until the new season of the show starts in mid-January.

Simple. Simple. Simple.

I can’t get over how simple this is, but how effective it has become. They don’t give away any lavish prizes, you don’t win a trip to any special destination or big lump sum of money - just about 10 seconds of a small amount of fame.

At the same time, they do a great job of implementing bookmarks or sometimes referred to as chicklets. These are the type of calls-to-action that include the ability to post the “contest” to Facebook, Digg, Twitter, Delicious, and you can also email to a friend. These are all tactics in “spreading” the word-of-mouth further into the social networks.

The video service they are using is YouTube, making it ‘free’, as well as very viral! This allows HBO to spread their contest through the social channels with little to zero promotion on their part, which was their full intention.

Statistics.

Since the website launched in mid-November - the main website where they utilize the videos, the YouTube channel that was created for the contest - has seen nearly 8,000 views since the project launched on Nov. 13. I know those numbers are not monumental, but you have to think about the ‘trickle’ down effect from this contest alone.

On the microsite, you also are able to access the Flight of the Conchord’s Facebook and MySpace pages. Their current Facebook page has a more than 245,000 fans, and they have a little over 25,000 friends on MySpace. These channels were setup well before the contest started…but both channels have seen an increase in activity in fans/friends since the middle of last month.

So What?

Well, I tell you this information because it’s important to consider the outreach of a ‘viral’ campaign, such as this one, and what it can do for a brand. Chances are, many people are going to submit videos to try and appear on the channel, and many more people may just watch the videos other people create. Either way, their creating a ‘buzz’ about the show and the new season, interest of not only current fans, but new fans of the show are found through the ability of allowing others to easily spread the contest into the social content networks, such as Digg, Delicious, Twitter, and so on. They attach links to the show’s page on the HBO website, as well as create easy access to the show’s MySpace and Facebook pages.

Through a viral campaign like this, you should explore your brand further to see what kind of similar outreach you may be able to do. This is social media branding 101 friends - don’t take something as small and ‘funky’ as this to be something silly - when in all honesty, they spent next to nothing to engage new fans and current fans of the show - to stay tuned to the new season, maybe buy the DVD, purchase some apparel, or some other Flight of the Conchords related materials. It’s genius.

The point is - you need to think about social media branding if you have not already. Agreed, for some brands social media might not be the way to go - but as they say so often - “don’t knock it before you try it.”

Chances are, I think it will.

For more information, and if you have any questions on viral or social media branding - feel free to contact me @ nicholas.cifuentes@gmail.com

I wanted to highlight a company I ran into - as there outlook and technology look very promising:

movolu.

This new advertising network is built for the mobile platform - the application is quite simple. Movolu leverages location information to enhance the mobile experience and connect businesses with customers in their area.

Because many local businesses feel threatened by technology, the ecommerce ends up favoring larger brands and most likely could weaken their own in-store sales. In response, Movolu created a preformance-based advertising campaigns that directly result in sales for local businesses.

In creating interactive applications for smart phones that incorporate location-based information to enhance the user experience - it creates a strong funnel for location based advertising.

The process is simple - an advertiser joins the network, and their ads are distributed through content channels on mobile devices based on your ‘user’ characteristics - operating on an algorithm that utilizes location information, personal preferences, and behavioral patterns. So, if you enjoy eating Upper Crust Pizza in Boston, and you happen to be running an application or go onto a certain website in the network - their ad will flash on your mobile device. You can then click this ad - and take advantage of a ‘digital’ offer right on your cell phone. So, I just clicked this ad and now I have a coupon for a free large salad with the purchase of any pizza @ Upper Crust - and to go beyond the ‘regular’ coupon. This digital coupon is ‘timed’ and I have XXX amount of minutes to place my order and use this coupon - if I don’t use it…it expires, and more so, Upper Crust does not pay for that ‘click’. We all are familiar with the paid search process - normally you are paying for each click - whether a conversion happens or not - on movolu you don’t. You pay for each time the coupon is actually used.

This is a great way for smaller businesses to ‘pay’ for results - without burning money on useless conversions.

Now, for movolu to capitalize - there going to need to target highly populated locations. This system probably won’t do much in Wichita, KS - but could be very effective to start in some place like New York City. And as time goes on and this system grows in popularity - we could start to see this really take on popularity.

The two young guys I met who created this channel have stepped overboard, in terms of going all-in to create this application, and move to NYC to start putting their efforts into ovedrive. The network is set to be active in just about two months time - I wish them the best of luck!

See a demo of Movolu.

Fin.

OK…my apologies. I have been extremely busy @ work, and have failed to follow my own advice about blogging. So, my apologies. But now, with ‘insanity’ almost behind me – it is time to start up again, and I promise the commitment is there – I hate not listening to the words I preach on a daily basis.

So let’s begin.

Mobile Media.

It seems so long ago – the first time you purchased a cell phone. Do you remember that day? Maybe you remember graduating from that phone to a bulky PDA or clunky smartphone…and then it came. The iPhone. One day out of the blue – a mobile phone you can use not only for phone calls, but for something with a greater branding strength. A mobile game.

The iPhone swung a door open in June 2007 for mobile devices. A survey by iSuppli’s Consumer Track said that U.S. cell-phone users report spending less than 3 percent of phone-use time on games. However, on the iPhone, that percentage shoots up dramatically – more than 9 percent on the first iPhone and 3 percent on the iPhone 3G.

And when piling numbers together – it is hard to not recognize two platforms – Nintendo and Sony. Each of these giants created two handheld devices that allow you to play games and access online features – the Nintendo DS and Sony’s PSP. According to the industry analysts and sales data – Apple is on track to sell an easy 40 million devices (iPhones & iTouch) or more a year that are capable of playing games. So Apple is on pace to sell about as many game-capable handhelds in a single year as Nintendo had done with the DS.

Wow.

With these numbers in place, it seems Apple is poised to take the reigns when it comes to handheld gaming. Apple has said it’s had more than 200 million downloads from its App Store since the store debuted in July 2008. Of 8,000 applications on the App Store, more than 1,500 are games – just two months ago there were only 900 games. In addition, games hold the #1 spots as the most popular iPhone applications downloaded in the App Store.

In October, the Mobile Metrics Report by AdMob, said the iPhone has become the number one handset worldwide by count of ads requested. This is huge – overtaking giants such as Motorola and Nokia – who have held that placement for a number of years.

The Future.

The iPhone is no secret anymore – many, if not nearly everyone has heard of it at some point – the question for brands is – how do I monetize this? Brands alike need to be creative at their approach – whether they might be a ‘sticky’ brand who already has a name in the market, or maybe you’re a new brand thinking the mobile market is going to increase your exposure – you have to play it safe and think about it carefully.

iPhone applications and games are a fun way to create and place yourself into the market – but they can be expensive to develop. Another reason you have to consider this strategy would be to think ‘what potential does my application or game have in the market?” Just because it is there does not mean you should or have to do it. Don’t feel pressured by others pushing you away from that realistic outlook.

On the other side, don’t feel that it wouldn’t be worth it if you can develop it at a low to medium price range – the viral exposure and hundreds of millions of people your game or application might be downloaded by, and the pure exposure factor into the market – it is foolish to not at least try the market out. Your ROI may not be completely lost if you charged for the application/game - where you would take home 70 percent of any profits made through selling the application. But, chances are, your application/game will capture a much larger amount of downloads if you push it into the market as a ‘free’ download.

Fin.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

What if there was a business tool that existed, which could allow companies to listen in on discussions about how people are using their products, analyze what people are saying about them, and could allow that company to respond to that “person” directly.

It’s a tool that effectively hones in on embracing the early product adopters and influencers who are then able to share with their friends, followers and other individuals related to these “key” components.

It’s is Twitter. But more importantly, it’s a Twitter built around building discussion, interest and awareness of your products and overall branding strategy.

Twitter is a micro-blogging platform that allows a user to create short posts, or better known as “tweets” - which others then can follow, reply and respond to as they see fit.

But, you have to realize, this is much more than just telling someone what you had for dinner a last night or that you just finished your laundry. This is a tool that creates a bridge of genuine interaction with people who choose to use your products. If a company properly integrates this process - you can utilize Twitter to capture “conversation” between your company, customers, clients and colleagues.

Proper Conversation.

But you have to remember, Twitter is a conversation tool, and you have to treat it as such. People will STOP following and paying attention to you quickly if you blast them with blatant “marketing.” They don’t want to see your latest press release. Trust me…I and many other have quickly “de-followed” brands which do so. This kind of “tweeting” could leave your brand in a worse position then when it started, and leave your reputation tainted.

Get The Most Out of Twitter.

Who are you trying to reach with Twitter? Is it the key influencers in your field, or might it be the possible users who wish to engage in using your products? Choose one and stick with it.

To do this, it might be best to create an online persona for both - so think one twitter account to get the “news” out, another to harness customer complaints, and maybe a third to take part in the conversation. Just please don’t use one account for all three purposes - this will hurt you severely in the end.

Followers.

To use Twitter in the most effective way - you have to “listen” to the conversations and what others are talking about. As a brand, you do not want to go just follow 2,000 random people and hope that is going to work - think quality, not quantity.

To achieve this goal - utilize the many twitter search tools that exists in the social space. One very useful Twitter search tool is search.twitter.com to find people who are tweeting about you, your brand, competitors, and products you offer. Follow these individuals who you have identified as key constituents for your brand, and then begin to engage them back in conversation.

By following customers, clients, colleagues and leaders in your industry or field, this shows them that you want to “hear” what they have to say. These people will almost always “follow” you back.

Don’t Be Boring. Please.

Always remember to offer something of value to the conversation. It could be advice about your products, news about the company, quality information about what you do, or maybe the occasional joke - Twitter users want to be informed, entertained and kept interested at all times. Don’t constantly push self promotion with no value and consistent ad-rhetoric - this will quickly hurt your Twitter reputation.

Show interests in your users…share with them in their experiences, and ask them questions, engage them! This will quickly show them that you are interested in what they are doing, and will allow them to respond, follow, and possibly use your product.

Beyond Twitter.

Twitter has so much potential for harnessing conversation and interaction. Don’t allow the conversation to stop there. Tie Twitter to your blog and blog posts, link it to your Flickr account, Facebook & MySpace pages, and YouTube Channels…there is so much you can do with this platform and pushing it beyond the Twitter bubble will allow you to further expand your presence in the social media channels.

Utilize Those Twitter Tools.

Twitter can be a bit confusing to the newbie…but there are so many available Twitter tools to take advantage of that allow you to easily perform keyword searches, send direct messages, shorten URL’s and mark tweets as read or unread.

The Twitter website offers the advanced search tool, which allows you to enter keywords and seek out tweets. You can even subscribe to search as an RSS feed.

TweetDeck is a desktop client that allows you to run multiple searches that update in real time. It allows you to see your replies and direct messages in separate columns in the same interface. Twhirl is another client that acts in the same way, but a smaller interface.

Another tool I like to personally use is FriendFeed, a social media website that allows you to consolidate more than 45 different social media and social networking websites, including Digg, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, Delicious, Flickr, Stumbleupon, MySpace, and more.

And then in the mobile space, you have three fantastic Twitter applications for the iPhone, Blackberry and Treo. Twitterific for the iPhone, and TwitterBerry & TinyTwitter for the BlackBerry and MoTwit on the Treo are great applications to utilize - who knows when the next great thought might come to you? It could be when your standing in line for a cup of coffee or in a business meeting that just doesn’t end, or maybe your waiting on the runway for the plane to take off, either way - it’s more than just a fad.

It’s Twitter.

Fin.

PR: wait… I: wait… L: wait… LD: wait… I: wait… wait… C: wait… SD: wait…

Yes, you…the man in the corner of Starbucks sipping your vanilla late. You, the young blonde typing away to the world, using your ‘content’ to help unite others. You, the young man with a camera strapped to your head, broadcasting to the world your every moving moment. You, the brand.

You, I, and the other 10 percent of social media website users are the so called influencers. A new study by Rubicon Consulting reveals that those who dominate social media conversations are most likely to influence their peers. The study confirms that 80 - 90 percent of user-generated content is produced by less than 10 percent of users.

You, the brand.

Now, let’s think about a recent poll Forrester Research conducted that declared social media as now a ‘mainstream’ activity. It said 75 percent of Internet users participate in social media, whereas only 56 percent participated in 2007. Also, 48 percent of the poll-takers said they read a blog at least once a day. And 69 percent of them said that they are ’spectators’ of blogs, that is up from 48 percent the previous year. When it comes to writing product reviews on websites, 37 percent said they take part in this activity, up 25 percent from the previous year. And 19 percent collect content through social bookmarking and RSS feeds, up 12 percent from the previous year. And 21 percent said they publish a personal blog or Web page, a small increase from 18 percent the previous year.

You, the brand.

Online retailers also take advantage of this space, a survey by the Opinion Research Corporation found that 85 percent of social media users believe that companies should interact with them through social media. And Emarketer recently reported that only 7 percent of the public believed that companies should not be in the social media space at all. In that same report, despite the call for companies to ‘go all in’ with social media marketing, many ecommerce websites are fairly new to the social media space.

In the same report, it was said that Facebook garnered 32 percent of companies interest when testing the social media space, with MySpace coming in second @ 27 percent and YouTube @ 26 percent. That then left Flickr with a 5 percent share and another 10 percent scattered about on various other social networking sites.

You, the brand.

OK…so what does this mean? Let’s think about that a second. With the economy falling apart, and not getting up anytime soon - people are turning to social networking for marketing as an escape. An escape from what though?

The old, historic ways of traditional marketing are simply becoming too antique in design. This old model has been turned upside down. This process started with email, but that led to a filtering system that was simply too clogged, and as not effective as when first developed. Now, with a filtering system that has expanded, in large part to social networking sites, technology has allowed the average person to create audio, video and text products that rival the traditional marketing channels of old - such as radio, tv and print medias.

The idea is simple - we must adapt. There is little choice to resist.

And from the points made to begin this article, the transition has already started. Social networking is a tool that clearly has the capacity and outreach to succeed. You consistently listen to people in the marketing sectors and those who believe social media has become overused and the channels have become too convoluted.

But have they really?

You see the numbers above - such small percentage of users even actively ‘influence’ those channels - while the numbers of just basic participants are moderate at best…but hardly overwhelming. Consider the the number of Internet users worldwide, only about 1.5 billion people use the Internet, only about a 1/5 of the worldwide population, according to InternetWorldStats.com. And just a mere (very, very small) percentage of those users take part in social media at the moment.

So, for the naysayers to excuse this new wave of communications as a ‘phase’ is simply foolish. It really is.

Branding Will Work.

If you casually take part in the social media streams, it will be hard to negotiate who is an ‘influencer’ and who is simply a passerby. But the shock factor these major ‘influencers’ trigger is quite impressive. No, they aren’t stats that are going to blow your mind away, nor can they be tracked in an uncomplicated manner. But these influencers that are found on social networks, such as blogs, video, audio and micro-blogging websites have surfaced in the past two years and truly have become growing ‘brands’ themselves.

I know it’s a bit of reach to go out on a limb like this, but the effectiveness of their ‘campaigning’ can be found in in their following. These are not just individuals who garner a number of links to their website based on Alexa rankings, these are people who have the creativity, energy and charisma to capture an audience, keep them involved, and keep them coming back for more. Doesn’t that sound all too familar?

Now, there are many people to mention, but personally, people who I think effectively market not only their own service, and help influence others to take part in social media - but are individuals who have created an effective ‘brand’ of themselves. Now, of course, 99 percent of these people do what I do, Internet marketing & consulting of some kind - but those are the ones who have the most ‘play’ inside the networks and can become the influencers necessary to gather an audience quickly.

Let’s take a look @ a few:

Chris Brogan, a brilliant mind who has been involved in social media for a number of years now - has quickly put himself ahead of the pack when it comes to influencing his field - now that is from a marketing perspective.

Another person who has done a good job at influencing her field is Liz Strauss - an effective online marketer with a large influence in the field - prospect from the marketing field.

Now, that is just two of the many major ‘marketing brands’, but I think some truly effective influencers in the field are not the major marketing professionals, but the personalities that have the opportunity to use many characteristics to brand themselves. And through that process - bring in other influencers and outside attention themselves.

Justine Ezarik.

My first influencer, who is not in anyway a major marketing expert, but more a growing brand is Justine Ezarik. She is young, energetic blonde, that started off lifecasting herself and every moment by one of her many cameras, be it in coffee shops, at work as a designer - video editor, or even through a camera in her car - she started that way and grew herself into an internet phenomena. Now, she is one the growing ‘brands’ and from what I have seen, doing many Internet and TV shows, traveling all over, and all because she wanted to create herself as a brand. She engages an audience, keep them interested, and returning often. And speaks @ many social media events across the States.

Gary Vaynerchuck.

Another major influencer is the one and only Gary Vaynerchuk. His wine knowledge propelled him from a successful Northern New Jersey wine store owner into a internet marvel - all because of his wine knowledge, energy, charisma and passion for influencing others. He has turned a daily wine video blog into appearances on Conan, Ellen, Mad Money, Nightline and more. He speaks often @ social media and Internet marketing conferences across the country - his energy is unmatched; and has put him into a position to market himself as a business consultant, speaker and social media expert based on his personal experiences.

Gary has a massive following, and has influenced many across the world to not only take part in wine, his field of expertise, but social media as a whole. He is a brand that has truly blossomed in the past year - in a very large way! He has even put together his own wine cruise, on massive cruise ship - that is impressive!

Sarah Austin.

Next on my list of great branding entrepreneurs is Miss Pop17 herself, Sarah Austin. This Manhattan-based lifecaster and video journalist graduated from the line of those trying to get into major technology shows, to being invited on a regular basis just a year later. She is based in Manhattan and concentrates on the new cultural phenomenon of online micro-celebrity. She interviews other Internet stars, both established and growing.

Justin.tv & Mogulus.com

Another original that took lifecasting to the forefront, and provided the platform and idea for many of the above influencers to start on are the geniuses @ Justin.tv They have created a platform that allows anyone in mere minutes to begin lifecasting yourself. Why would you do this - you might ask? Well, that seems like another blog entry soon to arrive, but my guess is that everyone wants to be seen in some way, whether its online, in person or through some other manner - most people who go on these lifecasting channels, such as Justin.tv just sit in front of the computer and chat with viewers through instant messaging - pointless…yea, I would say most of them are…but if you do it right - you can market your brand to the fullest.

As in blogging, high quality content is the most effective in driving interest, so when it comes to video, (for you lifecasters) please think that way - be relevant and produce high quality, interesting video - and you will see yourself blossom into success. Sure, there are other factors involved, but content, as in blogging, SEO and beyond - remember, it is the most important. Another notable lifecasting platform that I have to recommend is Mogulus.com - similar to Justin.tv - but Mogulus features the ability to mix multiple live cameras, import video clips, and overlay graphics…so if you are thinking of lifecasting - check them out as well.

Julia Roy.

One last growing brand, my personal darkhorse at the moment - and one that I think can really push herself into the limelight, is my fellow tweeter - Miss Julia Roy. I have only seen a little bit of her in the public eye, but she has been mentioned as one of the top graded twitter-ers, and also has been a guest on the Pop17, as mentioned above. I don’t know what it exactly is…but I believe she can do what the others are doing just as well - she has a new feature coming out called ‘tweet-week’ a video blog that will offer tips, insight, and more to the twitter community and beyond. Keep an eye on her…I am calling it now. (Gotta do it now JR).

Where Are We Going?

In the deep bowels of social media and personal branding, their is a secret to all of this. It is you.

There are many other popular Internet stars and budding personalities - many more than the few I have mentioned above. And they are all branding in some way or another, but most importantly - they are all influencers. They are the ones that are going to capture you, or your friends, your family, brothers, sisters, and so on - the influencers. It is these individuals who will help grow traditional marketing and its antique manners into a growing platform social networking has yet to really establish. Where it is going…it’s truly a waiting game to see how things play out. But just remember, it is we, the influencers, that will keep social media growing into something truly amazing.

fin.

So what is all this Yammer-ing about? After coming across a NY Times article posted Monday that spoke about one of my favorite websites Twitter, and another similar modeled website called Yammer, the question came up - microblogging for business? Yes, I know many people have asked this before, but when combining that question & the topic of non-existent ‘dollar-generating business models’ - what is the outlook?

I cam across Yammer last month when I noticed they won the TechCrunch50, and after reading about them in depth more yesterday - a very interesting point arose - the Twitter for the business world - could it really work?

Yammer, a service that mimics Twitter, but charges from the outset…(applaud). Sort of, Yammer is aimed at the corporate customers, and already has 60,000 users. And they aim to answer the key question, “What are you working on?” Their goal is to make offices more productive through updates on company events and work-related questions that will not clog e-mail boxes with mass mailings.

And how is that money made you ask? Well, TechCrunch, a Web 2.0 technology blog, that gave them the TechCrunch50 prize for start-ups, said they were “Twitter with a business model.” This is no knock @ Twitter though - they have been around since 2006, and have more than 3 million users, but have been criticized by some for their lack of a proper “business model”, as said by several VC’s. More on that shortly….

However, Yammer’s business model is interesting, because it spreads virally in a sense. Anyone with a company email address can sign up and start using Yammer for free. But when a company “officially” joins Yammer, giving an administrator more control over security and how employees use the service - it pays $1 a month for each user. And unlike Twitter, that will limit you to a 140 characters in a message, Yammer let’s you type as much as you need to. In Yammer’s first six weeks, it had 10,000 companies with more than 60,000 users sign up, although only 200 companies with 4,000 users are paying so far.

Now that is certainly not a massive amount of income, but Yammer is similar to what Twitter has been - a decision to grow first and monetize second.

Twitter has raised a reportedly $20 million from venture capitalist, and are similar in belief to the ‘grow first, monetize second’ - but has the economic downturn changed that mindset?

Last week, Twitter pushed aside engineer and creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, and gave the job to Evan Williams, Twitter’s chairman and more experienced executive. This leads to that overall question…how does Twitter generate revenue?

Early next year, Twitter has plans to introduce many ways to introduce revenue streams into the current business model. I believe one idea is to charge companies that want to use Twitter as an official channel to talk with their customers and monitor what they are saying.

It seems that many companies grew on the idea of first growing the product and then monetizing thereafter - Google began as a search engine with no revenue before turning a lucrative advertising model that turned it into an internet god. But any company needs to know, chances they will have ‘Google-like’ success - doubtful.

Let’s go back to Yammer though for a minute - obviously chances everyone @ your workplace is on a computer?  Very good. Now, let’s promote in-house conversation how? - emails do get very cluttered and does everyone read them? No.

I admit, I have never read everything that came from the ‘higher-ups’ from places I once worked for, that includes stuff from HR or other departments that just get overcooked in your inbox - you don’t have time, and many the patience to read it all.  So here comes Yammer - ‘a corporate Twitter’ that includes a bevy of security features, include limiting I.P. addresses, requiring passwords, cutting off ex-employees and removing certain messages. Once that company administrator takes over, Yammer charges a $1 per user per month.

Yammer has already recruited companies like Cisco Systems, Xerox and Hewlett-Packard, motion picture companies, and a large casino company.

We have to look @ the obvious for a second though - Yammer is a new way to do a lot of stuff people already do in the workplace. Social enterprise software like SharePoint, Jive Software offer many of these features, as does Twitter and Facebook to communicate with co-workers. But with Yammer, will this more concentrated method of communication change the way businesses communicate?

I suppose all we can do is wait on this one.

PubMatic tracked the sale of display ads through ad networks on Websites in more than 20 different topic areas, and saw that ads on social networks fetched the smallest price per thousand eyeballs - 21 cents. This is down 22 percent from the second quarter. Ads on sports sites were the next lowest at 25 cents, followed by ads prices on entertainment sites, which saw the steepest drop, to 33 cents.

Ads on business sites, as well as finance sites saw some high prices, at close to 86 cents, but that seemed down 22 percent from the second quarter. Web sites about technology were the only category that didn’t see ad prices fall - they remained at a static 57 cents per thousand eye balls.

Although the above seems not so promising, ads on small webs sites, those websites that get fewer than 1 million page views per month, sold on ad networks for three times as much space on big sites with more than 100 million page views per month. And get this, the average advertiser paid 61 cents for every thousand pairs of eyeballs that viewed their ads, as compared to 18 cents on large sites.

This focus is because of one my favorite aspects of smaller websites, niche content. Niche Content works brilliantly because advertisers can reach a much more targeted audience. When you don’t go through an ad network, you KNOW who will be viewing your ads, and are much more likely to yield a stronger ROI.

But, GigaOM brought up a great point this week as well, analyzing whether people even bother to look at display ads any longer.

What are your thoughts?