Facebook is Going To Disappear in Eight Years Analyst Say...



Don't expect to find your Facebook inbox full of friend requests eight years from now -- it's likely Facebook is going to disappear. At least, that's the future according to Eric Jackson, founder of investment firm Ironfire Capital.
Jackson appeared on CNBC’s "Squawk on the Street" on Monday to discuss Facebook's inevitable demise and how web companies strive to evolve.
"In five to eight years [Facebook is] going to disappear in the way that Yahoo has disappeared," Jackson said during a phone interview on the show. "Yahoo is still making money, it's still profitable, still has 13,000 employees working for it, but it's 10 percent of the value that it was at the height of 2000. For all intents and purposes, it's disappeared."
Jackson described three generations of web companies. The first generation was dominated by websites like Yahoo, which aggregated everything you need to know in one place. Those big web portals, which Jackson dubs Web 1.0, were followed by the dawn of social networking sites, including Facebook. The current generation is composed entirely of web companies focused on monetizing the mobile platform.
Jackson said Facebook's struggle lies in a web company's inability to easily move from one generation to the next. Take Google for example. The web giant reigned supreme in Jackson's designated first generation, but struggled to move into the social networking realm, with several failed models. Google+ may be the most successful of Google's social networking efforts to date, but its more than 100 million active users still does not rival Facebook's astounding 900 million.
"When you look over these three generations, no matter how successful you are in one generation, you don't seem to be able to translate that into success in the second generation, no matter how much money you have in the bank, no matter how many smart Ph.Ds you have working for you," Jackson said.
In Jackson's view, Facebook cannot effectively create and monetize a mobile platform by simply buying up as many mobile apps as it can muster. Sure, Facebook can purchase Instagram for $1 billion, but that will not transform Facebook's core business model. At its heart, Facebook is a social networking site, not a mobile company.
"[Facebook] can buy a bunch of mobile companies, but they are still a big, fat website," Jackson said.
The bottom line behind Jackson's comments is that Facebook may be stuck in the social networking realm forever. And as we've seen with Facebook predecessors like MySpace and Friendster, there will always be a new competitor on the horizon.
"Facebook is not going bankrupt. I think what's going to happen is something new is going to come along that we haven't seen yet," Jackson said, and "people are going to be fascinated by it and attracted to it."
From the Huffington post.

What's in a Name: 5 Rules for Choosing a Business Name

5 Rules for Choosing a Business Name
How to Create a Winning Business Name
By Susan Ward, About.com Guide
sbinofocanada.about.com/od/startup/a/createbizname.htm

What’s a winning business name? A business name that draws business in itself. Creating a winning business name takes some thought but is one of the most important things you’ll do during the process of starting a business. Starting out with a weak business name is like trying to golf with only one club in your bag. You may sink some shots but it will be a whole lot harder.

1) A winning business name has to be memorable – but easy to spell.
Obviously, your potential customers and clients need to be able to remember your business name. But they also need to be able to find it easily if they’re looking for it in a phone book, directory or online. So choosing a business name such as “Crychalwellyn” is a bad idea. Unique is good but difficult spellings are a bad idea.

2) A winning business name needs a visual element.
What popped into your head when you read “Crychalwellyn”? Anything? Most people don’t visualize anything when they read this business name that I invented. But generally we are hard-wired to “see” images when we read or hear language, and incorporating a visual element into your business name can be a powerful aid to customers’ memory (and a powerful advertising tool).
So you want your business name to have a strong visual element to it. The catch is that...

3) A winning business name has to have positive connotation.
Many words have both denotation (literal meaning) and connotation (emotional meaning). A word’s connotation can be positive, neutral or negative, depending on the emotional associations that people generally make. The classic example is the difference between “Mom” (which has a very positive connotation) and “Mother” (which has a neutral connotation). Now you know why they called them “Dad’s” cookies, rather than “Father’s”!

What it means to you is that when you create a business name, you need to choose words that have the positive connotations that you want people to associate with your business – and make sure these connotations are suitable for your business.

If you are starting a trucking business, for instance, you don’t want it to have a weak sounding or negative name, such as “Willow Twig Trucking” or “Kitten Transport”. You want a business name that conveys strength and reliability. A choice such as “Stone Creek Trucking” would be much better. Notice how all these names have a strong visual element.

4) A winning business name needs to include information about what your business does.
Chances are good that your new business is not going to become an international brand. It certainly isn’t instantly going to become as well known as Nike. So you need to be sure that your new business name at least gives your potential customers or clients some clues about what you actually do. That’s why you see so many landscaping businesses that have the word “landscaping” in their name, and hair styling businesses that include words such as “salon” or even “hair designs” in their names.
Including information about what your business does in your business name also makes it easier for potential customers and/or clients to find your business in phone books and directories (both off and online).

5) A winning business name has to be fairly short.
Once again this is vital because you want customers and clients to be able to remember your business’s name (and be able to tell other people what it is)! But it’s also important for promotional purposes. You want a business name, for example, that will fit well on a business card, look good displayed on a sign or in an ad, and perhaps even a business name that will serve well as a domain name and show up well in search if you have an online business. So keep it as short as possible.

See Related Links:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html

10 Ways to Get Your Business Organized for 2011

                                   (thesomedayblog.files.wordpress.com)


  With 2011 soon approaching, we as small business owners are thinking of new ideas, concepts and plans that we want to make but before all that we need to get organized.  Getting organized is key to accomplishing your new ideas, concepts and plans in the new year.  Here are some tips that will help you to schedule your time for effectively and efficiently so that you aren't wasting your time and not accomplishing much.



1. Get iGoogle (or an application that is similar): is a web portal that puts almost everything into a single location so that they can easily access it without having to leave or browse another site. (www.differencebetween.net)
www.igoogle.com

2. Get an online calender: Online email providers like Google and Yahoo offer free online calenders when you sign-up to their free email services. Some of the features include:
     a. Sharing you calender with co-workers to communicate.
     b. Accessing your calender from your mobile and/ or laptop.
     c. Receiving mobile SMS notifications of the schedule events
http://www.calender.yahoo.com/

3. Get a "toolbar": Many search engines have "toolbars", these are downloadable toolbars that allows a user to do a Google, Yahoo, Ask etc. search without having to visit the site itself.
www.about.ask.com/en/docs/toolbar/index.php

4. Use your mobile (SMS notifications): SMS' are short messages between fixed lines or mobile phone devices, it's used by 2.4 billion or 74% of mobile phone subscribers. Get SMS notifications to stay connected on what is going on, on most social networks and email notifications.

* It is an especially helpful tool when you don't have internet on your mobile.

5. Use your "favorites": On your internet toolbar is a "favorites" button. It can be a useful tool when properly organized properly to fit your needs when working online.

6. Don't just save contacts: In your mobile, save them in your email accounts as well.  Email's can be just as difficult to remember as phone numbers.

7. There is a reason that social networks have a "Forgot Username and /or forgot password link": They know that more than likely your are on many social networks including possibly having your own.  So to stop racking your brain trying to remember them all including email accounts; create a reference to hold all; your account user names and /or emails and passwords.

8. Get rid of trash: No unwanted solicitations that may flood your email accounts.  If you don't read them then unscubscribe to free up your email for business content.

9. Sync your social network accounts: When you post to one account it will send out the same posts to all others.

10. Always be on the look out for new features that Google, Yahoo, Ask, MSN, Bing and others are offering to make you business is more effective and efficient through organization.

See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/05/6-tips-for-wahms-to-spring-clean-their.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/01/10-tips-on-how-to-make-most-of-your.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

7 Tips to a Great Profile Picture: "Your Brand"

What  is the first thing that people know about you before they know anything else (in most cases)? They know your face, the face is the first thing that people will see because when they meet you they look at your face. Some of us have a brand logo image, while the rest of us use our own image as our brand logo. So, it is important that you make a great first impression (not just good) because as the saying goes "first impressions are lasting impressions". Here are seven tips to having a great "profile picture"

1. Lighting is everything! Lighting is key! Did I mention that it is important because if I didn't it is VERY important. The right lighting can take you from "the Elephant Man" to Halle Berry (OK, I am joking but it is true).

2. What Not to Wear: If your skin tone is light, don't wear shades of "white". If it is medium stick with colors that don't contrast but compliment. If your skin tone is deep then don't wear shades of "black". Don't wear provocative clothing  or clothing that is too big. What to Wear: Wear professional attire, conservative clothing as if you are going on an interview. Casual professional attire, it shouldn't be something that "you just threw on", that you would wear to work-out, sleep-in and / or do "housework in". Also pick fashion jewelry that compliments your wardrobe.

3. Hair & Make-up: I won't say go get your hair and make-up professional done just for a profile picture but if you would like to then do so (this is "your brand", which means your money depends on your image). If you don't get it professional done then be sure to comb it, brush it, twist it, curl it, braid it, cut it...DO YOUR HAIR! As far as make-up, this is a secret I learned surprisingly from Tyra Banks "America's Next Top Model" apply twice as much make-up than usual. The reason being that the camera will allows de-emphasize your features so to appear to be wearing a natural amount you need more, trust me.

4. Poses: Please no "club" poses. You should pretend that your customer is looking at you and think about how you would want to present yourself in front of them.

5. Spouses, Children, Pets: Please do not put anyone from this category in your profile picture, as I stated before this is the first impression for your potential customers. They should see you in a professional light. If you want have pictures of your spouse, children and / or pets then that's fine create a separate online album for them. "Don't mix business with pleasure".

6. Cameras: Invest in a quality camera and / or web cam to take your picture. The quality of the camera will determine the overall outcome of your picture.

7. Crop, crop, crop: If you find that once you have taken your picture that there are objects in the background or somehow your child or spouse find their way into your picture (ie. bunny ears behind your head), then crop the photo to your best image.

(Horrible Profile Picture)

                                                              ( Great Profile Picture)
See other related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/05/6-tips-for-wahms-to-spring-clean-their.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/01/10-tips-on-how-to-make-most-of-your.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networks (Pt.3)

Good evening everyone, we have come to the conclusion of our three part series on sales and social networks. I hope that you have enjoyed it and feel free to comment on the subject matter.

Now a social network site works better for those who are selling services and or consultation because you are selling only yourself (meaning your experience and/or expertise) so its VERY important to be sociable. However, when you are selling a product you have to sell yourself and the product so its more than being social its about getting them to buy. On the social site they can view your profile page and ge to know you and visa versa to spark conversation, view your website and any videos about your services and/or consultations.

Overall, when you are on an online network (be it social or e-Commerce), you will recieve more traffic than by just having a blog and/or website (my business partner and I have three blogs and are on multiple social networks,  an e-Commerce site and our own website).  On a network there are  more people who visit than on a typical blog or website and that is because of the content that is on networks.  The content is produced by the members, the more members the more content; content is important in the search engines such as Google, Yahoo, Bing and others have "crawlers" or "spiders" that search for good content (by content I mean: blogs, videos, photos and profiles). The members also live links to any sites that they have be it professional or personal, which is searched by those "crawlers" or "spiders", where people can find and/ or follow them.

See more related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html 
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networks (Pt.2)

Hello everyone and welcome back...as promised I will be continuing our discussion on sales and social networking with the part two to the discussion.

Starting off, let's first define the term "social network" by breaking it down into two separate words. Webster defines the term social as being: " marked by or passed in pleaseant companionship with one's friends or associates tending to form cooperations, interdependent relationships with others of one's kind" and a network as an interconnected or interrelated group, chain or system.  Now that we know what a social network  is will it work for your business?  It will only work to a certain extent depending upon the type of busines you own.  If your business is a service than social networks will work great for you because you can network with people that have an interest in your service that you offer.  Push them to your website which (because it is a service business) probably will not a have a lot to download, this can cause you to loose a sale if you have slow or long downloads.  Your website should basically have information about your services and your contact information (general rule: K.I.S. "keep it simple").  However, if you have products to sell then an e-Commerce network website would be the best choice.  Why is that? An e-Commerce network is know for selling merchants / sellers (that is you the online small business owner / entreprenuer) products, with your products being setup to make immediate sales safely.  You can sell to members and non-members of the e-Commerce network.  Some social networks say that they have a marketplace but all that you can do is place a link for your company and a picture / image and hope that they go to your website.  Then they have to navigate to your site and find that particular item.  "Time is money", if it takes to long to find it the sale is lost.  Most people from social networking sites will only visit, they won't buy because they are just about soicializing. If they do visit your site that may be there just to see what it is that you do so that they can sell their products and/or services to you.

The atmosphere on an e-Commerce networking website is unlike that of a social network, in that it is an marketplace (a marketplace: is a place where buyers and sellers meet to exchange money for goods and/or services).  When non-sellers come to an e-Commerce network they come to buy, not to socialize (unlike on social networks), they same is true for sellers (small business owners / entreprenuers) they come on the site to sell not to socialize.  Also e-Commerce networking sites are ready to handle an order in a speady and secure manner because they know that a sale can be lost in two seconds.
* The e-Commerce website isn't to replace your existing personal website if you already have one, but can be an additional arena to sell your products.
The sellers have a secure account on the e-Commerce network with companies such as: PayPal and Charge.com to properly handle the transaction and to keep your and your customers information confidential.

Thanks everyone for reading our blog...part three is coming this Friday October 15 so be sure and read it! And please subscribe to this blog and our sister blogs: http://www.uniquic.blogspot.com/ and http://www.hwheeler06.blogspot.com/. May GOD bless and keep you in JESUS name, Amen.

See related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and_16.html  http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/09/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html 
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html

What They Don't Tell You About Sales and Social Networking (Pt.1)

Welcome back! Just as I promised before we will discuss those statistics about sales and how to get the most of our social networking for your business. This blog post is a three part series, so I hope that you read all three in that each one picks up where the other left off.

So, you have a website  and now you need to bring in traffic.  You say, what must I do, hmmm network right? So you find as many people as you can and make friends with them on a large social network.  Then you tell them about your website (exposure, exposure, exposure) and sit back and watch the money roll in right...wrong.  When you join social networks you can make hundreds of friends, have your website posted with links to it, send them emails with coupons and discounts but the are catches to all those things. First of all, from all those hundreds of friends you will need a thousand people to see your site and from those thousands only 15 percent will buy from you. Secondly, make sure that your links work and that they aren't being seen as something that could be potentially harmful to the person's computer (some sites don't send people directly to the links that are posted on their site for fear that you could be viruses). Thirdly, people could get turned away from your company from the emails that you sent with coupons and discounts, seeing them as spam. I know what you are thinking, you say this is what everyone is doing, so it must be the right thing to do. But do you really know if they are making money from all "these" efforts?

Statistics state that out of every thousand visitors to your site you will only get 15 percent of those people to buy (which is 1.5 percent of those thousands of visitors). For example if you get two hundred friends in 6 months, then yu have picked up 33 people in a month and one person a day. That's not a lot of potential customers to visit your site. How many other sites do you have a membership? Do you make profiles and them leave them because of low membership on that site? All these are important factors in determining if you make sales because the more sites your on the better and inorder to generate traffic to your site you need a large number of visitors, so the site that you are on needs a large memebership base. In the political arena, they post campaign flyers everywhere from school yards to light poles and they post in areas of HIGH traffic (even if their is an abandoned building on the street, if it is a busy intersection, they are there).

See next blog for Part 2...

See related articles:
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and.html  http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-sales-and_16.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/04/5-tips-for-resurrect-your-business.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/11/give-them-more-of-you-how-to-build.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/12/10-ways-to-get-your-business-organized.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2011/02/be-dressed-for-party-learn-how-to.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/02/black-history-of-entrepreneurship.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/how-to-start-online-business-101.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2012/01/new-customer-service-for-2012.html
http://uniquicnetworking.blogspot.com/2010/10/7-tips-to-great-profile-picture-your.html