SAN FRANCISCO — A surge in social-media use by small businesses reflects a shift in how they operate and their comfort with increasingly easy-to-use technology.

In growing numbers, small-business owners are adopting social-networking services, location-based services, Twitter and online video to promote products and services, according to a new study by MerchantCircle, a social network for small businesses. It polled a fraction of its more than 1.3 million members.

The survey results are the strongest evidence yet that small businesses — which account for more than 90% of all U.S. companies and fuel the economy — are accelerating their use of social media at the expense of traditional media such as newspapers, the Yellow Pages and radio. Even e-mail messages have taken a beating.

Read the rest of this entry →

The largest social network in the world, Facebook, will soon reach 500 million users. According to Techcrunch; “Facebook’s announced 400 million users only five months ago, as it celebrated its sixth birthday. And it took only five months to go from 300 to 400.” Coincidentally Marc Andreessen, a Facebook board member, mentioned that revenue for the company reached $500 million last year.

Facebook continues its move towards market domination, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying it could be the first social networking site to reach 1 billion users.

The website currently has 500 million users, but Zuckerberg is confident Facebook can reach 1 billion once it conquers the relatively small number of countries that are yet to fully embrace the site, the New York Post reported.

Zuckerberg told the audience at the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France that China, Japan, Russia and South Korea were the only countries where Facebook wasn’t the social networking site leader.

“While Facebook has fewer than 1 million users in Russia, the growth rate is doubling every six months,” he said.

Facebook opened an office in Moscow in April and opened discussions with local mobile phone operators as part of a project to expand in Russia.

Zuckerberg said Facebook wouldn’t reach the 1 billion mark this year but it “has a decent shot” down the line, the New York Post reported.

Read the rest of this entry →

Autospecialtiesinc.com just added the widget to the website for Auto Specialties of Canton, Inc. It works great with Keith Whann’s videos from You Tube.

Facebook reaches top ranking in US

Facebook Reaches Top Ranking in US

March 15, 2010

Facebook reached an important milestone for the week ending March 13, 2010 and surpassed Google in the US to become the most visited website for the week. Facebook.com recently reached the #1 ranking on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year’s Day as well as the weekend of March 6th and 7th. The market share of visits to Facebook.com increased 185% last week as compared to the same week in 2009, while visits to Google.com increased 9% during the same time frame. Together Facebook.com and Google.com accounted for 14% of all US Internet visits last week.

L.J. Marhefka
www.LJKing.com