Funny stuff coming from the kings of social networking, according to the Washington Post article “Hiring Of New MySpace CEO Settles Many Old Scores”

<<MySpace parent company News Corp. continues to leak, off record, that  Owen Van Nattais in the final stages of becoming the new CEO of MySpace. Van Natta certainly has the experience on paper to run the company – he was a business development executive at Amazon, the chief revenue officer at Facebook and most recently the CEO of music startup Playlist.com. If the leaks are correct, he’s in the final stages of contract negotiation and his hiring will be announced shortly.

Did you know that you can have your own Social Networking website like Myspace or Facebook – and create multiple streams of income from these websites … while working from home?

Within months of launching their social networking websites, Myspace and Facebook were each valued over a hundred million dollars and are now each valued over a billion dollars after only a few years.  Experts agree, and proven by the success of Myspace, Facebook and other social networking websites like Youtube,  and Linkedin that having your own social networking website is one of the best business opportunities available today. 

You can start your own social networking website and target specific groups of people and monetize the site in several ways.  This is very inexpensive to do and can be completely managed from home.  All you need is internet access.   Could YOU own a site like this?  Of course, why not?  For only a few dollars you can have an entire social networking website within a few minutes.  Just visit www.rsitez.com for details.

So why do I recommend that you have your own social networking site?  Because it’s very low cost, easy to manage, can be done from home, easy to monetize, and all you need to do is get people to join the site.  You can have a free site that sells ads; a membership payment site that you charge others to join; or a site that you use to sell products.  There are many other ways to monetize social networking sites, but these are the 3 most common ways.

Let’s talk a little about the difference in these monetization options.

Ads Sales – Advertisers are always trying to find new places to advertise their products.  Clearly, online advertising is putting newspapers and magazines out of business everywhere.  It’s less expensive, has a quicker turn-around time, and more targeted than the way your dad used to advertise.  You don’t need to have a Myspace with over a hundred million members to sell ads.  All you need is a very targeted niche site.  So let’s assume that you’re a stay-at-home mom and you want to build a network of moms.  And let’s say that you can attract a lot of the moms in your town.  All of a sudden you can now go to the grocery store, the bakery, the day care, the gym, the dentist and all the places you normally go and offer them the opportunity to advertise on your site.  You can set whatever price you like for your ads.  The main idea here, however, is that you have a targeted audience of moms in your town that people will want to reach.  This concept is the same for virtually any affinity group, professions, interest etc.  Here are some ideas:  social networking site for painters, musicians, firemen, police, teachers, snowboarders, travellers etc.  There is virtually no limit here.  Try to find something that you have a genuine interest in and imagine that others will to.  Your main job will be to attract these individuals to your site and create value or opportunities for them.

Membership Income – Some sites will have to be free while others will be able to charge a membership fee.  This depends on the value of the content of the site.  Example: a hangout for teens will probably be free.  However, a site that focus on teaching someone how to invest, how to speak French, or how to add some value to their life may charge some fee that the site visitors will gladly pay.  Why?  Because the cost savings and value added by the site to the member is apparent.  Here are some examples:  A site where you help employers recruit top talent; a site where you help people navigate through the financial crisis with proven investment strategies; a site where you provide strategies for lasting relationships; a site where you help someone find that perfect mate.  These sites will need to be credible and will need to provide the value advertised but once established, these sites could become very good cash machines.  This is a great way to make money because you can often charge a subscription fee for these sites, payable monthly, yearly etc.  The fee will be based on the value you provide.  However, you only need 1,000 members paying $10 per month to make $10,000 per month with this method.  That’s a six figure salary from working at home.  Not a bad start!

Selling online – What’s great about this method is that you already have your members online and you know what they like – if you have an affinity niche social networking site.  So let’s say that you have a site that targets football fans and you have an online store with the site.  Guess what you sell? That’s right football memorabilia and other related ‘stuff’.  T-shirts, calendars, balls, game tickets etc.  This could be on a local level – the college team U of M (University of Money), a national team, or just football fans overall.  But where do you get this stuff to sell?  You can partner with the local merchant, take photos of the items, upload the photos and description, collect the orders with your site, and have the merchant fulfil the orders.  Basically, members would be able to order the products on your site, your automatic notification system will email the orders to the merchant, and the merchant ships the products to the customer.    You take a percentage of the sales, thank you sir, for doing practically nothing, manufacturing nothing, warehousing nothing.  Another option is to use amazon.com or amazon.co.uk.  These guys now sell practically anything you can imagine – and they do all the warehousing and fulfilment as well.  However, the main idea here is that you get a piece of every sale for simply having a site that you can attract a group of people who likes to do what you like to do anyway.

Cashflow – It must be obvious by now where I’m going with this.  But here it is.  You can actually do all the above with your social networking site at the same time to create multiple streams of income with recurring cashflow.  You can have a targeted niche social networking website that you: collect recurring membership fees; you sell ads on the site to businesses and individuals; and you can have an online store for your members to buy products – all on the same site.  Of course, once you have the site and the audience you can also offer ‘premium services’ to your members.  Ching, ching … more streams of income.

So this is only a small sample of what you can do today to make money online with your own social networking website, without even leaving your house.

To learn more about creating your own social networking site please visit www.rsitez.com. 

About the author

Rohan Hall is the author of Stop Working, a book that teaches entrepreneurs how to use technology, globalization, and networks to build a global business.  His clients include HP, Corning, Oracle, Honda and various other Fortune 500 companies.  He is also the CEO or rSitez, Inc. (www.rsitez.com), a technology firm that helps entrepreneurs create revenue with social networking sites.

The global economy seems to be out of control.  This week the USA Senate passed an $838 billion stimulus package to bring the US back from the current recession.  The UK and other countries are enacting similar measures to fix their own economy.  Jobs are being lost by the tens of thousands, over 500,000 jobs lost in the US alone last month.  Is this the time to get depressed?  HELL NO!!!  This is the time to seek out the opportunities that are in front of us.

Wherever there is chaos, there are opportunities!  It’s time to stand up and look around to see things that you may not have seen yesterday.  Where are the opportunities today?  What will be the opportunities tomorrow?  I believe that today, more than ever, globalization is very relevant.  With the right strategy, technology, strategic relationships you can do practically anything. 

So what are some of the things that you can do today?

Start your own social networking site that targets a specific niche and monetize it.  This is very inexpensive to do and can be completely managed from home.  All you need is internet access.  We have seen Myspace, Facebook, Youtube, Xing, Linkedin and others grow from zero to millions of users within a few months.  They have grown from 0 to hundreds of millions of dollars in months as well.  Could you own a site like this?  Of course, why not?  For only a few dollars you can have an entire site like this within a few minutes.  Just visit www.rsitez.com for details.

So why do I recommend that you have your own social networking site?  Because it’s very low cost, easy to manage, can be done from home, easy to monetize, and all you need to do is get people to join the site.  You can have a free site that sells ads; a membership payment site that you charge others to join; or a site that you sell items.  There are many other ways to monetize social networking sites, but these are the 3 most common ways.

 Let’s talk a little about the difference in these monetization options.

Ads Sales – Advertisers are always trying to find new places to advertise their products.  Clearly, online advertising is putting newspapers and magazines out of business everywhere.  It’s less expensive, have a quicker turn-around time, and more targeted than the way your dad used to advertise.  You don’t need to have a Myspace with over a hundred million members to sell ads.  All you need is a very targeted niche site.  So let’s assume that you’re a stay-at-home mom and you want to build a network of moms.  And let’s say that you can attract a lot of the moms in your town.  All of a sudden you can now go to the grocery store, the bakery, the day care, the gym, the dentist and all the places you normally go and offer them the opportunity to advertise on your site.  You can set whatever price you like for your ads.  The main idea here, however, is that you have a targeted audience of moms in your town that people will want to reach.  This concept is the same for virtually any affinity group, professions, interest etc.  Here are some ideas.  Social networking site for painters, musicians, firemen, police, teachers, snowboarders, travellers etc.  There is virtually no limit here.  Try to find something that you have a genuine interest in and imagine that others will to.  Your main job will be to attract these individuals to your site and create value or opportunities for them.

Membership Income – Some sites will have to be free while others will be able to charge a membership fee.  This depends on the value of the content of the site.  Example: a hangout for teens will probably have to be free.  However, a site that focus on teaching someone how to invest, how to speak French, or how to add some value to their life may charge some fee that the site visitors will gladly pay.  Why?  Because the cost savings and value added by the content is apparent.  Here are some examples: A site where you help employers recruit top talent; a site where you help people navigate through the financial crisis with proven investment strategies; a site where you provide strategies for lasting relationships; a site where you help someone find that perfect mate.  These sites will need to be credible and will need to provide the value advertised but once established, these sites could become very good cash machines.  This is a great way to make money because you can often charge a subscription fee for these sites, payable monthly, yearly etc.  The fee will be based on the value you provide.  However, you only need 1,000 members paying $10 per month to make $10,000 per month with this method.  That’s a six figure salary from working at home.

Selling online – What’s great about this method is that you already have your members online and you know what they like – if you have an affinity niche social networking site.  So let’s say that you have a site that targets football fans, you have an online store with the site.  Guess what you sell? That’s right football memorabilia and other related ’stuff’.  T-shirts, calendars, balls, game tickets etc.  This could be on a local level – the college team U of M (University of Money), a national team, or just football fans overall.  But where do you get this stuff to sell?  You can partner with the local merchant, take photos of the items, upload the photos and description, collect the orders with your site, and have the merchant fulfil the orders.  Basically, members would be able to order the products on your site, your automic notification system will email the orders to the merchant, the merchant ships the products to the customer.    You take a percentage of the sales, thank you sir, for doing practically nothing, manufacturing nothing, warehousing nothing.  Another option is to use amazon.com or amazon.co.uk.  These guys now sell practically anything you can imagine – and they do all the warehousing and fulfilment as well.  However, the main idea here is that you get a piece of every sale for simply having a site that you can attract a group of people who likes to do what you like to do anyway.

It must be obvious by now where I’m going with this.  But here it is.  You can actually do all the above with your social networking site at the same time.  You can have a targeted niche group, that you collect membership fees from, you can sell ads on the site, and have an online store as well – all on the same site.  That what we call a three-fer. 

So this is only a small sample of what you can do today to make money online, without even leaving your house.

You can learn more about creating your own social networking site at www.rsitez.com, and don’t forget to be bold.  Remember, the opportunities are there, but it’s up to you to find them and to take action today.

Last presidential campaign, as you heard a thousand times, was historic in many fronts. In terms of the use of technology was historic too. Internet was used as never before to reach volunteers, communicate with voters, launch political Ads, blogging, etc, etc. 

I believe that the use of internet in this campaign will be compared in the future with the historic first TV debate between JFK and Nixon. In that debate, Nixon was recovering from illness and, wearing little makeup, looked wan and uncomfortable, in contrast to the composed Kennedy. Nixon’s performance in the debate was perceived to be mediocre in the visual medium of television. The polls changed after the debate launching Kennedy to the presidency. It would unfair to say that JFK won because he looks good on camera but in the same way it will be silly not to give him credit for understanding how a TV debate could benefit his candidacy and give him an edge over Nixon. In a similar way the same can be said about Obama and how he used internet to organize volunteers, raise funds, and communicate with voters to gain an edge in the campaign.

The main factor to use internet so powerfully has been the growing possibilities of social networking technologies and their massive reception. The use of new social networking software gave so great results to President Obama and his advisers that they are going to continue to use them from the oval office.

Every morning, Obama will receive a briefing from the ideas and opinions submitted by the american people through the websites Change.Force.com  and Whitehouse.gov

We don’t know what the impact of this could be but it is definitely encouraging. Online communities and social networking tools encourage two-ways communication and these sites could become a place to have these conversations with the administration. It is clear that a lot of progress need to be made to assure that the government is listening, that this is not just a propaganda tool, etc…but once again, this is just the beginning. To me is encouraging to see that President Obama will use social networking technology as one more way to stay in touch with the people, especially important in this difficult economic crisis.

As my last post what’s about the future of technology, I thought that looking back is also appropriate. I found in  Jeremiah’s blog this really informative video about the past of technology. It explains how internet was born and what system across the globe where involved in its origins. Enjoy

I received this video from my partner Rohan. I thought it was pretty cool and I want to share it. It has all the ingredients for being a viral video (interesting message and cool & catchy content). It has been viewed by over 300,000 times in youtube and I’m sure it will be watched soon by millions of people, thanks of course, to Social Media Applications.

To me it is the perfect reminder of how fast technology is moving and how much more remain to be done. It’s particularly spectacular the numbers related with Internet….and that’s only the beginning!

When you see the numbers for Google in 2006 and in 2008, I can’t stop thinking what kind of numbers Social Networking Sites such as Facebook or MySpace or as a whole this new Social Networking Industry will get by 2010. I’m sure we’ll be surprised as we are surprised now looking at Google.

Enjoy the video, share it and let me know what you think…

And exciting 2008 is coming to an end. A great year for our company and the overall social networking software industry. I can’t wait to see what 2009 is bringing us! 

Best Wishes and
Happy New Year 2009!

Todo lo mejor para el 2009!

Bonne Annee 2009!

Thank you all!

rSitez

Our social networking software is helping hundreds of entrepreneurs, associations and corporations to build and grow their unique social networking sites. One thing did surprise me though — the number of people who approached us with the mistaken belief that Social Networking sites are somehow easier than other online businesses to make money with them or that their sites will go viral without any work on them.

Well, let me tell you, there’s nothing easier about running a Social Networking site business compared to other online business. Social Networking sites is a different way of going about it. And that’s all. Here’s my top 10 myths about running a Social Networking site online business (and in answer to the missing Myth#11, NO, you CANNOT run a serious Social Networking online business with Google, Yahoo or Facebook groups – get a REAL social networking platform that allow you to make money and control your destiny).

MYTH#1 – It’s Easy and Fast, Anyone Can Build your New Social Networking Site

FACT – It’s not easy and fast, by any stretch of the imagination, and no, most of the people that claim that they can build you a Social Networking Site never have done one or their experience is very limited. It’s not the same building traditional websites with some community features such as forums than a complete social networking site.

Reality is, producing a Social Networking Platform is a long, slow, and an expensive working process. Thousands of code lines and skillful programmers are needed. So, follow this advice and go with rSitez or any other established white label social networking providers and avoid “I can do it all” web-developers.

Once you start building your new site in a good platform your work really starts. Your first attempt at creating your own Social Networking web site will be an abomination. You’ll look back at it in 12 months and shudder, but it’s normal, everyone go through the same.

You’ll feel utterly overwhelmed by the sheer amount of information you need to absorb.  And the fact that six different “experts” each tell you six different things doesn’t help.  (There are no “experts”, by the way, just a lot of people with a lot of opinions.  Bottom line?  Do what works.  For you and your community members, specially for your community members)

The only way to learn is by trial and error.  Some days you’ll feel like you’re on a roll, the next you’ll feel like you’re backsliding and FAST.  No sooner do you manage a respectable number of new members enrolling, than your main advertiser disappear, and where the hell did that number 5 listing with Google go?

After spending an ENTIRE DAY writing what you believe is great content for your site, one member made an inappropriate comment on it and you get your inbox full of emails from furious users blaming you, your post, your site and everything under the sun, so after you take care of this post and create the appropriate email answer for your members…you suddenly realize that you’ve done absolutely nothing all day to promote your business and you still have to write the article for this week’s newsletter which has to go out tomorrow…. AAAARGHHHH!!!!!

Many, many people, give it up.  It’s hard work and it could be frustrating.  At the end of the day, a lot of people are just not prepared to do what it takes.

MYTH#2 – I Can Get Wealthy Overnight

FACT – The only way to get wealthy overnight in this world is to win the Lotto.  Period.  It will NOT happen on the Internet or in any other business.  Not these days, anyway.

MYTH#3 – Once I Build My Social Networking Website I Can Relax And Let It Do the Work For Me

FACT – Hah.  See Myth #4.

MYTH#4 – Once I Build My Social Networking Site The World Will Beat A Path To My Door

FACT – No. It won’t.

Merely creating a social networking site means that your web site is available for viewing by *those who know it exists*. Only problem is, you and your web host are the only ones who know. 

You now need to submit your site to the search engines (no, they will not just find it automatically and no, your web site is not just automatically added to some great universal Index once it’s uploaded). Then you have to wait to find out whether it’s been indexed.  And if by some miracle it has, where and for what keywords.  And then fix it. If you don’t know about SEO and what it implies, it’s better to look for a SEO services than can save you time. 

In the meantime, you have to drive traffic to your site via other means.  The first step is inviting your first community members and be sure that they are good evangelists so they invite to their contacts and become active in the site. An active site is key for success and you can not just expect that it will happen by itself, you need to provoke activity with content, articles, contests, whatever fit your audience to engage them. If you get the right first members, they are going to help you tremendously and your workload is going to be reduced a lot, so be sure you interact with them and give them the value and recognition they deserve (and possibly expect). They will help you grow the site.

Finally, you’ll need to submit it to directories, negotiate reciprocal links with other complementary web sites, start publishing a weekly newsletter and start promoting that to start developing your own opt-in list, start writing articles or blog posts and submitting them wherever you can (including a link to your site in the resource box at the end is good free advertising) and, shudder, advertising.

MYTH#5 – I Don’t Have To Spend Money To Market My Business

FACT – Yes, you do.

You wouldn’t expect to be able to market an offline business without financial outlay.  Well, guess what?  It’s just the same in your online business. 

In this case, the good news is that there are a lot of free options to market your site online but you will need to measure the success of these activities, maybe paid advertising help you to accelerate your start so consider all options. In addition, a great thing is that Social Networking sites can go viral, but it doesn’t happen magically. This only happen with great content for your audience so be sure your site is active and you have the content is appropiate for your community.  See Myth #4.

Oh, and by the way, when you’re re-reading Myth #4, keep in mind that unless you are running a private social networking site in which people need to pay for joining the site, you haven’t make a dime yet.

MYTH#6 – I Can Put the Whole Thing On Autopilot And Make Money While I Sleep (Or Vacation)

FACT – True.  To a point.

By automating as many of your tasks as possible you necessarily free up time to do other things.  You COULD use that time to sleep or vacation and you make money while you’re sleeping or vacationing.  THIS time.  But you must sow before you can reap and if you’re not continually planting and growing your business, the time will come in the not too distant future when you have nothing left to harvest.  You’ll wake up one morning and find that, far from filling your inbox with advertisers requests, your business has
bitten the dust.

So, instead of taking that freed up time and spending it sleeping or vacationing, spend it working your business. In other words, you’ll get out of your business precisely what you put into it.  Just like anything else in this world. Funny about that.

The good part about Social Networking business is that you can do it from home or anywhere in the world and at any time so vacationing or setting up your own timing is possible.

MYTH#7 – I Don’t Have To Deal With People, I Can Do Everything Via Email

FACT – Email is what you use to handle routine administrative issues and a tool to deal with your community members. However, with Advertisers-other Partners or with your Software provider if you run into something complex, you get on the phone and actually TALK to these people. This kind of business is not an iron curtain that protects you from having to have real life conversations and relationships with people. 

MYTH#8 – I Will Be Able to Fire My Boss And Work Where I Want, When I Want … In Six Months Or Less

FACT – Don’t give up your day job just yet. The goal is clear, the tools are ready, so work in your social site and get results first. 

MYTH#9 – When I’m Working For Myself From Home In My Social Networking Site I Will Be Able To Spend As Much Time With My Children As I Want

FACT – If you start a Social Networking site about your passions or expertise the task is easier but when you’re running a business you’re running a business. It’s not anymore a pleasant little hobby that you fit in between the stuff of your REAL life. This can be done but if you treat your new site as a hobby be realistic about the results. If you’re looking into Social Networking to make money and you’re not going to run your business as a business, forggeddabouddit.

MYTH#10 – Social Networking Is The Next Internet Magic Wand

FACT – See Myths#1 through #9.

While Facebook has been growing at around 300,000 to 400,000 active users per day for most of the fourth quarter (based on our estimations), its growth rate seems to have significantly increased in recent weeks to 600,000 or perhaps even 700,000 new users each day.

While Facebook has been growing at around 300,000 to 400,000 active users per day for most of the fourth quarter (based on our estimations), its growth rate seems to have significantly increased in recent weeks to 600,000 or perhaps even 700,000 new users each day.If Facebook continues at this rate, it could add up to 20 million new users in December and reach 200 million active users by March. Keep in mind however that about 70% of that growth is happening outside the United States. 

If Facebook continues at this rate, it could add up to 20 million new users in December and reach 200 million active users by March. Keep in mind however that about 70% of that growth is happening outside the United States.

And with Facebook showing this rate of growth, I only can see a great new year coming with more and more people using and enjoying social networking technology, great news.