Two great articles were written recently about How Social networking may be replacing email.  Here  is the link to the first one, and a brief discription from it.  I will go ahead an update the second one in a few minutes, they are both excellent:  http://searchenginewatch.com/3632099

The “killer app” of the first part of the Internet boom was e-mail. Then came e-commerce, e-care, search, music, video, and now social media. E-mail has held on through the years as arguably the king of the Internet, used by the old and the young alike. However, the new inbox is shifting toward social media.

“I have a 16-year cousin and she listed off her favorite Web sites and applications and failed to mention e-mail so I asked her about it,” said Mike Peters, 37, of Detroit, Michigan. “I was shocked by the incredulous look on her face and even more shocked at her response that she didn’t use e-mail that much since it was too formal, she would rather use instant messenger on her phone or post comments based on people’s activities in social networks.” It turns out that Generation Z finds e-mail antiquated and passé, so they simply ignore it.

While this is shocking to some generations, it fits within the scheme of Socialnomics. E-mail isn’t entirely going away, it just may not be the first means of digital communication in a Socialnomic world. Foremost, the messaging is much easier to manage within social media versus e-mail because it acts like a real conversation among friends.

“As a sales person I see social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook as an invaluable tool,” said Allison Bahm of ResponseMine Interactive Agency. “It doesn’t necessarily shorten the sales cycle, but what it does is keep the information flow more open and also allows for a much deeper relationship than e-mail. I’ve started relationships and signed contracts exclusively within social networks. It is revolutionary for sales, it’s much easier than telephone calls and e-mails.”

Whereas e-mail functions in a non-fluid manner, open conversations within social media have an easier flow to them and replicate a normal conversation. Also, the conversational content is broken down into bit-sized chunks and are associated into more easily recognized compartments rather than just a long and daunting slew of 45 e-mails that you need to wade through systematically.

“Kids today prefer one to many communication; e-mail to them is antiquated,” said Bill Tancer, Hitwise general manager, global research.

Sorry I have not blogged for a while, and the Holidays this year have simply been too calming.  You see Seattle has been underseiged by Snow, way too much snow.  For two weeks now, and finally today it’s over.  The 12″ plus of snow is melting, and I am finally back in the mood for blogging and thinking about work.  So what did I do besides working from home this holidays?  I worked out a lot, as the gym is just 2 blocks away, well actually less than 2 blocks, it’s about a block and an alley.  This also allowed me to read, and since football season is almost over, I read some more.  What did I read?

While I was bored reading “Freaknomics” great book, but boring.  I decided to pick up the new Malcolm Gladwell book “Outliers”.  It’s a historical outlook on what makes people successful.  And the book is quite amazing, I finished it in 2 days.  I am usually too busy to read a whole book in 2 days, plus the fact is I have two young ones.  I just don’t want to spend that much time on something, unless it’s really worth it.  The book reads really well, not only from the interesting analogies of old time success.  But, it also provides tangible proof that success comes from persistencant hard work and a little bit of luck.  Not to mention that IQ has little impact, but it’s the social skills and outlook which are just as important as Opportunity.

The key to success based on the book is based on many factors, and it’s worth reading.  Most importantly I remind myself to not give up and focus on the core of my skills so that I can develop my skills for up to 10 years so that I can have success in my field.  Success does come to those who wait, but they often have to wait with persistence and thank the gods for the timing of their ventures or field.  Hey while why not plug in my Marketing book, “Marketing is a CONTACT sport”, it’s quite impressive on success of your online marketing.

So the debate continues, and Google is saying it’s not evil, but is that really the case?  If they start using their monopoly position in search, as they have with copying books etc, you will see a troubled Internet.  Check out the following article from Information Week:

http://www.informationweek.com/blog/main/archives/2008/12/google_calls_th.html

Enjoy and fight for your rights to compete with the big boys!

If you wish to learn about the Net Neutrality rules and regulations, it protectst the smaller players.  If you have to pay to play in the fast lane.  Who looses?  The smaller players, the startups.  Who will win, the big companies that will pay for the faster access to their own products and services.  So this is one to write to your congressman about.  But first, read this great article from the Wall Street Journal.  Ouch, this hurts and Obama will fall in the hands of the mighty, watch and see (and I use to like him, and kind of still do).

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122929270127905065.html

Ok, I live in Seattle and it’s the rainy season, and it’s time to talk about Seattle Gutters.  What did I just say, am I kidding?  Well not really, listen up.  My neighbor and friend Ben came over the other day from SeattleRainGutters.com, and checked out my rustic Seattle Gutters.  I need to reroute one of my gutters and he asked me for a quote and he said no worries, he will just do it.  I said c’mon dude, and he said just write a blog about him to SEO his site for Seattle Gutters.  You see Ben is a very smart guy, he has SEO’ed him self to #1 or #2 for Seattle Rain gutters, but he has fallen to #31 for the keywords “Seattle Gutters“.  He said that he gets enough business from his site that it will be worth thousands of dollars to him.

So that I why I am writing this blog for my friend from the best Seattle Gutters site, who wants to be in the top 10 for “Seattle Gutters” keyword.  I hope this helps Ben, and maybe when my gutters are rerouted I will write another brief blog about what a wonderful job you did on my Seattle Gutters .  Thanks to all of you for listenging to my entertaining but kind of blah blogging about heaters (written in the past to support GreenIsBetter.org) and Seattle Gutters, kind of lame but if it helps people why not!

Those comments are from Paulo Coelho, the famous author of “The Alchemist”.  He loves both of the social networks, wow!  He also has an amazing blog, and the story below is from the blog.  He also links to free versions of his book, wow, we need to do that soon, coming to Christmas near you.  I promise, here is the incredible Christmas story!

This guy at the Search Engine Land, was just quoted in a Media Post article and spoke on  Friday at the Search Insider summit.  Danny is a really smart guy, and the article reads, “Google Likely to stay on top in Search”… My comment to that is DUH..A Big DUH… you are such a Genius Danny..

I am fired up the stupid and yet thoughtfully percieved as intelligent comment by Danny boy.  Danny says that BM leaving Microsoft means that Microsoft is leaving the focus on Display.  Where did that come from?  BM is a very smart man, and MS has a huge Display business and will continue to as it has MSN and more syndicated partnerships and owns many super high traffic sites.  But, that is none of Danny the search guys comments.  BM has made a ton of money, and deserve to take some time off.  There is new blood needed at MS and Search is something that is clearly a focus, but never at the expense of Display.  BM has placed his top tier managers as leaders within MS to take that to the next level.  But, what would Danny boy know about this, he only knows search. 

Now about Google leading in Search and will continue to lead.  Well, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.  But, MS doesn’t care about making Live search user friendly?  Are you kidding Danny boy, how about Powerset and tons of resources MS is putting in to search.  MS never gives up, did you not learn that from the browser wars, email, and games.  Which part of Microsoft perservance did you not understand as a super powerful success factor.  Maybe you are just a kid Danny boy?  Danny Sullivan, you are certainly wrong about Microsoft, maybe you should live in Seattle like I do.  They are ferociously competive, super smart, and did you forget they have a ton of money.  They are also not firing 20,000 contractors to get their stock price up, like Google.

Danny you are a smart guy to bring search engine land to the fore front, and you maybe smart about a lot of stuff.  But you are wrong about Microsoft.  They are doing so well in so many tech areas, and with all of the investments and focus on online services, they will continue to dominate in Display and give Google a run for it’s money in Search.   Take that for the record!

I just read an article about the lack of coverage by traditional media for herbal medicines and traditional herbal remedies.  What no news there?  Why cover it, when no one will believe it right?  Well, that is the problem with doctors, politicians, and most of your know the media too.  That is why us bloggers seem to cover some news, but some of us are biased towards our own products.  Yes we are planning to launch an herbal remedies blog and blog/website for our passion herbal medicine , because we take herbal products for our every day natural health.  Here is the article I saw and just posted on our herbals blog:

Why aren’t Herbal remedies in the news? There are many reasons, here is an excerpt from a report done by a Canadian organization. I think it’s up to all of our selves to make sure that our health is in our own hands. Our government and modern medicine doctors are too influenced by money, sorry folks do you know any honest politicians or doctors? If yes, we need more of them. Here is part of the herbal medicine report:

Complementary and Alternative Medicines [CAM] are interventions that are not widely taught in medical schools and are not part of the usual arsenal of treatments and medications recommended and prescribed by physicians and available in hospitals.1 CAM is big business ($30 billion in the US) with aggressive marketing. Their use in Europe and North America is increasing significantly.2 For example, a 1998 phone survey of 1539 adults found that 42.1% in the United States had used at least one CAM within a twelve month period and that use had increased since 1990; the most used treatments were herbal medicine, massage, mega- vitamins, self-help groups, folk remedies, energy healing and homeopathy.3 In 2003, 20% of all Canadians visited a CAM practitioner, up from 15% in 1994/5.4 Users of CAM are more likely to have higher education levels and report lower health status.  5 Common health prob- lems treated with CAM are anxiety, back problems, chronic pain, and urinary tract problems. Use of CAM is dependent, not on dissatisfaction with conventional medicine as it is most commonly used in association with conventional medicine, but on philosophical orientations towards health and life, such as feminism, spirituality, and personal growth. 6
Other studies suggest that CAM use allows patients and con-sumers greater control over their health and a level of self-empowerment.7 For these reasons, it has become increasingly important to understand the nature and impact of popular representations of CAM in this context.

The combination of educated and self-empowered users of CAM suggests a high degree of reliance on information sources outside of mainstream medical practitioners. Not surprisingly, coverage in sources including newspapers, television, magazines, other media, and the internet has increased to meet the demand for information. A vast quan-tity of information of varying quality exists in the media and on the internet.  8 There are concerns, however, that the media and internet provide too rosy a picture of CAM.  9 and down- play adverse reactions to CAM, which can be dangerous and potentially fatal.  10 Such coverage augments the common misperception that CAM is natural and therefore, less harm- ful than conventional medical treatments.  11 Indeed, Barnes et al. (1998) found that users of CAM were less likely to report adverse effects than users of over-the-counter medi-cines.

12 These factors suggest that significant improvements need to be made to knowledge translation mechanisms for the public, healthcare professionals, and policy makers. The response of the medical and scientific community has been an increasing interest in CAM issues. There has been an increase in the number and proportion of clinical trials of CAM, which suggests a trend toward an evidence-based approach. The cumulative number of clinical trial articles indexed on MEDLINE, however, remains small (0.4%), and more high-quality original research is needed. 13 Further, the proportion of those articles on CAM indexed as clinical trial-type studies is 2.1%, but rising. 14 The lack of clinical trials may be due to a number of factors. There may be little incentive for commercial manufacturers of CAM products to run expensive clinical trials. However, the recent move to evidence-based health claims for CAM labeling and advertising in Canada15 may drive an increase in CAM clinical trials in that country. Trends in Evidence Based Medicine for Herbal Remedies and Media Coverage
Tania Bubela, Timothy Caulfield and Heather Boon

Please visit Marketing Charts to see full article, since we are a blogging site, I am super excited to place the full article.  At the same time, we believe blogging and Social Networking are tied at the hip.  click Here: Enjoy!

Blogs Influence Consumer Purchases More than Social Networks

The number of those who read blogs at least once a month has grown 300% in the past four years, and what they read strongly influences their purchase decisions, playing a key role in ushering them to the point of actual purchase, according to a BuzzLogic-sponsored study, reports Retailer Daily.

“Harnessing the Power of Blogs,” a research study of more than 2,000 online consumers in the US, was conducted by JupiterResearch, a Forrester research company.

The study aimed to uncover changing behavior around blog discovery and consumption, how blogs factor into consumer purchase decisions, and the nature of blog influence on buying behavior.

For example, frequent blog readers (those who read blogs more than once per month) – constituting 20% of blog readers – say they trust relevant blog content for purchase decisions more than content from social networking sites, the study found.

Below are additional findings released by BuzzLogic.

Buying Behavior: The Nature of Blog Influence

• Blogs influence purchases: One half (50%) of blog readers say they find blogs useful for purchase information.
• Blogs go beyond tech: Outside of technology-related purchases, for which 31% of readers say blogs are useful, other key categories include media and entertainment (15%); games/toys and/or sporting goods (14%); travel (12%); automotive (11%); and health (10%).

• Niche focus ups influence factor: For those who have found blog content useful for product decisions, more than half (56%) say blogs with a niche focus and topical expertise were key sources.

Blogs’ Place in the Purchase Cycle

Blogs factor in to critical stages of the purchase process, weighing most heavily at the actual moment of a purchase decision, according to the study: Among respondents who say they have trusted blog content for purchase decisions in the past, over half (52%) say blogs played a role in the critical moment they decided to move forward with a purchase.

Blog readers’ responses regarding blogs’ influence as it relates to the following steps of the purchase process:

• Decide on a product or service: 21%
• Refine choices: 19%
• Get support and answers: 19%
• Discover products and services: 17%
• Assure: 14%
• Inspire a purchase: 13%
• Execute a purchase: 7%

Blog Ads and Reader Trust

For frequent blog readers, ads on blogs are on par with sponsored search results, one of the most prevalent and successful forms of advertising on the web – and trust of blog advertising exceeds that around social networking site advertising.

Fully 25% of frequent readers say they trust ads on a blog they read; paid search links also account for 25% of their responses; and 19% say they trust ads on social networking sites.

The study also suggests ads on blogs spur various activities:

• 40% of blog readers have taken action as a result of viewing an ad on a blog; 50% of frequent blog readers say so.
• Top activities include the following: read product reviews online (17%); sought out more info on a product or service (16%); visited a manufacturer or retailer website (16%).

Changing Reader Patterns: The Power of Links

Frequent blog readers use blogs as the top online navigation tool to discover other blog content, ranking higher than general web search or blog search, the study also found:

• 38% of frequent readers said blog links were the top tool for discovering new blog content.
• 34% cited web search, and 11% said blog search engines were the top tool for discovering new blog content.
• For frequent readers, blog links appear to have similar impact as a trusted recommendation from a person (a response from 39% of survey participants).

One in five general blog readers (defined as consumers who have read a blog in the past 12 months) use blog links to discover new blogs.

Blog search engines received the lowest ranking from respondents: 6% of general readers say they use these tools to discover new blogs.

Blogs are not consumed in isolation, but experienced as part of a connected conversation: Nearly half (49%) of blog readers and 71% of frequent readers read more than one blog per session.

“For a portion of web users, blogs rival search as a navigation tool, which has really interesting implications for advertisers,” said Rob Crumpler, CEO of BuzzLogic. “Blogs are becoming trusted guides, steering users who are seeking very specific information to places of interest online. Being able to identify where this is taking place across the blogosphere gives us a window into user intent and a means to better target advertising to a qualified audience. This is great news for advertisers looking to maximize value in today’s environment.”

About the study: In August 2008, JupiterResearch designed and fielded a survey to online consumers selected randomly from the NPD Group US online consumer panel. A total of 2,210 persons responded to the survey. Respondents were asked approximately 40 closed-ended questions about their behaviors, attitudes, and preferences as they relate to media and entertainment, including 10 questions relating to blogs. The samples were balanced by a series of demographic and behavioral characteristics to ensure that they were representative of the online population. Demographic weighting variables included age, gender, household income, household education, household type, region, market size, race, Hispanic ethnicity, online tenure, connection speed, and student status.

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