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Up until now I’ve personally been using Google’s Chrome for it’s superior speed, but Flock’s features look very impressive.

You can clip content from the web and publish it to your favorite social media for example.

Their browser screen is sub-divided into three frames showing: the main window, a social list of Twitter or other contacts and a frame to search photo’s and video in.

A possible draw back may be that the main window gets a little small but they’ve done a great job of integrating MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, Flickr, Youtube and more, enhanced with easy publishing features for all kinds of content.

Downloading and installing the browser is easy and quick, but make sure to choose custom install to prevent making Flock your default browser if you don’t want to.

Impressions:

Flock Standard Social Media Options:

Quickly integrate social media into your browser interface

One Minutes Work: A World Of Traffic

Blogging can be a very fulfilling activity: but what’s the point of laughing out loud at our own wit when no one else reads them? The sad reality of many blogs is that they are not read at all. So much for your hard work…

Now SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is an industry for a reason: it’s too boring and complicated for anyone to be interested in pursuing it seriously except SEO experts and nerds. So let’s look for a quick and easy fix for mere mortals!

There is a protocol called ping which sends messages between websites and can be used to alert relevant websites about updates on your blog.

You could integrate it into your site or blog or…

simply use this page.

1. Enter the name of your Blog
2. Enter your Blog’s URL
3. Click select all (Ping services)
4. Send and you’re done!

If you want to go further and autopost blogs and content to many sites you could use the Ping.fm service from the Social Media box on our network homepage.

You’re blog update has now been sent to numerous relevant sites and services: traffic to your blog’s latest jewel is now only a matter of time!

Trying to combine Business and Social Media can feel like a slippery slide as mixing friendship and business holds some risks: nobody wants to risk a friendship for a crappy product and nobody wants to offend their friends by saying no to them. So: what if we could reduce this risk? What would it take to make this risk into a negligable calculated risk? Basically it all comes down to ballistics:

Calculated Risk

Calculated risk can make you achieve the seemingly impossible: landing in a 6 foot pool two hundred yards from your launching point (as in the video) or even combining Business with Friendship. Social Media can help you combine the latter two more easily then you might think! Here are some ways in which you can use Social Media to further your business goals in a calculated almost risk free way:

-Find friends that are interested in doing business just like you.
-Represent products and services that are a reasonably priced quality solution to a real problem.
-Find Social Media Environments where the two are combined: business minded friends and quality solutions for a reasonable price.

Achieving Your Goals

One way to achieve these goals is to be an active member of The HOB.Biz and/or join our Ambassador program as the three principles mentioned above are what we are all about. Another way is to bring your own quality solution to our network by starting a Business Club, posting a Classified Add or listing your business in the Directory. Whichever you choose: your (business minded) friends are already here!

We’ve all heard of viral marketing. One of it’s main characteristics is that content is placed somewhere and distributed not by the author but by people who view it there and that this process can be unpredictably succesfull.So: why not help change your fortunes in the simplest of ways: with a widget!

Widgets

An excellent way to achieve viral distribution is through widgets. On our Widget Page that I’ve just created you can find some examples: from buttons to click on to Twitterfeeds to video. All kinds of content can go into a widget. These widgets are resizable, customizable and can be put on any social media platform, blog or site (Feel free to do so). With these widgets you could add some of the functionality you are familiar with from our site to your own.

Creating Your Own Widgets

If you would like to create your own widgets like the ones I’ve just made, I can recommend using http://www.widgetbox.com This is a professional platform where you can create all kinds of widgets and even applications.

Ambassador Program

If you would like to embed any number of banners, text adds etc. to monetize your site, you may want to consider our Ambassador program. You can earn a great commission on sales and choose between text-links, presentations and all kinds of banners.

Free Widgets

If you join our free network The HOB.Biz: Business & Social Media! you can choose from hundreds of widgets to try out on your free Personal Profile: from business news, to Twitter Feeds, games and more.
Anything is possible with widgets because they are containers that can be filled with whatever you come up with.

Wouldn’t it be great if in whatever you planned or set your mind to, you could overcome all the obstacles you perceive to be blocking your achieving this goal with the greatest ease?

Here’s someone who doesn’t seem to even acknowledge obstacles in his path as such but rather as enablers of a better kind of movement: a frictionless movement no matter what the context…

(No) Obstacles

So let’s say that like the bicyclist in this video you want to be able to move through the world like there are no obstacles. So what are the obstacles in a Web 2.0 Social Media environment? These might be perceived as some of them:

-Financial: some Social Media environments are closed of by financial constraints such as admission fees that can be quite high.

-Social: Some networks or groups may be exclusive restricting access by selecting only the lucky few.

-Technological: New, better and sometimes expensive technologies are emerging all the time. You may not know about them, understand them or have access to them for some other reason.

Flexibility In All Contexts

We aim to offer you flexibility in all (Social Media) contexts:

-Financial: We offer free services to anyone, allowing you access to hundreds of networks from a single interface. We’ve done the work for you: your network is already in place. By joining our Ambassador program you could even make an easy additional income.

-Social: We are not an exclusive network but from our infrastructure you can access hundreds of free as well as exclusive environments, giving you an instant network wherever you go.

-Technological: We offer a host of free technologies right on this network from filesharing to a free online shopmanager, from a business directory to classified adds to name but a few. When new technologies emerge you can find information about this in thousands of Social Media bookmarks and news feeds. Where possible we will make them available to you for free. On top of this we offer member discounts on numerous technologies that will enable you to move through web 2.0 like the bicyclist in the video: frictionless!

Google has introduced it’s service Buzz to rival the success of Twitter, adding new ways of sharing content online.

Advantages:

Contribute To The Perfect Party Island

Imagine this: an vast empty blue space: the ocean. Suddenly from all directions vessels of all kinds speed towards a seemingly random spot and stop right there. On each vessel are people, each carrying a stone to drop into the water…

Each of them throws this stone into the water, until surprisingly…

The perfect Party Island is created!

Something from Nothing

If ever there was a great metaphor for Social Media this must be it: we each contribute something to a seemingly random structure of words, thoughts, code, images and before you know it we’ve created something from nothing: solid ground to stand on and in our case do actual business on.

The point of Social Media then is not to wait for someone to take the lead and take you somewhere but to each take the initiative and act in ways which will ultimately contribute.

This is how we feel at The HOB.Biz: Business & Social Media! anyway…

So: if you haven’t yet: join us! Or if you have: add a video, blogpost, document or discussion and let’s build the Perfect Party Island together!

Some Alternatives

If you own a network and you fear having to pay for it’s infrastructure in the near future, it would be only natural to look for alternatives. But where can you get a quick overview of some popular formats? It just so happens that The HOB.Biz operates and maintains hundreds of free clubs on free network infrastructures that you can visit at the click of a mouse. We also offer software solutions to help you to maintain control of your data. Here are some alternative solutions to assess:

Assesment Option 1:Alternative Social Media

Are you looking for a new free platform? On the right hand side of your screen you’ll find the Connect & Share Menu. By pressing any of the buttons a Business Club on a popular alternative site is opened allowing you to quickly assess the possibilities of that particular Social Site’s infrastructure.You can do the same from the menu in the My Social Media box on the home page or from the My Social Media Page. In fact the top menu in this section contains hundreds of alternative groups and sites that you can visit.In addition you can find more info on these sites in our Social Media Clubs.

Assesment Option 2:Build and Control Your Own Site

Visit our brand new Store, to assess the possibilities of The HOB eCommerce Manager software to build your own site including memberships, affiliate memberships, social media posting, blogging, custom CSS, storefront and more. When owning your own site, you can never be taken of guard again by policy changes of platform owners.The HOB eCommerce Manager includes an import facility to upload all your existing members.

Assesment option 3: Start a Group on someone elses site

When you visit our Business Club section, you’ll find it contains many groups started by members. A proces that can be as short as thirty seconds. Business Club Owners have the added benefit on our site that they are featured. Maintaining a group leaves the network owner i.e. The HOB.Biz to deal with infrastructure policies, so you don’t have to worry about it. Start a Business Club Now!

Assesment Option 4: Keep All your Contact and Communication Data in One Place

When a network or it’s provider cease to exist, a lot of data is lost to the user. Unless…you have a system in place that contains a record of all your email, and other interactions online as well as detailed contact information, and all your online files in all formats.With The HOB Networker PRO and/or The HOB Office Manager you can have just that: a permanent interlinked record of your communications and contacts as well as ways to make networking more efficient and fun.

Assesment Option 5: Earn Money With Your Site

With our Ambassador Program you get the possibility to earn revenue allowing you some financial space to pay for any price-increases. Our brand new store offers some significant introductory discounts on many relevant solutions. You can sign up here.

These are just some of the many solutions to this particular problem, we could help you with.If you want to discuss more options or related problems: add a comment to this post or contact us directly at: info@thehouseofbusiness.com.

Job Folbert

Team the HOB.Biz