Facebook Enthusiast

Facebook and Social Media Expert Can Bring You to the Next Level

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sat, 10 May 2008 18:59:00 +0000

It has been a year since I joined the facebook community and heavily researched its various aspects. People who know me ask what I can do for them or for their companies.

Here is a list:

1) Coach Business Owners and CEO's on Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media

2) Develop strategies to connect their company and salesforce to their customers

3) Develop PR strategies to produce a "buzz" for their service or product

4) Assemble a worldwide team of social media experts to "brainstorm" and work to promote their brands in the United States, Europe, Canada, Asia, and Australia

5) Create a strategy to bring blogs, podcasts and social media together

I was a well known sales automation consultant (one of the first ACT! Consultants , SalesLogix Business Partners and Salesforce.com business partners) and helped automate and train thousands of sales professionals.

Here are some quotes from Kaplan's Clients and Collaborators:

“Andrew brings his wide experience in the media industry to bear through his new Facebook Marketing initiative. A thorough understanding of next generation needs in a highly disruptive new media sector means that Andy brings insight and smarts to the table when consulting. Ethical, kind and supportive, a great guy to work with or hire for a mission critical project.”

Tia Carr Williams, VP Social Media, Kostial Company, LLC

“Andrew has helped me understand the wonderful world of Facebook, his style is open, patient and has that ability to simplify the power of social networks”

Anna Farmery, Speaker and Motivational Coach, The Engaging Brand

“Task to Andrew was help me understand the dynamics of social networking and, if possible, how to leverage social networking to grow our business -- retrofit hybrid drive systems for trucks. We conducted four on-line sessions. Results exceeded expectations and included ideas for building our "brand" far beyond the product. Planning more sessions in 2008. Recommendation: Thumbs up.”

John R. Dabels
EVPower Systems hired Kaplan as a Business Consultant

“Andrew has a keen sense for user experience and customer needs. He has provided us with a invaluable feedback on improving our consumer telephony web service.”

Touraj Parang, Co-Founder and COO, jaxtr

“Andrew is smart, inventive and has a strong vision of how entrepeneurs and sales professionals will work in the future. He brings a wide breadth of knowledge and a keen sense of business. I recommend Andrew if you want to be a leader in your field and work smarter.” April 9, 2007

Meg Rogers, VP / Director of Operations, Northstar Capital Management

“I've been fortunate to get strong consulting advice as I market my personal relationship manager and career management website. Andy's industry insight in CRM applications ranges from functionality to usage to marketing - all areas that have allowed him to give expert advice and opinions. I've found Andy to be specific, cordial and professional - all things that I need when making strategic decisions.” March 28, 2007

Jason Alba, CEO, JibberJobber, LLC, Author of Best Selling Books on LinkedIn and Facebook

“I have known Andy for nearly fourteen years; during this time I have always found him to be innovative, enthusiastic and very customer centric. He brings a wealth of experience and contacts to every situation he encounters and because of this is capable of bringing a new perspective or an inventive approach to any opportunity or challenge put before him. He truly personalizes each encounter, bringing with that a concern for the outcome not found often enough in business or personal relationships.” January 31, 2007

Mark Schneider
Entrepreneur, and Winner of $1 million dollar business plan contest

“I worked with Andy in my early years at HBO. He has great technology savvy which he combined with excellent business strategy skills. The company benefits when IT and Business Planning can work as a team

Suzanne Cotton, Former Home Box Office IT Executive

Facebook - Games People Play and Randomness

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 19:29:00 +0000

One of the questions I am asked is how did you meet so many people? For Facebook, one of the answers is playing games. If you think about Facebook as various spheres of influence coming from your current friends or network, how can you expand beyond that in an easy way?

For example, language is a barrier for meeting people from other countries and regions. In addition you may not know anyone there to help you expand into there.

So while networking in social media many times requires work and focus, a great part of your mix would be to play games which involve randomly meeting other people. So on any given day how can you find smart, witty, engaging people

Over the past few months, I have been a serious scrabulous addict playing multiple games at a time during the week. There are multiple dictionaries that you can play (US-English, UK/British - English, French and Italian). I have played all but Italian (since I haven't studied the language. I studied French for about 6 years. It turns out that I have met some very interesting people from London, North Dakota, Australia, New Zealand, Paris, Montreal and smaller cities in those countries as well. In scrabulous, there is a ranking system, so you can see who is at a certain ability. Typically a rating of 1200 is average and 1500+ is excellent. You can choose a level you want to play at or again, just look at a "face" and pic a person who looks interesting to you. During the games there is a chat (although it is delayed between moves) and can continue throughout the game.

Recently, I decided to test my poker skills at Texas Hold'em Poker. My initial instincts were that I would end up playing mostly against people who were from English speaking countries, who were serious poker players. Well it turned out to my surprise that Poker is truly an international game with people from many non-english speaking countries playing. Unlike scrabulous which usually has two people playing, you can sit at a table of up to 10 people. Texas Hold'em will match you with the right table depending on your monetary balance and other factors.

While play is going on there is a live chat which the whole table can participate in. In my first few weeks, I have met a freelance reporter for a major magazine who is in Baghdad covering the war, a woman from Norway who is studying to be a Tony Robbins Coach, and a lot of people from countries such as Canada, New Zealand, China, Turkey, Egypt, UK and United Arab Emirates. The developer of Texas Hold'em is a company called Zynga. Zynga has made it easy to connect on facebook. One way is you can lend or give someone at your table some money from your stash and they also have an option to click on their picture and "add as a friend" while at the table.

Games have always been one of the most popular ways to socialize. This translates as well in social media and Facebook. The randomness of who you play with, the level that you play at and the frequency can determine some of your new network. So, take a break, play a game and expand your network.

I will be doing a series of stories on the developers of these games over the next few months. We also will be featuring Zynga on a show on blog talk radio in a few weeks.

If you are a game developer or have benefited by playing. I would love to hear from you for a future story or just comment below.

Facebook Enthusiast Talk Show

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:14:00 +0000

The Facebook Power of Networking

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 14:45:00 +0000

Have you experienced meeting someone on Facebook or other social network and then having it change the way you live or the current business projects you are working on? We would love to hear your stories to share with other readers of this blog.

Personally, I have met some of the most creative authors, musicians and business executives on Facebook. More stories to come in the future about these relationships and how they have impacted my journey.

The power of teaching people about Facebook is in your stories, so please contribute by commenting below or sending me a private message.

If you want to collaborate or you think I may be able to help your company, please let me knw as well.

Facebook Applications - A Proliferation

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sat, 26 Jan 2008 23:00:00 +0000

Facebook applications are one of the more explosive areas of growth on facebook. With over 50 million members now using facebook there is something for everyone. As of today, there are 8,000+ facebook applications listed in their directory. Over the next few weeks, I will be highlighting some of the more interesting applications on Facebook and some of their categories. I also plan on interviewing some of the developers and marketers of these applications.

I will post these updates on my facebook page and on this blog. If you have an application or want to be included feel free to contact me.

Your 2008 Personal Vision and Facebook

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 03:41:00 +0000

Do you have a personal vision of what you want your life to be like for 2008? Write your vision down and make sure you have a deadline to meet your goals. Open up all the possibilities of making them happen. On Facebook even with a few direct "friends", you have access to people who may be able to change your life and help you reach those goals.

Personal goals are important as much so as your business goals. Many authors and coaches talk about combining these into a personal vision statement. What is it that you want most out of life? How will you be successful and live a balanced life?

Figure our your vision by focusing on these areas:

1) Family
2) Religion/Spiritual
3) Health
4) Fitness
5) Travel
6) Learning/education
7) Financial/Money
8) Entertainment
9) Friends/Relationships

Set aside a couple minutes to think and plan. Shut the door...turn off the phone...and even print this out and turn off your computer. Write down your goals. Remember to dream big.

Think about who can help you reach these goals. Are your contacts on Facebook (or other social network)? I’ve met contacts there who are some of the most successful in their fields and owe their success to others. We’re not in this world alone. Our contacts can help us find our dreams and lead more enriched lives.

How can you find these people? Once you make a list of some of the things you like or need, go to the search box in Facebook. Type a few keywords and see "who" (what profiles) come up. Scroll through them and see if you find anyone interesting. You can also dig deeper looking at "their friends ".

Your goals will happen with small steps each day. My preference is quarterly goals as they are more attainable (you will feel more success than shorter goals in which you may not have given yourself time to succeed). So here is a small goal. Meet at least two to three new people a week on Facebook. Seek them out, but have a REASON when you contact them. Send them a nice e-mail telling them why they might be able to be helpful or important to you as your reach your goals and dreams. Also, remember to ask them "How can I help you?" The more you give, the more you will receive out of these relationships.

Here are some areas that I’m developing in line with my goals…along the way I plan on meeting people with these backgrounds and industries.

1) Movies and Film Production
2) Social Media
3) Bloggers/Podcasters
4) Musicians
5) TV/Video Producers
6) Venture capitalists
7) CEO's and Entrepreneurs
8) Media executives
9) Writers/Authors
10) Sports Marketing/Sports Executives
11) Technology Whizzes

My goals are geographic. I want to build my networks in cities where media and venture capital are centered such as: New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London.

So as I start 2008, I am working with a composer from Italy, an author from California, a Hybrid Engine startup in North Carolina and California, a manufacturer in Bangladesh, an trade show entrepreneur in Lebanon, and specialists in social networks from Ohio, Texas, New York, Connecticut, Ontario, Quebec, Alberta, Seattle, Los Angeles and San Francisco.

I’ve also connected with people within my own local community as well.

Here are some of my highlights from 2007, many made possible because of the Internet and social networks.

1) Appeared as an extra in two films (Leatherheads and Gospel Hill - to be released in 2008)
2) Launched www.linktocharlotte.com, the first Charlotte, NC based group dedicated to business to business networking
3) Launched the Facebook Enthusiast blog and invited many of my contacts from LinkedIn and other parts of my life to join me
4) Helped two authors market their books and consultant practices
5) Reconnected with my former friends and colleagues from HBO, MTV/The Movie Channel.
6) Became part of a team to provide expertise for a new sports marketing division

Happy 2008!

May your dreams be big and your journey inspirational!!

Andy Kaplan
www.facebookenthusiast.com
www.mediamensch.com

Marketing Your Brand in Facebook - A Podcast

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 16:42:00 +0000

The Engaging Brand, an award winning blog and podcast about leadership, branding and marketing interviewed me as "The Facebook Enthusiast". Anna Farmery, its host did a wonderful job guiding us through the areas of branding, privacy, and how to connect with others using facebook.

The podcast can be found on her website at www.theengagingbrand.com (show 132) and it is also on iTunes.

Here is a direct link to the show. http://www.blubrry.com/engaging/148294/show-132-marketing-your-brand-in-facebook/

'Andy Kaplan talks us through how to use Facebook, how it can form part of your marketing, branding and communication strategy.'

This was our

Marketing Sherpa Reporters Picks Facebook Enthusiast "Great Minds" as article as #4 Favorite for 2007

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 27 Dec 2007 02:05:00 +0000

Back in July, I started to blog specifically about facebook, believing it would be a platform which might transform the way we meet and socialize. Since my core strengths were working around brands and media, I decided to make that a specialty. Personal branding is no easy feat, especially when there are sixty million users of Facebook.

So it was a nice holiday surprise, when I awoke this morning to find that MarketingSherpa.com's reporters (not readers) voted the article which I was interviewed as # 4 in the top ten for 2007. It means even more since, marketingsherpa is recognized as one of the leading online newsletters and event companies for the online marketing industry.

Here is the excerpt from their weekly e-mail:
#4. Great Minds: How to Market Yourself & Your Company on Facebook - 11 Steps & Strategies

SUMMARY: Joining an online social network such as Facebook can put you in touch with millions of like-minded professionals around the world. It also can serve as a powerful marketing tool.

Yet, marketing yourself and your company on Facebook takes a special approach. Social networks are designed to foster human interaction, not to promote products. In this tutorial, we show you how to create the best profile, how to network to extend your relationship and how to use applications to build your company's brand.
(Open access until January 3rd)

It is also satisfying since I have been a reader of Marketing Sherpa for many years.

Better yet this comes only a week after Anna Farmery, podcaster out of the UK named www.theengagingbrand.com interviewed me for her show. Her blogs and weekly podcasts with experts are well received around the world.

Here are some of the awards the Engaging Brand has won:
* The Engaging Brand Blog in the Power 150 Of Advertising Age Blogs
* The Engaging Brand podcast voted in Top 10 of Small Business Radio
* Nominated for Best Business Podcast at the Podcast Awards 2007
* The Engaging Brand podcast voted in Top 10 Marketing Podcasts
* Voted in Top 16 Most Valuable Podcasts
* Listed in the Small Business Top 100 Small Business Trends
* Reviewed on Cool Podcasts
* Voted 21st in the Top 100 Best Business Blogs
* Top 25 Marketing Blog

Five Ways to Meet New People On Facebook

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:17:00 +0000

We have all heard the phrase "Get out of your comfort zone". Here are a few ways toconnect with others and make new friends.

Here are a few fun ways to get to know people and break down some barriers.

1) Play a game - One of the most addiction games on facebook is a Scrabulous, an online version of the game Scrabble. Almost every 5 seconds during the day multiple games are being started. It is a great way to meet people from around the world. Chances are you might find a new "friend" or future business associate.

2) Quizzes - There are various applications which are quizzes. The range from knowledge of movies, to your favorite movies and tv shows. Many of these quizzes can also allow you to see those who have similar interests.

3) Walls - Post something on a friend's wall, chances are one or more of that person's friends will see what you posted and respond.

4) Post in a group - Take an active role in the groups you belong to in facebook. Find an interesting article and post the link, or if you have your own blog, list that link as well.

5) Using Search - in the search box in Facebook, type in some of your favorite things and see what people, groups and pages show up. Type in things such as your hobbies, favorite sports teams, travel destinations, etc. You will see lists of people and groups that your can connect to.

Ten Trends to Watch in 2008

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 16:38:00 +0000

For much of my career, I have written articles on my vision of where technology and media were heading in the future. Here is a quick list of some of the trends to be aware of.

1. Social Media will diversify into thousands of specialized social networks and groups

2. Large media companies will engage social media in meaningful ways to create more loyal viewers for their programs and allow their viewers to interact with each other and the cast.

3. Amazon's new Kindle eBook reader will bring in a new wave of media and drive the demand for eBooks to another level.

4. Small companies and inventors in clean technology will collaborate in social networks such as facebook to come up with innovate solutions for "sustainable living" and reduction of the carbon footprint.

5. Video content will increase significantly, especially from individuals and small business as the new video cameras such as "The Flip" enter the market.

6. Musician's will be able to find their audiences more easily and engage with their fans via virtual concerts and performances. Live performances from smaller venues will begin to surface on the web.

7. Author's will need to consider multimedia when creating their brand and launching a book. Social media, such as facebook, will be an area they will need to focus on for a larger percentage of their readers.

8. Large companies who have ignored or who have not figured out a strategy for facebook and social media, will begin to lose out to new innovators who embrace the new era of Word of Mouth marketing. Those who began that journey this year will start to see their efforts bear fruit.

9. Privacy rights will become even a larger issue as social networks expand.

10. The personal brand and business brand will continue to merge within social networks providing some conflicts yet some opportunities.

As we enter into this next year, we will continue to see rapid changes in the way people from around the world find themselves and interact. Virtual business teams are cropping up. Are you part of one? Facebook Enthusiast will be exploring those areas of job seeking, sports marketing, collaboration and publishing in the next year.

I would encourage you to write to me or post on here any predications you might have for 2008.

Leatherheads Trailer

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 19:14:00 +0000

This is the Leatherheads Movie Trailer. I was fortunate to have worked on this movie directed and starring George Clooney...I will be interested to see how this trailer may become virally marketed on Facebook. It comes out April 2008 in the US.

Blogging World and Facebook are Merging

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 21:30:00 +0000

It is interesting to know that most of my knowledge about new posts in blogs or news stories are coming from my newsfeeds in facebook. What my friends are reading is in many case of interest to me also. The amount of information which one can post into facebook astronomical, so by finding a few trusted friends, you can find ways to have some synchronicity about what your friends post and what you post.

For ezample, if you are interested in environmental issues, there is a good chance that you have connected with others with a similar interest. Facebook seems to magnify these connections in a powerful way which changes how we interact.

For me personally, there is a balance that is needed to be struck. If you post too frequently or post articles with little appeal then your friends my tire of you or your posts and decide to not read them. However if you are more selective, then your posts may be read with more interest. Posting about once or twice a weeks seems to be a good balance. The way I think of this is how often would I e-mail a friend or business associate an interesting article. Is it once a week, twenty one days, once a month or three months.

As the facebook newsfeeds become "noisier". My choice would be to pick and choose how you post.

Another way to connect with your friends would be to have your own blog and connect your articles through RSS feeds. There is an applications named Flog which will integrate your own blog into your profile page.

There are also similar applications to integrate other blogs and to bring in feeds from consolidated blog sites such as StumbleUpon.com.

One other way to post is within the "wall" applications. If you find a great article you can post via a wall application and be selective by choosing which friend's walls you would like these posts to appear.

So if you are interested in passing information to your friends or associates you now have multiple ways to communicate.

I would love to hear your thoughts.

Facebook - Helping to Find a Missing 24 Yr Old

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sun, 18 Nov 2007 12:36:00 +0000

A week ago, a college student, Kyle Fleischmann, went missing after a night out at the clubs in my home town of Charlotte, NC. There is a massive search underway for Kyle and a new facebook group called 'Help Find Kyle Fleischman - Missing' was set up by one of his friends. There have not been many ways for families to find missing teens, college students, and adults. Facebook with its community seems to be a perfect place to alert the world to look for a person.

Thousands of facebook members have joined the search for Kyle by joining this group on facebook. Kyle's photo has also been picked up by the website of television's America's Most Wanted as well. There was a small segment on NBC's Today Show as well.

I wrote a note to one of the executives at facebook to see if facebook, might be able to set up it's equivalent of a missing person's area to help those families similar to an "Amber Alert" where the first 48 hours of the missing person's disappearance is crucial. I also thought an innovative 3rd party facebook developer might consider setting up a website or application to help with this as well.

Click here to join the group on facebook for Kyle Fleischmann.

Please take time for your prayers for the family of Kyle.

Facebook Pages Allow You to Be a Fan.

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Mon, 12 Nov 2007 12:56:00 +0000

Facebook has a new service called 'pages', which allows a business, band, author, restaurant or other venue to set up a page in facebook. It also allows those who ave brands to do the same thing. This is a new initiative opening up facebook to more than just profiles of people. Facebook has created an entire word of mouth economy which can further explode its growth. According to Facebook, its membership is growing by 250,000 members a day and now has 53 million members. This is a very powerful new tool for marketers.

Facebook recognizes that its members visit sites outside of facebook and has a new service called facebook 'beacon' to allow organizations to embed code within their website which will allow for other facebook users to see that they visited this site.

Facebook has also launched facebook 'insights' which is an analytical tool to allow for people who advertise on facebook to track page visits and see the demographic information of who visits their pages.

The facebook pages initiative puts it in direct competition with my space for musicians who are promoting themselves.

As more individuals have made their profile page a central part of their daily routine, the power of this new word of mouth global economy will be forever changed.

We will explore further uses of this new technology over the coming weeks and months.

Facebook Unlocking the Marketing and Advertising Potential

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 10:03:00 +0000

This week, the facebook execs flew to New York, to address the marketing and advertising executives and press to announce their newest and boldest initiative called Facebook Ads. The next day the articles appeared prominently in the press including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.

Facebook is unleashing a new way to measure YOU!. As people join facebook, they begin to build their profiles around their interests, whether it is music, reading, games, travel, etc. In a sense, facebook's analytics may know more about you than you even know about yourself or your friends in terms of what you may be interested in. The best analogy of how far beyond existing stats this may be. For most of us, our weekly experience with capturing our interests may be at a grocery store check out line where they ask for our "frequent buyer/VIP card" for discounts. Based upon what we buy coupons print out for existing products or competitive products we may be interested in buying next time we come in.

According to the newspaper articles I have read, facebook will capture information of activities we do in facebook and allow advertisers to target its members and serve up relative content. It will be a fine line to walk between subtle marketing and "spam".

There are also major companies who are now embracing facebook and coming up with strategies to promote your purchases to your friends if you want them to know about it. One example was given about going into Blockbuster Video, renting or buying a video and then opting to let your friends on facebook know about this.

eBay is also entering this area and will serve up content from its auctions in a relative fashion as well.

The New York Times and other media are embracing facebook and allowing a single click to post articles within facebook. (Note: I just personally did that yesterday).

I will be writing and following this subject closely in the next few weeks and months.

Please post or e-mail me any examples which you find which would be interesting to know about. Let me know how you feel or your perceptions of this new initiative.

Marketing Sherpa features Andrew Kaplan, Facebook Enthusiast

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 00:50:00 +0000

MarketingSherpa.com a leading company providing knowhow and research on eMarketing interviewed me for an article on social networking. I would love to get your feedback on how useful these tips were and would welcome any other tips and tricks which could be added.

Thanks to the crew at MarketingSherpa fore providing cutting edge commentary and know how.

Oct 30, 2007
How To #:
Tutorial: How to Market Yourself & Your Company on Facebook - 11 Steps & Strategies

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.html?id=30182

Colbert Group breaks 1,000,000 - Why should we care?

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 12:13:00 +0000

It is 8 am EDT and the Steven Colbert Group broke 1,000,000 members....As I sit here and write about this, I am not sure what this means.

I am writing a blog about a "faux" candidate with a group of people, many who may not be of voting age or even from the United States.

What this really shows is that traditional television still drives traffic. Steve Colbert has his own Television show and has appeared on other talk shows in the last week further reaching a national audience.

As with all things viral, newspapers are picking up on this as are bloggers, so even a small blog such as this can contribute to even more members. What will be interesting to watch is the rate at which this may approach the next million.

Is there another 1,000,000 currently on facebook or will we see a great increase in the new members of Facebook itself.

The long term impact on facebook is that it has placed itself squarely in the middle of the campaign debate.

Your thoughts?

1,000,000 Strong for Stephen Colbert is about to be reached

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Fri, 26 Oct 2007 02:21:00 +0000

Stephen T. Colbert entered the Presidential race as the "satire" candidate. On Facebook a group was created called '1,000,000 Strong for Stephen T Colbert'.

It was launched on October 17th and it has now grown to 950,000 members as of 9 pm tonight and should be breaking 1,000,000 members sometime tomorrow (if not sooner)...

5,000 Members at 4:59 PM (EST) 10/17/2007
10,000 Members at 10:22 PM (EST) 10/17/2007
20,000 Members at 5:26 AM (EST) 10/18/2007
30,000 Members at 12:41 PM (EST) 10/18/2007
50,000 Members at 4:48 PM (EST) 10/18/2007
75,000 Members at 7:30 PM (EST) 10/18/2007
100,000 Members at 12:54 AM (EST) 10/19/2007
170,000 Members at 4:58 PM (EST) 10/19/2007
200,000 Members at 9:43 PM (EST) 10/19/2007
250,000 Members at 11:58 AM (EST) 10/20/2007
300,000 Members at 7:44 PM (EST) 10/20/2007
350,000 Members at 4:43 AM (EST) 10/21/2007
400,000 members at 5:11 PM (EST) 10/21/2007
450,000 Members at 12:16 PM (EST) 10/22/2007
500,000 Members at 5:11 AM (EST) 10/23/2007
550,000 Members at 3:59 PM (EST) 10/23/2007
600,000 Members at 8:06 PM (EST) 10/23/2007
650,000 Members at 11:24 PM (EST) 10/23/2007
700,000 Members at 11:34 AM (EST) 10/24/2007
750,000 Members at 5:31 PM (EST) 10/24/2007
800,000 Members at 9:40 PM (EST) 10/24/2007
850,000 members at 4:22 AM (EST) 10/25/2007
900,000 Members at 3:24 PM (EST) 10/25/2007
950,000 Members at 9:11 PM (EST) 10/25/2007

To give some perspective, most serious Presidential candidates have less than of that total and many of those groups have been around for months.

Here is his group.

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7406420086

Note: At the same time the Federal Election Commission is looking to see if real campaign finance laws are being broken as (meaning that he went from a "fake" candidate to someone who may be on the ballots in South Carolina.

Facebook and Blackberry - Social Mobility

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 14:43:00 +0000

Facebook is moving to a more open platform through its new alliance with Research in Motion (RIM) for the Blackberry. According to PC World,

"T-Mobile USA Inc. will be the first carrier to build a Facebook application into the BlackBerries it sells, but BlackBerry users on any network will be able to download the application starting later Wednesday, Facebook Co-Founder and Vice President of Engineering Dustin Moskovitz said in a keynote address at the CTIA Wireless I.T. and Entertainment show in San Francisco.

In the keynote, Moskovitz demonstrated taking a photo with a BlackBerry Curve device, adding tags to it and posting it to Facebook without even starting up the Facebook application. Other features include the ability to set special ringtones for Facebook events and invite friends to join Facebook through BlackBerry e-mail. But it's the open nature of Facebook's platform, which allows third parties to add new applications, that sets the company apart, Moskovitz said."

For the full article read:
http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/138921/facebook_teams_up_with_rim.html

Microsoft and Facebook - Here to Serve You

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 12:12:00 +0000

Microsoft and facebook just announced an enhanced alliance to offer global advertising on facebook via Microsoft's Digital Advertising group. This will allow advertisers to reach a portion of the more then 40 million facebook users. Originally Microsoft entered into a partnership with facebook in August 2006). At that time, Owen Van Natta, chief operating officer of Facebook said

“We’re excited to be innovating with Microsoft to build a world-class advertising solution that allows Facebook to deliver the best advertising experience in social media,” “We chose Microsoft because it, like Facebook, is a technology company at its core and is committed to taking a fresh approach to targeting advertising to social media. We’re committed to providing a great user and advertiser experience together.”

Microsoft according to media sources is investing $240 million into facebook for a 1.6% stake valuing facebook now at $15 billion dollars.

Here are the demographics of the facebook world today according the Microsoft's Partner profile for facebook.
General Audience Stats:

* 41 million active users1
* 55,858 work, college, high school, and geographic networks1
* 6th most trafficked site in the U.S.2
* 2nd most trafficked social networking site2
* 50% female / 50% male2
* 36% have college as their primary network
* 16% have high school as their primary network
* 20% have work or geographic region as primary network
* Ages 18-34 (37.7%)2

Engagement Stats:

* 19 average visits per month2
* 178.6 average minutes per month2
* 50% of active users log on daily1
* 2.3 average visits per usage day2
* 21.7 average minutes per usage day2

1. Internal data, August 2007.
2. ComScore, August 2007

* Some of the more interesting stats are that there are 55,000+ networks in facebook.

* 50% of active users log in daily

* Only 37% of users are in the 18 - 34 age range. This shows the demographic shift since facebook opened up its platform

* The average user is here about twenty minutes a day Given a large % of users are on for a much longer time than twenty minutes, does that mean there is a large group which is hardly on at all.

Now, here are some of the questions which would be of interest:
1) Are these advertisements going to be shown to facebook users based upon their behaviors or just based upon their demographics.
2) Will this allow larger advertisers to become more interested in marketing into facebook?
3) Since Google was the primary ad network for small to mid-size business, will those businesses abandon google's ad network to advertise via Microsoft? I ask this question due to limited resources of smaller advertisers.

Again there may be some risk inherent in this strategy to align with Microsoft versus Google. However, it seems that the cash that Microsoft is investing up to $250 million to compensate for the ad network.

In the end, these two companies may just need each other. This alliance prepares them for longer battle with Google in the social media space.

Facebook and Music - "The times they are a changin"

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 00:59:00 +0000

This week there were rumors that facebook would be launching as a music platform to compete with iTunes.

Facebook has radically reinvented itself and continues to accelerate changes to keep the members it has attracted. Having worked closely with the music industry in my early career at NBC Radio (at 30 Rock) and at Warner-Amex when MTV was less than a year old, I have seen these radical changes before. facebook and other social networks are rapidly reinventing the music and recording industry.

facebook seems as if it is a perfect platform to now launch a music platform. Music has always been something which can bring people together and allow people to share their feelings and emotions with others. How wonderful is it when you find another person who likes the same band, performer or music genre. There is a lot to share --- and "Share" is a major part of the DNA of facebook.

Prior to these rumored announcements, I had already been working in this direction in a few ways. I have set up a group or what I call a "class" on facebook called

Facebook 501 - Entertainment - Promoting Books. Music, Movies and TV

I also have been in discussions a record company and manager with deep roots in the record industry about how we can leverage facebook and social media marketing to promote their groups. These acts are varied from Punk Rock (x-games) type to Motown.
Each appeals to a different demographic.

Some of these groups have already been touring in Europe and Asia and we wondered what would happen if we could create a viral or word of mouth marketing campaign along with the ability for the facebook members to purchase or download their music. Some of the groups appeal to an older demographic (34+ years old) which is where facebook seems to be growing rapidly as well

There is already an application in facebook called iLike which is one of my favorites. So facebook comes at a time when their really is an evolution on how we find out about music, buy our music and share our music.

The traditional record companies do not seem to have targeted facebook yet, but the independent artists who I am connected with on facebook, such as Samantha Murphy and David Usher seem to have figured out how to leverage facebook and other social networking platforms as well.

As my favorite artist Bob Dylan wrote in the lyrics 'Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

If you are a music lover, independent musician/band, or an executive with traditional recording industry background, please share your thoughts and vision as well and feel free to join the Marketing Music facebook group.

Facebook - Ten Reasons for Success in Social Networking

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Wed, 03 Oct 2007 09:02:00 +0000

There is much speculation about facebook being another platform where people come for a year or so and then lose interest and move onto another network. Facebook appears to actually be making decisions which many of the other social networks have not done or done well.

1. Making hard decisions to change and evolve - If you were sitting around as a young 20 something executive, it would have been very easy to stay with a great demographic of users -- college age ivy league students and their friends. That social network alone would be valuable to advertisers and sponsors. It easily is a valuation of a million dollars. Not bad for a startup for a college student (Marc Zuckerberg). However, he and his team saw the potential beyond this and opened up the platform to all including their "parents" generation and others outside the "ivy league" social strata.

2. Attracting the Creative Class - Facebook is attracting the creative class of people. These are actual authors, musicians, filmmakers, tv producers and executives from major media companies. Facebook has now crossed over in an area where MySpace has been the leader for a while. Their is fast becoming a more mature audience on facebook which allows for artists which did not appeal to the MySpace crowd to find an audience. I personally am working with a record company, whose groups such as The Supremes and The Spinners. Facebook is allowing them to reach a new audience. There are also executives from MTV, HBO, E! Entertainment, Dreamworks on here. Filmmaker Michael Moore is also a facebook member and is able to promote his appearances on shows like Larry King and Oprah to his "friends".

3. Opening Communications - Facebook has allowed for members to connect in multiple ways. They have their own e-mail, poke, posting and discussion boards. The mini-feed itself allows your friends and associates to see what you are doing without having to spam them with an enewsletter or e-mail update. Outside vendors are encouraged to develop their epplications on the new Facebook development platform. Jaxtr which allows members to call each other for free worldwide from a normal phone has an application called MyPhone and according to their founder just grew by 1 million users last month with a good percent coming from the facebook community. Other companies are now coming in to allow for video.

4. Leveraging digital media platforms - facebook again has allowed itself to be open to bring in content from other sites. facebook easily could have kept itself closed to video content which would be loaded directly into its platform which in a sense may have put it in competition with YouTube. Instead it allowed YouTube content to be easily posted by users so it can be seen by their friends. StumbleUpon.com which allows users to give a thumb's up to websites they like has an application which allows your friends to see your favorite video's and regular postings. Again a powerful combo saving facebook users from having to double post.

5. Attracting a diverse demographic - facebook again seems to know that an older demographic has money and that the business community has bring in serious cash potential. They seem to be making moves to encourage the business community to network on here.

6. Political discourse - Facebook has allowed and encouraged political discussion within its platform Again, this seems like a natural area, but again the executives could have restricted these voices. For the 2008 Presidential election cycle in the US, facebook will be a major asset used by campaigns, politicians and individual voters. There is also a viral ability to share news or even break news faster than blogs did in the 2004 election cycle. There are both positive and negative portrayals of politicians. Facebook has allowed for this "free speech"

7. Games and Fun - facebook has attracted a "fun" culture and in the business world you might say "work hard/play hard". For those on facebook, an individual can do anything from send a drink, hug, throw a sheep, or have a food fight. They can be a werewolf, vampire or zombie and create their own army. Members can also play games such as poker or scrabble with each other.

8. Affinity Groups - facebook allows users to set up any type of group they want and encourages them to invite or promote those groups. Again, this is something other sites like LinkedIn discouraged or controlled. Through these groups I have able to find like minded individuals for sports interests, politics, business, culture and causes. In my own case, I have found a way to set up groups to offer "classes" for facebook from Facebook 101 - The Basics to Facebook 301 - Advanced. There are also specialized groups on Facebook and Politics, Facebook and Politics, and Facebook and Movies, TV, and Music

9. Third party application development - Facebook has encouraged third party applications and has even set up a $10 million fund to allow for the development of these applications without taking an equity stake in those companies. Again, this shows that they are willing to allow others to be creative without imposing their will or vision. From these developments we may see hundreds of new applications created. Of these, I would expect at least a dozen to be "must have" type applications.

10.Commerce - facebook is allowing applications to be installed to raise money for causes to booking travel. Again, facebook is not taking any percent of these revenues at this point, but obviously has potential to "toll booth" down the road. Facebook also has not created the environment of pop-ups, large banner ads and other traditional online ways to monetize. Instead they have come up with their own idea of a "poster". This to some extent reminds me of the old town square where people would "post". The potential for monetization in multiple ways is there, leading the this multi-billon dollar valuation.

I am sure there are more than ten ways, however these are important trends. The management of facebook needs to be commended for the way they have kept their platform open and encouraged partnerships from smaller companies and individuals with passion.

If you have other ideas on what facebook is doing right, please comment below. If there are things you wish facebook could do better, let's hear them as well.

Microsoft and Facebook - Show me the money

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Wed, 26 Sep 2007 13:07:00 +0000

I just watched a video clip by Motley Fool, on Microsoft's rumored investment into Myspace.

Facebook is being valued at dot com pricing ($10 billin dollars). Is there really a revenue model working yet? How many of you have actually spent money while clicking on facebook. Will these sites bestuck now with a complete advertising model to drive revenues? While revenue growth should be linked with member growth, are these sites leaving money on the table by not charging fees?

We can tell that there is a great facebook economy, as individuals collaborate and build relationships within facebook. Facebook, however does not seem to have a way to capture money from those deals or relationships without risking alienating is member base.

LinkedIn,to some extent, has this problem. LinkedIn charges some power users to connect with others, but then also disables accounts for those that reach out to those they don't know well, but may like or need to meet. LinkedIn has driven away much traffic due to a punitive environment.

Once facebook takes on an corporate investor, will we see tiered levels of paid membership? Is this one reason, facebook is moving to an older demographic -- so that business professionals will be more willing to pay to play. If magazines, newspapers and other traditional media are having a hard time sustaining a revenue model, how does facebook get a "pass" on having enough long term viability.

Should Microsoft, Google or Yahoo purchase facebook? what is the penalty on Wall Street for the companies which don't grab a share in this social networking space.

Since MTV networks lost out on purchasing MySpace and pulled content from Google (YouTube) to put on their own Joost platform, are they possible suitors as well to reconnect with their college audience and to connect with the social action website they just announced.

Interesting times!!

fbFund - 10 million dollars to spur innovation

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 14:24:00 +0000

Facebook this week announced is fbFund. This fund will provide capital to companies and individuals interested in building applications for the "facebook economy".

Facebook is taking out its checkbook and joint venturing with Accel Partners to offer "micro" or "angel" investments. The interesting part is that to avoid conflict of interest or future "non-compete" or "confidentiality" issues, Facebook is not taking equity in any of these companies.

The upside for Facebook is that these applications will cause more "stickyness" to its site, more pageviews and attraction of specialized niches.

The only risk for the developer of the application will be the natural tendency of facebook to find these great ideas and begin to develop them for themselves. Some companies will be fortunate and eventually may be purchased by facebook, others who don't have much intellectual property protections, may be out of luck if and when facebook incorporates those features directly into its applications.

I personally saw this close up for years in the world of ACT! contact management. Small companies would develop products and addons, only to see some of their ideas in corporated in the next release of ACT!. Like any speculative endeavor, there are risks and rewards.

However, since facebook is fronting this money, the risks are lower and seems like a good win-win situation. Join the facebook goldrush.

Join Our "Classes" on Facebook

ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com (Andrew Kaplan) — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 13:10:00 +0000

Facebook is a conversation. A way for individuals to share ideas and information. Since Facebook was originally developed for the college crowd, I decided to develop a series of "classes" on facebook for various levels of user and specialized interest.

Think of these groups as classrooms where we can have a dialog about our experiences and where you can have multiple "teachers". The next step for these "classes" is to move them into webinar and teleclasses. If that is something you may be interested in, please join these groups and share this with your "friends".

Here is a list of the groups below that are available for you to join. Just click on the link below to join a "class" discussion.

Facebook 101 - The Basics

Facebook 201 - Intermediate

Facebook 301 - Advanced

Facebook 401 - Building and Marketing Applications

Facebook 501 - Entertainment - Promoting Books. Music, Movies and TV

Facebook 601 - Politics and Campaign 2.0