For a lot of people when they think of MySpace, they simply look at this site as being a community where people can make friends and reunite with their old ones. However, for people that are skilled internet marketers, MySpace can be a place to get your business out to the public.

Even though, MySpace is intended for non-commercial use, and commercial companies are restricted from advertising in order to generate sales. MySpace can actually still work as a great platform to showcase your business on.

According to the official MySpace mission statement all members are required to sign before gaining access to the online community, MySpace is strictly intended for non-commercial utilization. However, this statement is only referring to individual pages that are built for the sole purpose of selling a particular item.

In fact, MySpace actually is a commercial based website. There are a lot of different advertisements that they showcase on the sidebars on different pages and in other locations around the site. These advertising spaces are actually open to the public and if you wish, you can have your advertisement placed on MySpace as well in order to showcase your business.

However, in order to get your advertisement listed on MySpace you will need to contact the site directly in order to obtain information regarding pricing and things of that nature. This type of advertising is definitely worth your time especially considering all the people that are a part of the MySpace community.

Even though building entire landing pages on MySpace dedicated to a particular niche is prohibited there is still room to insert links to some of your websites. As long as you insert the links in a nonchalant way, often times these links seem irrelevant to the MySpace administrators.

For instance, let’s say you host a blog on another site that has affiliate sites linked to it; you can include this site under a specific topic regarding your interests. This way the people in the community will be able to gain a better understanding of who you are personally and you’re still promoting yourself without being too obvious.

Sites that are made on MySpace that have blatant advertisements posted throughout them are automatically deleted. So if you are trying to advertise through your site it is imperative that you are not obvious with your actions.

MySpace is a great place to not only connect with plethora’s of people that reside all around the world, it is also a great place to advertisement your business. You can opt to advertisement your business through free ventures by posting discrete links on your page, or you can take the route to paid advertisements on MySpace.

There is no doubt about it, social media is all around us, many of us connect through this medium on a daily basis to keep in touch with friends and family, spread value through the net and/or market to others.

Some may not realize what this phenomenon is, some may want to find out more and some are considered experts – in some shape or form.

Whether you a new to the world of Social Media, a marketer trying to get their feet wet, or a seasoned pro – at some point in your journey, research and understanding will be your greatest ally.

The following post consists of 27 of the most Comprehensively Compiled Social Media Guides, it should be noted that many of the documents are in pdf form and may take a short while to download.

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1. An Executive Guide to Social Media

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2. Social Media 101 Covering the basics of Social Media

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3. The Essential Guide to Social Media

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4. Getting Started with Social Media – A Guide and Resource List

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5. AN EXECUTIVE GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA – Business Week

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6. A Beginner’s Guide to Social News Websites

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7. Social media Tips – Sharing lessons learned to help your business grow from Kodak

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8. Mashable’s Social Media Guide for Small Businesses

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9. Let’s talk – Social Media for Small Business

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10. Social Media or, “How I learned to stop worrying and love communication”

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    What The F**K is Social Media?

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    A Pocket Guide to Social Media and Kids

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13. Guide: Social Media and Your Business

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    A Social Media Guide from the Edge – Brink

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15. Twitter Jump Start – The First Guide For Small Non-Profits

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16. OPEN BOOK – A Practical Guide to Business Growth

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17. A journalist’s guide to the ethics of social media

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18. How Marketers Are Using Social Media to Grow Their Businesses

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19. Guide to Social Media – Peer Marketing Group

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20. Social Media 101: A Beginner’s Guide

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21. Guide to Social Networking: Risks

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22. Build Your Own Opportunity Network – Getting Started in Social Networking

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23. A BEGINNERS GUIDE TO SOCIAL MEDIA – Simply Zesty

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24. The Use of Social Media in Higher Education for Marketing and Communications: A Guide for Professionals in Higher Education

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25. Engaging through social media A guide for civil servants

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26. Connecting With Your Customers: A guide to Social Media

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27. Social Media Ad Metrics Definitions – iab

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Inforgraphics, “extensively [used] as tools by computer scientists, mathematicians, and statisticians” , have exploded onto the internet in the last few years. What’s so great about these aesthetic pieces of ‘data reinforced gems’, is their ability to paint a larger picture of what it is the creator is trying to express.

With the complexity and explosive growth of social media over the last few years, it’s not hard to see why so many have looked to express this information in a visually appealing manner – not to mention the benefits they provide when putting on a group presentation.

The following 25 social media infographics have been reduced in size to allow you to quickly scroll down the page. Each one has been linked to the original and it is highly encouraged that you visit the links to see them in their full size.

2. Building a Company with Social Media

3. The World Map of Social Networks

4. Social Media Statistics

7. Gender Balance on Social Networking Sites (Chic’s Rule)

8. The Story (so far) of Twitter

9. A Day in the Internet

10. The Web Before Twitter

11. The Web After Twitter

12. Le Twitter Hack

13. The Journey of a Tweet

14. TrendStream Social Web Involvement

15. Facebook Vs Twitter

16. Donut Marketing

23. Inside the Political Twittersphere

24. Inside the Political Twittersphere II

source: Information graphics

Google dropped a bomb shell on the internet world yesterday as it announced a couple of new ways for users to search the net. The more prominent announcement entails the use of realtime data from the social media communities of Facebook, Twitter, and mySpace.

So what could this mean for us? How will it shape our online world? While there are dozens of implications, 5 reasons come quickly to mind in how Google’s real time search will change our virtual world.

1. Real Time Answers - Ever look for information on the net, only to find that the only piece information you could muster up was from 1991? While this may be great if you are working on a history project, current technology based information needs to be fresh in order to be accurate. A real time search engine could prevent this by giving you access to more prominent data from users in large social communities -such as Facebook and Twitter.

2. Public Opinion on Current Events – Find out what real people are saying about current events – and not just overhyped or bias press. As the event unfolds people on the scene that contribute to Twitter and other social communities will become prevalent in the search engine results, allowing you to better form your own judgments, contribute to the conversation and find the social community that has the best information for you.

3. Cost Effective Marketing – Companies that have a good product or service can make use of real time search by asking satisfied customers to speak out about their brand. If Company XYZ sells product M, and 3000 people are updating there status about how great it is, Company XYZ essentially saved thousands of dollars from branding themselves through traditional means.

4. Faster Shopping Online – Are you looking for a certain book to read? Want to know what people are saying about it now- before you spend that twenty dollar bill? With real-time search capabilities you will get answers from various people in the social communities quickly, and not have to search all over the net to compare and contrast product reviews. Needless to say this will dramatically increase the speed in which you can shop online for products and services.

5. Higher Customer Satisfaction – With the social web – Companies are just a few clicks away from being rendered a hero or a complete z… well you get it. Let’s face it, people enjoy telling their social communities what they thought of a particular product or service – good or bad. With real-time results this information will weigh heavy on company’s to maintain a competitive advantage and truly strive satisfy their customers needs.

TweekDeck, the popular Twitter desktop application announced yesterday that it will be adding a new feature to bring in your LinkedIn Network.

With this new feature users will be able to view LinkedIn updates by Status, Q&A, Applications, Groups, Connections, Profile and Recommendations.

In addition users will be able to send updates, make comments and view others’ profiles.

Over the life time of the product, TweetDeck has slowly transformed from a free Twitter manager into a social media cornucopia of sorts. Allowing its users to now manage Facebook and MySpace accounts with only a few clicks.

Additional Twitter features allow the user to record and view video, manage multiple twitter accounts, shorten URLs, block spammers, create groups, follow twitter trends, search twitter, and much more.

So if you have had enough of trying to manage multiple accounts through traditional means, I would highly recommend trying this product – it’s free , platform independent and simple to use.

Source : TweetDeck

According to a recent study conducted at the University of Southern California, Twitter, and other fast-connection social networking sites, may have a negative impact on the emotional development of young people. Because so much information is thrown at us so quickly, there is relatively little time to digest the information and react emotionally to it. A constant stream of information may simply be too fast for our brains, especially those that are still in their formative years.

Just think about it and you may find that this may make sense. When things happen too fast, you don’t get a chance to experience the emotions that come with the situation. This may impede your ability to think about or understand other people’s psychological states regarding the same situation and this may ultimately cause issues with your morality. A little lost? Here’s what the study has to say about it.

The study focuses on the way people react emotionally to certain situations. The findings indicate that human beings can process and respond to signals of pain and distress in other people quite quickly, but in order to feel compassion or even admiration, there must be time to reflect on it. When information is thrown directly at us, such as on the real-time social platform of Twitter, the time to reflect on the situation is eliminated. This can have a potentially dangerous implication on the emotional growth of youngsters.

In normally developed people, the good and the bad are separated generally due to feelings of admiration and compassion. This is a deep psychological reaction and helps define the human race since it is absent in other animals. The rapid-fire delivery of information on Twitter and many other social networking platforms retards this development and causes an information overload.

However, it is important to note that the study does not place complete blame on Twitter and the Internet, but also television. Television is chock full of violence and suffering, which has become the norm in modes of entertainment. Repeated exposure to violent images can cause emotional dysfunction by causing an increased indifference to such situations.

Though many people claim that blaming the media and Internet for emotional issues in our kids is a cop out, studies such as the one at the University of Southern California are proving that there might just be a grain of truth to these theories. So, what should we do? Should we keep our kids off Twitter? Remove the television from the house? Just remember, everything should be done in moderation, so as long as your children’s activities are monitored and discussed, you’re on the right track.

If you hadn’t already figured it out, Twitter has had an effect on our society in many different ways. From saving lives to keeping in touch with loved ones, Twitter is one of the more influential and accessible social networking websites. In fact, Twitter has even had a direct on politics, as we have learned from the 2008 Presidential election.

Twitter is an excellent way to keep readers informed and current with the goings on of anyone’s daily life and that means it’s an ideal solution for politicians. Twitter allows politicians, their advisors, and high-profile pundits to share their views, updates, and opinions. During the 2008 Presidential election, this became abundantly clear, especially through President Obama’s camp. Obama used not only Twitter but also FaceBook, MySpace, and other social networking platforms throughout the campaign and into his presidency. His followers on these platforms are still growing, even a year later.

The way Twitter and other social networks can be used for politics is quite effectively. These social platforms can be used to further one’s agenda and share a political message and view. President Obama has definitely been a trailblazer in this way of communicating with the public and many politicians are now following his lead. The Obama campaign had nothing but success when they opted to use technology as a platform.

When you look at how President Obama used Twitter and other social networking sites to spread his message, and how it helped boost his campaign, you have to wonder if that somehow cost Senator John McCain the election. McCain didn’t resonate with tech-savvy young people and used social networking sites very little throughout the campaign. Though no one can say for sure, there is a strong underlying theory that had McCain embraced the Internet as Obama had, the election may have ended more in his favor.

The one thing we can learn from the 2008 Presidential Election is that social networking and sites like Twitter were an invaluable tool. This means that these platforms are not just a popular fad but are here to stay! Twitter makes it easy for the public to share their own thoughts, opinions, and comments with their elected officials. And guess what? Those elected officials are listening.

It’s important to mention that politicians aren’t the only ones in the public realm making use of Twitter and its companion sites. Pundits and other news sources are also relying on Twitter for information and questions. We must not forget that it is the general population that reporters are here to inform and elected officials are here to serve. And if Twitter is where everyone is talking, they had better take heed.

So, if you were wondering if Twitter and other social sites had any effect on politics, the short answer is a resounding “yes.” Everyday we see that our sources for news and information in the traditional sense are disappearing – newspapers and print magazines are closing shop and making way for online alternatives. Social networking sites are now credited as communities in which members can read about newsworthy topics and read opinion-forming comments. Debates and discussions are common in such platforms. It’s not just about Tweeting for your friends anymore.

There is no denying it – Twitter is big! At the end of October, both Microsoft and Google made separate announcements that they would be incorporating live Twitter streams into their search engine results. This means that both Bing and Google would offer ways for web users to search within the Twitter annals just as they would the World Wide Web. Twitter already has its own search engine (search.twitter.com) but this new addition is absolutely huge for the social networking platform as well as these companies.

So, what does this actually mean to everyone else? When two of the most influential web giants decide to incorporate social networking into their search engines, it gives web users an advantage. Not only will the usual web results be combined with news, images, and other searches, information will also be available from wherever it is being produced!

Another way of looking at including social networking information into the major search engines is that whatever you post as a member is no longer confined to the particular social network in which you published it. This means that a lot more people than you realize may be watching what your tweeting. While this is great for those that want to self-promote, it can have repercussions for others. Just remember to try and not say something unsavory- as it may come back to bite you later!

The interesting aspect of both Bing and Google integrating Twitter’s micro-blogging into their respective search engine results is that both claim to offer real-time searches. This means that items you’ve tweeted about within the last hour would likely become visible online, for all to see, much faster than it is now. If you want to spread the word about something, this is quite exhilarating!

The possibility of a real-time Twitter search offered by Bing and Google might step on the toes of some of the up-and-coming real-time search engines out there. Such engines actually rely on Twitter, and other social sites, for their content and results. If Bing and Google are successful, these search engines may go the way of the dinosaurs. If they don’t want to face certain extinction, they’ll pursue higher levels of creativity and innovation.

The announcement of the Twitter integration of both Bing and Google brings about another question. Will Google eventually get access to FaceBook’s stream of updates? As Microsoft and Google are competitors of sorts, Microsoft has a leg up in that it already has a deal with FaceBook, though it is not exclusive.

While the collaboration between Twitter and two of the largest search engines may be quite exciting, there will be some limitations, especially at first. For a pure search, you may still be better off using Twitter’s own search engine when you want to find something within the Twitter streams specifically. Bing and Google may or may not refine their searches to dig deep within the Twitter tweets, though we can’t comment until we see it in action and test it out.

With so many travelers in the world, it is no wonder that several social media sites have popped up all around the internet.
In this brief write up, you will find some of those, which have been rated the best by several social fanatics around the globe.

Dopplr is a traveler’s media site that is easy to navigate. You are able to create itineraries and read tips from other users. It is a great place to share your trips with others and find connections with other people. You can combine your other sites with Dopplr such as Facebook and twitter. This site integrates many features in an easy manner.

Trip Wolf is a fairly new travel site. People say it is very personal and in some ways resembles Facebook. It has features for travelers and friends. The traveler’s section helps you connect with people who can help you plan a trip and offer suggestions. You can also just find great friends who have the same thing in common.

Trip Hub is a social media site that is different in focus. This site is focused around people who want to plan trips as groups. It is said to be the best group planning tool and website. You can share itineraries, invite travelers, create a plan layout, and utilize travel blogs.

Driftr is a social media site set up similar to Facebook. You can have friends, create trips and profiles, and do research on trips that other people have taken. This site’s only downfall is that it is very new and small. With some growing, it has a lot of potential.

World66 is a community that is based on travel articles. There is not as much networking with others. You will find some forums and blogs.

There are other travel sites that don’t quite fall under the above mentioned. This is due to their design and age. These sites are still useful with more content to offer, while maintaining a unique social vibe.

Virtual Tourist is a great site with over one million members. This is said to be the web’s largest community when it comes to traveling networks. You will find many tips, photos and guides of just about anywhere you can imagine. The relevancy of the site is said to be amazing.

BootsnAll is a travel site that is made up of message boards. You can gain a lot of valuable advice and tips from a very wide user base. You can contact individual travelers very easily through this site.

Lonely Planet is a very large traveling site. It is said to have some of the best forums and communities out there. It is a very active site. You will find a lot of helpful traveling information to assist you.

Trip Advisor focuses on free travel guides. It does not have the same sense of community as other sites.

Mixed Messages about Texting and Driving

While many states will fine you for even messing around with your smartphone- some are more than happy to send you tweets regarding current traffic conditions. This is very disconcerting for safety experts who claim this sends a mixed message to driving smartphone users…

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Twitter- having recently changed some design elements on their site -switched the default avatars from a bland “meh” character face to a new more appealing bird icon. In this process they also blew away many users’ hand picked avatars – replacing them with the new bird. This created a bit of an uproar in the community because many veterans view this new avatar as a newbie branding of sorts – while others just view it as a sign of instability in the twittershpere…

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Facebook gained a whopping 50 million plus users since July 2009, when they proudly announced their following had reached 250 million users. This marks a major milestone for any business considering this small timeframe…

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Facebook agreed to shut down the invasive beacon service, that tracks users actions through out the net via facebook. This occurs after a settlement was reached from a class action suit filed in August of 2008…

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Jonathan G. Parker, 19 of Fort Loudoun, Pa., decided to logon to his facebook account while robbing a house in Martinsburg, WV. In the robbery Parker stole some jewelry valued at $3,500 and Googled “best escape routes” in the process. When leaving the premises Parker left his facebook account logged in…

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The saga continues as more evidence points out that Apple may have lied to the FCC and did in fact reject the Google Voice App for the iPhone. While Apples stands firm stating they did not reject the app and they are still studying it. Google fired back releasing the previously secret document to the FCC- accounting for all interactions between Google and Apple (pdf here)…

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Google’s Massive Book Scanning project was handed another setback on Friday Sept 18, 2009, when the Department of Justice pressured a district court to reassess Google’s class action settlement in fear on a Monopoly …

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First there was MySpace and it seemed that everyone had his or her own page set up. You put pictures and information about yourself, your family, your pets – your profile was online for your friends and family members to see.

And then all of a sudden, everyone started talking about Facebook. So what is that all about? It seemed like the same thing, so why do we need two major social networking sites that do pretty much the same thing?

Well, they do have their differences and attract different groups of people. Here is what sets each one apart from the other.

The design of the page:
Facebook has a one-size fits all white background; MySpace allows more creativity with the use of additional colors and graphics.

The demographics of the site:
MySpace was created as a means to connect with family and friends and was quickly embraced by kids and adults alike with the average age of its users as 35; Facebook was geared towards college students but has grown to incorporate up and coming professionals. Average age on this site is 23.

Locating others on the site:
MySpace users sign up with a screen name. Being that it started out as a networking tool between you and people you already knew there isn’t really a way to locate someone on MySpace unless you get them to invite you as a friend. When you sign on to Facebook, your first and last name are registered so you are able to put in the name of an old colleague and see if they are registered with Facebook.

Privacy:
This is a big difference between the two sites and it has to do more with the way the sites were positioned. MySpace was really meant for reaching people you were already familiar with but you have to make sure you adjust your settings accordingly so that not just anyone can view your page. Facebook contains information of a less personal nature and you must be approved before anyone can reach your page.

Additional features:
Facebook has an instant chat feature that MySpace currently does not have. But MySpace has the ability to incorporate music on your site. Many musicians are using their MySpace page to build a following or to share their music with family and friends.

Which brings us to the most recent entry into the social media scene: Twitter. Its presence was just as abrupt as MySpace and Facebook – all of a sudden one day, people are talking about it everywhere you go. The first time I hears someone say they just tweeted I thought it was a reaction to something they ate. But alas, Twitter is all about “What are you doing?” I mean, right now. You sign up and the messages are kept to a certain number of characters. You can tweet with friends and family or celebrities.

Check out each site and see which one fits your needs. Just don’t wait too long to sign on- you never know when the next new networking site will pop up.

Twitters, Facebooks, Wikis and blogs!!!! Just when you think you have it all down, along comes another website, or blog, or buzz word that you’ve never heard of. If you are a social media fanatic, you are able to stay up on everything that is going on, but for anyone who has just joined us, here is a basic run through Social Media.

What exactly is social media? How do you use it? What are the benefits? Even if you have heard about MySpace, started your own FaceBook site and entertained the thought of twittering, you may not know everything about social media.

At its best, social media is the ability to reach out and connect with your friends and family to whatever degree you desire. You can use a few sentences on Twitter, or you can keep your FaceBook page updated with photos and the latest events in your life. It seems that we want to know everything about the people we like – what are they doing (right now!), what restaurants do they like to eat at, have they seen any good movies lately?

FaceBook and MySpace allow you to incorporate photos and build your own little bio with whatever personal information you would like to share. It’s not there for the world to see, you must be invited.

And almost everyone seems to have a blog anymore. This is where you can write about anything you want for anyone to see. A lot of people use it in conjunction with their website as it can be updated regularly. Anyone who reads your blog can post their comments and it is this feedback that helps a lot of companies gauge the products and services that they provide. This direct feedback is not available through almost any other type of media.

But it is not only blogs that provide this feedback on the internet. There are plenty of social media sites that are devoted to following the latest current events. These sites provide an important forum for like-minded people to compare information, thoughts, and insights on topical issues.

Social media is being recognized for its most important feature – social marketing. Companies can reach across the country and find out immediately what the response is to their product or product line. This range of feedback is second to none. Companies can make better decisions on what real consumers like or dislike. It’s like having the entire country as your focus group.

Social media has joined hands with social networking to create the ultimate forum – a place where if people like something, they will share it for all to see. This is truly word of mouth at the highest level. By the same token, when the people speak they are usually honest and you have to take the good with the bad. If a product doesn’t live up to its hype, the company will be aware of it right away.

The power of the internet and the wide span that encompasses social media still boggles the mind. Your responses can help a company create or better their products on a national level, or you can just get online and see what your friends are doing later…

It used to be that social networking was the way to promote your business or services. You passed your business cards out to everyone and anyone you were able to speak to about your business. You went to trade shows to be in front of like-minded people who might be interested in your services. And you joined leads groups so that you could stand in front of the group and deliver a presentation so that the people in your group would use your services and/or pass along your information to friends, family members or their own clients who might possibly be interested in your company’s services.

Even though those practices are still in place, they seem archaic compared to the massive audience that the social media scene provides. The amount of people that can be reached through the likes of Facebook, MySpace, Twitter and others boggles the mind. And the speed at which the information travels is even more incredible. It’s like the difference between a horse and buggy or the Concorde.

So how exactly do you use social media to promote your business? Major companies (one coffee company in particular) uses their Facebook page to directly reach their customers and ask their opinions regarding their products. They get immediate reactions that may result in bringing a product back due to popular demand, helping decide between two new products, or getting feedback on improving customer service in general.

Polls and surveys taken through social media sites are direct and immediate. Companies don’t have to pay big bucks for any type of media demographics profiles that take time to tally responses and provide results. Responses are directly from the very people that they are trying to reach.

And the best part is part of the protocol from the old networking days is still at hand here. The only difference is when someone shares their likes or dislikes regarding a specific company, it can be through a blog that will instantly reach hundreds of people as soon as the send button is pushed, as opposed to telling a couple of your friends over dinner.

The impact that social media has had on businesses today is immeasurable. The branding alone is solid and the control of the marketing is directly lead by the company itself. It is as easy as building a following on Twitter, or promoting a new product line ahead of schedule on your Facebook page. Direct click throughs and hits on links provide companies with instant feedback that used to take months to compile.

Probably the best part of joining the social media scene is that you can reach a massive audience with one touch of a button, it is a free medium, and you have your choice of sites to choose from – one or all. Each one just reinforces the other providing you with an even larger audience to market to.

Even though this is still a relatively new way of promoting your company, it is an equal opportunity forum. With the number of telecommuting positions available today, you can be an independent contractor or a major corporation and still realize the benefits of social media marketing.

Tweeter Changes Terms of Service – Twitter announces its terms of service changes – publicly on its blog. Making it clear that you own your own tweets, the advertising door is left open, SPAM will not be tolerated (as usual) and they are still working on guidelines for APIs.

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Coffee and work just seem to go together, as a way to start the workday and catch a break and recharge. Coffee is also a social drink as we gather with others for a chat over coffee, or linger after a nice meal. It is not surprising that social media sites about coffee would start popping up. There are all kinds of sites, by individuals and companies, and some are even dedicated to specific ethic and cultural groups.

Here is a list of ten Social Media sites about coffee:

1. Starbucks -
It is not surprising that the name that has become synonymous with coffee would put together their own social media site. In addition to the regular aspects of an e-commerce site such as product and stores, this site is linked with Twitter and Facebook, and they stress their commitment to bigger social causes.

2. Dunkin Donuts
– While they may not be as trendy, they do sell a lot of coffee and so they too have a standard e-commerce site and a Facebook page. Here they have polls and videos, online discussions, and even pictures of the coffee fan of the week.

3. Green Mountain Coffee -
Green Mountain Coffee is committed to fair trade coffees and it has a huge selection of coffee, roasters, grinders, and brewers.

4. Bruegger’s Bakery -
This business offers kettle-boiled bagels as well as brewing coffee all day. They also have a Facebook page that includes fans’ photos and open discussions.

5. McDonalds McCafe -
McCafe is McDonald’s attempt to move into the market that is lead by Starbucks. This site is set up as a virtual coffee break room and is filled with all kinds of information. They also have mini sites which are geared toward specific cultural areas of the market including 365 Black (African American), MeEncanta (Hispanic) and, MyInspirAsian (Asian).

6. San Marco Coffee -
This coffee site is one of the first online sites selling coffee and they offer over 270 flavors of coffee including espressos.

7. CoffeeSnobs -
This is the largest coffee forum in Australia. These are serious coffee drinkers who gather to discuss blends, grinders and home roasting techniques.

8. TheCoffeeIndex -
TheCoffeeIndex claims to be the place to find any kind of coffee related information. They have over nine hundred different links including publications, recipes, and miscellaneous facts.

9. CoffeeHits.com -
CoffeeHits.com is a site that is a compiled list of the best coffee websites. There is regular ranking based on the sites traffic, and this can change daily. They have links to all the shops and other sites about coffee.

10. Coffee & Social Media, Naples, FL
This is an informal group in Naples, FL that meets the second Tuesday of the month to discuss social media. They have their own Facebook page and also Twitter. Their goal is to learn new ways to use social media, meeting over coffee.

There have been a lot of people who have lost their jobs due to the current state of the US economy. Many have turned to the web to find employment on job sites and popular social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Which has left many to ask “How can I possibly find a job using social media?”. In order to shed some light on the topic we composed a few simple tips that will change the way you look for future jobs using social media.

• The first thing that you want to do is to figure out what are the top 5 companies that you would be interested in working for. This is going to help you to be focused instead of sending a ton of emails and upsetting a lot of people. You want to show the people that you are contacting that you are very eager to work for the company- but not desperate.
• The second thing that you want to do is to use the search engines to find and track the employees who work for the companies. Use corporate groups, corporate pages, and people who are Facebook. You can also do your searches on Twitter. Once you have found one of the people who work for a company, google their name to find out if there is any more information that you can find out about them.
• The third thing that you want to do is to get in contact with that person. This is where finding the person on a social media platform comes in handy. You don’t have to necessarily be friends with someone to get in contact with them.

But keep in mind that they may not want to be bothered about job inquiries. Do your homework about the company and their interests, and then get in contact with them. Don’t bring up a job right away. Have a friendly conversation with them and then, when you feel comfortable, casually bring up the fact that you are interested in a job.
You don’t want the person to think that the only reason that you sent them a message is that you are looking for a job, even though that may be the case.

Remember when you are doing a people search and trying to find out more about the employees of a company, you are going to have a better chance of being hired if you act eager but not too eager. You want to be friendly and casual, you don’t want the person to think that you are using them, and you want it to be a big surprise when you finally ask about a job.

The barriers that used to exist years ago when it comes to job searches and contacting people no longer exist thanks to social media. Take advantage of it, but don’t make the people think that you are taking advantage of them. If you make a bad impression, not only will they shut you out but they may speak badly of you to their superiors.