Comments on: Branded Social Networks http://problogservice.com/2008/12/26/branded-social-networks/ Number one business blogging agency Wed, 09 May 2012 20:20:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: twdeeter (tom deeter) http://problogservice.com/2008/12/26/branded-social-networks/#comment-46 twdeeter (tom deeter) Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:08:43 +0000 http://problogservice.com/?p=371#comment-46 should you "roll your own" social network? http://tinyurl.com/8vymg2 should you “roll your own” social network? http://tinyurl.com/8vymg2

]]> By: Michael http://problogservice.com/2008/12/26/branded-social-networks/#comment-43 Michael Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:53:34 +0000 http://problogservice.com/?p=371#comment-43 I tend to agree with you when it comes to getting momentum for your brand. Funny you should mention lead generation, as I am currently building out a social network for a very specific industry vertical. My goal is to build pull around the niche vertical, and offer a free quotation system. The vendors in that vertical will pay a fee to access those leads. For regular businesses, it will be free. I will likely create a Facebook presence for the site, and then embed part of our site into a Facebook page to harness that momentum. Will let you know how it goes, and supply a link when I'm done. I'm using PHPfox as my platform. See link above. Cheers, Michael I tend to agree with you when it comes to getting momentum for your brand.

Funny you should mention lead generation, as I am currently building out a social network for a very specific industry vertical. My goal is to build pull around the niche vertical, and offer a free quotation system. The vendors in that vertical will pay a fee to access those leads. For regular businesses, it will be free.

I will likely create a Facebook presence for the site, and then embed part of our site into a Facebook page to harness that momentum.

Will let you know how it goes, and supply a link when I’m done.

I’m using PHPfox as my platform. See link above.

Cheers,
Michael

]]> By: Mike Seidle http://problogservice.com/2008/12/26/branded-social-networks/#comment-42 Mike Seidle Wed, 07 Jan 2009 12:13:20 +0000 http://problogservice.com/?p=371#comment-42 Michael - You make a couple of really good points that were not top of mind when I posted this article. A custom, branded network is probably a good idea for: Pay membership sites. Fan Sites - <a href="http://www.mycolts.net/" rel="nofollow">like this one</a>. Where I disagree with you is that a self-hosted, custom branded social network is not always the best play for companies that are doing so as part of their <b>branding or lead generation campaigns</b>. Companies would be better off working inside an existing social network that has a ten thousand times the traffic and hundreds of thousands times the members and can really drive business and brand awareness. On most social networks interaction between members is what generates growth. Taking that interaction off Facebook or off of LinkedIn and moving it to a tiny walled garden <b>reduces the speed at which the marketing program generates more friends</b> and ultimately reduces effectiveness of the campaign. That said, <b>if you've got enough members</b> there are a lot of benefits to owning your own network. Michael –

You make a couple of really good points that were not top of mind when I posted this article. A custom, branded network is probably a good idea for:

Pay membership sites.
Fan Sites – like this one.

Where I disagree with you is that a self-hosted, custom branded social network is not always the best play for companies that are doing so as part of their branding or lead generation campaigns. Companies would be better off working inside an existing social network that has a ten thousand times the traffic and hundreds of thousands times the members and can really drive business and brand awareness. On most social networks interaction between members is what generates growth. Taking that interaction off Facebook or off of LinkedIn and moving it to a tiny walled garden reduces the speed at which the marketing program generates more friends and ultimately reduces effectiveness of the campaign. That said, if you’ve got enough members there are a lot of benefits to owning your own network.

]]> By: Michael http://problogservice.com/2008/12/26/branded-social-networks/#comment-41 Michael Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:35:52 +0000 http://problogservice.com/?p=371#comment-41 I think there are serious benefits to 'rolling-your-own' for those companies that wish to charge a membership fee or 'sell stuff' within their social network (b2b or b2c). You simply can't do this Ning, MySpace, or Facebook. GoSocial is the exception to the rule among these hosted solutions, and is coming around in this area with their ability for network creators to charge members a fee. Still, a self-hosted custom branded social network allows for way more control and customization, period. That's important to many businesses and brands. I think the trick is to expand your brand by having a presence on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Yahoo, etc. but then linking it back to your own solution. For a one-time fee of $300, and $10 to $50/mnth in hosting fees this can be accomplished quite easily with something like PHPfox. They even support OpenSocial in their upcoming version due out next week. You can learn more at http://www.brandedsocialnetworks.com I think there are serious benefits to ‘rolling-your-own’ for those companies that wish to charge a membership fee or ‘sell stuff’ within their social network (b2b or b2c). You simply can’t do this Ning, MySpace, or Facebook. GoSocial is the exception to the rule among these hosted solutions, and is coming around in this area with their ability for network creators to charge members a fee.

Still, a self-hosted custom branded social network allows for way more control and customization, period. That’s important to many businesses and brands.

I think the trick is to expand your brand by having a presence on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and Yahoo, etc. but then linking it back to your own solution.

For a one-time fee of $300, and $10 to $50/mnth in hosting fees this can be accomplished quite easily with something like PHPfox. They even support OpenSocial in their upcoming version due out next week.

You can learn more at http://www.brandedsocialnetworks.com

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