Business Social Network Managers - Business Social Networking

AT&T To Launch Yelp Competitor - Business Social Network Managers

Channels Network — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 00:54:00 GMT

AT&T latched on early to the local search and advertising market, first with the Yellow Pages, then with an online version, YellowPages.com. These days, with everyone from Google to Yelp chasing the same business, AT&T is striking back with a new social recommendations site called buzz.com.

The site, which is in an invitation-only "alpha" testing phase, is geared toward helping people ferret out the best local businesses using recommendations from friends and family.

Billions of dollars are potentially at stake. After all, consumers make most of their purchases close to home or, if they have a mobile device, close to their current location. As mobile devices get smarter and more geo-aware, local search will become even more important and lucrative, analysts say. The U.S. local search advertising market is worth more than $4 billion, says research firm Borrell Associates. Revenues for mobile local search advertising--meaning similar ads, but on a mobile device--are expected to reach $1.3 billion by 2013, according to The Kelsey Group.

AT&T came up with the idea for buzz.com about a year and a half ago, says David Krantz, president and chief executive of AT&T Interactive, the subsidiary in charge of the telco's local search products and services. Through Yellow Pages, AT&T already had a wealth of information about local businesses and a large local advertising business. (In the third quarter 2009, the most recent data available, AT&T's "Advertising Solutions Internet" unit reported revenues of $227 million.) But the company realized it could attract more visitors and more advertisers if it could make its local business searches "deeper and more relevant," Krantz says.

On buzz.com depth will come from social connections and AT&T technology. A user looking for a reliable moving company in Manhattan could simply poll his or her friends on the site. But since a more focused search will likely yield more useful recommendations, buzz.com will also be able to suggest experts for that particular topic based on user "favorites" and comments. On a mobile device buzz.com could further narrow the field based on a person's location, using opt-in global positioning system data.

The friend network features make buzz.com sound like a Facebook or Foursquare wannabe, but Krantz says AT&T specifically avoided building a social-networking site. "We're trying to leverage social graphs that already exist, so people can import them and build on them," he notes. In other words, users will be able to invite groups of friends from their e-mail accounts or Facebook profiles and link their buzz.com activity to those sites rather than replicating their social-networking networks on buzz.com.

Though buzz.com's local business focus prompts comparisons to local reviews site Yelp, it differs in a few key ways. On buzz.com, users won't be writing full-fledged reviews. They can choose to "favorite" a business or not and write brief comments, but there isn't a place for airing grievances. That should spare AT&T from the occasional furor--and lawsuits--that erupt over negative reviews on Yelp. It also creates a place where advertisers are happy to reward loyal customers. Though the site doesn't currently have this function, AT&T is betting that advertisers will offer discounts or other special offers to buzz.com members. "If people really like a restaurant or club, you can assume they would love to get offers," Krantz says.

Of course, many consumers like Yelp precisely because it's as full of negative reviews as positive ones. Google, which reportedly tried to acquire Yelp in December and recently purchased the mobile advertising firm AdMob, has been clear about its interest in local online content. In its fourth-quarter earnings call last week, the company described local mobile advertising as a "huge" opportunity.

Krantz acknowledges buzz.com will have many challengers. "It's not unknown that you'd want to create this kind of dialogue between advertisers and consumers," he admits. But he contends other companies won't be able to match all the resources AT&T is marshaling, such as its Yellow Pages database, advertiser relationships, national wireless network, and experience developing mobile applications.

Buzz.com will get its first big test in a few weeks. A group of about 500 AT&T employees is currently testing the site. In the next month or two, it will open up to users' friends and family members, then go public.

Even if buzz.com is a success, it won't replace Yellow Pages. Though the two sites share a goal of connecting consumers to advertisers, they shouldn't overlap much. "YellowPages.com is a good mass-market site and local business directory," says Krantz. "Buzz.com is about your daily life and lifestyle."

Cisco's Chambers Trumpets Power Of Flip, Video - Now Businesses Can Produce HD Video On Flip Cheap!

Channels Network — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 23:03:00 GMT

No Need For Expensive Videographers, Flip HD Camcorder Is Under $300

Cisco Systems (NSDQ:CSCO) (NSDQ:CSCO) Chairman and CEO John Chambers has championed the video revolution for the past several years, but now Cisco's acquisition of Flip camcorder maker Pure Digital adds a new wrinkle, and Chambers urged partners to catch the wave.

During his keynote presentation closing out Cisco Partner Summit in Boston
Thursday, Chambers vehemently pointed out that the line between consumer and enterprise technologies is a thing of the past as the two cross the chasm and start becoming one in the same.

"The lines between consumer and business will completely blur," Chambers said, adding that the tech industry used to fight the blurring and, in some cases, went kicking and screaming into the transition. "Video will be 90 percent of the loads on networks around the world."

Chambers said in the very near future all forms of IT and communications will be around video and that change will be customer-driven and partner-led. It's up to partners to embrace it, or risk getting left behind.

Chambers said partners and vendors need to be leaders in the consumer space, a niche Cisco has carved out with its acquisitions of Linksys, Scientific Atlanta and, now, the acquisition of Pure Digital and its Flip.

"Was it a consumer acquisition? You betcha. Was it an enterprise acquisition? Oh yeah. Was it a service provider acquisition? Oh yeah. Is it a stand-alone device? No way," Chambers said.

It was the Pure Digital buy, he said, that was the tipping point -- the a-ha moment -- that brought the video ecosystem together.

"The Flip somehow got people to realize video is an architectural play," he said. "It was the tipping point."

To prove his point, Chambers used Cisco TelePresence to demonstrate the power of video, showcasing one solution provider that is using the Flip to capture customer testimonials to share via TelePresence to potential customers -- a powerful marketing tool.

Chambers told partners that over the next four to five years, video, collaboration and Web 2.0 technologies will represent roughly 25 percent of Cisco's business.

"Video is an architecture, not a stand-alone application," he said, later adding that "it will completely change how we communicate and how we do business."

Video and Web 2.0 applications fall into Cisco's mantra of any content to any device, whether it's a movie on an iPod or music piping in on any system in the home.

"You don't care. You just want it there when you want to see it," he said, predicting that soon, "Content will find you as opposed to you having to search for it."

To capture a piece of the video pie, Chambers urged partners to work out of their comfort zones and dig their heels into new markets, much like Cisco is doing with its consumer play, through which Chambers said "we're going to be very aggressive."

The trick, Chambers said is to "drive a little beyond our headlights," "see beyond what's right in front of us" and capture market transitions, because "market transitions wait for no one."

Article trackback: http://www.crn.com/networking/217701927;jsessionid=Z4MLMY4HTL50QQSNDLRSKHSCJUNN2JVN

Las Vegas MGM Grand Seablue Restaurant - Las Vegas Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 11:37:00 GMT

The World - Dubai - Real Estate Video Marketing - Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:46:00 GMT

Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 15:35:00 GMT

Morgan and Morgan Florida Personal Injury Attorney - Attorney Video Marketing - Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 10:43:00 GMT

http://www.forthepeople.com

Car accidents can have serious effects on victims leaving some seriously injured or permanently hurt and financially destroyed. Morgan & Morgan, P.A. handles many car accident claims every year. As well, we also handle all types of medical malpractice cases, with particular expertise in cardiac medicine, obstetrics, surgical malpractice, and failure to diagnose cancer claims.

Orlando, Florida
Morgan and Morgan
20 North Orange Avenue
Suite 1600
Orlando, Florida 32801
Telephone: (800) 896-2709

Tampa, Florida
Morgan and Morgan
One Tampa City Center
201 N. Franklin Street, 7th Floor
Tampa, Florida 33602
Telephone: (800) 896-2709

Panama City Beach Restaurant - Spinnaker Beach Club Paradise Grill - Restaurant Video Marketing

Channels Network — Fri, 29 May 2009 12:19:00 GMT

Spinnaker's Beach Club & Paradise Grill Restaurant serves up the freshest local seafood - grilled, fried, boiled, broiled and baked! It's not just seafood though... Paradise Grill offers up great barbecue and delicious dishes ranging from sizzling steaks to cool, fresh vegetarian wraps. And don't forget the burgers... they're the best of any Panama City Beach restaurant!

Seattle Business Video Marketing - Seattle Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 21:57:00 GMT

Los Angeles Business Video Marketing - Los Angeles Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 20:41:00 GMT

San Diego Business Video Marketing - San Diego Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:58:00 GMT

Tucson Business Video Marketing - Tucson Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:32:00 GMT

San Antonio Business Video Marketing - San Antonio Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:59:00 GMT

Austin Business Video Marketing - Austin Video Marketing

Channels Network — Thu, 28 May 2009 13:20:00 GMT

Las Vegas Business Video Marketing - Las Vegas Video Marketing - Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 19:58:00 GMT

Phoenix Business Video Marketing - Phoenix Video Marketing - Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 18:50:00 GMT

Houston Business Video Marketing - Houston Video Marketing - Business Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:38:00 GMT

Dallas Business Video Marketing - Dallas Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:30:00 GMT

Philadelphia Business Video Marketing - Philadelphia Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:25:00 GMT

Boston Business Video Marketing - Boston Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:23:00 GMT

Cleveland Business Video Marketing - Cleveland Video Marketing

Channels Network — Wed, 27 May 2009 11:20:00 GMT