Tag Archives ⇒ social networking site

Social Bookmarking – Orkut

· Brandon Hann

Orkut is likely one social networking site you’ve never heard of. That’s simply because it’s not as popular here in the United States as sites like Facebook and MySpace. However, India and Brazil have found Orkut to be their number one social networking site. I mention it here because it is yet one more way you can help promote your online existence.

The site was created by a Google employee for which it’s named, Orkut Büyükkökten. I personally set up an account here after reading about it on Google, but I don’t use it much. This is mainly because there aren’t many people from the U.S. on it.

What is Orkut?

Orkut is your standard run-of-the-mill social networking site with a few minor differences compared to Facebook. One major difference is the use of themes to change your profile layout, much like MySpace. Another difference is that you can upload videos on the site and have them appear on YouTube directly.

As stated above, the majority of this site’s users are from India and Brazil, so if you’re doing business in either of these locations, this site is a great addition to your existing Facebook and MySpace page. In fact, check out the traffic chart to give you an idea of where this site is currently ranking worldwide. The U.S. used to be the top visiting country when the site launched in 2004.

Should I use Orkut?

I always say use every tool you can to help bring in more traffic to your site, but I would stay focused. If you have too many social networking sites, you won’t be able to keep up with all of them. Just pick a few that you know will serve your interests best. If you or your expected visitors are going to be coming from the high traffic countries, then use this site.

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Social Bookmarking – Sphinn

· Brandon Hann

Sphinn is a concept site that specializes in discussing Internet marketing and news. One of the major advantages of using and being on this site is that it allows you to take part in discussions and network with similar people in your specific field.

How can Sphinn help my site?


If you’re running a blog, Sphinn can give you an advantage over other site owners. Just like most of the social networking site I’m covering in this section, you are able to submit articles and news related to your topic of choice. Naturally, these articles link back to your own website where you are currently marketing yourself or your products.

  • Publish original articles – When you publish original content, submit it to Sphinn so you can start building web traffic that you need for your site. The more original and fresh your content is, the better it’ll rank.
  • Discuss – As a member of Sphinn, you can jump into a conversation about any item on the site. This creates a very interactive experience.
  • Network – Meet other users in the same industry as you and talk about topics that are of interest. You can also add these people to your contacts list.

Is Sphinn for you?

As mentioned above, this site is only for content related to Internet marketing, SEO and making money online. If your site does not fall into one of these categories, Sphinn will not be able to help you out.

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Social Bookmarking – MySpace

· Brandon Hann

When you think of MySpace, you probably don’t think much about social bookmarking, but then again, you probably don’t think of that with Facebook either. However, besides all the fun and games you can have on MySpace while connecting with all your friends, you can also use it as a platform to help promote your website and/or blog posts.

Another good thing about MySpace is the relative ease of buying advertising space on the site. It’s inexpensive and it can still jumpstart a flow of traffic to your site given the millions of users still on it.

Using MySpace as a promotional tool

Back when MySpace was huge, it was pretty much the only social networking platform of its time and you probably saw all sorts of things being promoted on it such as movies, companies, celebrities, news, etc. I can remember not too long ago, just about every single new movie coming out had its own MySpace page.

The reason for this was because it works. Here you have a site with hundreds of millions of users all interacting with each other which opens up the flood gates for potential customers. Here are some ways you can maximize your earnings on MySpace:

  • Find as many friends as you can. There’s no shame in adding people you don’t know! If you’re promoting something on the Internet, you’re going to run into a LOT of people you don’t know. You might as well add them to your list.
  • Buy advertising space. Just like you would do with Google AdWords, you want to maximize your presence as much as possible. MySpace ads work the same way by offering your ad to a targeted audience that is already interested in the things you’re selling.
  • Post blogs. Use the MySpace blog section to post new pages about current offers you have or new products you’re selling. Everyone on your friends list can see these.

My two cents

I’m not going to tell you that you need to have a profile page at every social networking site you can find, but I will say that you should stick with one and blow it up. Make the most of whatever site or sites you settle with and don’t let up. It might take time to get a huge list of friends, but it will pay off in the end.

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