MySpace is opening your profile data so that you can share the information across a number of other social sites. A report from Reuters News states:

MySpace social network will let users choose to share their public profile information, such as pictures, videos, and text, across the Web to spread its service beyond its own borders.

The benefit to you as a user of these sites is that you will only have to update your profile on MySpace and it will automatically update it on any of the other social sites that MySpace provides access to. These sites include sites owned by Yahoo, eBay, Twitter and its own Photobucket site.

At present it will operate in a one way direction only - that is, you can update on MySpace and it will update on say twitter, however, if you update on Twitter it will not update on MySpace.

The new approach by MySpace is an attempt to shore up its support as Facebook continues to grow. A statement from MySpace says it all.

The new function, available to any site that signs up, is a move by MySpace to protect its dominance in the social network category from fast-growing Facebook, even as it opens up its system to partners and rivals.

And yes, when they say they are happy to open it up for any other site to join, they include Facebook. It will certainly make life easier for those that have profiles spread around numerous social networking sites.

Social marketing is gaining interest in the commercial world at rapid rate and it is not surprising that niche micro social networks are now becoming popular.

Peter Bowman’s article on micro social networks published on Internet Evolution provides a good insight into the direction the new networks are heading.

As social marketing becomes popular it becomes harder and harder to get noticed. With millions using these networks and the categories moving into the hundreds, gaining credibility within your niche has not only become super competitive, it has become extremely spam ridden.

As Bowman’s article points out:

However, many members get the feeling of becoming lost in crowds of millions. Micro-social spaces offer less diversity to users, but directly identify with their specific desires and interests.

This will become the key to social networking through these micro networks. Each network serves a particular niche drawing individuals from both sides of the commercial fence. This concept is not new. In the past, forums have served very well as niche networks, however the very term forum seems to turn people off. Call the site a social network, or better yet, call it a social bookmarking site and people will come in their droves.

Bowman’s opening paragraph really sums up the trend where he states:

…..they mirror what micro-sites have done to promote brands for many years. Will this growing micro-social trend dilute the existing power of social network elites like Facebook and MySpace , or will they empower more people to participate in a wider selection of online communities based on their individual needs and wants?

The future of micro social networks will be interesting to watch particularly as larger corporations make more use of the concept and develop their own networks. As social marketing opportunities there may be obstacles put in place as the micro network owners try to protect their ‘turf’ by preventing many of the marketing opportunities that are available through the larger networks.

It will be interesting to see how they balance their own needs with those of the social marketing users and the needs of the general public at large - ultimately their own customers.

Yahoo announced yesterday a deeper commitment to social networking. Yahoo has joined Google’s OpenSocial initiative, whose purpose is to have developers come up with innovative new applications for the most popular social networking websites.

To make the web more relevant for users, OpenSocial is encouraging apps that not only work on many different social networking sites, but also connect them.

“Yahoo believes in community-driven industry specifications and expects OpenSocial to fuel innovation and make the web more relevant and more enjoyable to millions of users,” said Wade Chambers, vice president of platforms at Yahoo.

MySpace and Orkut are already providing providing OpenSocial applications. Hi5 will begin doing so in a few days. With Yahoo on board, even more users and developers will be participating.

Yahoo, MySpace, and Google are also partnering in a non-profit foundation “to foster the continued open development of OpenSocial,” according to Dan Peterson, Google Product Manager.

The big players in OpenSocial:

• Engage.com
• Friendster
• Google
• hi5
• Hyves
• Imeem
• LinkedIn
• MySpace
• Ning
• Oracle
• orkut
• Plaxo
• Salesforce.com
• Six Apart
• TianjiViadeo
• XING
• Yahoo

Pretty much a “Who’s Who” of social networking … with the exception of Facebook. They seem to be the big holdout.

You’ve no doubt heard the complaints that advertising on the social networking websites doesn’t get the return expected by online marketers. High pageviews, low click-thru rates.

However, there’s another way of looking at this: social networking websites can deliver a demographically focused audience that is not widely available online. Even offline, only TV can deliver this type of audience.

In February, the 25 top social networking sites put 155 million unique visitors face-to-face with advertisers. MySpace, Facebook & Classmates.com delivered over 70% of that total. Tacking on YouTube and Flickr increases the total to 215 million unique viewers a month. Best estimate for TV is less than 200 million unique viewers per month.

There’s more. According to ComScore Video Metrix, US web users watched over 10 billion videos just in December, 2007. Many of those were soft-pedalling commercials … and many more are ripe to have a short commercial attached to the end.

But the most attractive social networking media feature is the younger demographic with high disposable income, much sought-after by ad agencies and advertisers. It’s too big and too focused an audience for that strong marketing connection to not be made eventually.

Social networking websites may currently be struggling for traditional advertisers, but the signs point to a happy, profitable future for them - together.

Social marketing is all about merging content and marketing. In a recent interview, Jamie Kantrowitz, Myspace senior V-P for marketing & content, made the following points:

1. Just like you have a home address, we’re closing in on the point where everyone will have an internet address, which will be their social profile of choice.
2. The web will get even more portable & more responsive. Users will be able to get the content they want, no matter when or where they want it.
3. The number and variety of bells and whistles offered by social networking sites will skyrocket, with MySpace leading the way.
4. MySpace has almost 110 million monthly active users worldwide. More than a quarter-million join every day, and 85% are over 21.

Kantrowitz notes some interesting recent stats from MySpace research conducted by The Future Laboratory:

• 22% of 18-24 year olds said that brands ‘have to work harder to earn our respect’
• 11% stated social networks have made them expect more from brands and content online
• 14% believe brands appear more friendly and creative on the social web
• 13% said social marketing sites have made them see brands as experiences they can become involved with.

Kantrowitz concludes that a big social marketing value of MySpace is, it can specifically target users, therefore ensuring that the right messages fall on open ears.

When you step into the room, the social networking is in full swing. The party is already going strong. You see dozens of people … but you don’t know any of them. In one corner is a group of 8 or 10 obvious friends, laughing and talking and enjoying each other’s company.

You walk up to the group and smile and say, “Hi. I’m Bob. I have a great widget. Let me tell you about it!”

Yes, yes. That sounds absolutely ridiculous. But most marketers approach social networking websites like MySpace and YouTube with just about the same amount of tact, courtesy, and understanding.

To be a successful socializer at that party, what would really work?

• Study the interactions of the individuals and groups.
• What unwritten “rules” can you observe?
• Often, such groups have a special language they speak, unique to their group. Can you hear it?
• How do others join into ongoing discussions?
• Who are the “big dogs” in the groups? Do they bite?
• What’s your plan? Target the “big dogs?”
• Or start by approaching smaller groups, maybe even singles who seem to be standing alone and left out of the socializing?

Whoever you approach, consider this plan:

1. Blend in.
2. Add real value.
3. Stick around. (Don’t disappear, or you’ll have to start from scratch when you come back.)

Recognize that marketing in a social networking setting is much different from what you are accustomed to. In normal marketing, most of your targets want to avoid you. In social networking, your targets are there to talk to somebody. That can be you, if you understand them and approach them correctly.

MySpace recently began offering members several hundred new applications, in test mode, with many more to come. Members can check out a wide variety of applications, and the developers get to see how their apps perform under the pressure.

MySpace is still the Big Dog of social networks, and they’d like to keep the title. The wide range of apps available in one place has the potential to help MySpace users become even more addicted.

Some samples of new MySpace apps:

• Photo Shout Out - Say it with photos! Add your own voice shout out to your pics, and send to friends.
• Graffiti - Draw graffiti for your friends.
• MindJolt Games - Over 250 games! Play any of the Arcade, Puzzle, Strategy and Sports games we offer for free.
• Flixster - Flixster Movies lets you see what your friends say about movies.
• Blingee Book - Add animated graphics, comments, and all sorts of goodies to your pictures for fun or glamour.
• Quizzes - Take quizzes, surveys, polls & personality tests. Make your own quizzes & share with friends.
• Twitter Sync - Sync your myspace mood status with twitter. Just click the sync button and you’re done!
• Yahoo! Music Videos - Simply the largest collection of music videos on MySpace. Dive in and let the good tunes roll!
• flauntR: Photo Editor and Styler - Style your photos with 1000’s of photo frames, stickers, magazine covers & slideshows.
• Fuser - Your Facebook on MySpace! Note: you must already have a Facebook account to use Fuser.
• Graphics Search Engine - With the all4myspace.com graphics search engine you can search for thousands of (glitter)graphics!
• Spin The Bottle - Join the world’s coolest Spin the Bottle game and pass virtual kisses to tons of hotties.
• 123Greetings Cards - Cards for over 3,000 occasions as well as the everyday thank you, birthday, love & friendship cards.
• Pickup Lines - See a different hilarious pickup line each time your page is displayed.
• Top Friends Cupid - Scientifically analyze 17 different parts of your profile to find out who you are compatible with.
• Jobs - Searching for a job? Let the jobs come to you! This handy widget will tell you who’s hiring!
• and many more

Facebook has almost a year headstart over MySpace in opening up to outside application developers. And where MySpace is starting with a few hundreds of these apps, Facebook now has over 14,000 … which many analysts credit for Facebook’s meteoric rise in popularity the last few months.

Here is a simple 7-step social marketing strategy to help you build a stronger prospect base:

1. If you haven’t done so already, specifically define your very tightly focused target niche market. Use your favorite keyword tool to find the most-searched keywords for your market. Use this list to help zero in on exactly what niche you want to appeal to.
2. Make sure your social networking site profiles are focused on this very specific target. The more focused you are, the more your visitors will see you as a specialist. And we all want to be mentored by the specialist, the expert. The more focused you are, the more appealing you will be to your target market.
3. Go to MySpace or FaceBook or whichever social networking sites you favor. Check the groups on those sites against your keywords. Find groups that are related to your very focused specialty.
4. Add members of those groups to your friends list.
5. Start your own group on MySpace and Facebook and other sites. Again, be very specific. This will stamp you as a leader and will help to raise your profile on that particular social networking website.
6. Invite your friends and those in other more widely-focused related groups to join your group. Keep an eye on these larger groups. Every time someone signs up, contact them to tell them about your group and invite them to join.
7. When you add to your networking website - or your personal web page - send a short, descriptive comment to each member of your group to let them know, and invite them to read the full article. This is especially effective when a comment shows up on a member profile page, so it can be viewed by the public.

What you want is to create a core following of raving fans. This social networking strategy isn’t going to get you huge traffic, but if you give really useful information in a focused niche, you can definitely build a strong fan base that may be very lucrative to you over time

The recruitment website Milkround.com recently surveyed 500 students and graduates about their use of the social networking websites MySpace, Facebook, and Bebo. Results:

• Facebook: 97% of the 500 respondents use it; 93% of respondents favor it
• MySpace: 44% use it
• Bebo: 23% use it

Grads and students were asked to rate the 3 social networking websites on a 1 to 5 scale for

• Contact with friends
• Photo & video sharing
• New relationships
• Social planning
• Networking for jobs
• Overall entertainment

Overall Ratings:

• Facebook: 3.5
• MySpace: 2.3
• Bebo: 1.7

Interesting Results:

1. Only 6% of the students & grads have used their Facebook, MySpace, or Bebo profile in a job search. Overwhelmingly, these sites are used strictly for social networking.
2. 82% of respondents use privacy settings, restricting who can view their profile. Half of these use the most restrictive privacy setting.

MOST Interesting Result:

Results of this survey indicate how difficult it would be for another social networking utility to take market share from Facebook, MySpace, & Bebo. Only 19% said they might switch to a new site with a bunch of whizz-bang gizmos. These students and grads made their original choice of favorite site because that’s where their friends are. A majority would ONLY change if their friends did, and most of these prefer not to change at all, having already invested time & emotion in building their profile.

“Despite suffering its first drop in traffic following 17 months of successive increases since July 2006 in January, Facebook is still immensely popular among students and graduates. It’s clearly ahead of its competitors in terms of staying in contact with friends and sharing files online, Bebo and MySpace will need to improve their usability to come close to toppling the Facebook dominance. However, all of the major three sites would benefit if they could encourage users to meet new people or even think of ways to help users find a job.” - Milkround.com spokesman Mike Barnard

“I’ve found headlines with numbers tend to produce more clicks, and longer headlines tend to produce less. Also my recent post titled “Weekend Fight & A Birthday Party” did well, I can only assume it’s due to curiosity. ‘What was the fight about?’”
Michelle MacPhearson
Social Marketing

Twenty years ago, the top direct marketers told you that your headline only had 7 seconds to capture a person’s attention. Today, in the internet social marketing age, you probably have half that time to attract a reader. Let’s say you’ve got 4 seconds to pull in your targeted social networker. How do you do that?

A few social blogging headline tips:

• Good titles are direct. They tell the reader exactly what benefit they’ll get from reading your blog post.
• Or - good titles arouse curiousity. You’ve hit the mark if you can get your reader to say, “Heck! What is THIS all about?” They have to read your post to find out.
• Better yet - really good titles do both.
• A specific number adds credibility to your title.
• Use strong action verbs to help spark an interest that gets the reader to read your blog post
• Don’t forget your SEO benefits. Your primary keyword needs to be in the title - the earlier, the better.
• Your post itself must have insightful, useful, valuable information. If you trick a social networker into wasting their time reading drivel, you have lost them forever.

If you do these things in every blog title you write, then you will write titles that get people to read your blog posts. To make that easier on yourself, focus on exactly who your target audience is. Then use a title structure to more effectively rivet social networker attention.

When writing a title, even if you don’t care about the SEO benefits, you should always have your keyword list open and visible. Those keywords are hot buttons for your targeted social blogging market. Use 1 or 2 of these keywords in your title to help pull your reader into your post..

A simple way to ensure that you get the social blogging keyword right up front and that you write a good title is to make the keyword your first word, followed by a colon. Then write a short title that follows the other principles.

A little practice can get you a big payoff. Get out your keyword list. Go to your MySpace page and click through some of the profiles. Notice 2 things: the line under the person’s name (on the left) and the first line of the “blurb” (on the right). These are critical titles - which most people waste. You know you want to create a magnet profile, so use your social blogging keyword list to improve each title to do that.

The more you practice, the more effective your own blog headlines will be.

Obviously, you want to maximize the social networking value of your blog. For that to happen, your blog content needs to be fresh and enticing and insightful and most of all, targeted to your market’s most passionate desires. If you do these things, they’ll keep coming back … and they’ll tell their friends.

But how do you get them there in the first place?

You do that by creating good entry points. One blogger calls it “Hansel and Gretel Marketing” (leaving crumbs around to help others find your blog). Your goal is to ultimately have your readers create these links themselves.

Until that happens, you need to be the one dropping crumbs in all the right places:

• Create really useful and thoughtful blog posts, then request a link from the top blogs in your niche.
• Guest-write a post now and then (best: feature a market-specific use of social networking) for other high-traffic blogs.
• Learn and use some basic Search Engine Optimization for your blog.
• Set up social marketing profiles at StumbleUpon, MySpace, YouTube, etc., and link to your blog in your profile.
• One idea that can easily go viral on the social networking media is a resource list. If you know exactly what your target market wants and needs, spend time creating a special blog post where you give them a resource list. This is exactly the type of post that can get you featured on StumbleUpon or Digg or other social bookmarking sites.

You can also comment on other blogs or forums in your topic and leave your blog url. But to do this consistently takes many, many hours a week. It’s probably more time-effective to invest a few hours creating that ONE special blog post that really optimizes your social network marketing.

You can build a valuable social marketing network on MySpace by doing the right things … and by not doing the wrong things.

For example … take a look at the MySpace comments on any profile with a lot friends. Almost certainly, over 50% of the comments are, “Thanks for the add.” So in the first interaction with their new MySpace friend, over half of humanity yells out the exact same words. The reader pays no attention, because they see these same words over and over and over.

Why not just write, “Hi. I have ZERO creativity!” or “You are no one special to me!” Why even bother?

People want recognition and validation. They want to be in the “in” group so they’ll know they are popular. But at the same time, they want to feel like they’re unique, one-of-a-kind.

When you add a MySpace comment to someone’s profile, you have an opportunity to create a big impression by delivering on one of these most basic human desires. Not only that … all over this comments section - before YOURS! - are people who can’t think of anything more intimate to say than, “Thanks for the add.” You have a chance to stand out from all of them, over and above all of them.

Remember the old line, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression?” Well, this is your shot. If you say, “Thanks for the add,” then you are just one more in a long series of mind-numbed robots. If you really want to build relationships, it will take a little work, attention, and creativity.

Start with the end in mind. When you are doing social marketing, you want them to click on YOUR picture and go to your profile and read about you, because that is what will really heat up the relationship. If your comment is the same as all the others, why would anyone click on your picture?

So make yourself stand out. When you look at their profile, focus on their list of books (”To Kill a Mockingbird was my favorite, too! Did Harper Lee ever write any other books?”), movies (”Great movie list. I loved Dr. Zhivago, especially the ice castle. What did you like best?”), where they live (”Wow! My best friend is from Germany! Do you ever get to Hamburg?”), who they’d like to meet (”When you and George Clooney get together, PLEASE call me! Which of his body parts is your favorite?”), location (”My husband grew up in Cleveland. Do you ever go down to The Jake to watch the games?”), occupation, schools, their “About me” section, etc. Or anything else (”I’ve seen a lot of MySpace sites. I LOVE your design! My site just doesn’t seem as hot.”)

Find something - anything - you can connect with. Make it a positive comment about them. Show them that unlike everyone else, YOU actually care enough to have read their MySpace profile. And THEN ask a question or add another line designed to get them to click on your photo and come to your site. You don’t have to be that clever, since nobody else is giving them ANY reason to click on their picture. Just notice something about them, and comment on it.

This is a great social networking opportunity. You can easily stand out from the MySpace competition, because they all (even some of the person’s close friends) say, “Thanks for the add.” But you, whom they have never met or talked to, actually read their profile and comment favorably on it. You deliver the recognition and validation they want. That could be the start of a beautiful relationship.

Advertising may not be the best way to get new business from social media sites like Facebook and MySpace. The reality is those sites were not designed to be advertising sites. They were designed to be networking sites.

Imagine this: You are invited to a attend a free trade show in your industry. You decide to go, thinking it could be a good way to meet new people, potential business partners, and customers. When you get to the trade show, before you can walk in the door, you are bombarded with purchasing offers and come ons for products totally unrelated to your industry. The people trying to sell you their products don’t know you, they’ve never met you, they haven’t even asked you if you’re interested in the type of product they’re offering. Yet they feel the need to interrupt your focus and try to sell you something you have no need for and have no interest in.

Finally, you make your way inside the meetin. Now you can be at peace. But not so fast. You approach a table to see who is there and find out that it is run by people who are not related to your business or even have a presence in your industry. They are trying to sell you a product. You move on to the next table. It’s a booth and you make some new friends. These people are in your industry and are there for the same reasons you are. You decide to kill some time and hang out. But the moment you walk away from the table you are bombarded with offers from people in unrelated industries for products you have no desire for. Would you go back to that trade show next year?

Social networking sites are for networking. Don’t be fooled into thinking it’s a great place to advertise. Your best bet for getting new business at Facebook and MySpace is to set up a profile page and become a networker.   This is best for social marketing. With any luck, you’ll be able to ignore the ads.

More than 2,000 users have signed up for the MySpace Developer Platform Forum. I suppose that’s good news, but there have only been 223 posts made so far. This is, after all, the first day of the great race.

The most active user on the forum has only made 15 posts. That leaves a lot of room for someone with a lot of time on his hands to sneak in there and ask a buttload of questions, or provide the answers.

MySpace is entering uncharted territory with its developer platform. Still the most visited social network online, the Murdoch team feels compelled to compete with Facebook on the silliness. All we need is a Super Duper MySpace Wall That Will Talk Your Ear Off. But seriously, if any meaningful apps do come out of the MySpace arena, you can bet there will be thousands of MySpace whores just clamoring over each other to get to the meaninglessness. But then, some of them might actually use a few of those apps to market their businesses. Will you be one of them?

On February 5, MySpace will be launching its developer platform. Following the lead of Facebook, it looks as if the social marketing site may have been taking some notes. They claim to have addressed some of the issues and found a way to avoid the pitfalls that other social networking sites have experienced.

One feature of the MySpace developer platform that looks really promising is its integration with OpenSocial, the joint venture project between MySpace and Google, which was announced late last year.

Adam Ostrow at Mashable actually talked to MySpace COO Amit Kapur and reports that MySpace is addressing privacy issues and spam with its developer platform. I for one am anxious to see how this develops.