Making Money Online With

Dr. Rado Kotorov is chief innovation officer at Information Builders, and is responsible for emerging reporting, analytic and visualization technologies. He has developed analytic models and applications for the pharmaceutical, retail, CPG, financial and automotive industries.

You’ve likely been experiencing a deluge of online information coming at you in recent years — an overwhelming number of status updates, e-mails, tagged images and so forth. You’ve probably also seen, and potentially been alarmed by, the growing accuracy of targeted advertisements — “People You May Know,” and other “offers” online.

As the quantity of irrelevant information has exploded online, so too has the market for the delivery of targeted offers and information. Social networks, in theory and in practice, expose many people to contact and influence. Without precise models, people will continue to be bombarded with ineffective offers and other irrelevant information. Predictive analytics, a branch of data mining concerned with predicting future probabilities and trends, applies a filter to users’ online interactions with the aim of delivering more value from a sea of irrelevance.

With increased value comes the potential for social networks to make money as well. Here’s a look at some specific ways in which predictive analytics will make social networks money.

Recruiting

Many recruiting sites out there on the web, from LinkedIn to SelectMinds to Monster, promise to be able to match candidates with job requirements in unique and increasingly accurate ways. Predictive analytics is at the core of their business model, as it automates the process of making these matches.

When a recruiter posts a job description, a predictive algorithm runs through candidates and calculates compatibility. The technology is, in many cases, embedded in search applications. The most accurate and efficient of these analytics will deliver the most value and see the greatest adoption over time. Those recruiting and talent acquisition sites that allow businesses to leverage the existing social networks of their current and former employees are the best positioned to monetize their users’ employment data in new ways. Businesses can get value from these existing networks without the time and resource commitment it takes to build their own.

Sentiment Analysis

As sites like Twitter and Facebook gain value to the business world, many companies have cropped up to analyze and establish what the sentiment is of the collective online intelligence and also to identify individuals with influence and authority. Companies including Klout, ViralHeat and Radian6 all scan blogs and other social media channels with predictive models to determine if the content surrounding a brand or person is negative, positive or neutral. As this information becomes increasingly valuable to businesses of all sizes, these sentiment analysis companies are expected to grow rapidly.

Market Fluctuation

Social media channels are open to everyone. Day traders, retail investors and analysts are cruising around on Twitter and Facebook. What these types of people say and do online is not insignificant in an era when [Flash Crashes and Fat Fingers] are being closely scrutinized and regulated. New models are cropping up to predict stock fluctuations based on Twitter posts. Similar to sentiment analysis, these companies are able to look at the total number of tweets, as well as positive and negative comments to predict whether a stock price will go up or down. These types of companies will become a hot commodity as investors begin to rely on the wisdom of crowds.

Recommendation Engines

No one likes to be bombarded with irrelevant offers and content while using their favorite social network. But the more active you are online, the more effectively predictive analytics can work to deliver targeted and relevant offers.

Sometimes it feels like Facebook knows you better than you know yourself. RSVPed “Yes” to that big gala? You may see a discount offer for Saks. [Are you a woman between the ages of 18 and 34? A Facebook ad may tell you how you can lose those extra inches around your waist.] These offers are no longer random and are therefore increasingly effective. Leveraging the existing data from your previous activity to predict what will happen in the future is becoming, rightly, more prevalent and valuable to social networks that can sell this promise to businesses and intermediaries.

Location-Based Marketing

Do you walk down the same street at dinner time every day? Wish restaurants on that street would compete in real-time for your business?

As social networks add in more location-aware features like Facebook Places and whole new businesses are built on the promise of geo-location including SCVNGR and ShopKick, predictive analytics deliver insights into where groups and individuals will be and when, not to mention what their interests may be. For businesses, there is big money to be spent on location-based advertising in the coming years. As a result, social networks can run their existing location data through predictive models to provide companies with future insights into where to allocate their marketing and advertising budgets for the biggest returns.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- How Companies Can Use Sentiment Analysis to Improve Their Business/> - HOW TO: Earn Some Inexpensive Online Exposure for Your Small Business/> - HOW TO: Accept Credit Card Payments on Mobile Devices/> - 6 Tips on Starting a Digital Business from the Founder of Pandora/> - 5 Big Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Nikada, AUDINDesign

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

As part of the ongoing Mashable Awards, we’re taking a closer look at each of the nomination categories. This is “Must-Follow Non-Profit.” Be sure to nominate your favorites and join us for the Gala in Las Vegas! Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

When it comes to social good, the name of the game is creating or inspiring change, and often with limited resources. That’s why social media is so important for non-profit organizations. By allowing organizations to reach more people with less money, social media has become an integral part of the non-profit toolbox.

Groups are using social media a variety of ways, from raising money to engaging with constituents on personal and meaningful levels. The most important thing social media offers for non-profits, though, is a highly effective channel to spread awareness about their cause. “Having 10 million people is more important than $10 million,” Change.org founder and CEO Ben Rattray told Mashable recently. “For advocacy you need to mobilize people, and the web helps you mobilize people like never before.”

There are any number of worthy non-profit organizations utilizing social media in new and interesting ways; below are five that caught our eye this year as must-follow groups. Please share in the comments any other non-profits you think deserve a follow and nominate them for a Mashable Award.

1. Brooklyn Museum

More than just a great art museum, the Brooklyn Museum is one of the most social media-savvy organizations on the planet. From a mobile website that lets visitors tag items in the gallery (which, in turn, helps to organize the museum’s vast, 94,000-record online collection) to a Foursquareclass="blippr-nobr">Foursquare account that offers tips for things to do in the neighborhood and rewards mayors with special parties and other offers, the Brooklyn Museum is hip to the latest social media trends.

What’s really great about the museum, which can also be found on Tumblrclass="blippr-nobr">Tumblr, Flickrclass="blippr-nobr">Flickr, Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook, YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, and Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter, is that the staff is not afraid to innovate and try new things. They’re constantly testing out new social platforms and innovating new ways to use their current social media accounts. They even share the code behind some of their best ideas on GitHub!

2. Sesame Street Workshop

Sesame Street Workshop is the non-profit organization behind the beloved children’s classic television series Sesame Street, among others. And despite being 41 years old, these cats — er, Muppets — really know social media.

You can find your favorite Sesame Street residents on Twitter and Facebook (characters like Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar have their own class='blippr-nobr'>Pagesclass="blippr-nobr">pages). Where the Workshop really excels, however, is YouTube. Sesame Street Workshop has made its biggest social media splash on YouTube, with exclusive content that often features celebrity guests and frequent parodies of other digital media memes, such as the Google search stories or the Old Spice Guy, that prove the people behind Sesame Street know their stuff.

3. WildlifeDirect

Founded in 2006 by noted African conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect aims to save endangered animals in Africa. The organization helps local conservation groups around Africa raise funds, awareness and support for their conservation projects.

WildlifeDirect can be found on many of the usual social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, but where it really shines is blogging. The organization has set up an active blog network of more than 100 field blogs penned by conservation groups across Africa. The blogs are one of the main drivers of donations to the conservation work that the organization supports, but they also offer a fascinating look into the struggle to save endangered species in some of the most diverse and threatened areas on Earth.

4. Kids Are Heroes

Founded in 2008 by Gabe O’Neill and his then 9-year-old daughter, MaryMargaret, Kids Are Heroes is a non-profit group that has the admirable goal of inspiring children to get involved in the act of giving back. The website offers profiles of more than 100 kids who have at a young age (some as young as 5-years-old!) had a meaningful impact on their communities and the world — whether by training diabetic service dogs, donating books to low-income families, or raising millions of dollars for out-of-work war veterans. The organization’s message is loud and clear: Kids can make a difference.

Along with the inspiring stories, the Kids Are Heroes website allows children to send “shout outs” to one another, and the group maintains active and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts.

5. Darius Goes West

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project is a force to be reckoned with. Afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) — a genetic degenerative muscular disease that killed his older brother — Darius and 11 of his friends set out six years ago to travel across America with the ultimate goal of getting Darius’ wheelchair customized on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. The group filmed that trip and turned it into the much-celebrated documentary film, Darius Goes West.

Six years later, Darius Goes West has become a movement — non-profit vehicle to raise money and awareness for the search for a DMD cure that now seems so tantalizingly close. Darius, who continues to defy the odds, recently turned 21 years old and the Darius Goes West crew continue to come up with innovative ways to spread their message and raise money using social media. From raising money through Facebook widgets to inspiring people to do crazy things in the name of charity, Darius Goes West is a must-follow cause for their innovation and unflappable humor.

What’s Your Take?

Which non-profits should we absolutely follow? Let us know your picks and recommendations in the comments below or nominate them for the Mashable Awards.

The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)/>

In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)/> Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT/> Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas/> Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations/> Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Mashable Awards Gala Partner:

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a global entertainment organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has over 5,000 employees, including more than 1,200 artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to nearly 100 million spectators in 300 cities on five continents. In 2010 Cirque du Soleil, will present 21 shows simultaneously throughout the world, including seven in Las Vegas.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

Mashable Awards Online Partner:

Have you ever wished for your own personal gourmet Chef?

The Fresh Diet is like having a Cordon Bleu chef prepare your meals in your own kitchen. There’s no cooking, cleaning, shopping – just fresh prepared delicious meals, hand delivered to your door daily! Whether you want to lose weight or just want to eat healthy, The Fresh Diet can help you meet your goals. The best news, we’re giving away a FREE week of The Fresh Diet every day on our Facebook page. Just click here to become a fan and you could be the next winner. Join now!

Mashable Awards Partner:

Join us at the 2011 International CES®, the global platform for inspired ideas and innovation. With 2,500 exhibitors, CES continues to be the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow and always reflects the dynamic consumer electronics industry. The International CES is not open to the general public and all attendees must be in the CE industry to be eligible to attend the show. Register FREE for the 2011 CES with priority code MSHB, an exclusive promotion for Mashable Readers.

Mashable Awards Category Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala Silver Sponsor:

Aro Mobile is an intelligent mobile experience that includes better email, connected contacts, smarter calendar and improved browsing.

The Aro system automatically learns what’s important in your life—the people, places, dates and organizations you care about most. In your communications, Aro automatically identifies people, places, events, dates,organizations and locations. From any recognized term, Aro offers quick action menus to speed up your day.

The unique Aro experience is powered by advanced web services: next generation natural language processing and semantic data analytics services. Aro gives you the power to see through the clutter and focus your mobile life.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala VIP Lounge sponsor:

Influxis specializes in the deployment of creative streaming solutions. Services include large scale deployment, mobile streaming, turn-key applications, and enterprise support with custom network options. With the unique combination of a worldwide network, knowledgeable developer support and nearly a decade of streaming media experience, Influxis is an essential partner to businesses, advertisers, developers, educators, and others who seek expertise in innovative streaming.

Mashable Awards After Party Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, snapperharmer

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

eric seiger

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With William Shatner and possibly Gwyneth Paltrow taking a stab at “F*** You,” Cee-Lo Green shows them how it's done.The musician appears on Comedy Central's...

eric seiger

Dr. Rado Kotorov is chief innovation officer at Information Builders, and is responsible for emerging reporting, analytic and visualization technologies. He has developed analytic models and applications for the pharmaceutical, retail, CPG, financial and automotive industries.

You’ve likely been experiencing a deluge of online information coming at you in recent years — an overwhelming number of status updates, e-mails, tagged images and so forth. You’ve probably also seen, and potentially been alarmed by, the growing accuracy of targeted advertisements — “People You May Know,” and other “offers” online.

As the quantity of irrelevant information has exploded online, so too has the market for the delivery of targeted offers and information. Social networks, in theory and in practice, expose many people to contact and influence. Without precise models, people will continue to be bombarded with ineffective offers and other irrelevant information. Predictive analytics, a branch of data mining concerned with predicting future probabilities and trends, applies a filter to users’ online interactions with the aim of delivering more value from a sea of irrelevance.

With increased value comes the potential for social networks to make money as well. Here’s a look at some specific ways in which predictive analytics will make social networks money.

Recruiting

Many recruiting sites out there on the web, from LinkedIn to SelectMinds to Monster, promise to be able to match candidates with job requirements in unique and increasingly accurate ways. Predictive analytics is at the core of their business model, as it automates the process of making these matches.

When a recruiter posts a job description, a predictive algorithm runs through candidates and calculates compatibility. The technology is, in many cases, embedded in search applications. The most accurate and efficient of these analytics will deliver the most value and see the greatest adoption over time. Those recruiting and talent acquisition sites that allow businesses to leverage the existing social networks of their current and former employees are the best positioned to monetize their users’ employment data in new ways. Businesses can get value from these existing networks without the time and resource commitment it takes to build their own.

Sentiment Analysis

As sites like Twitter and Facebook gain value to the business world, many companies have cropped up to analyze and establish what the sentiment is of the collective online intelligence and also to identify individuals with influence and authority. Companies including Klout, ViralHeat and Radian6 all scan blogs and other social media channels with predictive models to determine if the content surrounding a brand or person is negative, positive or neutral. As this information becomes increasingly valuable to businesses of all sizes, these sentiment analysis companies are expected to grow rapidly.

Market Fluctuation

Social media channels are open to everyone. Day traders, retail investors and analysts are cruising around on Twitter and Facebook. What these types of people say and do online is not insignificant in an era when [Flash Crashes and Fat Fingers] are being closely scrutinized and regulated. New models are cropping up to predict stock fluctuations based on Twitter posts. Similar to sentiment analysis, these companies are able to look at the total number of tweets, as well as positive and negative comments to predict whether a stock price will go up or down. These types of companies will become a hot commodity as investors begin to rely on the wisdom of crowds.

Recommendation Engines

No one likes to be bombarded with irrelevant offers and content while using their favorite social network. But the more active you are online, the more effectively predictive analytics can work to deliver targeted and relevant offers.

Sometimes it feels like Facebook knows you better than you know yourself. RSVPed “Yes” to that big gala? You may see a discount offer for Saks. [Are you a woman between the ages of 18 and 34? A Facebook ad may tell you how you can lose those extra inches around your waist.] These offers are no longer random and are therefore increasingly effective. Leveraging the existing data from your previous activity to predict what will happen in the future is becoming, rightly, more prevalent and valuable to social networks that can sell this promise to businesses and intermediaries.

Location-Based Marketing

Do you walk down the same street at dinner time every day? Wish restaurants on that street would compete in real-time for your business?

As social networks add in more location-aware features like Facebook Places and whole new businesses are built on the promise of geo-location including SCVNGR and ShopKick, predictive analytics deliver insights into where groups and individuals will be and when, not to mention what their interests may be. For businesses, there is big money to be spent on location-based advertising in the coming years. As a result, social networks can run their existing location data through predictive models to provide companies with future insights into where to allocate their marketing and advertising budgets for the biggest returns.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- How Companies Can Use Sentiment Analysis to Improve Their Business/> - HOW TO: Earn Some Inexpensive Online Exposure for Your Small Business/> - HOW TO: Accept Credit Card Payments on Mobile Devices/> - 6 Tips on Starting a Digital Business from the Founder of Pandora/> - 5 Big Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners

Images courtesy of iStockphoto, Nikada, AUDINDesign

For more Business coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Businessclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Business channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

As part of the ongoing Mashable Awards, we’re taking a closer look at each of the nomination categories. This is “Must-Follow Non-Profit.” Be sure to nominate your favorites and join us for the Gala in Las Vegas! Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

When it comes to social good, the name of the game is creating or inspiring change, and often with limited resources. That’s why social media is so important for non-profit organizations. By allowing organizations to reach more people with less money, social media has become an integral part of the non-profit toolbox.

Groups are using social media a variety of ways, from raising money to engaging with constituents on personal and meaningful levels. The most important thing social media offers for non-profits, though, is a highly effective channel to spread awareness about their cause. “Having 10 million people is more important than $10 million,” Change.org founder and CEO Ben Rattray told Mashable recently. “For advocacy you need to mobilize people, and the web helps you mobilize people like never before.”

There are any number of worthy non-profit organizations utilizing social media in new and interesting ways; below are five that caught our eye this year as must-follow groups. Please share in the comments any other non-profits you think deserve a follow and nominate them for a Mashable Award.

1. Brooklyn Museum

More than just a great art museum, the Brooklyn Museum is one of the most social media-savvy organizations on the planet. From a mobile website that lets visitors tag items in the gallery (which, in turn, helps to organize the museum’s vast, 94,000-record online collection) to a Foursquareclass="blippr-nobr">Foursquare account that offers tips for things to do in the neighborhood and rewards mayors with special parties and other offers, the Brooklyn Museum is hip to the latest social media trends.

What’s really great about the museum, which can also be found on Tumblrclass="blippr-nobr">Tumblr, Flickrclass="blippr-nobr">Flickr, Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook, YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, and Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter, is that the staff is not afraid to innovate and try new things. They’re constantly testing out new social platforms and innovating new ways to use their current social media accounts. They even share the code behind some of their best ideas on GitHub!

2. Sesame Street Workshop

Sesame Street Workshop is the non-profit organization behind the beloved children’s classic television series Sesame Street, among others. And despite being 41 years old, these cats — er, Muppets — really know social media.

You can find your favorite Sesame Street residents on Twitter and Facebook (characters like Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar have their own class='blippr-nobr'>Pagesclass="blippr-nobr">pages). Where the Workshop really excels, however, is YouTube. Sesame Street Workshop has made its biggest social media splash on YouTube, with exclusive content that often features celebrity guests and frequent parodies of other digital media memes, such as the Google search stories or the Old Spice Guy, that prove the people behind Sesame Street know their stuff.

3. WildlifeDirect

Founded in 2006 by noted African conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect aims to save endangered animals in Africa. The organization helps local conservation groups around Africa raise funds, awareness and support for their conservation projects.

WildlifeDirect can be found on many of the usual social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, but where it really shines is blogging. The organization has set up an active blog network of more than 100 field blogs penned by conservation groups across Africa. The blogs are one of the main drivers of donations to the conservation work that the organization supports, but they also offer a fascinating look into the struggle to save endangered species in some of the most diverse and threatened areas on Earth.

4. Kids Are Heroes

Founded in 2008 by Gabe O’Neill and his then 9-year-old daughter, MaryMargaret, Kids Are Heroes is a non-profit group that has the admirable goal of inspiring children to get involved in the act of giving back. The website offers profiles of more than 100 kids who have at a young age (some as young as 5-years-old!) had a meaningful impact on their communities and the world — whether by training diabetic service dogs, donating books to low-income families, or raising millions of dollars for out-of-work war veterans. The organization’s message is loud and clear: Kids can make a difference.

Along with the inspiring stories, the Kids Are Heroes website allows children to send “shout outs” to one another, and the group maintains active and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts.

5. Darius Goes West

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project is a force to be reckoned with. Afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) — a genetic degenerative muscular disease that killed his older brother — Darius and 11 of his friends set out six years ago to travel across America with the ultimate goal of getting Darius’ wheelchair customized on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. The group filmed that trip and turned it into the much-celebrated documentary film, Darius Goes West.

Six years later, Darius Goes West has become a movement — non-profit vehicle to raise money and awareness for the search for a DMD cure that now seems so tantalizingly close. Darius, who continues to defy the odds, recently turned 21 years old and the Darius Goes West crew continue to come up with innovative ways to spread their message and raise money using social media. From raising money through Facebook widgets to inspiring people to do crazy things in the name of charity, Darius Goes West is a must-follow cause for their innovation and unflappable humor.

What’s Your Take?

Which non-profits should we absolutely follow? Let us know your picks and recommendations in the comments below or nominate them for the Mashable Awards.

The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)/>

In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)/> Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT/> Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas/> Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations/> Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

Thanks to our sponsors:

Mashable Awards Gala Partner:

From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a global entertainment organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has over 5,000 employees, including more than 1,200 artists from close to 50 different countries.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to nearly 100 million spectators in 300 cities on five continents. In 2010 Cirque du Soleil, will present 21 shows simultaneously throughout the world, including seven in Las Vegas.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

Mashable Awards Online Partner:

Have you ever wished for your own personal gourmet Chef?

The Fresh Diet is like having a Cordon Bleu chef prepare your meals in your own kitchen. There’s no cooking, cleaning, shopping – just fresh prepared delicious meals, hand delivered to your door daily! Whether you want to lose weight or just want to eat healthy, The Fresh Diet can help you meet your goals. The best news, we’re giving away a FREE week of The Fresh Diet every day on our Facebook page. Just click here to become a fan and you could be the next winner. Join now!

Mashable Awards Partner:

Join us at the 2011 International CES®, the global platform for inspired ideas and innovation. With 2,500 exhibitors, CES continues to be the world’s largest consumer technology tradeshow and always reflects the dynamic consumer electronics industry. The International CES is not open to the general public and all attendees must be in the CE industry to be eligible to attend the show. Register FREE for the 2011 CES with priority code MSHB, an exclusive promotion for Mashable Readers.

Mashable Awards Category Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala Silver Sponsor:

Aro Mobile is an intelligent mobile experience that includes better email, connected contacts, smarter calendar and improved browsing.

The Aro system automatically learns what’s important in your life—the people, places, dates and organizations you care about most. In your communications, Aro automatically identifies people, places, events, dates,organizations and locations. From any recognized term, Aro offers quick action menus to speed up your day.

The unique Aro experience is powered by advanced web services: next generation natural language processing and semantic data analytics services. Aro gives you the power to see through the clutter and focus your mobile life.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Mashable Awards Gala VIP Lounge sponsor:

Influxis specializes in the deployment of creative streaming solutions. Services include large scale deployment, mobile streaming, turn-key applications, and enterprise support with custom network options. With the unique combination of a worldwide network, knowledgeable developer support and nearly a decade of streaming media experience, Influxis is an essential partner to businesses, advertisers, developers, educators, and others who seek expertise in innovative streaming.

Mashable Awards After Party Sponsor:

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, snapperharmer

For more Social Good coverage:

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Dr. Rado Kotorov is chief innovation officer at Information Builders, and is responsible for emerging reporting, analytic and visualization technologies. He has developed analytic models and applications for the pharmaceutical, retail, CPG, financial and automotive industries.

You’ve likely been experiencing a deluge of online information coming at you in recent years — an overwhelming number of status updates, e-mails, tagged images and so forth. You’ve probably also seen, and potentially been alarmed by, the growing accuracy of targeted advertisements — “People You May Know,” and other “offers” online.

As the quantity of irrelevant information has exploded online, so too has the market for the delivery of targeted offers and information. Social networks, in theory and in practice, expose many people to contact and influence. Without precise models, people will continue to be bombarded with ineffective offers and other irrelevant information. Predictive analytics, a branch of data mining concerned with predicting future probabilities and trends, applies a filter to users’ online interactions with the aim of delivering more value from a sea of irrelevance.

With increased value comes the potential for social networks to make money as well. Here’s a look at some specific ways in which predictive analytics will make social networks money.

Recruiting

Many recruiting sites out there on the web, from LinkedIn to SelectMinds to Monster, promise to be able to match candidates with job requirements in unique and increasingly accurate ways. Predictive analytics is at the core of their business model, as it automates the process of making these matches.

When a recruiter posts a job description, a predictive algorithm runs through candidates and calculates compatibility. The technology is, in many cases, embedded in search applications. The most accurate and efficient of these analytics will deliver the most value and see the greatest adoption over time. Those recruiting and talent acquisition sites that allow businesses to leverage the existing social networks of their current and former employees are the best positioned to monetize their users’ employment data in new ways. Businesses can get value from these existing networks without the time and resource commitment it takes to build their own.

Sentiment Analysis

As sites like Twitter and Facebook gain value to the business world, many companies have cropped up to analyze and establish what the sentiment is of the collective online intelligence and also to identify individuals with influence and authority. Companies including Klout, ViralHeat and Radian6 all scan blogs and other social media channels with predictive models to determine if the content surrounding a brand or person is negative, positive or neutral. As this information becomes increasingly valuable to businesses of all sizes, these sentiment analysis companies are expected to grow rapidly.

Market Fluctuation

Social media channels are open to everyone. Day traders, retail investors and analysts are cruising around on Twitter and Facebook. What these types of people say and do online is not insignificant in an era when [Flash Crashes and Fat Fingers] are being closely scrutinized and regulated. New models are cropping up to predict stock fluctuations based on Twitter posts. Similar to sentiment analysis, these companies are able to look at the total number of tweets, as well as positive and negative comments to predict whether a stock price will go up or down. These types of companies will become a hot commodity as investors begin to rely on the wisdom of crowds.

Recommendation Engines

No one likes to be bombarded with irrelevant offers and content while using their favorite social network. But the more active you are online, the more effectively predictive analytics can work to deliver targeted and relevant offers.

Sometimes it feels like Facebook knows you better than you know yourself. RSVPed “Yes” to that big gala? You may see a discount offer for Saks. [Are you a woman between the ages of 18 and 34? A Facebook ad may tell you how you can lose those extra inches around your waist.] These offers are no longer random and are therefore increasingly effective. Leveraging the existing data from your previous activity to predict what will happen in the future is becoming, rightly, more prevalent and valuable to social networks that can sell this promise to businesses and intermediaries.

Location-Based Marketing

Do you walk down the same street at dinner time every day? Wish restaurants on that street would compete in real-time for your business?

As social networks add in more location-aware features like Facebook Places and whole new businesses are built on the promise of geo-location including SCVNGR and ShopKick, predictive analytics deliver insights into where groups and individuals will be and when, not to mention what their interests may be. For businesses, there is big money to be spent on location-based advertising in the coming years. As a result, social networks can run their existing location data through predictive models to provide companies with future insights into where to allocate their marketing and advertising budgets for the biggest returns.

More Business Resources from Mashable:

- How Companies Can Use Sentiment Analysis to Improve Their Business/> - HOW TO: Earn Some Inexpensive Online Exposure for Your Small Business/> - HOW TO: Accept Credit Card Payments on Mobile Devices/> - 6 Tips on Starting a Digital Business from the Founder of Pandora/> - 5 Big Social Media Questions from Small Business Owners

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As part of the ongoing Mashable Awards, we’re taking a closer look at each of the nomination categories. This is “Must-Follow Non-Profit.” Be sure to nominate your favorites and join us for the Gala in Las Vegas! Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

When it comes to social good, the name of the game is creating or inspiring change, and often with limited resources. That’s why social media is so important for non-profit organizations. By allowing organizations to reach more people with less money, social media has become an integral part of the non-profit toolbox.

Groups are using social media a variety of ways, from raising money to engaging with constituents on personal and meaningful levels. The most important thing social media offers for non-profits, though, is a highly effective channel to spread awareness about their cause. “Having 10 million people is more important than $10 million,” Change.org founder and CEO Ben Rattray told Mashable recently. “For advocacy you need to mobilize people, and the web helps you mobilize people like never before.”

There are any number of worthy non-profit organizations utilizing social media in new and interesting ways; below are five that caught our eye this year as must-follow groups. Please share in the comments any other non-profits you think deserve a follow and nominate them for a Mashable Award.

1. Brooklyn Museum

More than just a great art museum, the Brooklyn Museum is one of the most social media-savvy organizations on the planet. From a mobile website that lets visitors tag items in the gallery (which, in turn, helps to organize the museum’s vast, 94,000-record online collection) to a Foursquareclass="blippr-nobr">Foursquare account that offers tips for things to do in the neighborhood and rewards mayors with special parties and other offers, the Brooklyn Museum is hip to the latest social media trends.

What’s really great about the museum, which can also be found on Tumblrclass="blippr-nobr">Tumblr, Flickrclass="blippr-nobr">Flickr, Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook, YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, and Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter, is that the staff is not afraid to innovate and try new things. They’re constantly testing out new social platforms and innovating new ways to use their current social media accounts. They even share the code behind some of their best ideas on GitHub!

2. Sesame Street Workshop

Sesame Street Workshop is the non-profit organization behind the beloved children’s classic television series Sesame Street, among others. And despite being 41 years old, these cats — er, Muppets — really know social media.

You can find your favorite Sesame Street residents on Twitter and Facebook (characters like Elmo, Big Bird and Oscar have their own class='blippr-nobr'>Pagesclass="blippr-nobr">pages). Where the Workshop really excels, however, is YouTube. Sesame Street Workshop has made its biggest social media splash on YouTube, with exclusive content that often features celebrity guests and frequent parodies of other digital media memes, such as the Google search stories or the Old Spice Guy, that prove the people behind Sesame Street know their stuff.

3. WildlifeDirect

Founded in 2006 by noted African conservationist Dr. Richard Leakey, WildlifeDirect aims to save endangered animals in Africa. The organization helps local conservation groups around Africa raise funds, awareness and support for their conservation projects.

WildlifeDirect can be found on many of the usual social media networks, such as Twitter and Facebook, but where it really shines is blogging. The organization has set up an active blog network of more than 100 field blogs penned by conservation groups across Africa. The blogs are one of the main drivers of donations to the conservation work that the organization supports, but they also offer a fascinating look into the struggle to save endangered species in some of the most diverse and threatened areas on Earth.

4. Kids Are Heroes

Founded in 2008 by Gabe O’Neill and his then 9-year-old daughter, MaryMargaret, Kids Are Heroes is a non-profit group that has the admirable goal of inspiring children to get involved in the act of giving back. The website offers profiles of more than 100 kids who have at a young age (some as young as 5-years-old!) had a meaningful impact on their communities and the world — whether by training diabetic service dogs, donating books to low-income families, or raising millions of dollars for out-of-work war veterans. The organization’s message is loud and clear: Kids can make a difference.

Along with the inspiring stories, the Kids Are Heroes website allows children to send “shout outs” to one another, and the group maintains active and engaging Twitter and Facebook accounts.

5. Darius Goes West

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project is a force to be reckoned with. Afflicted with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) — a genetic degenerative muscular disease that killed his older brother — Darius and 11 of his friends set out six years ago to travel across America with the ultimate goal of getting Darius’ wheelchair customized on MTV’s Pimp My Ride. The group filmed that trip and turned it into the much-celebrated documentary film, Darius Goes West.

Six years later, Darius Goes West has become a movement — non-profit vehicle to raise money and awareness for the search for a DMD cure that now seems so tantalizingly close. Darius, who continues to defy the odds, recently turned 21 years old and the Darius Goes West crew continue to come up with innovative ways to spread their message and raise money using social media. From raising money through Facebook widgets to inspiring people to do crazy things in the name of charity, Darius Goes West is a must-follow cause for their innovation and unflappable humor.

What’s Your Take?

Which non-profits should we absolutely follow? Let us know your picks and recommendations in the comments below or nominate them for the Mashable Awards.

The Mashable Awards Gala at Cirque du Soleil Zumanity (Vegas)/>

In partnership with Cirque du Soleil, The Mashable Awards Gala event will bring together the winners and nominees, the class='blippr-nobr'>Mashableclass="blippr-nobr">Mashable community, partners, media, the marketing community, consumer electronics and technology brands and attendees from the 2011 International CES Convention to Las Vegas on Thursday, January 6, 2011. Together, we will celebrate the winners and the community of the Mashable Awards at the Cirque du Soleil Zumanity stage in the beautiful New York New York Hotel. The event will include acts and performances from our partner Cirque du Soleil Zumanity. In addition, there will be special guest presenters and appearances.

Date: Thursday, January 6th, 2011 (during International CES Convention week)/> Time: 7:00 – 10:00 pm PT/> Location: Cirque du Soleil Zumanity, New York New York Hotel, Las Vegas/> Agenda: Networking, Open Bars, Acts, Surprises and the Mashable Awards Gala presentations/> Socialize: Facebook, Foursquare, Meetup, Plancast, Twitter (Hashtag: #MashableAwards)

Sponsorships are available. Please contact sponsorships@mashable.com for more information.

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Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to nearly 100 million spectators in 300 cities on five continents. In 2010 Cirque du Soleil, will present 21 shows simultaneously throughout the world, including seven in Las Vegas.

For more information about Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com

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About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

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The Aro system automatically learns what’s important in your life—the people, places, dates and organizations you care about most. In your communications, Aro automatically identifies people, places, events, dates,organizations and locations. From any recognized term, Aro offers quick action menus to speed up your day.

The unique Aro experience is powered by advanced web services: next generation natural language processing and semantic data analytics services. Aro gives you the power to see through the clutter and focus your mobile life.

About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

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About Research In Motion (RIM)

Research In Motion is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative wireless solutions for the worldwide mobile communications market. Through the development of integrated hardware, software and services that support multiple wireless network standards, RIM provides platforms and solutions for seamless access to time-sensitive information including email, phone, SMS messaging, Internet and intranet-based applications including the BlackBerry® wireless platform. For the latest on BlackBerry products join us at www.facebook.com/BlackBerry.

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Internet business owners beware. There are a lot of bad ideas for making money online. In fact those just starting out should take care not to fall into these traps when it comes to making money online.

With all of the internet business scams and internet marketing sales hype afloat don't risk discouragement and failure due to poor advice and marketing pitfalls. Instead steer clear of the bad ideas and take note of the following:

Bad Idea #1 - Don't Build a Business Around Products that People Can Get for Free.

There are lots of products that people can get for free so selling those types of products online may prove to be less than fruitful.

For example, you may choose an ebook, guide or course to sell or promote online, but if others are giving it away for free or for less money you won't be making many sales.

Also, certain items like moving boxes or yearly calendars are both examples of items that people sometimes pay for but often get for free.

When thinking about products to sell or promote be sure to consider how profitable those products are by first determining if they are things people are, more often that not, willing to pay for.

Bad Idea #2 - Don't build your Business around Niche Products where there is No Demand.

In order to get the most out of your time and effort, spend some time performing keyword research. It will help you tremendously for knowing exactly what people actually look for online.

There is nothing more disheartening and frustrating than spending hours creating a product that produces little to no interest from the internet community. First find out what people look for online, and where they are spending their money.

Bad Idea #3 - Don't Create an eCommerce Website around Only One Product

To begin making money online and growing a successful ecommerce business it's important that you incorporate more than one product into your business plan. For example, what happens if people land on your website and aren't interested in your one and only bird feeder? On the other hand what if the product you are selling or promoting all of a sudden is no longer available or your supplier discontinues the item?

Provide your visitors with related choices and alternatives when selling items and goods. You will have a much better chance for making not only more sales but saving yourself from disaster.

Bad Idea #4 - Never Sell or promote products you have not personally used or know nothing about.

Part of building an online business is gaining the trust of your visitors. If you are starting out as an affiliate marketer promoting other people's products for example, it can be a big mistake to try and persuade others to buy a product or service that you personally know nothing about. Even though it's been done by many a marketer, the best approach is promote with honesty and personal experience.

The most successful marketers are those that build trust and generate visitor confidence. You can do this by promoting only products that either you create yourself or can endorse through personal use. This is also how you build trust and lasting relationships with your visitors which is ultimately the best strategy.

Building a well researched, legitimate online business is the best way for making money online, but it starts by taking the time to research your market, find quality products and build a relationship with your visitors. It just makes good business sense.


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why internet marketing

Imagine a world in which a convocation of observers made your every decision — from what you eat to what job you hold to who you date. Well, there’s a cadre of people out there who are currently living in such a state, and they’re not players in some lost Orwellian drama. No, they’re members of a burgeoning social media trend: Crowd sourcing your life.

Over the past few months, several projects have emerged that play upon the theme of relinquishing control of one’s life as a form of entertainment: From amateur productions to professionally produced web shows. Each is fascinating in its own right — an intimate glimpse into someone’s life that you as a viewer can actively participate in.

Living in the public eye is nothing new when it comes to web trends. Folks like Justin Kan — of Justin.tvclass="blippr-nobr">Justin.tv — have been launching projects like this for several years, and reality shows have carved out a sizable niche in the realm of TV programming.

Still, the added element of strapping on the puppet strings and turning over one’s life to the masses makes this trend different from the Jennie Cams of old.

So why the proliferation of projects that tap into the ethos of the masses in order to create entertainment? “We are naturally inclined to like the idea of living someone else’s life or controlling someone else’s life or physically being inside of someone else’s body,” says Jamie Wilkinson of Know Your Meme. “That even goes back to the spookiness of ventriloquism. That theme of control and possession is a really common storytelling trope that touches on human nature.”

Also, the accessibility of the necessary technology has aided in the spread of average people becoming “class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet famous.” Still, novelty is always an issue when you’re aiming to cut through the clutter and emerge as a legitimate addition to the viral firmament.

“Things like that are interesting only when they’re unique,” says Justin Kan. “It’s becoming a lot easier to produce this content. For us, we had to produce this 25-pound broadcasting device [to film Justin.tv]. Now we’re releasing an app that will broadcast from your iPhoneclass="blippr-nobr">iPhone or Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android. Now more people are able to do this. I think there’s going to be a trend of more people creating video mobiley, on the go.”

We’ve taken a look at four instances of crowd sourcing one’s life — all of which launched around the same time, but include their own set of hardships and rewards. We’ve included glimpses into each project below, demonstrating the stresses and oddities inherent in handing over the reins to the world wide web.

1. David on Demand

David on Demand launched back in June, when David Perez put his life in the hands of his Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter followers in order to snag the chance to attend the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. Perez works for the ad agency Leo Burnett, who promised to send him to the fest if he undertook said task.

The 29-year-old recruiter agreed to don a pair of glasses complete with webcam, and follow the commands of his Twitter follows via @davidondemand for a full six days, during which he posted video of the proceedings to his website.

The most challenging task? “Have you seen my tattoo? That was a trying challenge,” Perez says. The recruiter got a tat of the Twitter Fail Whale at the behest of his followers. “In all seriousness though, there were more than 3.5 million Tweets coming in through @davidondemand, so it was challenging to keep up. I ended up completing about 20,000 requests. I also drank enough pink wine to kill a small horse.”

Despite the permanent reminder of the whole experiment now scorched into his arm (see the video above), Perez found the experience to be less trying and more eye-opening: “The Internet –- as I affectionately call all the people following the project –- surprisingly treated me wonderfully,” he says. “I went into this guided by the assumption that they would be my tormentors. Quite the opposite. They tweeted me water, a massage, naps, food and a chance to visit the seminars — which was why I was in Cannes…. I am continually floored at how the Internet personified itself. It’s amazing to me that something so deceptively cold could turn itself into a very real and human thing.”

Of course, the whole project was not just about personal discovery — it also served as a form of advertising for Perez’s company (he completed tasks during the conference itself). The idea of hitching one’s wagon to a viral trend is becoming more and more commonplace these days (see: The Old Spice Guy, etc), and Perez sees real promise in such endeavors.

“Crowd sourcing programs like David on Demand are effective for brands because they let people actually interact with brands,” he says. “People are starting to demand more spontaneous, real-time relationships with brands and these types of projects do just that. I think the world also likes being ‘talked to’ and not ‘talked at.’”

2. Dan 3.0

Dan Brown has achieved a goal that many can only dream of: He has leveraged his YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube presence into a career. Brown first hit the video-sharing scene back in 2007 when he posted a tutorial to YouTube that showed viewers how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. “That won the 2007 YouTube Award for best instructional video; I was 17 years old at the time,” says Brown. “I decided to try to turn video blogging into a career after that and I guess it’s worked.”

This past August, Brown partnered with Internet television network Revision3 to launch a new web show called Dan 3.0, during which the 20-year-old (yup, he’s only 20) plans to record a daily log of his life for one year, the path of which will be left up to the whims of his followers. Revision3 fashioned a “decision engine” for the project, which allows viewers to submit tasks for Brown to execute.

So where did this idea come from? Back in January, Brown found himself in a kind of limbo when it came to novel vlogging ideas. It was 2 a.m. and he was in his customary blogger’s uniform — half-naked in a Snuggie — when he came upon a documentary called Us Now, which detailed the state of the Internet, looked to its future, and the collaborative nature of the online space.

Struck by this concept, Brown decided to follow suit, launching a web show where he would take suggestions from viewers on how to live his life. “The more control you can give to communities, the better,” he said, explaining the prudence behind letting a gaggle of strangers run the show.

Brown didn’t have that many rules in place when it came to what he was willing to do. “There are a few hard and fast rules,” he says. “1). Can’t change my girlfriend, 2). I’m not going to change my family, 3). They can’t change where I live permanently. 4). I’m not going to break any laws, 5). I’m not going to do anything that has a significant impact on others. We decided that I have veto power, but the agreement is, obviously, if I veto something that the viewers don’t think should be vetoed, I lose credibility.”

“We wanted to show the viewers that I am committed to this,” he says. “It’s not just a fleeting thing. It’s not just a cute little idea. I really am seriously excited about this and it’s a project that I consider to be deeply personal.”

Since the project launched this summer, Brown has hit a few bumps in the road. At one point, he disappeared for a stretch of time, which raised concern and ire among his followers (see above), and he doesn’t exactly update daily. Still, he’s been faithfully documenting of late and has even scored advertisers like Netflix and GoDaddy.

The videos that Brown has been creating, though rather lengthy in web terms, have been captivating. Yes, there’s a hefty amount of complaining and angst in the first few videos but Brown ultimately manages to present a unique coming-of-age narrative — moving into his own place, visiting his girlfriend and muddling through the (perhaps overly ambitious) project that he has locked himself into for an entire year.

Brown doesn’t hide the fact that creating a daily web show is a huge undertaking and that a less-than-polished aesthetic makes the show worth watching. It’s more honest than your average reality show.

3. Dating Brian

We introduced the world to Brian Moore back in July by making fun of his pants. The 23-year-old had just launched a video announcing his intent to date 30 girls in 30 days, all chosen by Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook.

“Even negative press is good press. [My capris] became like a talking point for the project,” Brian told me, after I apologized for the ill-fated crack once the project had wrapped. “It became one of the main talking points, and my interns and I laughed about it constantly. There were drawings made of it in the office. Some guy drew a mood chart between sad to happy, and it would show different stages of how far up my pants would be rolled. Sad would be all the way down.”

His pants weren’t the only thing that went viral; the concept of a month of crowd sourced dating spread across the web post haste — which was a good thing for Moore, considering it was part of a project to be completed during his internship at ad agency BBH. The goal of the project? Make something — anything — famous. Needless to say, Moore and his cohorts succeeded.

Still, it wasn’t all about fame for Moore. “I had been in a long relationship that had ended about just over a year ago now,” he says. “So I was single, I had just come to New York. So I thought, why not do something crazy like that?”

“It started as a joke,” he says. “I was with a couple of friends, a couple of my fellow interns, over brunch one day, and I think I actually tweeted it: ‘What if I crowd sourced my dating life?’ Like reality show meets Web 2.0, meets dating, meets performance art, meets me.”

Although Moore — like Brown — got sidetracked a few times during the experiment (he didn’t manage to make a video for every date), he was successful in the end. Still, it was taxing to go on dates, hold down his internship and create videos of every single one of his outings. “If you’re going to be doing something almost reality show-like, and there are people’s integrities on the line, get somebody in between you and that person,” Moore recommends for would-be life bloggers.

“I did everything. I did all the video. I did all the web — the design of everything,” he says. “If it’s going to be something so personal like that, get someone in between that. Because I don’t want to say anything bad about any of my dates or anything like that. You might need to be a bigger a**hole than me to make it more interesting, to keep the drama going — because I just don’t like drama too much.”

And that’s the element that made this experiment so genuine: It could have been a hell of a lot bigger. Moore was even approached by VH1 and MTV, but he preferred to keep the project going on his own terms. “I wanted to keep it as real as possible,” he says. “Because, sure, it’s online, I’m in this internship and everything like that, but behind it all, I’m actually myself. I mean, I wasn’t being anyone different than who I am. Because I know how reality shows are — I wanted to distance myself as far from that personally and the project as a whole as I possibly could.”

Although Moore didn’t actually find love during this endeavor, he did take a lot away from the experience. “The first question that people ask me is: What was the worst date? But there really wasn’t one,” he says. “I got to see all these different parts of New York that I had never seen before and meet a lot of interesting people.”

Moore would even do the whole thing all over again — for someone else, that is. If you’re looking to have a slew of digital matchmakers at your beck and call, hit Moore up.

4. ControlTV

If you’re still hungering for some crowd sourced action, you’re in luck — there’s currently a professionally made web show on the scene in which a hapless 20-something has relinquished his life to you, the viewers.

The show, which launched on October 6 and will run for six weeks, follows Tristan on his quest for self-improvement… at the hands of the voting public. Tristan’s life is live streamed 24/7 on the ControlTV website and then edited into 3-minute webisodes, which run on the site and across co-producer DBG’s content network of 2,600+ sites. Viewers can sign up to be informed of polls that will sway Tristan’s life, and have the opportunity to vote throughout the day on his decisions.

Before the show was even cast, we chatted with executive producer Seth Green about the goal of this project. “This is not Aldous Huxley, this is not Animal Farm. This is a lighthearted premise and we are trusting the audience not to tread dark,” he told us. “It’s comedic, but we want to offer people the opportunity to help this guy improve his life. Find a job, find a girlfriend, figure out who he is in the world and we’re looking for people to offer their opinions and help him.”

So far, episodes have centered around finding a personal trainer, a girlfriend (via class='blippr-nobr'>Skypeclass="blippr-nobr">Skype conversations with various girls) and a profession (perhaps something in the music business). Tristan, like Dan et al., certainly has his moments of anguish, but the show mostly presents the whole thing as a positive experience. Still, it is a much slicker production — what with the blatant product placements for Snickers and Ford. (Tristan eats a Snickers after every workout, like some kind of highly caloric granola bar.)

The fact that there’s actually a super polished EdTv-esque show out there only contributes to the idea that projects of this nature are gaining traction. “It’s relevant in this moment in time because we as a culture have become judge, jury and executioner of our fellow man in a really interesting way,” says Green. “If you look at the way pop culture has extended and the way the tabloid culture has been life, people are very interested in the public and private comings and goings of any celebrities and they take on a collective point of view… There’s an interest in making someone do what you want and holding them accountable for what the public feels are the moral standards. So this kind of concept is really relevant in my opinion — in that sense, people are very interested in having some control over another person. Having their opinion be rewarded. Having their perspective and their insight being the law, in a way.”

“We’re just really excited to see what happens,” he says. “This is one of those moments where you stand on the precipice and you hope for the best, but we really just don’t know. And that’s kind of what’s so exciting about it. We have no idea how the audience is going to react to this guy. We have no idea how much they’re actively going to take an interest in making his life better. And we have no idea — within reason, because we’ll have some degree of control of how much this guy is tortured or not — we just don’t know what he’s going to take away from this experience and neither does the guy. And that to me is really exciting.”

More Web Video Resources from Mashable:

- 3 Things Any Video Needs to Go Viral/> - 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010/> - 10 Killer Tips for Creating a Branded YouTube Channel/> - 5 Indie Films that Couldn’t Be Made Without Social Media/> - 10 Incredibly Inspirational Moments on YouTube

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, nataq

For more Web Video coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Web Videoclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Web Video channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry?

For example you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, SuperMedia, Yellow Book, and of course AT&T.  If you add Internet advertising that includes but not limited to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp and Citysearch many others, you have to start wondering how all these websites can attract a finite number of businesses and visitors to use their website.  The other more significant question is how a business will manage their local business listing at all the local listing websites?

History of Local Business Listings

As a business, if you have not kept up with the evolution of local business listings you will need a quick primer to know where things started and where things are today.

The origins go back to the early 1990s when search engines had directories listing businesses by categories in addition to their basic search results.  These basic business listings gave way to business directories giving the business the opportunity to add more information to their business.  Of course, while this evolution was taking place so did having the yellow pages on the web.  Business directories then gave way to the idea of rating a business with companies like Angie’s List, Merchant Circle and Yelp in social communities.  In 2007 business listings began showing up in search engines and consumer reviews were already showing up in these local business listings.

So, in summary, a local business listing is a combination of yellow pages information, business description, business marketing information, consumer ratings and consumer reviews.

Local Business Listings as Interactive Yellow Pages

Calling these listings a business directory does not do them justice considering all the content that is available.  Not only is this about getting your business marketing information into these listings, but they also become mini-websites for your business and more importantly allow consumers to quantitatively rate and subjectively provide commentary about their experience with the business, products and services.

Local business listing websites that are social communities allow customers and consumers to collaborate.  We are distinguishing between customers being B2B and consumers being B2C.  We will discuss B2B customer comments in a future article.

Live social communities that provide location based services like Four Square, Twitter and Facebook create instantaneous feedback to friends, family and followers alike. This collaboration not only allows for ratings and comments, but the information is posted permanently.  This will require a business to ask satisfied customers to post commentary and manage those postings that are negative…..at multiple local listing websites.

Manage Your Local Business Listings Everywhere!

Unlike the traditional yellow pages where business information was located in a single source, the Internet lets business information be found everywhere. With so many sources, it becomes imperative for a business to stay on top of its information, description, marketing materials and consumer reviews at various local listing websites.

If you wonder why, the answer is simple.  Your business information shows up in search engine results, mobile search results and is available to mobile application developers for mobile apps.  Since you don’t know what source your local customers or mobile application developers are using, you need a way to manage many sources simultaneously.

Select a Company to Help

Whether we are talking about website local optimization, local business listings, mobile marketing or geo-social marketing, a business needs proper support to succeed in this new era of local business marketing.  You need a partner with experience and expertise in multiple digital marketing fields and can adapt to the progression of new technologies that will become available over the next few years.

Some key elements for a company to provide local business listing marketing services include:

• Claim your local listing at multiple local listing websites


• Providing both data and marketing services


• Update your basic business data information monthly


• Update and manage your business marketing information that include photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, and events monthly


• Consumer review monitoring and management monthly


• Analytics review of local business listings analytics and the appropriate changes to your local business listings monthly


• Expertise in Mapping Technologies and GPS

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

Imagine a world in which a convocation of observers made your every decision — from what you eat to what job you hold to who you date. Well, there’s a cadre of people out there who are currently living in such a state, and they’re not players in some lost Orwellian drama. No, they’re members of a burgeoning social media trend: Crowd sourcing your life.

Over the past few months, several projects have emerged that play upon the theme of relinquishing control of one’s life as a form of entertainment: From amateur productions to professionally produced web shows. Each is fascinating in its own right — an intimate glimpse into someone’s life that you as a viewer can actively participate in.

Living in the public eye is nothing new when it comes to web trends. Folks like Justin Kan — of Justin.tvclass="blippr-nobr">Justin.tv — have been launching projects like this for several years, and reality shows have carved out a sizable niche in the realm of TV programming.

Still, the added element of strapping on the puppet strings and turning over one’s life to the masses makes this trend different from the Jennie Cams of old.

So why the proliferation of projects that tap into the ethos of the masses in order to create entertainment? “We are naturally inclined to like the idea of living someone else’s life or controlling someone else’s life or physically being inside of someone else’s body,” says Jamie Wilkinson of Know Your Meme. “That even goes back to the spookiness of ventriloquism. That theme of control and possession is a really common storytelling trope that touches on human nature.”

Also, the accessibility of the necessary technology has aided in the spread of average people becoming “class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet famous.” Still, novelty is always an issue when you’re aiming to cut through the clutter and emerge as a legitimate addition to the viral firmament.

“Things like that are interesting only when they’re unique,” says Justin Kan. “It’s becoming a lot easier to produce this content. For us, we had to produce this 25-pound broadcasting device [to film Justin.tv]. Now we’re releasing an app that will broadcast from your iPhoneclass="blippr-nobr">iPhone or Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android. Now more people are able to do this. I think there’s going to be a trend of more people creating video mobiley, on the go.”

We’ve taken a look at four instances of crowd sourcing one’s life — all of which launched around the same time, but include their own set of hardships and rewards. We’ve included glimpses into each project below, demonstrating the stresses and oddities inherent in handing over the reins to the world wide web.

1. David on Demand

David on Demand launched back in June, when David Perez put his life in the hands of his Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter followers in order to snag the chance to attend the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. Perez works for the ad agency Leo Burnett, who promised to send him to the fest if he undertook said task.

The 29-year-old recruiter agreed to don a pair of glasses complete with webcam, and follow the commands of his Twitter follows via @davidondemand for a full six days, during which he posted video of the proceedings to his website.

The most challenging task? “Have you seen my tattoo? That was a trying challenge,” Perez says. The recruiter got a tat of the Twitter Fail Whale at the behest of his followers. “In all seriousness though, there were more than 3.5 million Tweets coming in through @davidondemand, so it was challenging to keep up. I ended up completing about 20,000 requests. I also drank enough pink wine to kill a small horse.”

Despite the permanent reminder of the whole experiment now scorched into his arm (see the video above), Perez found the experience to be less trying and more eye-opening: “The Internet –- as I affectionately call all the people following the project –- surprisingly treated me wonderfully,” he says. “I went into this guided by the assumption that they would be my tormentors. Quite the opposite. They tweeted me water, a massage, naps, food and a chance to visit the seminars — which was why I was in Cannes…. I am continually floored at how the Internet personified itself. It’s amazing to me that something so deceptively cold could turn itself into a very real and human thing.”

Of course, the whole project was not just about personal discovery — it also served as a form of advertising for Perez’s company (he completed tasks during the conference itself). The idea of hitching one’s wagon to a viral trend is becoming more and more commonplace these days (see: The Old Spice Guy, etc), and Perez sees real promise in such endeavors.

“Crowd sourcing programs like David on Demand are effective for brands because they let people actually interact with brands,” he says. “People are starting to demand more spontaneous, real-time relationships with brands and these types of projects do just that. I think the world also likes being ‘talked to’ and not ‘talked at.’”

2. Dan 3.0

Dan Brown has achieved a goal that many can only dream of: He has leveraged his YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube presence into a career. Brown first hit the video-sharing scene back in 2007 when he posted a tutorial to YouTube that showed viewers how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. “That won the 2007 YouTube Award for best instructional video; I was 17 years old at the time,” says Brown. “I decided to try to turn video blogging into a career after that and I guess it’s worked.”

This past August, Brown partnered with Internet television network Revision3 to launch a new web show called Dan 3.0, during which the 20-year-old (yup, he’s only 20) plans to record a daily log of his life for one year, the path of which will be left up to the whims of his followers. Revision3 fashioned a “decision engine” for the project, which allows viewers to submit tasks for Brown to execute.

So where did this idea come from? Back in January, Brown found himself in a kind of limbo when it came to novel vlogging ideas. It was 2 a.m. and he was in his customary blogger’s uniform — half-naked in a Snuggie — when he came upon a documentary called Us Now, which detailed the state of the Internet, looked to its future, and the collaborative nature of the online space.

Struck by this concept, Brown decided to follow suit, launching a web show where he would take suggestions from viewers on how to live his life. “The more control you can give to communities, the better,” he said, explaining the prudence behind letting a gaggle of strangers run the show.

Brown didn’t have that many rules in place when it came to what he was willing to do. “There are a few hard and fast rules,” he says. “1). Can’t change my girlfriend, 2). I’m not going to change my family, 3). They can’t change where I live permanently. 4). I’m not going to break any laws, 5). I’m not going to do anything that has a significant impact on others. We decided that I have veto power, but the agreement is, obviously, if I veto something that the viewers don’t think should be vetoed, I lose credibility.”

“We wanted to show the viewers that I am committed to this,” he says. “It’s not just a fleeting thing. It’s not just a cute little idea. I really am seriously excited about this and it’s a project that I consider to be deeply personal.”

Since the project launched this summer, Brown has hit a few bumps in the road. At one point, he disappeared for a stretch of time, which raised concern and ire among his followers (see above), and he doesn’t exactly update daily. Still, he’s been faithfully documenting of late and has even scored advertisers like Netflix and GoDaddy.

The videos that Brown has been creating, though rather lengthy in web terms, have been captivating. Yes, there’s a hefty amount of complaining and angst in the first few videos but Brown ultimately manages to present a unique coming-of-age narrative — moving into his own place, visiting his girlfriend and muddling through the (perhaps overly ambitious) project that he has locked himself into for an entire year.

Brown doesn’t hide the fact that creating a daily web show is a huge undertaking and that a less-than-polished aesthetic makes the show worth watching. It’s more honest than your average reality show.

3. Dating Brian

We introduced the world to Brian Moore back in July by making fun of his pants. The 23-year-old had just launched a video announcing his intent to date 30 girls in 30 days, all chosen by Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook.

“Even negative press is good press. [My capris] became like a talking point for the project,” Brian told me, after I apologized for the ill-fated crack once the project had wrapped. “It became one of the main talking points, and my interns and I laughed about it constantly. There were drawings made of it in the office. Some guy drew a mood chart between sad to happy, and it would show different stages of how far up my pants would be rolled. Sad would be all the way down.”

His pants weren’t the only thing that went viral; the concept of a month of crowd sourced dating spread across the web post haste — which was a good thing for Moore, considering it was part of a project to be completed during his internship at ad agency BBH. The goal of the project? Make something — anything — famous. Needless to say, Moore and his cohorts succeeded.

Still, it wasn’t all about fame for Moore. “I had been in a long relationship that had ended about just over a year ago now,” he says. “So I was single, I had just come to New York. So I thought, why not do something crazy like that?”

“It started as a joke,” he says. “I was with a couple of friends, a couple of my fellow interns, over brunch one day, and I think I actually tweeted it: ‘What if I crowd sourced my dating life?’ Like reality show meets Web 2.0, meets dating, meets performance art, meets me.”

Although Moore — like Brown — got sidetracked a few times during the experiment (he didn’t manage to make a video for every date), he was successful in the end. Still, it was taxing to go on dates, hold down his internship and create videos of every single one of his outings. “If you’re going to be doing something almost reality show-like, and there are people’s integrities on the line, get somebody in between you and that person,” Moore recommends for would-be life bloggers.

“I did everything. I did all the video. I did all the web — the design of everything,” he says. “If it’s going to be something so personal like that, get someone in between that. Because I don’t want to say anything bad about any of my dates or anything like that. You might need to be a bigger a**hole than me to make it more interesting, to keep the drama going — because I just don’t like drama too much.”

And that’s the element that made this experiment so genuine: It could have been a hell of a lot bigger. Moore was even approached by VH1 and MTV, but he preferred to keep the project going on his own terms. “I wanted to keep it as real as possible,” he says. “Because, sure, it’s online, I’m in this internship and everything like that, but behind it all, I’m actually myself. I mean, I wasn’t being anyone different than who I am. Because I know how reality shows are — I wanted to distance myself as far from that personally and the project as a whole as I possibly could.”

Although Moore didn’t actually find love during this endeavor, he did take a lot away from the experience. “The first question that people ask me is: What was the worst date? But there really wasn’t one,” he says. “I got to see all these different parts of New York that I had never seen before and meet a lot of interesting people.”

Moore would even do the whole thing all over again — for someone else, that is. If you’re looking to have a slew of digital matchmakers at your beck and call, hit Moore up.

4. ControlTV

If you’re still hungering for some crowd sourced action, you’re in luck — there’s currently a professionally made web show on the scene in which a hapless 20-something has relinquished his life to you, the viewers.

The show, which launched on October 6 and will run for six weeks, follows Tristan on his quest for self-improvement… at the hands of the voting public. Tristan’s life is live streamed 24/7 on the ControlTV website and then edited into 3-minute webisodes, which run on the site and across co-producer DBG’s content network of 2,600+ sites. Viewers can sign up to be informed of polls that will sway Tristan’s life, and have the opportunity to vote throughout the day on his decisions.

Before the show was even cast, we chatted with executive producer Seth Green about the goal of this project. “This is not Aldous Huxley, this is not Animal Farm. This is a lighthearted premise and we are trusting the audience not to tread dark,” he told us. “It’s comedic, but we want to offer people the opportunity to help this guy improve his life. Find a job, find a girlfriend, figure out who he is in the world and we’re looking for people to offer their opinions and help him.”

So far, episodes have centered around finding a personal trainer, a girlfriend (via class='blippr-nobr'>Skypeclass="blippr-nobr">Skype conversations with various girls) and a profession (perhaps something in the music business). Tristan, like Dan et al., certainly has his moments of anguish, but the show mostly presents the whole thing as a positive experience. Still, it is a much slicker production — what with the blatant product placements for Snickers and Ford. (Tristan eats a Snickers after every workout, like some kind of highly caloric granola bar.)

The fact that there’s actually a super polished EdTv-esque show out there only contributes to the idea that projects of this nature are gaining traction. “It’s relevant in this moment in time because we as a culture have become judge, jury and executioner of our fellow man in a really interesting way,” says Green. “If you look at the way pop culture has extended and the way the tabloid culture has been life, people are very interested in the public and private comings and goings of any celebrities and they take on a collective point of view… There’s an interest in making someone do what you want and holding them accountable for what the public feels are the moral standards. So this kind of concept is really relevant in my opinion — in that sense, people are very interested in having some control over another person. Having their opinion be rewarded. Having their perspective and their insight being the law, in a way.”

“We’re just really excited to see what happens,” he says. “This is one of those moments where you stand on the precipice and you hope for the best, but we really just don’t know. And that’s kind of what’s so exciting about it. We have no idea how the audience is going to react to this guy. We have no idea how much they’re actively going to take an interest in making his life better. And we have no idea — within reason, because we’ll have some degree of control of how much this guy is tortured or not — we just don’t know what he’s going to take away from this experience and neither does the guy. And that to me is really exciting.”

More Web Video Resources from Mashable:

- 3 Things Any Video Needs to Go Viral/> - 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010/> - 10 Killer Tips for Creating a Branded YouTube Channel/> - 5 Indie Films that Couldn’t Be Made Without Social Media/> - 10 Incredibly Inspirational Moments on YouTube

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, nataq

For more Web Video coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Web Videoclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Web Video channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry?

For example you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, SuperMedia, Yellow Book, and of course AT&T.  If you add Internet advertising that includes but not limited to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp and Citysearch many others, you have to start wondering how all these websites can attract a finite number of businesses and visitors to use their website.  The other more significant question is how a business will manage their local business listing at all the local listing websites?

History of Local Business Listings

As a business, if you have not kept up with the evolution of local business listings you will need a quick primer to know where things started and where things are today.

The origins go back to the early 1990s when search engines had directories listing businesses by categories in addition to their basic search results.  These basic business listings gave way to business directories giving the business the opportunity to add more information to their business.  Of course, while this evolution was taking place so did having the yellow pages on the web.  Business directories then gave way to the idea of rating a business with companies like Angie’s List, Merchant Circle and Yelp in social communities.  In 2007 business listings began showing up in search engines and consumer reviews were already showing up in these local business listings.

So, in summary, a local business listing is a combination of yellow pages information, business description, business marketing information, consumer ratings and consumer reviews.

Local Business Listings as Interactive Yellow Pages

Calling these listings a business directory does not do them justice considering all the content that is available.  Not only is this about getting your business marketing information into these listings, but they also become mini-websites for your business and more importantly allow consumers to quantitatively rate and subjectively provide commentary about their experience with the business, products and services.

Local business listing websites that are social communities allow customers and consumers to collaborate.  We are distinguishing between customers being B2B and consumers being B2C.  We will discuss B2B customer comments in a future article.

Live social communities that provide location based services like Four Square, Twitter and Facebook create instantaneous feedback to friends, family and followers alike. This collaboration not only allows for ratings and comments, but the information is posted permanently.  This will require a business to ask satisfied customers to post commentary and manage those postings that are negative…..at multiple local listing websites.

Manage Your Local Business Listings Everywhere!

Unlike the traditional yellow pages where business information was located in a single source, the Internet lets business information be found everywhere. With so many sources, it becomes imperative for a business to stay on top of its information, description, marketing materials and consumer reviews at various local listing websites.

If you wonder why, the answer is simple.  Your business information shows up in search engine results, mobile search results and is available to mobile application developers for mobile apps.  Since you don’t know what source your local customers or mobile application developers are using, you need a way to manage many sources simultaneously.

Select a Company to Help

Whether we are talking about website local optimization, local business listings, mobile marketing or geo-social marketing, a business needs proper support to succeed in this new era of local business marketing.  You need a partner with experience and expertise in multiple digital marketing fields and can adapt to the progression of new technologies that will become available over the next few years.

Some key elements for a company to provide local business listing marketing services include:

• Claim your local listing at multiple local listing websites


• Providing both data and marketing services


• Update your basic business data information monthly


• Update and manage your business marketing information that include photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, and events monthly


• Consumer review monitoring and management monthly


• Analytics review of local business listings analytics and the appropriate changes to your local business listings monthly


• Expertise in Mapping Technologies and GPS

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

eric seiger

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

Imagine a world in which a convocation of observers made your every decision — from what you eat to what job you hold to who you date. Well, there’s a cadre of people out there who are currently living in such a state, and they’re not players in some lost Orwellian drama. No, they’re members of a burgeoning social media trend: Crowd sourcing your life.

Over the past few months, several projects have emerged that play upon the theme of relinquishing control of one’s life as a form of entertainment: From amateur productions to professionally produced web shows. Each is fascinating in its own right — an intimate glimpse into someone’s life that you as a viewer can actively participate in.

Living in the public eye is nothing new when it comes to web trends. Folks like Justin Kan — of Justin.tvclass="blippr-nobr">Justin.tv — have been launching projects like this for several years, and reality shows have carved out a sizable niche in the realm of TV programming.

Still, the added element of strapping on the puppet strings and turning over one’s life to the masses makes this trend different from the Jennie Cams of old.

So why the proliferation of projects that tap into the ethos of the masses in order to create entertainment? “We are naturally inclined to like the idea of living someone else’s life or controlling someone else’s life or physically being inside of someone else’s body,” says Jamie Wilkinson of Know Your Meme. “That even goes back to the spookiness of ventriloquism. That theme of control and possession is a really common storytelling trope that touches on human nature.”

Also, the accessibility of the necessary technology has aided in the spread of average people becoming “class='blippr-nobr'>Internetclass="blippr-nobr">Internet famous.” Still, novelty is always an issue when you’re aiming to cut through the clutter and emerge as a legitimate addition to the viral firmament.

“Things like that are interesting only when they’re unique,” says Justin Kan. “It’s becoming a lot easier to produce this content. For us, we had to produce this 25-pound broadcasting device [to film Justin.tv]. Now we’re releasing an app that will broadcast from your iPhoneclass="blippr-nobr">iPhone or Androidclass="blippr-nobr">Android. Now more people are able to do this. I think there’s going to be a trend of more people creating video mobiley, on the go.”

We’ve taken a look at four instances of crowd sourcing one’s life — all of which launched around the same time, but include their own set of hardships and rewards. We’ve included glimpses into each project below, demonstrating the stresses and oddities inherent in handing over the reins to the world wide web.

1. David on Demand

David on Demand launched back in June, when David Perez put his life in the hands of his Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter followers in order to snag the chance to attend the Cannes Lions International Advertising Festival in France. Perez works for the ad agency Leo Burnett, who promised to send him to the fest if he undertook said task.

The 29-year-old recruiter agreed to don a pair of glasses complete with webcam, and follow the commands of his Twitter follows via @davidondemand for a full six days, during which he posted video of the proceedings to his website.

The most challenging task? “Have you seen my tattoo? That was a trying challenge,” Perez says. The recruiter got a tat of the Twitter Fail Whale at the behest of his followers. “In all seriousness though, there were more than 3.5 million Tweets coming in through @davidondemand, so it was challenging to keep up. I ended up completing about 20,000 requests. I also drank enough pink wine to kill a small horse.”

Despite the permanent reminder of the whole experiment now scorched into his arm (see the video above), Perez found the experience to be less trying and more eye-opening: “The Internet –- as I affectionately call all the people following the project –- surprisingly treated me wonderfully,” he says. “I went into this guided by the assumption that they would be my tormentors. Quite the opposite. They tweeted me water, a massage, naps, food and a chance to visit the seminars — which was why I was in Cannes…. I am continually floored at how the Internet personified itself. It’s amazing to me that something so deceptively cold could turn itself into a very real and human thing.”

Of course, the whole project was not just about personal discovery — it also served as a form of advertising for Perez’s company (he completed tasks during the conference itself). The idea of hitching one’s wagon to a viral trend is becoming more and more commonplace these days (see: The Old Spice Guy, etc), and Perez sees real promise in such endeavors.

“Crowd sourcing programs like David on Demand are effective for brands because they let people actually interact with brands,” he says. “People are starting to demand more spontaneous, real-time relationships with brands and these types of projects do just that. I think the world also likes being ‘talked to’ and not ‘talked at.’”

2. Dan 3.0

Dan Brown has achieved a goal that many can only dream of: He has leveraged his YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube presence into a career. Brown first hit the video-sharing scene back in 2007 when he posted a tutorial to YouTube that showed viewers how to solve a Rubik’s Cube. “That won the 2007 YouTube Award for best instructional video; I was 17 years old at the time,” says Brown. “I decided to try to turn video blogging into a career after that and I guess it’s worked.”

This past August, Brown partnered with Internet television network Revision3 to launch a new web show called Dan 3.0, during which the 20-year-old (yup, he’s only 20) plans to record a daily log of his life for one year, the path of which will be left up to the whims of his followers. Revision3 fashioned a “decision engine” for the project, which allows viewers to submit tasks for Brown to execute.

So where did this idea come from? Back in January, Brown found himself in a kind of limbo when it came to novel vlogging ideas. It was 2 a.m. and he was in his customary blogger’s uniform — half-naked in a Snuggie — when he came upon a documentary called Us Now, which detailed the state of the Internet, looked to its future, and the collaborative nature of the online space.

Struck by this concept, Brown decided to follow suit, launching a web show where he would take suggestions from viewers on how to live his life. “The more control you can give to communities, the better,” he said, explaining the prudence behind letting a gaggle of strangers run the show.

Brown didn’t have that many rules in place when it came to what he was willing to do. “There are a few hard and fast rules,” he says. “1). Can’t change my girlfriend, 2). I’m not going to change my family, 3). They can’t change where I live permanently. 4). I’m not going to break any laws, 5). I’m not going to do anything that has a significant impact on others. We decided that I have veto power, but the agreement is, obviously, if I veto something that the viewers don’t think should be vetoed, I lose credibility.”

“We wanted to show the viewers that I am committed to this,” he says. “It’s not just a fleeting thing. It’s not just a cute little idea. I really am seriously excited about this and it’s a project that I consider to be deeply personal.”

Since the project launched this summer, Brown has hit a few bumps in the road. At one point, he disappeared for a stretch of time, which raised concern and ire among his followers (see above), and he doesn’t exactly update daily. Still, he’s been faithfully documenting of late and has even scored advertisers like Netflix and GoDaddy.

The videos that Brown has been creating, though rather lengthy in web terms, have been captivating. Yes, there’s a hefty amount of complaining and angst in the first few videos but Brown ultimately manages to present a unique coming-of-age narrative — moving into his own place, visiting his girlfriend and muddling through the (perhaps overly ambitious) project that he has locked himself into for an entire year.

Brown doesn’t hide the fact that creating a daily web show is a huge undertaking and that a less-than-polished aesthetic makes the show worth watching. It’s more honest than your average reality show.

3. Dating Brian

We introduced the world to Brian Moore back in July by making fun of his pants. The 23-year-old had just launched a video announcing his intent to date 30 girls in 30 days, all chosen by Twitter and Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook.

“Even negative press is good press. [My capris] became like a talking point for the project,” Brian told me, after I apologized for the ill-fated crack once the project had wrapped. “It became one of the main talking points, and my interns and I laughed about it constantly. There were drawings made of it in the office. Some guy drew a mood chart between sad to happy, and it would show different stages of how far up my pants would be rolled. Sad would be all the way down.”

His pants weren’t the only thing that went viral; the concept of a month of crowd sourced dating spread across the web post haste — which was a good thing for Moore, considering it was part of a project to be completed during his internship at ad agency BBH. The goal of the project? Make something — anything — famous. Needless to say, Moore and his cohorts succeeded.

Still, it wasn’t all about fame for Moore. “I had been in a long relationship that had ended about just over a year ago now,” he says. “So I was single, I had just come to New York. So I thought, why not do something crazy like that?”

“It started as a joke,” he says. “I was with a couple of friends, a couple of my fellow interns, over brunch one day, and I think I actually tweeted it: ‘What if I crowd sourced my dating life?’ Like reality show meets Web 2.0, meets dating, meets performance art, meets me.”

Although Moore — like Brown — got sidetracked a few times during the experiment (he didn’t manage to make a video for every date), he was successful in the end. Still, it was taxing to go on dates, hold down his internship and create videos of every single one of his outings. “If you’re going to be doing something almost reality show-like, and there are people’s integrities on the line, get somebody in between you and that person,” Moore recommends for would-be life bloggers.

“I did everything. I did all the video. I did all the web — the design of everything,” he says. “If it’s going to be something so personal like that, get someone in between that. Because I don’t want to say anything bad about any of my dates or anything like that. You might need to be a bigger a**hole than me to make it more interesting, to keep the drama going — because I just don’t like drama too much.”

And that’s the element that made this experiment so genuine: It could have been a hell of a lot bigger. Moore was even approached by VH1 and MTV, but he preferred to keep the project going on his own terms. “I wanted to keep it as real as possible,” he says. “Because, sure, it’s online, I’m in this internship and everything like that, but behind it all, I’m actually myself. I mean, I wasn’t being anyone different than who I am. Because I know how reality shows are — I wanted to distance myself as far from that personally and the project as a whole as I possibly could.”

Although Moore didn’t actually find love during this endeavor, he did take a lot away from the experience. “The first question that people ask me is: What was the worst date? But there really wasn’t one,” he says. “I got to see all these different parts of New York that I had never seen before and meet a lot of interesting people.”

Moore would even do the whole thing all over again — for someone else, that is. If you’re looking to have a slew of digital matchmakers at your beck and call, hit Moore up.

4. ControlTV

If you’re still hungering for some crowd sourced action, you’re in luck — there’s currently a professionally made web show on the scene in which a hapless 20-something has relinquished his life to you, the viewers.

The show, which launched on October 6 and will run for six weeks, follows Tristan on his quest for self-improvement… at the hands of the voting public. Tristan’s life is live streamed 24/7 on the ControlTV website and then edited into 3-minute webisodes, which run on the site and across co-producer DBG’s content network of 2,600+ sites. Viewers can sign up to be informed of polls that will sway Tristan’s life, and have the opportunity to vote throughout the day on his decisions.

Before the show was even cast, we chatted with executive producer Seth Green about the goal of this project. “This is not Aldous Huxley, this is not Animal Farm. This is a lighthearted premise and we are trusting the audience not to tread dark,” he told us. “It’s comedic, but we want to offer people the opportunity to help this guy improve his life. Find a job, find a girlfriend, figure out who he is in the world and we’re looking for people to offer their opinions and help him.”

So far, episodes have centered around finding a personal trainer, a girlfriend (via class='blippr-nobr'>Skypeclass="blippr-nobr">Skype conversations with various girls) and a profession (perhaps something in the music business). Tristan, like Dan et al., certainly has his moments of anguish, but the show mostly presents the whole thing as a positive experience. Still, it is a much slicker production — what with the blatant product placements for Snickers and Ford. (Tristan eats a Snickers after every workout, like some kind of highly caloric granola bar.)

The fact that there’s actually a super polished EdTv-esque show out there only contributes to the idea that projects of this nature are gaining traction. “It’s relevant in this moment in time because we as a culture have become judge, jury and executioner of our fellow man in a really interesting way,” says Green. “If you look at the way pop culture has extended and the way the tabloid culture has been life, people are very interested in the public and private comings and goings of any celebrities and they take on a collective point of view… There’s an interest in making someone do what you want and holding them accountable for what the public feels are the moral standards. So this kind of concept is really relevant in my opinion — in that sense, people are very interested in having some control over another person. Having their opinion be rewarded. Having their perspective and their insight being the law, in a way.”

“We’re just really excited to see what happens,” he says. “This is one of those moments where you stand on the precipice and you hope for the best, but we really just don’t know. And that’s kind of what’s so exciting about it. We have no idea how the audience is going to react to this guy. We have no idea how much they’re actively going to take an interest in making his life better. And we have no idea — within reason, because we’ll have some degree of control of how much this guy is tortured or not — we just don’t know what he’s going to take away from this experience and neither does the guy. And that to me is really exciting.”

More Web Video Resources from Mashable:

- 3 Things Any Video Needs to Go Viral/> - 10 Memorable Viral Videos of 2010/> - 10 Killer Tips for Creating a Branded YouTube Channel/> - 5 Indie Films that Couldn’t Be Made Without Social Media/> - 10 Incredibly Inspirational Moments on YouTube

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, nataq

For more Web Video coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Web Videoclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Web Video channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

Have you noticed the number of commercials being run by high-profile tier one companies and websites that are in the local listing industry?

For example you may have seen TV commercials for Angie’s List, SuperMedia, Yellow Book, and of course AT&T.  If you add Internet advertising that includes but not limited to Google, Yahoo, Bing, Merchant Circle, Yelp and Citysearch many others, you have to start wondering how all these websites can attract a finite number of businesses and visitors to use their website.  The other more significant question is how a business will manage their local business listing at all the local listing websites?

History of Local Business Listings

As a business, if you have not kept up with the evolution of local business listings you will need a quick primer to know where things started and where things are today.

The origins go back to the early 1990s when search engines had directories listing businesses by categories in addition to their basic search results.  These basic business listings gave way to business directories giving the business the opportunity to add more information to their business.  Of course, while this evolution was taking place so did having the yellow pages on the web.  Business directories then gave way to the idea of rating a business with companies like Angie’s List, Merchant Circle and Yelp in social communities.  In 2007 business listings began showing up in search engines and consumer reviews were already showing up in these local business listings.

So, in summary, a local business listing is a combination of yellow pages information, business description, business marketing information, consumer ratings and consumer reviews.

Local Business Listings as Interactive Yellow Pages

Calling these listings a business directory does not do them justice considering all the content that is available.  Not only is this about getting your business marketing information into these listings, but they also become mini-websites for your business and more importantly allow consumers to quantitatively rate and subjectively provide commentary about their experience with the business, products and services.

Local business listing websites that are social communities allow customers and consumers to collaborate.  We are distinguishing between customers being B2B and consumers being B2C.  We will discuss B2B customer comments in a future article.

Live social communities that provide location based services like Four Square, Twitter and Facebook create instantaneous feedback to friends, family and followers alike. This collaboration not only allows for ratings and comments, but the information is posted permanently.  This will require a business to ask satisfied customers to post commentary and manage those postings that are negative…..at multiple local listing websites.

Manage Your Local Business Listings Everywhere!

Unlike the traditional yellow pages where business information was located in a single source, the Internet lets business information be found everywhere. With so many sources, it becomes imperative for a business to stay on top of its information, description, marketing materials and consumer reviews at various local listing websites.

If you wonder why, the answer is simple.  Your business information shows up in search engine results, mobile search results and is available to mobile application developers for mobile apps.  Since you don’t know what source your local customers or mobile application developers are using, you need a way to manage many sources simultaneously.

Select a Company to Help

Whether we are talking about website local optimization, local business listings, mobile marketing or geo-social marketing, a business needs proper support to succeed in this new era of local business marketing.  You need a partner with experience and expertise in multiple digital marketing fields and can adapt to the progression of new technologies that will become available over the next few years.

Some key elements for a company to provide local business listing marketing services include:

• Claim your local listing at multiple local listing websites


• Providing both data and marketing services


• Update your basic business data information monthly


• Update and manage your business marketing information that include photos, videos, coupons, offers, discounts, and events monthly


• Consumer review monitoring and management monthly


• Analytics review of local business listings analytics and the appropriate changes to your local business listings monthly


• Expertise in Mapping Technologies and GPS

eric seiger

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger eric seiger
eric seiger

eric seiger
eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

big seminar 14

To be successful at it you have to understand the customers and products you work with, and put into practice the skills you have learned. It can be a bit overwhelming as you have to think about; Adwords, Adsense, Websites, Article writing, pay per click budgets, SEO, blogs, affiliate membership, traffic generation, and a host of other things as well. Don't worry, there is lots of information and products out there that can help and teach you what to do.

Internet marketing is targeted to the individual consumer as he or she is on the internet alone and searching for something specific. Advertising and product placement can be targeted very easily so that you only expose the product to the people who want it. This can be done to global regions, or to a very specific subset or Niche of a particular market. This drives down the cost of advertising and increases sales.

To sell a product you need to have a product yourself (Vendor), or you can join an Affiliate Program and sell another persons or companies product for them for a share of the profits. If you have your own product, then you can get others to sell it for you.

You have to understand why your potential customers want to buy the product you are selling or advertising. They have a need that you can fill, or they want something that you are offering. Once you get into this mindset it is easier to figure out how to market you product.
Using Adwords to advertise on Google you can easily check statistics. Nearly all aspects of your campaigns can be measured giving you the ability to change or modify them whenever you want.

Internet marketing is now over taking radio marketing in the market share. Marketing can also be performed though mobile phones and other hand held media. This all presents a limit on what internet marketing is capable of. A slow connection or low bandwidth device can be a problem with large and flashy websites, having a long content delivery time.


eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger

Why MSNBC Isn&#39;t The Liberal Fox <b>News</b> - TV Guidance - Macleans.ca

The network just gave an “indefinite” suspension to its star pundit, Keith Olbermann, for giving money to three Democratic candidates. The president of MSNBC, Phil ...

World <b>news</b> coverage evaporating in the UK | openDemocracy

International news, in case you hadn't realised, is disappearing across the UK media. The trends are documented in 'Shrinking World' - an authoritative and compelling report on the demise of foreign news reporting in the UK, ...

<b>News</b> - Dad: How Demi Lovato Is Holding Up - Celebrity <b>News</b> <b>...</b>

"I want her to be happy," Patrick Lovato tells Us.

eric seiger