With Google+ ramping up (and in some cases recently, ramping down) in its battle against Facebook, many are looking at the revenue models to determine who will eventually be the winner. The goals for both are the same in essence but the way they make money is very different. Google’s goal is to create the central point through which business, particularly local products and trust-factor services, is done. They want individuals to reach businesses through their conglomeration of services and they want businesses to reach the people through the same. It’s a combination of connections and discovery…

The launch of Google+, Google’s new social network, has gone off without a hitch. After only three weeks, Google+ has pulled in 20 million users according to a report from The Wall Street Journal. The report comes just a week after Google Chief Executive Larry Page said that Google+ had more than 10 million users and that they were sharing and receiving more than 1 billion items a day. That’s impressive growth considering Google has made access to the site by invitation only. Google has yet to market the service to the more than one billion monthly visitors who use its search engine, Gmail…

Social media has become a huge part of many business strategies, particularly in marketing. It has not, however, been adopted on nearly as widespread of a basis as a pure communications tool. This is a mistake. The concepts surrounding social media are clear. People connect. They connect with friends and family. They connect with people who share their interests. They connect without borders, boundaries, or logistic-issues associated with connecting in real life. On the tail end of the spectrum, people use social media to connect with businesses. The problem lies in that businesses aren’t…

Facebook has been doing everything it can to keep people from exporting their contacts to bring them into Google+ ever since the search giant’s new social network launched this month. Household Hacker has come up with a relatively quick and very easy way to make it happen using Facebook’s relationship with Yahoo. …

While it’s clear that the internet has become one of our primary methods of communication with friends and family, it’s only been in recent years that the emergence of using different internet tools has really emerged in the business world. Email has been used for a while, but social media, chat, and blogging are relatively new to the business world. This breakdown by our friends at SocialCast analyzes the different methods and points to a growing reliance on digital communications between businesses and their consumers. While the personal touch should always remain at top of mind, it’s clear…

There is a decent amount of “good” going on through social media. Changes, revolutions, and innovations happen on and as a result of social media every day. And yet, for every good action, there are thousands of neutral or negative actions that occur that wash the benefits out with noise. How should we really be using this amazing technology? Those of us who grew up without the internet can (potentially) remember a world where we needed to check our mailbox (that thing on top of the pole outside of your house that seems to have an endless flow of junk mail in it replenishing magically every day) to see…

If you haven’t heard, social media is big. For many businesses, they get onto it because they hear how awesome it is and it’s free. Then, they get into the real “cost” of social media and suddenly it’s not so beautiful anymore. This infographic by our friends at Focus gives a strong overview of what’s really happening on the cost aspect of social media for business. Click to enlarge. …

After the Stanley Cup loss which lead to riots last night in Vancouver, outraged Canadians have taken their fight for justice to Facebook and social media. By posting photos and videos of the perpetrators online, they hope they can help police and others to identify the criminals (or at least put them to shame!). A Facebook page has been started and there are already hundreds of photos and almost 60,000 likes. The Vancouver Police have also used social media and sent out Tweets asking for photos where they can identify the people. Take a look at just a few selected images below with faces clearly identifiable….

Bob Ross is beloved by millions who enjoy his easy-going demeanor and colorful ways of expressing himself through paintings. His view of the world has been considered someone child-like — not simple, but perhaps more pure. It’s not surprising that someone would filter the world of social media through his gentle gaze. This graphic by Flowtown does the trick. Click to enlarge. …

The numbers are completely off the charts. In case you missed insane valuations in recent months for companies such as Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, the infographic below should bring it into perspective. When did value start getting dictated by users rather than revenue? Something can definitely be said about potential, but are investors really doing the right thing by betting so high on some of these companies. As a general rule, a company is normally worth somewhere between 3-6 times its yearly revenue. That would put Facebook with an estimate 2010 revenue around $2 billion valued at…