Goldman Sachs Invests $450 Million in Facebook

Facebook is reportedly receiving a combined total of $500 million in new investment money with $450 million coming from Goldman Sachs and another $50 million from Russia’s Digital Sky Technologies.

This is all happening based on a jaw dropping $50 billion valuation of Facebook.

Speculation as to what is going to be done with this money runs a wide range.

From Mashable

The first thing Facebook’s likely to do with its $2 billion in new funding is to cash out some of its existing investors and employees. The social network previously did this when DST bought $200 million in Facebook stock from its employees. Some of its early investors may also reach into the $2 billion pot and cash out.

Once that’s done, it’s all about growth.

The $2 billion number in the last quote? That comes from another funding effort that will be headed up by Goldman Sachs. In true Wall Street fashion there are special code words.

Goldman Sachs will help Facebook raise an additional $1.5 billion through a “special purpose vehicle” designed to allow outside investors to indirectly invest in the company.

Since there is speculation about just how much more room Facebook has in allowing further investment without requiring it go public this is an interesting aspect of the story but one that we will probably never really know.

Another more practical angle on what might be on the horizon

From Search Engine Land

Imagine that Facebook were to become convinced that having its own search engine was a key to delivering a better user experience overall, as well as generating new ad revenue. One obvious and immediate possibility would be to buy Blekko, which has pushed social integration with Facebook Likes further than Microsoft itself.

So while the rest of the economy is still in chaos and stuck in neutral on its best day, Facebook is looking good. Interestingly enough, it is looking good with help from a company that took $10 billion in TARP funds back in 2008 when its chief executive said it wasn’t in real trouble (it paid back those funds in about 6 months just before executive bonus season) and it recently paid $550 million in fines for misleading investors.

With a culture like that and the way Facebook views its users privacy these bedfellows are not strange at all. In fact, they appear to be ‘two peas in a pod’ and one can only imagine what lies ahead for the Wall Street robber barons and the Internet’s privacy barons. Sounds like fun!

So remember, that when you are using Facebook it may make sense to think of that great phrase “Your tax dollars hard at work!”.

What’s your take on what’s next for Facebook? Is a search engine in the making? Will that IPO finally happen? Will a select few get very rich?

Let us know your thoughts.

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Why Written Content Won’t Be Replaced

Tweet

The other day I was putting together another news article for Big4.com and it occurred to me there’s a big difference between solid Internet advertising techniques and fads that come and go. The thing that really caught my eye happened when I was writing an article based on a Deloitte press release about social media and how business is moving toward it tentatively.

The research that I did states although 65 percent of respondents plan on using social media for their businesses, a large number of those surveyed are unclear about what the return on their investment will actually be. The whole push behind the Deloitte survey seems to be defending the idea that business knows it needs to use social media but it’s not really sure why.

One of the problems helping to foster this kind of uncertainty is the fact there’s no clear way to measure the effectiveness of places like Twitter or Facebook in driving traffic and sales. Of course there are people who argue social CRM is the answer that will quantify how productive social media is as an advertising tool, but like many other things on the Web, this technique is in its infancy and nowhere near as reliable as business needs to make a full commitment to social media.

The whole argument reminds me of when you could first place a video on your website and all the hoopla that surrounded that new technology. If you listened to the kind of hyperbole that was blazing across the Internet at that time, you’d be sure that written content was dead. Now it’s all about social media and how this latest craze is poised on the brink of changing the way business does business with the younger generation.

Granted, there’s no doubt people are buying more on the Internet than ever before and  the wise business person takes a look at every means available to get the word out on their goods or service, but they need to be able to differentiate from fads and complimentary techniques that improve but do not replace good content.

In other words, I think the Deloitte survey highlights a good point about social media and it’s quite simply that business doesn’t trust it fully yet. Of course the Internet way of selling goods and services is all about engaging the customer but from a business standpoint there have to be quantifiable results to any kind of advertising campaign and up until now social media doesn’t provide that.

For now, it all comes back full circle. If you’re starting out in business or looking to upgrade or change your advertising techniques, make sure you don’t go along with those people who are trying to reinvent the wheel right away. Obviously you won’t break the bank by getting a Facebook or Twitter account to help you get exposure, but try to remember that articles, good optimized web pages and even blogs are the tried and true method of getting traffic that drives sales.

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10 Twitter Backup Tools For Preserving Tweets

Tweet

With the new year quickly approaching, now might be a good time to archive all of your tweets for 2010. You wouldn’t want to lose any of your tweets, or have something happen to your account in 2011 that would cause you to lose a year (or more) worth of tweets, replies, DMs and favorites. Anything could happen and with Twitter accounts being hacked on a daily basis, it’s a smart and safe idea to backup and archive your tweets as often as possible. In case of any emergency, I’m sure that one of the services below is bound to come in handy!

Tweetstream

Tweetstream not only backs up your tweets, it lets you “preserve all of your important Twitter info and uses the data to make you more efficient, effective and prominent to your followers.” Your tweets will be searchable, customizable and exportable. So, you will be able to download your data to your computer via FTP, Amazon S3, Dropbox (coming soon), PDF (coming soon) and more.

Tweetstream has both a free and premium account type. The premium account is normally $25/year, but if you sign up before January 3rd you can get it for only $5/year. You really can’t beat that price.

BackupMyTweets

BackupMyTweets lets you archive 3200 (due to Twitter limitations) of your most tweets. The tool also offers daily backups and the ability to search through your tweets. If you’re looking to backup your email, blog or photos, there are tools for that as well (BackupMyMail, BackupMyBlog, Backupmy Pics).

BackupMyTweets currently only offers a free account (it’s free as long as you’re willing to let it send out an automatic tweet of your choice from your account). They are, however releasing a Premium Edition in the near future. The price of that will be $9.95/year, but if you pre-order right now you can get it for $4.95/year.

TweetBackup

TweetBackup is powered by Backupify, a popular service that backups and archives all of your Google apps and various social media data. TweetBackup is free and includes daily backups, exporting and hashtag archiving. Tweetback also has a 3200 tweet limitation, though some users have claimed that they can see more tweets in their archive.

The downside to TweetBackup is that there doesn’t seem to be a way to search through your tweets at the moment. Also, the service is very basic and does not seem to be 100% complete. For instance, there is a “restore” tab (for restoring Twitter accounts) yet it states that you cannot use this feature because the Twitter API does not allow it. Backupify is actually a better choice if you’re looking for something more feature-rich; it supports Twitter along with a handful of other services.

The Archivist

The Archivist is a Windows desktop application that lets you “archive tweets for later data-mining and analysis.” You can search, save, export and visualize your tweets all with this efficient desktop tool. If you are a Mac user or just do not want to download the application, you can try out the Web version.

With the Web interface you can view archives for any search term (keyword, username, hashtag, etc). You’re then presented with stylish, colorful charts and graphs that you can click on for a more in-depth view of how that term has been used on Twitter.

Twistory

Twistory definitely has a unique approach to Twitter archiving. With it you can “add your Twitter backlog feed to your favorite calendar application and browse through your personal Twitter diary.” Your Twitter account has to be public in order for Twistory to work. It’s is not just a great tool for archiving your tweets, it’s also an instant organizer since all of your tweets are displayed on the date that you created them.

While Twistory also only backs up 3200 tweets, with a Twitter Pro account (coming soon) you can backup all of your tweets. By adding Twistory to your calendar, you can also search through them using your calendar’s search feature as well as have your archive automatically update on a regular basis.

TweetScan

TweetScan calls itself “the most complete Twitter backup available.” You can choose to create a full archive or simply choose which items that you’d like to backup (tweets, friends, DMs, replies, followers, favorites). They say that only your last 1000 items will be downloaded from Twitter. You will then get a zip folder of your tweets to save to your computer.

The zip folder contains your tweet in both CSV and HTML format. The HTML format is great because once it loads in your browser you can: search through your tweets; view your friends, followers, DMs and favorites; add notes and tags.

TweetGuard

TweetGuard was reviewed here at Blogging Tips a few months ago. It’s a free, handy tool that will backup your Twitter account on a daily basis. You can also export your data in CSV or XML format. Tweets, messages, favorites and friends are organized into tabs for easy viewing. You can also search through your tweets.

TwitterBackup

TwitterBackup is a very simple tool that “downloads all your tweets and stores them in XML format. The document type is identical to Twitter’s API.” While I haven’t tried the tool myself, I have heard many positive reviews about it (as you can see from the comments on the linked page).

Tweetbook

Tweetbook is another unique tool that differs from the basic text archiving format. What Tweetbook does is generate a PDF eBook of your latest tweets, replies and favorites. You can also choose to create an XML backup file as well.

If you’re looking for another Twitter backup tool for creating PDF files, you may want to try MyTwebo. You can actually combine multiple Twitter users into a single PDF archive file. The service is also 100% free with unlimited backups and customization options.

TweetSaver

TweetSaver is your Twitter lifesaver; it archives your tweets along with your favorites. You can also search through and tag your tweets to make them easier to find. A unique feature that I found on TweetSaver is that they allow you to share your archived tweets on various social networks with the click of a button.

TweetSaver does not have a free account type, but they do offer a 7-day free trial. There are four accounts to choose from: monthly $5.00; yearly $30.00; TweetBlast-monthly $3.00; TweetBlast-yearly $15.00. To learn more about the differences between each plan be sure to check out their pricing page.

If those aren’t enough or you still have found the perfect tool, here are 8 more options available for archiving your tweets and Twitter data.

• myEN (Evernote)
• Twitter Tools
• MK Twitter (Windows)
• Tweet Library (Mac)
• Tweet Nest
• FriendBackup
• Bloggled
• Lifestream (WordPress)

Which tool do you prefer?

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Blogging Success Summit 2011

If you’re looking to take your blogging up a notch in 2011 with some great training then you’ll want to check out Blogging Success Summit 2011.

This is a completely online/virtual event and it is currently 50% off (a limited time early bird rate). It includes teaching from 23 successful bloggers including:

• Technorati CEO Richard Jalichandra
• Scott Monty (head of social media, Ford)
• Brian Clark (Copyblogger)
• Debbie Weil (author, The Corporate Blogging Book)
• Douglas Karr (co-author, Corporate Blogging for Dummies)
• experts from McDonald’s, Cisco, Southwest Airlines, Sony, and Procter & Gamble
• Joe Pulizzi (co-author, Get Content Get Customers)
• Mari Smith (co-author, Facebook Marketing)
• Jay Baer (co-author, The Now Revolution)
• Chris Garrett (co-author, ProBlogger)
• Dave Garland (author, Smarter, Faster, Cheaper)
• Mike Volpe (VP of marketing, HubSpot)
• Rick Calvert (CEO, BlogWorld)
• Michael Stelzner (Social Media Examiner)

I’m also presenting in a session with Brian Clark and Chris Garrett.

The Summitt is spread out over four weeks in February (starting 1st Feb) and because it is all online you can either attend the sessions live or get access to all the recordings to listen to at your own pace.

You also get a whole heap of added extra bonuses if you sign up as an early bird (an extra 17 sessions of recordings).

This summit is put on by Michael Stelzner and his team who have previously run some other great social media summits which have always had very positive reviews. As usual he offers a 2 day ‘sample it’ guarantee (you get access to the first two days to see if it is a good fit for you).

So if you’re looking to take your blog to the next level in 2011 and want to kick things off with a bang – sign up today for Blogging Success Summit 2011.

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95% of Twitter Accounts Created Since January 2009

From the “Did You Know?” category comes the statistic claimed by a report from Sysomos that says that 95% of the current Twitter accounts were created after January of 2009. So for you folks who had your claim before that time you were officially ‘way ahead of the curve’ to one degree or another. Here is chart that shows this growth. (Thanks to PCMag for bringing this to our attention).

Of course, I always want to know just how many of these accounts are placeholders to protect from Twitter handle squatters or names of small businesses who are still thinking about getting involved but that’s for another time.

The Sysomos report also showed some interesting charts relating to a variety of element in Twitter that are being utilized much more today.

One of my favorites was this one.

It’s Twitter’s version of the 80/20 rule. That rule says that 80% of your revenue comes from 20% of your customers. In Twitter terms it’s the 90/20 rule where 90% of tweets come from about 20% of the users. Of course, this says nothing about the value of the tweets or if they are bot generated so while it’s a fun thing to look at the real value lies in determining which of that 20% are real people and provide real value.

Check out the study to make your own call as to whether Twitter is a vast wasteland of nothingness or a platform for action.

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Will There Be 50% More Vacant Cubicle Space at Myspace Due to Layoffs?

It never feels good to write about this kind of thing around the new year but if there is one thing about writing about business one learns that it can be heartless at times.

Myspace, the perpetually troubled former social networking high flyer, is reportedly looking into the possibility of laying off up to to 50% of its existing staff of 1,000 employees. Liz Gannes from the NetworkEffect at All Things Digital reports:

While the decision of what cuts to make to its employee base have not been made yet, nearly the entire Myspace staff was given the last week of December off from work to save money.

Sources stressed that management was still working out the details of more drastic cost-cutting measures that owner News Corp. has been wanting from Myspace, as its revenues and traffic growth have declined.

The layoffs are also part of a larger rethink about the future of the Beverly Hills, Calif.-based company, which has had many difficulties in recent years. That has included several upheavals in its leadership and a talent drain, as well as stagnant growth.

Myspace has continued to get smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror of the frontrunner in the social space, Facebook, and that trend doesn’t seem to be letting up. Couple this continued decline in Myspace overall with the rise of microblogging (Twitter), location based services (Foursquare) and daily deal monster (Groupon) that are grabbing headlines every day and Myspace looks more and more like social networking footnote.

I have never really given Myspace a fair shake personally. When it was hot I simply didn’t care about social media. Now that social media is all the rage and there is value coming out of it, what Myspace is offering around music is just not where I fit. As a result, I haven’t truly watched the social network deteriorate like many readers may have.

Along those lines, it would be interesting if anyone who uses Myspace in its present form would tell us in the comments as well as those who once were Myspace users but have moved on to other things.

Once again, while these layoffs are rumored by sources this is a very bad signal for anyone related to the company. Not the way to be starting a new year for sure.

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Newark, NJ Mayor REALLY Uses Twitter To Help People

Time and time again we try to figure out just what Twitter is good for. We talk about business applications and other ways it can help people. We hear some nice stories but we also are subject to the kind of online activism that is often much more hollow than actually active.

Well, this past few days of blizzard conditions in the Northeast have provided some interesting political histrionics that have shown the good, the bad and the ugly of the political landscape. It has shown how the best and the worst in people come out in times of crisis. I had to laugh at an article in the New York Daily News telling New Yorkers to stop whining. Being a native of NJ and spending a lot of time in the city that one had me chuckling.

One story is emerging from all of this, however, shows what the combination of Twitter, social media savviness and the desire to help can do. And frankly, it is inspiring. The mayor of Newark, NJ, Cory Booker has been using Twitter to chronicle his street level efforts to help the people he has been voted to govern. He is helping people get help in a true time of need and all the while making a political star shine brighter (a win / win). He has taken this chance to possibly set a bar so high for public officials that it can’t be matched (especially because it requires being in shape, being mobile and apparently giving a crap!).

TechDirt reports

He’s been tweeting up a storm, as he travels around Newark helping to plow streets and dig out cars and help people in trouble. As you look down the thread, he’s specifically responding to different people calling out for help — either sending people to help or showing up himself, such as the case of the woman who was stuck in her home and needed diapers, which the mayor brought himself.

The TechDirt write up also talks about how he handled someone who was angry but also not doing the right thing. It’s a classic. Here is an example of his tweet stream still today.

I don’t know this guy’s politics other than he is a Democrat but what action like this does is actually transcend the artificial barriers we place around people due to ideology and makes people concentrate on the simple word that should be the one we all aspire to in 2011: action.

Was it a publicity stunt? Who cares?! If people were helped then let’s have every PR person and political consultant on the planet take classes in this kind of ‘stunt’. We need ‘stunts’ like this. We need people getting social media like this.

It’s a pretty cool way to help close out 2011 actually. Rather than concentrate on the people who use Twitter in the most superficial way let’s take a look at someone who did something with it that had some real clout. This guy gets it in a way that others need to as well.

I have a soft spot for Newark, NJ. Growing up in NJ it was the big, nasty city that you only went to to get on a plane or have your train speed through it. It always felt like there was unrealized potential. Recently a friend of mine said the following on Facebook

At The Pru Center for Nets v Hawks. Wish I had a zillion bucks, because I’d buy Newark and treat it right. Such a beautiful and sad city.

That made me think. Now, as a result of Mayor Booker’s efforts I am thinking some more. I am thinking that maybe it’s not a zillion bucks that are needed to help but rather people who care like Cory Booker and a way to truly connect them like Twitter.

Here’s to an action filled 2011 and more people truly ‘getting it’.

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