MySpace isn’t just for teenagers any more. Social networking will continue to be a key online activity this year, with 44% of US consumers using social networking at least once a month in 2008. MySpace and Facebook will continue dominating the market but there are changes ahead that will extend social networking activities allowing user profiles to become portable. With this portability, consumers will be able to use their single profile in many different places on the internet. Social networking will also be an enhanced feature offered when shopping online, searching and even sending e-mail.

According to Debra Aho Williamson, Senior Analyst with eMarketer.com, Ad spending on social networks is projected to climb from $ 920 million in 2007 to $1.6 billion in 2008, which represents a 70% growth rate. Targeted advertising will continue to cover the bulk of the $1.6 billion, but other forms of social network marketing like advertising, widgets and e-commerce, will catch marketers attention.

Social networking is just one tool that can be used to reach your target market. On these social networks you can post your company bios, blogs, videos and more, to extend company presence.

Stay tuned for more “New Ways to Reach Your Prospects”.

www.forbes.com

In a recent podcast published by imedia.com, Ron Bloom, CEO of The PodShow predicts a 5/50 shift among media consumers over the next five years. That is, in five years, 50 percent of all media consumed will be created by other consumers.

Bloom asks, “what will happen to your brand?’” in such an environment. “With a dramatic shift in the way consumers consume and create, consumers will find their way into networks where they will spend as much time creating content as they do watching it.”

This potential shift marks a rapid evolution in the way media providers, marketers, advertisers, and the marketing communication industry will offer and deliver services. If marketers, business developers, and entrepreneurs don’t pay attention, their stick-in-the-mud, traditional marketing plans will become fluff in the dust.