Brand Names, Social Networking & Worst Internet Words

Top UK Brand Names
YouGov have been in the news following one of their many surveys. This time it was on Brand Names within the UK. 3265 of their panel members accessed 1450 brands to come up with the top ones for the UK.

Microsoft came in as number one, knocking Coca-Cola off top spot, with Google at three but surprisingly no eBay on the list.

UK's Top Ten Brand Names
1. Microsoft
2. Coca-Cola
3. Google
4. BBC
5. BP
6. British Airways
7. Lego
8. Guinness
9. Mercedes-Benz
10. Cadbury
It's interesting that when the Superbrands Council marketing experts did a similar survey Google were in first place, followed by Apple and eBay.

YouGov require further Panel Members to complete surveys and polls for payment in USA, UK and the Middle East. They are a genuine company - I have made £42 ($84) with them to date.

Social Networking
Though the likes of Google and Yahoo dominate the Internet the big growth area is Social Networking. MySpace is by far the largest with 189 million users followed by Bebo with 35 million and Facebook with 30 million.

It is, however, Facebook and Bebo that are growing the fastest. So much so that, if they can continue increasing at their present exponential rate, they could be up with MySpace as early as next September. It's unlikely, however, that they could actually do this.

The UK Friends Reunited has now 19.6 million members and it is estimated that 53% of adults in Britain have joined. The website was started in a small semi-detached house before being purchased by the television company ITN for £175 ($350) million.

Worst Internet Words
Going back to YouGov they also did a survey on disliked new words associated with the Internet. The one considered worst by 2000 panel members was 'folksonomy', which started as an amalgamation of the words 'folks' and ' taxonomy'.

The survey was conducted to mark the 10th anniversary of the word 'weblog' - which is now, of course, shortened to 'blog'.

Other disliked words included netiquette (online etiquette), blook (book based on a blog) and webinar (online seminar).

The one I don't like is 'blogosphere.'

That's all for today.

Good luck,
Mike.

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Celebrity Insider - Photos & News. We have 'those' Amy Polumbo photos plus Liz Hernandez and K-Fed get together and Becks and Posh are off to the USA.

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78 Year Old Tramp Has Thousands Of Friends On Facebook

After writing yesterday about MySpace and how, with lots of friends, it may be a way to make money I read today a story about Facebook.

The question of getting a 'brand' and lots friends seems to be possible in all sorts of ways. Here is an extreme example.

To quote from today's Daily Mail newspaper:

'The Social Networking phenomenon that is Facebook has found an unlikely star in Gordon Roberts - a 78 year old tramp.

The Gordon Roberts site has more than 4,500 members after just a five weeks. And it is turning a local (Bournemouth, UK) character into an international cult figure.'

There is now a group featuring Gordon which invites friends to share photographs and memories of him. An average of 200 members have joined the group every day including people from Australia, America and South Africa.

This all goes to illustrate the power of Social Networking if you can find a way to put a different slant on your, or someone elses, profile.

Moving on ...
I wrote in my last Money Making Weekly Report that I hadn't made any money with AuctionAds . Today, however, I see that I have broken my duck and have made the grand sum of $4.58!

It's still not very impressive as my stats show that, to earn this, I have had 37,775 page impressions which produced 392 clicks. At this rate of conversion it will take quite a while to make any decent money from the program. I'll carry on for a few more weeks and will let you know how I progress.

And finally ...
Gordon Roberts, the tramp as mentioned above, has the ability to tell the time accurately without using a watch. There is a very short video on YouTube showing him doing this here. There is some bad language on the video.

And on that note ...

Good luck,
Mike.

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Celebrity Insider - Photos & News. Yesterday 888 people wanted to read about Cynthia Rodriguez - find out why.

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Money Making With Christine Dolce And MySpace

I'm aware that the 'in' Social Networking site at the moment is Facebook but, when a respected publication like the Economist writes about MySpace, you have to listen. Especially when the theme is money making.

The Economist writes:
'MySpace seems to offer a chance for companies to take their marketing into new, potentially more lucrative territory, by becoming, in effect, members of their customers' network of 'friends'. A growing number of firms have established their own pages on MySpace, to which users can link.'

This is of interest but they also talk about someone who has been dubbed as the Queen of MySpace, Christine Dolce. It seems that a lot of companies and commercial enterprises are wanting to link up with Christine Dolce. In fact some already have.

The giant company Unilever, for example, has hooked up with Christine to promote a deodorant called Axe.

So what is so special about Christine Dolce?

Well she's a bleached, buxom, blonde but this isn't why a company like Unilever goes courting.

What they want is access to her MySpace friends.

Ms.Dolce is one of the top profiles on the Social Networking scene and she has 900,000 friends. This is what makes her Forbidden page on MySpace so attractive.

It's all about Friends! It's all about Christine Dolce becoming a brand.

Was Unilever's promotion with the Queen of MySpace a success? Yes!

Unilever wanted to get at the 18 to 24 year old young men, which is the market for Axe. Christine Dolce hosted an interactive game, called 'Gamekillers', based around dating tips and designed subtly to promote Axe. Some 75,000 MySpacers signed up.

This illustrates the mammoth potential of Social Networking sites for making money.

From becoming a MySpace Queen Christine now has her own website forbiddenxo.com and her own line of denim fashion wear. She also does photo shoots, public appearances and so on.

Okay Ms.Dolce has certain advantages. She's attractive, in a sort of Pamela Anderson style, and doesn't mind posing half naked - and, funnily enough, this appeals to many male MySpace members.

There must, however, be other ways to become known and a brand within the Social Networking world.

I know a while back I wrote a post Friends - Are They A Waste Of Time? but maybe I'm changing my mind about this. I'm looking at the whole thing now from a different angle.

Friends might just equal money making - in a subtle way and without spamming of course.

Since thinking about this I see there is even software downloads that can help with getting friends. Friend Adder is an example.

In writing this post all I want to do is to give some food for thought. Draw your own conclusions.

It's like the alchemist looking for gold.

Just one idea, one special post, one chunk of publicity can work in a viral way to create a new stream of income. Perhaps Social Networking could be the key. It's worth thinking about.

CNN also have an interesting article on Making Friends And Money On MySpace.

Good luck,
Mike.

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Celebrity Insider - Photos & News. Yesterday 973 people read about Ana Paula Oliveira and said Happy 40th Birthday to Pamela Anderson.

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