i-Lights

Ten Niche Social Networks for Your Consideration

A fancy looking invitation arrives in your mail. The return address doesn't look familiar, but you're curious enough to want to peek inside. Quickly, you rip open the outer flap and pull out a pale blue linen paper card with a gold-embossed message inside.

"You have been selectively chosen to join an elite gathering, tailor-made for people who enjoy (fill in the blank). This gathering is not a trick or a come-on. If you often (fill in the blank), then this opportunity is certain to please. Please do not second-guess our intentions. We are a driven and committed organization dedicated to connecting people like you to other like-minded people. If this is the kind of gathering that interests you, kindly respond so that we can send you more detailed information."

What would be your response? Most people would be curious enough to want additional information., although some would simply toss the pale blue invite in the trash.Bringing prospects onboard is critical for  successful niche networking. Once they arrive, the next hurdle is in keeping members coming back for more. Successful networks thrive through repeat activity of active members.

Niche Social Networks Foster Positive Online Connections

In yesterday’s article, I briefly explored the concept of niche networks as marketing tools, offering to further review their usefulness as today's topic.

But before opening the subject as a general discussion of niche networking, let’s step back a moment to examine how i-Lighter simplifies the process of network marketing and social media, making both more enjoyable and efficient.

The primary concept behind all social networks is “share.” Sharing enables connections. I say, “enable” because the act of sharing must be meaningfully reciprocated before an actual connection is created. Building connections from scratch on any type of social network is both unpredictable and time consuming. Stumbling a link to a particularly interesting article, tagging it, and assuming fellow stumblers find it interesting enough to forge a connection is a speculative exercise.

There is no magic formula when it comes to social zen.

Niche Network As Marketing Tool of the Future

Back in the days of dinosaurs, a new and improved model of product marketing emerged as Amway took the nation by storm. Beginning as invite only parlor meetings in the homes of top members, Amway’s multi-level business model lured hordes of the uninitiated into meetings typically billed as “fun and easy money.”

After the pitch, many signed on as members, generating huge income streams for their sponsors through sales of everyday products, usually to friends, families, and co-workers. The model worked best for those with the most members underneathe, but members without a significant lower level could still profit from their own sales.

To this day, Amway continues to exist in slightly mutated form. I like to think of its business model as the precursor to modern day social networks. The basic structure has evolved significantly. Rather than network through a top-heavy system of multi-levels with the earliest members becoming the most successful on the backs of those at the bottom, social networks function on the principal of spider web marketing. Every strand shoots off in a different direction, giving the anchoring spider a support network to promote product or services.

Surprise! I-Lighter Accounts Have a Firefox Update

Surprises are a double-edged sword. With equal power to delight or disappoint, the timing and context of a surprise separate good from bad, welcome from the unwanted.

For instance, imagine yourself on a warm spring day strolling along 5th Avenue in Manhattan, admiring the tony window displays. You're having a grand old time blending in with the throngs of people, taking time with the sights, drinking it all in. Suddenly, your ex-significant other, let's say your high school sweetheart, emerges from the entrance to Tiffany & Co. at the exact moment you decide to walk inside for a closer look at the merchandise. You do a double take, maybe stare a second or two until the light of recognition simultaneously spreads across your faces.

Ah, yes. The one that got away is suddenly right at your door. You smile and exchange pleasantries, perhaps mention the prospect of coffee sometime soon. It's pie in the sky, but you don't want to appear rude or bitter. After all, you weren't the one who ended the relationship, even though you've definitely moved on.

Happy or awful surprise? I suppose that depends on whether you're happily married or involved in a committed relationship.

I-Lighter Partners With WrapMail and Tells Mac Users to Come On Download

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Fabulous news about i-Lighter should be making its way around the blogosphere right about post time. If my calculations are correct, it may have happened sooner than that. This inside scoop is so significant, I bumped the regular Monday morning user spotlight feature to make room for it.

Tah-da! I-Lighter is now Mac compatible!

That's right. At the same place existing users find and download i-Lighter version 2.1, Mac users can finally get a first bite of the apple. See first hand why the yellow bot is taking the Internet by storm. Exciting, yes? I feel a slight hint of tingle.

Mac users heeded calls for patience, despite the urge to jump ship. Now, i-Lighter rewards that level-headedness by encouraging all Mac users to come and get their free download while they're hot. Be the first Mac user on your block to blog, tag, or tweet about anything on the web.