As politicians of all stripes follow Barack Obama’s precedent setting social media campaign from 2008, I’m starting to wonder if they can really be this clueless. After all, what have they been doing for the last 4 years? They’ve had no particular use for social media since 2008, yet they expect us to engage with them now that they’re hopping on the bandwagon.

Another social media flop is ad agencies. A new report from RSW/US and RSW/Agency found that while 95% of U.S. ad agencies are using social media to identify potential clients, less than 10% of their new clients are coming to them through social media.

Evidently they didn’t pay attention last year when the Nation’s Restaurant News published the results of their own industry survey. In that case, it was specifically for Facebook, and they discovered that while 65% of restaurants were using Facebook to market themselves only 3% of their customers were interested.

Naturally, the agencies blame social media for the poor results. Listen to this week’s show for the real reason why they’re getting no social traction.

And we wrap up the show this week with a look at Yahoo being on the bidding block. Google and Microsoft are interested in financing a purchase, although neither company wants to directly own Yahoo. Strange, but true.

More importantly, there’s a particular line in this story that really raised my ire. It ties everything together this week, and is a stinging indictment of all the profiteers and opportunists. This one piece is the best possible evidence for why we need to revive capitalism.

The flat out truth is that YOUR MESSAGE SUCKS!

On the other hand, there are thousands of bloggers out there with engaged, active and purchasing audiences. And they’re interested in what you sell – whether that’s accounting, home repairs, or doctor’s visits. There’s a blog – a popular blog – for every interest.

Collective Bias has built a community with over 1,200 of those bloggers. Their results are phenomenal precisely because they’re tapping into the conversations that are already happening. Just like we talked about in last week’s show with the Occupy Wall Street movement, the UAW contract talks, and the Sims Social game.

So in this show, I walk you through what Collective Bias is doing with their bloggers. It’s something you can do for yourself – just hook up with an already popular blogger. Now, I won’t kid you. Tracking the results takes effort, and the payoff is well worth that effort. A campaign done earlier this year for K-Mart resulted in a 51% increase in year-over-year sales.

Then we take a look at what’s in it for the social media services. We know what’s in it for us as business owners, and some of what’s in it for us as consumers, but have we really thought about what’s happening to our information?

We wrap up the show with an in-depth look at how you can tap into the social media that’s happening all around you. The conversations are already in motion; all you have to do is join in.

There’s a special question for you at the end of the show. Collective Bias wants to know what you think –whether you’re really listening or just sitting on the sidelines. So stay tuned for the question, then send your answer to listeners@theconradhall.com.

This week we look at that research, and more research that shows just what kind of customer businesses are most likely to attract through what has quickly become the standard approach to social media.

To show the most effective means of using – and profiting – with social media, our second story looks at current examples of how everyday people are using social media. These are practical examples that show you what your customers want in their social media experience. If you’re going to use social media profitably, you have a definite need to listen to what your customers want.

To see what works in action, our last story looks at an event that’s happening in Chicago. More importantly, we look at a company that’s connecting business owners with consumers so they get meaning, and increased sales, from the relationship.

That’s really the theme of this week’s show – relationships.

The market was fat for a long time. Long enough for business owners to get the idea that all they have to do is “get their message out there” to pull in customers and profits. We also got the idea that customers were disposable. That’s a big part of why we now experience such atrocious customer service on a regular basis.

It’s also why business owners are failing to engage or profit with social media. They’re so accustomed to easy sales that in this tougher economy they are unprepared for relationship marketing. That’s what social media is really all about. You’ll see that during the second story when we look at how it is that Sims Social, Occupy Wall Street, UAW contract talks and even Steve Jobs’ passing have become such popular topics.

86 people paying $97/month equals $100,104 per year. Small number of people paying a fairly small sum.

Groupon says 80% of people actually redeem their daily deal coupon. And retailers hope that’s true because when that number goes up, they really start losing money. Now we have a lot of people getting a big discount and it’s driving business owners out of business.

This week, the whole show is focused on getting the real meaning of phrases such as “Go Big Or Go Home,” and “Bigger Is Better.” There are good uses for these phrases. The problem is that we’ve forgotten what they are.

From LinkedIn to Facebook to Google and Yahoo – everyone is enraptured with the idea of having access to a huge audience.

Open Networkers on LinkedIn think they’re making a value statement when they declare having thousands of first level contacts. The gurus and pundits declare there’s inherent value in advertising on Facebook and Google because of their massive audiences. But how many of those first level contacts do the open networkers actually have relationships with? And just how many people seeing your ad on Facebook or Google are going to do business with you?

The answers to these questions are clear in our first story. We look at specific reasons why people WON’T click on your ads, and just how much value is in someone having thousands of first level contacts on LinkedIn.

In our second story, we look at the trend toward mobile computing. “Everyone” has a smartphone (actually, smartphones account for around 37% of cell phone usage), is getting a tablet, or has an Apple device, right?

Well why should that matter to you and your business? It’s corny, I know, but just like our mom’s always said: Just because your friends jump off a bridge, does that mean you jump, too?

There are a lot of folks screaming about one of the many new and shiny objects. They’ll tell you each one means the difference between life and death for your business. Right. That’s pure poppycock.

I have said from the beginning that business have survived quite nicely without the internet and social media, and they can go on surviving without using them. Can these things bring in new customers, create new sales, and make for a better customer experience? Yes, they can. And I agree that you should give serious thought to using them. But they are a long way from determining the success or failure of your business.

Listen in and hear what the trends are with mobile computing among consumers. More importantly, hear just how simple it is to tune in to these trends and benefit your business.

Then we wrap up the show with some resources you can use – online resources – to get inexpensive office space, book events and even sell physical products.

And most importantly, we close this week’s show with a few choice words about what “bigger is better” really means. And you hear how you really should “go big or go home.” It all revolves around the Value Of One.

The rise of violence in Mexico has caused news outlets, and even the authorities, to stop covering what criminals are doing. In response, citizen journalists are spreading the news and helping to keep people safe. But the criminals don’t like being tweeted about.

In countries where freedom is not guaranteed, social media has become a tool for survival. Listen to know what’s happening, and how you can support the citizen journalists.

That same journalistic spirit is alive and well with Social Media: Cheap and Easy. Amazon listened and shows signs of turning toward capitalism with their digital library efforts. They’ve literally joined with public libraries and now it’s possible to read that borrowed e-book on your kindle.

We also look at the changes Amazon is making to their kindle. It’s in colour now, and the new version can be pre-ordered on Amazon.

It has been a while since I’ve seen Facebook in the news for so many stories. They’re introducing new services – which seem to making a lot of folks upset. They’ve also decided to form a political action committee and start funding candidates.

That’s definitely too bad since it signals that they’d rather keep stepping on people than clean up their act.

And they’ve signed a bunch of deals with corporations. Facebook is no longer for sharing the college experience, or even dissing the girlfriend that recently dumped you. Now Facebook is all about collecting your data and making you – the audience – the product that’s up for sale.

Think I’m wrong, crazed, or on the money? Let us know at listeners@theconradhall.com. And join the conversation at www.TheMarketingSpotlight.com.

Very few online music services are profitable, and they have a model that causes them to lose money every time a free subscriber joins. After all, even “free” music requires a royalty paid to the record companies. Pandora, which had a successful IPO, has yet to make a profit. Martin Scott from Analysys Mason estimates Spotify had a $6 or $7 million dollar profit in 2010, and Rhapsody’s president – Jon Irwin – says they’re just at the break even point.

So even though getting in front of Facebook’s 750 million users seems like a good opportunity, it’s going to put a huge – possibly devastating – strain on their cash flows. Keep in mind that all those new, “free” users cost the services royalties to the record companies. And Facebook has a declared model of taking 30% commissions from their business victims, errr…partners.

My question is: What is Facebook doing to work WITH these services and ensure their success? Or is Facebook simply going to stand by and see which are able to survive?

We lead off today’s show with a Call To Capitalism going out to Facebook.

All the daily deal sites – and the merchants using them – are taking a hit in the pocketbook thanks to a new industry springing up. There are now aftermarket sites for un-used daily deal coupons.

Business owners are already crying “Uncle” under the rapacious terms from daily deal sites. They’re depending on the 20% of daily deal coupons that go un-used – only now the aftermarket sites (such as Lifesta.com) are making that un-used percentage goes down. And profits are going down for everyone in the process.

Listen now to hear what the winning model is – I’ll give you a hint: It’s an extremely Capitalist approach.

And we wrap up the show with a big dose of irony. Google is getting slapped by AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft.

At the same time that antitrust officials around the world are rallying against Google, they’re standing silent while AOL, Yahoo and Microsoft band together to attack. They’ve decided to sell ads for one another while excluding Google.

I really go to town on this one. Google’s no innocent babe, and I touch on their mistakes, too. But what these other monkeys are doing is exactly what the antitrust officials are after Google for.

Think I’m wrong? Care to start an argument, or leave a comment? Go to www.TheMarketingSpotlgiht.com to join the conversation. And you can always send an e-mail to listeners@theconradhall.com.

The stories this week are all about companies that claim to be capitalist. Are they? Or are they just profiteers and opportunists who no longer understand the meaning of capitalism?

In the latest effort to establish an e-book lending library, Amazon is putting forward their plan. It’s different from what Google tried, and definitely different from what a group of research libraries has done (and those libraries are currently being sued by authors).

Will Amazon be successful? The answer lies in whether Amazon chooses to be capitalist and stick with their origins, or abandon capitalism for pure opportunism. When Cornelius Vanderbilt moved from steamships to railroads, there’s no question he did it because it looked profitable. There’s also no question that the basis of the profit was developing a reliable transportation system across land for business owners and passengers.

Vanderbilt used capital (and capitalism) to produce the needed transportation systems, and got wealthy in the process.

Is Amazon pursuing an e-book lending program because they want to help authors spread their ideas, make our live better, and benefit society? Or are they doing it simply to pursue profits – a.k.a. profiteering. (The original name for pirates was profiteers.)

Google has purchased Zagat – the restaurant review site.

This fits with Google’s pursuit of dollars being spent by small business on local advertising. Having a site such as Zagat is one more way for Google to service this “newly discovered” market. But will Google serve, or merely exploit?

The biggest dispute I have with purveyors of space advertising – which is one of the things Google plans to do with Zagat – is that they know nothing about, and often discourage, direct response marketing. For example, the Yellow Pages has attained renown for discouraging business owners from tracking the response rate to their ads.

So what is Google going to do? They’re in an excellent position to create a self-qualifying ascension model for business owners. Those who want to track their return-on-investment can proceed up the ascension model, and those who see no need to track response rates can stay at the bottom. Putting this into place gives Google additional revenue streams at the same time that they actively help local businesses become stronger and more profitable.

This is capitalism.

If all Google does is expand the review categories available through Zagat, then use the additional pages to sell advertising space, then they’re profiteers – plain and simple. Personally, I vote for the capitalist approach and am willing to roll up my sleeves and help. Is Google up for the challenge?

And we wrap up the show this week with a story about cable television going mobile. That’s right, they’re getting in on the mobile market, too. And they’re doing it well.

So far, DirecTV, Dish Network, Comcast, Cablevision, Cox, Verizon FiOS, and AT&T U-verse are all in on the project. It gives current subscribers access to all their TV channels through mobile devices – tablets, smart phones, laptops.

For an industry that’s suffering because viewers are being drawn away by the internet and mobile computing, this is an incredibly well conceived idea. One that the record companies could have profited from, and one that book publishers should pay attention to. (Think Amazon and the explosive growth happening in self-publishing and print-on-demand services.)

The cable companies have been working on this for two years. It shows signs of being capitalist in nature – they have put up the capital, are taking the risk, and expect the payoff to come from regaining lost viewers. Compare that to Amazon wanting to take the existing concept of the lending library – a free, public service – and convert it to a subscription based service so they can increase their profits.

You be the judge. Who are the capitalists and who are the profiteers? Listen to this week’s episode and join the conversation on my blog at www.TheMarketingSpotlight.com

This week, we look at why every customer experience is important – online and offline. Plus we look at how to make them better.

Our starting point is Amazon.com. They have been getting social media right for a long time.

We look at how Amazon’s “closed attitude” toward social media has brought huge benefit to Amazon and their customers. Now that they’re adding more social media elements, it’s worth out time to pay attention to what they’re doing and how. After all, when’s the last time you saw Amazon being raked over the coals for violating privacy or making people angry?

Which brings us to listener questions. There have been so many, we’ve had to sort them out into categories. So this week, we’re looking at questions that relate to giving prospects and customers a good experience.

Russell Taylor asks “How would you go about using LinkedIn to market your product or service?” It’s a common question, and one that can easily take you – and you business – down a dangerous road.

Raffaella Gagliano asks “What social media strategy can I use to promote a cultural event.” She doesn’t say what the event is, so I use Caribana in Toronto as the example. It’s an exciting event that could easily be boring if promoted poorly.

This leads us into a question from Chris Conroy: “How do you produce a video for your company/organization? Do you do it yourself or hire a professional video producer? What are the main considerations?”

Then we wrap up with a question from Dahna Chandler. Dahna asks “Which platform will give us the best reach without a significant learning curve or financial investment?” Dahna and his father want to start a podcast and they’re looking at different podcasting platforms.

To be honest, the question shows a common train of thought among business owners. Dahna has it completely right by looking for a service that easy to get started with. Blog Talk Radio is one of them. You can get started quickly, and keep learning as you go. But the idea of looking for a platform to give you a lot of reach is where we start to go astray.

A platform can be hugely popular and still not give you or me any great reach. That term, “reach,” means being able to get the attention of lots of people. It’s up to you and me to keep that attention once we get it. And that’s what we look at in answering Dahna’s question.

You can let me know when you have questions by sending an e-mail to listeners@theconradhall.com.

We know that our customers naturally split into different groups. This week, we look at how that’s happening right now. Almost a quarter of North Americans are NOT on the internet. At the same time, half of all U.S. adults are using social media.

Talk about a split in the marketplace!

And what do you do when 30% of young adults (ages 16-34) get miffed when they see a business marketing itself through social media? So much for all the cow-pattie gurus screaming “use social media or die.” Obviously they’re out of touch with the marketplace.

The New York Times ran a story this week showing how Conde Nast is increasing their use of social media (specifically Twitter and Facebook) for the web versions of W, Style.com, Glamour, Self, Teen Vogue and Lucky. And the Pew Research Center released the results of a survey that show 50% of all Americans are using social media.

Yet a quick check at Internet World Stats shows 22% of North Americans are not even using the internet – let alone sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. And that level of non-use goes up rapidly on other continents. The next most-connected area is Australia – where 40% of Australians are NOT using the internet.

So what’s the deal? How are we supposed to connect with our markets?

The answer is glaringly simple: More than ever, you – the business owner – need to pay attention to your customers.

As much as I think Seth Godin is pretty cool, that fact is that you’re not looking for a herd. You’re looking for flocks. Let the big corporations handle the herds. Local Business must stand out by tending to their flocks, caring for them, and building strong relationships.

When you walk into Wal-Mart, Target or any other big business, you’re just a cow to them. They’re going to make their sale and that’s all they care about. Fatten the cow, kill it, next.

But when a customer walks into your shop, they’re a sheep. You care about them and make sure they’re protected. You shear their wool, make sure they’re happy, and send them out to grow a new coat. And the more you focus on highlighting this very real difference in attitude, the more often your customers return to your shop.

So listen closely, and discover how to communicate with an increasingly segmented marketplace. Then send your questions to listeners@theconradhall.com.

Jerry Lewis is making his last appearance on the MDA telethon this year. It’s being broadcast for only 6 hours, and is slated for September 4.

It’s the end of an era. One that began the same year I was born. And Jerry Lewis built a social media empire long before Meetup, LinkedIn, or even the internet. Every year, thousands of people took action to support Jerry’s Kids. He started cause marketing before anyone knew what it was. And he raised over $1 Billion in the process.

Farewell, Jerry Lewis. You have made the world a brighter place.

In another direction, Office Depot, Jay Abraham and GSG WorldMedia are launching 4 social media magazines. But are they worth the effort?

These magazines have a claimed subscription value of $197 – except no one has ever subscribed, and they’re giving the magazine away for free! So who’s going to bother paying $200 a year for something they can get free? But look on the bright side – Office Depot now gets to charge more for advertising in these magazines because they’re “custom publications.”

And Groupon is moving into real estate. Crain’s Chicago says the Groupon founders – Brad Keywell and Eric Lefkofsky – are seriously considering the purchase of the Wrigley Building in downtown Chicago. Groupon has also filed papers in Switzerland to open a headquarters for their non-U.S. operations.

So we know daily deals are profitable for Groupon and all their imitators. Just like the new social media magazines will likely be profitable for Office Depot, Jay Abraham and GSG WorldMedia. But is any of this really helping business owners? Is this capitalism – or just opportunism?

You know someone’s not really important when they spend a lot of time telling you how important they are, right? Well, that’s what Facebook has been reduced to.

Chris Cox, VP for Product at Facebook, said “It has to be clear that Facebook is a leader in how people control who sees what.” (New York Times, 23 Aug 2011) Only Facebook is the site that relishes making you jump through their hoops, and keeping control for themselves. And Mark Zuckerberg is the guy who claimed people don’t want online privacy – just before he tightened up on his own online privacy.

So guess what, Facebroke…You’re not the leader when you’re following the example of another company. Google+ added 29 million in one month, and Facebook is now playing catch-up. They had a good opportunity – just like social media magazines and daily deals – but they squandered it by putting their focus on getting rich. It’s Scrooge come to life.

Take a lesson from the real capitalists. The people took enormous risk to build railroads, establish shipping companies, and build cities – these are capitalists. They got rich by doing something that benefited everyone. What we’re seeing today are paltry opportunists who’ll jump ship and move on to the next gold rush as soon as this one goes dry.

If you’re Google, what do you say to agreeing to pay 12.5 Billion for a company – and then having to wait while the government decides whether you’re allowed to buy it? And why do they want a cell phone company anyway?

Their answer is slightly different from our answer. They’re looking at it from a business angle, and we look at that. But more important is what it means to us as consumers and business owners. We spend a little more time looking at that.

At the same time, Google is teaming up with Zynga. That’s partly because games are popular in social media, and partly because Google owns part of Zynga.

And while Google adding games to Google+ is interesting, it’s far more interesting to consider the consumer value this places on social media. What do you do when your customers look at Facebook or Google+ as a game center?

The New York Times claims we’re too plugged in. And they might be right, but I don’t think so. They make some good points about the use of blogs and social media sites, but I think a much more important point is one they miss completely.

It’s getting steadily easier to tell whether your customers are online. That’s a boon to any business owner wanting to segment her in-house list. Listen in to find out how you can get it done.

And we wrap up the show on an ironic note – IBM claims the PC era is over.

It’s hard to imagine anyone being quite this wrong about anything, but Mark Dean has managed it. Judging from what we have available to us today, Mark has no idea what personal computing is all about. And that’s aside from the fact that 400 million PCs will be shipped in 2011 alone. Maybe he was just trying to make a splash. (I think he’s just all wet.)

Have a question or comment? Send it listeners@theconradhall.com. We’re happy to hear from you.

The unfortunate part is that the daily deal sites – Groupon, Living Social, Google Offers, and others – are positioning themselves in just that way. They have followed the example of the yellow pages. Yikes!

Today we walk through 3 specific steps your business must take when using daily deal offers. They are a good way to generate customer traffic. Holding onto those customers, and getting them back into your store, is entirely determined by the actions you take.

And we keep going from there. Online shopping is up by 14%, so tying into a daily deal program is a smart move. Today we cover two more trends that help you turn those first date, daily deal customers into lasting relationships. Because it’s all about the lifetime value of a customer rather than the one time cost of getting them in the door.

Here’s a phrase to remember: Make A Sale To Get A Customer

Because most businesses are getting customers to make sales, and that’s why most businesses are struggling today. They have to keep bringing new people through the door to keep making sales. It’s time for you to take advantage of the fact that the easiest customer to sell to is one you already have.

Have a question or comment? Send it to me at mailto:listeners@theconradhall.com

Kinda gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling to know you’re having an impact. J

This week we also look at what business social media sites are really in. And it isn’t connecting you with friends, old classmates, or helping you find true love. It’s not even helping you build your business.

You’ll be surprised at what they really doing, and why you should be following their example.

The stories this week cover the new dot-com bubble, Google+ pulling 25 million users in a month, and Facebook buying an e-book publisher. They look disconnected, don’t they? But these three stories jumped out at me from all the others that passed across my desk this week.

Listen to this week’s show to see how they all tie together.

And a quick answer for several listeners who wrote in asking where/how the show is recorded. We record in Illinois, and we use a custom recording room in my home. It’s nothing grand or special, just a quiet room and a high-quality microphone. For recording and editing, we use Audacity. It’s a free program, plus it allows the recording to exported in different formats. I learned how to use it in about 3 minutes – literally.

Have a question about a resource, comment on a show? Send it listeners@theconradhall.com.

That people are willing to share their information is a boon to every business owner. Big corporations will use it to be more competitive, and local business owners can use that consumer willingness to absolutely dominate their own market; even against the biggest of corporations. We look at how to do that at the top of the show.

Why would a hacker care about your business? Precisely because consumers share their information, and you have it in your records. Fortunately, protecting yourself and your customers is a simple and easy to do. Today we look at a specific example of how a Chicago retailer dropped the ball, and how you can avoid making the same mistakes.

We all knew the day would come when e-books outsell print. Amazon reports that it has finally happened, and a lot of the gurus are moaning and wailing about the demise of bookstores. I say “bushwhah,” and “poppycock.” They don’t know what they’re talking about.

The rise of e-books is the biggest opportunity ever handed to local business owners and especially indie bookstores! This is a technology that lets us take the concepts and actions that made Walt Disney World a global destination and apply them in our local market.

There’s no way you can listen to this week’s show and not have questions or comments. Send them to listeners@theconradhall.com.

We’ll take a look at how some ordinary businesses can go beyond exceptional service into the realms of experience and relationship.

And a once reliable source for information has definitely bitten the credibility bullet. eMarketer ran two stories – a week apart – that directly contradict each other. Did they think no one would notice? Well, I did. After I paste them across the wall, we’ll take their bonehead reporting and show you how to do good things in your business, and for your customers.

Then there’s Carri Bugbee. A marketing professional who dove into social media and bumped her head.

Her original article claims 7 ways to integrate social media on your site, but 2 of them were so bad I just dropped them completely. Listen to hear what the others are, which ones are good, and which ones you should “run screaming away from.” And we have a little fun in the process.

Think I’m wrong? Want to set me straight and share your two cents worth? Send it to listeners@theconradhall.com

Dr. Oz is the “front guy” for RealAge. A site that purports to give you the latest scientific and medical advice available – all for free. They even tailor the information you receive by asking you to fill in a survey; an incredibly detailed survey. Unfortunately, the companies that sponsor RealAge have something other than your best interests in mind.

Other companies frequently produce articles and reports that showcase a problem, and then show how they solve it. Surveys about how useful and effective social media is for acquiring new customers is no exception. This group of companies is actually bold enough to print “creating a profile on a social network” is the most effective marketing or advertising tactic used by small business owners.

Now, I don’t dispute that this really is the result of the survey. I’m sure it is. I’m also sure they spent a lot of time crafting the survey to get the answers they want. So listen in today and discover how you should really put social media to use for your business. I cover it in 3 easy steps.

And then there’s Google+. We can look forward to this being in the news for quite a while yet.

But does it really have the potential to help your business in ways that other social media sites can’t? The answer is yes. And most of the other commentators, gurus and experts out there are, unfortunately, missing the real value of Google+. Heck, I’ve already run across several who are completely blowing it by dropping everyone into their “Friends” circle. What a waste.

Google is doing you a tremendous favour by keeping a lid on Google+. This is your opportunity to prepare, to get ready for Google+ and blow the doors off your competition when you get in. And I walk through exactly how I’m setting up my Google+ account to do precisely that in my market.

If you have questions, comments, topic suggests – even criticism – send it tomailto:listeners@theconradhall.com.

News Corp has finally been able to sell MySpace. And they only took a $501 Million dollar loss on the deal. Once the king of the social media sphere, could the fate of MySpace foretell Facebook’s future?

Criminals are committing more and more cyber attacks against small business websites. What can you do to protect your investment? The answer is surprisingly simple.

And Nevada is paving the way for Google, GM, Stanford, Cornell and others to drive their robotic cars. Nevada has passed a bill asking their Department of Motor Vehicles to develop new rules for robot cars. Watch out Will Smith!

Google’s first two swings were Wave and Buzz. They both went bust, and it looks like Google has learned from their mistakes. Still in Beta, Google+ has been opened to a fairly large audience of testers (tens of thousands) and looks plenty sweet. It does what Facebook – and every other social media site – should have done from the beginning. It makes social networking useful, relevant and easy to do.

Xaxis is a new service launched by WPP (a large, global advertising firm). Xaxis is modeled after Google’s interest-based advertising. Advertisers choose from over 1,000 interest based categories to be able to target their advertising.

What makes this a big deal is that Xaxis, through WPP, has access to a database of over 500 million profiles; the largest such database in the world.

This puts your privacy – and how to protect it – smack in the middle of the spotlight. Listen to today’s show to know why you should be concerned, and what to do.

And companies of all sizes are bringing social networking in-house. Companies such as SalesForce, Yammer, Cisco Systems and SuccessFactors make it possible for you to have your own, internal social network. Could it be that social media is about to go the way of the CB Radio?

CB Radios were a big deal back in the 1970’s. Smokey and The Bandit (a Burt Reynolds’s film) came out in 1977 and made this handy two-way radio into a pop culture hit. Everyone had a CB in their car, camper and even their living rooms. Today, CB radios are back to being used by truckers, RVers, and park rangers.

With businesses getting serious about using social media wisely, could it be that some of the social media hype will die away? I think so. And I have a pretty good example of what social media is really all about – word of mouth advertising.

Listen to this week’s episode of Social Media: Cheap and Easy. Then tell me what you think at listeners@theconradhall.com.

To be sure you get there, here’s a link to David’s site: www.davidjenyns.com. If you’re using YouTube, be sure to download and listen to David’s interviews with Paul Colligan and Gideon Shalwick. No optin or sign-up is required.

German researchers have found abundant security problems with Amazon’s cloud computing services. And they’re all caused by you and me not following directions. How does that grab you?

It’s an important point because the boo-boo’s they’re pointing out could let someone else access your account and rack up a lot of charges. What’s more, the fix is super easy. So listen in and make sure you’re protected – especially if you’re just starting to look at using more Amazon services.

Have you heard of NFC? No, it’s not a new government security program. In fact, this “new” technology has been around for quite a while and you’ve probably used it. NFC stands for Near Field Communication. Maybe the best example is the express pay option at gas stations where you just wave your credit card at the pump to pay. That’s NFC in action.

What’s changing is that retailers are looking at combining it with your smartphone. All you do is add a chip to the smartphone – just like your credit card has a chip in it. Then you pay by punching in a PIN on your smartphone and waving it at the swipe terminal. It’s not much different from swiping your debit or credit card and punching in the PIN, right?

What is different is the vast array of marketing options that open up to retailers because of the data your smartphone can give them. So listen in to know what’s happening, what it means to you , and what you can do about it.

Google has added some cool features to their local and mobile search functions. They make it easier for people to find what they’re looking for, and that means it’s easier for you to get found. Hear how they work today.

And Twitter users want you to talk to them. The question is: What service can you use to find the right questions to answer? Lucky for you, I have an answer to that question. Listen and discover how to sort through the Twitter trash for your business treasure.

All this and a little bit more on this weeks’ show with Conrad Hall, the Social Network Insider.

The reports came from InfusionSoft and HubSpot. Both have the potential to be useful, but the report from HubSpot is mostly a collection of shiny objects.

In all cases, you need to be aware that those “free reports” are often thinly disguised marketing devices.

Then we’re on to YouTube and their search for new content stars. The key point here is that every business owner can make use of video. Forget the Hollywood production and making it “look perfect.” I’ll show you real, profitable examples of video that are home made.

And we wrap up with a look at Facebook Pages. As you know, we recently built a Page for Justin Bieber that collected 114,000 fans in 2 ½ days. But what good is that? The answer is in the show, and more importantly – how you can use Facebook Pages to build a lead funnel for your business. I even use a live example we’re doing for a client right now.

Facebook found itself in the New York Times, USA Today, ComputerWorld, and hundreds of other papers, blogs and newscasts this week. Many of them on the same day.

It turns out that Facebook hired a PR firm to run a smear campaign against Google on – of all things – privacy issues. Naturally it backfired and everyone now knows Facebook was behind the malicious and pointless attacks. At the same time, Symantec told Facebook about yet another hole in its own security.

On the bright side, Facebook took immediate action to correct the hole that has been in place for several years. So maybe your personal information wasn’t shared with anyone. On the dark side, Facebook denies the hole in the security exposed anyone information. I guess Facebook lives in a special dimension. It’s the one where they get to ignore that their games (Farmville, Texan Hold ‘em Poker and Frontierville) were secretly sending user information to advertisers.

Let’s face it…providing advertisers with detailed profiles of Facebook users has been, is, and always will be, part of Facebook’s business model. As Chris Palmer, technology director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says “Therefore we can expect for this kind of security failure to arise again.”

In a demonstration of how an internet giant can actually do something useful, Google is testing automatic cars in California. In fact, they’ve already driven over 140,000 with automatic cars – including a thousand miles along Hwy 1.

Now, the cars aren’t empty during the test. They drive automatically, but there is someone in the driver’s seat and second person in the car monitors all the equipment.

Google has had such tremendous success with this new technology that they’ve asked Nevada to permit testing of the vehicles on public roads there.

Join Conrad this week as he explores these and other stories in the world of social media, and shows you how they impact your business.