SocialGO Blog

SocialGO is a Great Marketing Tool

When the owners of Earthlings started their SocialGO network, they weren’t yet ready to sell their baby clothing products. Even so, they persevered and built a healthy, online community so that when they were ready to sell, they had constant access to a specifically targeted consumer base. “We thought, why not start a community? We can have the ball rolling even before we get our products online,” says Hannah Shone, Co-Owner of Earthlings.

This article from MarketingSherpa.com shows you the seven key strategies of how Earthling owners, Thickpenny and Shone, made the transition from socializing to selling.

http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article.php?ident=31555

Press to Impress

“SocialGO have come round all the problems that people were having with Ning. And today, they are heading fast to make Ning outdated. In most of the cases, they out do Ning.” From “Ning or SocialGO?” by Shouvik Mukherjee, associatedcontent.com, March 04, 2010

“SocialGO…is building in extra tools to make a true profit center out of social media …you not only get all the typical social networking features…but also e-commerce tools so you can sell to them…you can white-label the site so it looks like you built it without any help from SocialGO.” From “SocialGO Monetizes Social Networking for Biz” by Eric Griffith, PC Magazine, December 4, 2009

“[SocialGO] will make consumers more interested in what you have to sell because they get to become a part of it…If you don’t have the time or resources to build your own website, let SocialGo do it for you.” From “Build a Social Network for Your Small Business” by Linda Roeder, About.com, November 17, 2009.

“SocialGO’s social networking sites let businesses, organizations and entrepreneurs…[create] online communities with full content and member control, monetization, and customization features.” From “SocialGO Rustles Up $800,000” by Amy Tierney, TMCnet, January 19, 2010.

“SocialGO is surprisingly easy to install into your own website….the data and the loyalty belong to you…if you and your website leave SocialGO….take your users with you. SocialGO will not spam your users…asking them to join other sites in its network.” Scott McGrew, NBC’s Tech Now, December 12, 2009.

“…when PinkNews…wanted to launch a social networking service…I just recommended they use SocialGo.com — a service that lets anyone start their own social network within minutes.” From “Meet Ben Cohen: The 27-year-old teenage millionaire” by Benjamin Cohen, Wired.com.UK, February 9, 2010.

“I first thought [SocialGO] was Ning on steroids but…it was much more user friendly than Ning – and had a lot more going for it…If you’re looking for a robust, integrated and ‘enticing’ social network with excellent customer service SocialGO is a platform worth considering…you not only can create a great social network – you can actually create an entire website around your social network.” From “SocialGo: A Rather Irresistible Social Network Builder” by Nicky Jameson, Nicky Jameson on Copywriting, Marketing Tech and Social Media, February 7, 2010.

“SocialGO has…features that are useful to small business owners who are not tech savvy.” From “Build a Social Networking Site with Ning, SocialGO” by Tasha Cunningham, The Miami Herald, October 5, 2009.

“While creating a social network…is a daunting prospect…it’s actually easier than you might imagine. SocialGO…lets you build and maintain a professional level social network tailored to your own requirements.” From “Interview: SocialGO” by Will Freeman, CasualGaming.biz

“A Rather Irresistible Social Network Builder”

“A Rather Irresistible Social Network Builder” - the title of a blog written about SocialGO by Nicky Jameson on February 7th, 2010.

“If you’re looking for a robust, integrated and “enticing” social network, with excellent customer service SocialGo  is a platform worth considering. If there is something that’s not on this social network, they are probably adding it or it’s on the list to be added. I first thought it was Ning on steroids but after trying it out I thought it was a lot more user friendly than Ning – and had a lot more going for it. You can be the judge….”

To read the rest of Nicky’s blog, check out the article here. You can also read other blogs from Nicky here.

SocialGO in 2010

A very happy new year to the whole SocialGO family! We have kicked 2010 off to a fantastic start and the whole team are very excited about the year ahead.

First of all, we are delighted to announce that Vikrant Bhargava has joined our board of directors. Vikrant is one of the world’s most successful internet entrepreneurs and will be playing an important role helping to define our strategy going forward. We are really excited about working with him to grow SocialGO in the months to come. As Monday’s press release put it:

Bhargava, who brings a wealth of expertise in internet-related industries to SocialGO, co-founded PartyGaming plc and is largely credited with taking that company from start-up in 2001 to nearly $1B in revenue by 2006.

Secondly, myself and Steve Hardman who founded SocialGO with Dominic Wheatley in 2007 will be joining the board as joint Managing Directors.

The SocialGO team is also growing with the addition of two new developers. Mark Hamlin and Chris Beck have joined us as work continues on Version 2 of SocialGO. Version 2 will be a completely new code-base to power our networks bringing a combination of new features, improved speed and greater customization. It is still in its early stages of development but we are really excited about what it will mean for niche social networking. We are laying the foundations to make SocialGO the platform of choice for building social networks online. It will represent a big leap forward for SocialGO when it launches this year.

We have new features coming to SocialGO networks in the next few months including a new chat system, a classifieds system and more. More information will be posted on the SocialGO Owners Blog and via @socialgo.

Advertising on Social Networks

2010 is going to be the year of advertising on social networks.

Smart network owners quickly learn the huge potential of selling advertising space on their networks. Users will encounter these ads daily and they can be used effectivley both by small local businesses and by large international corporations. The fact that this form of advertising facilitates direct access to obscure, diasporic, niche consumer groups makes it a revolutionary market tool. Ads on social networks are going to be big news in 2010, this is what eMarketer magazine is saying.

Earned media (or free media) is also going to be an important marketing term this year. Earned media refers to the publicity gained through methods other than paid advertising. Posting relevant information on forums, blogs and websites can build up hype about your product and consumers share their opinions about the product with other relevant consumers - thereby allowing businesses to access the target market without having a hefty marketing budget.

12 Inspiring stories of Social Networks

Anyone who is familiar with the Internet knows that social networking has changed the way it is used. Rather than spending hours browsing, many users simply access a handful of sites on a regular basis, particularly social networks. Some research has shown that now, social networks online are even more popular than pornography. But despite these impressive facts, it isn’t simply a case of casting a net, putting your feet up and waiting for the big haul. Network owners can dramatically improve their chances of success by adding content that will not only attract curious browsers but will keep them coming back for more. Ask yourself, what do people need that I can provide? where is the gap in the market? This blog, taken from mashable.com, tells some inspirational success stories about people who have truly benefited from the power of online social networking.

12 Inspiring stories of Successful Social Networkers

SocialGO NBC Website of the Week

SocialGO was lucky and enough to be featured as NBC website of the week!

Check out the video above and reblog if you so wish.

Seasons Greetings from SocialGO

Hello Network Owners!

Firstly, warm wishes from myself and the whole SocialGO team this holiday season. It has been an amazing year for SocialGO, with the maturing of the service from a 6 person team with a product in BETA through to the launch of our premium services and a team of 20 in our London and San Francisco offices. We remaincommitted to helping people build successful communities whilst allowing them to own and export all their own data at any time.

We have aggressively rolled out new features in the past 12 months to make SocialGO the single best place to build monetized online communities. We are committed to maintaining this going forward and have an action packed 2010 lined up with a major refresh of the core platform currently being planned.

To help this growth, we are expanding our development team (2 new members joining on Jan 4th!) and investing in our infrastructure to increase the performance of your networks as the continue to grow and prosper.

Thank you to all our committed network owners who continue to give us valuable feedback and help us shape a service that is right for them. You are the people that help make SocialGO what it is today.

From all the SocialGO team, have a fantastic holiday/christmas and new year!

Alex Halliday
SocialGO Founder

About.com - “Build a Social Network for your Small Business”

Published November 17th, 2009.

SocialGO is helping small business owners get the word out about their products and services. Many of us struggle to advertise what is it we’re trying to sell, whether it be something physical like soap or something virtual, like websites. SocialGO is here to help.

Read the full article here.

Mashable’s 2009 Open Web Awards - Vote For SocialGO!

SocialGO is in the running for Best Social Media Gadget in Mashable’s 2009 Open Web Awards. It’s an international online voting competition that covers innovations in web technology and achievements in Social Media.

SocialGO needs your votes!

Click on the image above, connect to your Facebook or Twitter account, and click submit. The whole team appreciates your votes, and don’t forget to tell your friends! Thanks!