Letche recently has expanded Beezbox Enterprise Social Networking platform into the African market. On Friday, we signed up a new Enterprise 2.0 project with a reputable banking institution. “We look forward to transforming the manner in which business is done with this lead”. A beta version of this servcie will be launched in a few weeks. For Letche and Beezbox it is going to be a pleasant experience expanding and exploring this emerging new market. We are looking forward to launching the first full fledge ‘Banking Social Network’ in Africa to join the global names like Wesabe, Zopa, etc…

Watch out for more details coming soon!

-Paulette.

Journalists are obsessed with Twitter. Obsessed. They use it, talk about it, analyze it, deconstruct it, reconstruct it, love it, hate it, capitalize on it, become experts on it, monetize it, argue about it, and become micro-famous on it. They are mesmerized with what it is and they are as giddy as Tom Cruise on Oprah just thinking about what it could be.

Last Wednesday, MediaBistro held a panel discussion titled, “Journalists and Social Media: Sources, Skills, and the Writer.” The panelists included NYU professor and PressThink author Jay Rosen, NPR senior strategist Andy Carvin, BusinessWeek.com community editor Shirley Brady, and Daily Beast columnist Rachel Sklar. The four journalists discussed which social networks they liked best,…Read more

Hanging out online is no longer for teenagers and college coeds, the professional adult is tuning in to social media. Research shows adults are taking over social networking sites. On that note: Oppenheim Pilelsky, P.A., a boutique law firm focusing on Florida foreclosure law, introduces today its social media outreach program with coverage on Twitter, YouTube, and Yelp, in addition to its blog focusing on South Florida foreclosure trends.

Social media networks harness the power of the web in an interactive way, allowing for more “face-time” with consumers. Recent findings from the Pew Research Center say the percentage of adults who have profiles on at least one social-networking site has skyrocketed to 35 percent, up from only 8 percent in 2005…Read more

Jesse Torres, banker, author and social media expert, highlights in a Perspective article in the February issue of Bank Technology News (www.AmericanBanker.com/btn), the need for banks to implement a social media solution.

Within the article, It’s About the Social Not the Network, Mr. Torres states that “banks are realizing the need to implement a social media solution in order to differentiate themselves from the competition and to take an early stake in winning over the hearts and minds of the social network generation.” Mr. Torres further states that “if banks fail to understand the nuances of marketing on social networks, they will quickly find themselves abandoned by users. For this reason it is essential that bankers understand the finer points of navigating the world of online social networks in order to maximize the resources invested in developing a strategy that incorporates this attractive but finicky segment of the online world.”

Mr. Torres, who released in December 2008, The Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing, believes that most businesses implementing a social media strategy, including banks, do not understand that the key is to focus on the “social” element rather than the “technical” aspect, as being most important.

In The Community Banker’s Guide to Social Network Marketing, Mr. Torres addresses social networks, user demographics and the role of social networks within the greater sphere of social media. Also addressed at length is the development of viral marketing programs, consumer advocacy, conversational marketing, metrics and common pitfalls.

Jesse Torres is President and Chief Operating Officer of Security Savings Bank in Henderson, Nevada.

Of all the users on sites like Facebook and MySpace, the ones most eager for new friends might be the marketers. But like any successful friendship, the relationship needs to be a two-way street.

Online social networks started as digital watering holes where people could connect. Now, companies are increasingly using social media, hoping to sell their brand or get their message out where consumers interact continually.

Because social media capture unfiltered conversations and help to spread information quickly, the chatter on comment boards and blogs serves as impromptu focus groups that provide direct feedback to marketers.

But the two-way flow can be a risk for companies unaccustomed to dealing directly with consumers…Read more

The viral contagiousness of online social media and web 2.0 has also infected the mobile domain. The rise of social networking applications on mobile devices has guided the attention of the industry to the interlinked nature of mobile networks/communities. Social Network Analysis (SNA) is an emerging and innovative tool that allows a detailed understanding of networks of users. Knowledge about the relationships between mobile users is a great asset as it can be used to create more effective advertising campaigns. The analytics also reveals consumer preferences and indicates lifestyle patterns. These insights enable service providers to more effectively market new services and optimize customer management… Read more