One of the fastest growing social networking sites in ‘08 was Ning - outpaced only by Twitter and Tagged.
Oh sure, you’re thinking, that Ning thing….
It’s OK, I didn’t get savvy to Ning.com until recently either - and I join virtually every social media site I come across (unless it falls in the “jackass” category of pix ‘n video of drunk people falling down.)
Despite its decidedly Dr. Seuss-y name, Ning is actually a very useful and easy way to build a social networking community of your own - centered around a personal interest, business concept, whatever. (Free if you use the .ning.com suffix; $5 a month if you use your own URL.)
Ca-Ching for Ning?
Big question in these economically stressed times: Can you make money and/or extend brand leadership using Ning? Appears so; here are just two examples I came across in the Ning phenomenon:
Fire Engineering - B2B Ning set up by giant US mainstream publisher, PenWell; prominently displays how to subscribe to their magazines and their e-newsletters.
Oracle - long a leader in Web 2.0 ventures, the software giant lists in Ning as “the social network for Oracle people” and clicks through to an established URL.
Rather than customer-facing Nings - a la Facebook pages - it appears that most company Nings, at this time, are intranets (for employee eyes only) and for HR-recruitment purposes and, of course, the plethora of grassroot communities (happy and not-so-happy customers and the unwashed masses… think Facebook groups.)
Use Ning to Learn About… More Social Media!
You can even join a Ning group to learn more about Ning and the other gazillion social media tools and channels that are taking off with a bullet. (Yeesh, eh? SM can be a real day-drainer; keep your eye on the prize, folks: brand lift, online reputation management, viral buzz about your company.)
For example, at Beginners’ Guide to Social Media for Home Businesses, 895 members share tips n’ tricks for smaller companies learning how to blog, facebook, twitter, ning, squidoo, linkedin, delicious, youtube, etc. etc. ad naseum.
