Google has recently unveiled its new social networking service — Google+ social network — to take on Facebook.

The Internet search engine giant said its social network will meet the most basic human needs to connect with others.

From in.finance.yahoo.com:

Aiming to take advantage of flaws in networking on Facebook, Google said, ‘Today, the connections between people increasingly happen online. Yet the subtlety and substance of real-world interactions are lost in the rigidness of our online tools. In this basic, human way, online sharing is awkward. Even broken. And we aim to fix it.”

Google said, ‘We’d like to bring the nuance and richness of real-life sharing to software. We want to make Google better by including you, your relationships, and your interests. And so begins the Google+ project.”

It would offer options of networking, including ‘Circles’ interface for adding friends and sharing ‘what matters, with the people who matter most’ and ‘Hangouts’ interface for group video chat.

The New York Times said ‘At stake is Google’s status as the most popular entry point to the Web. When people post on Facebook, which is mostly off-limits to search engines, Google loses valuable information that could benefit its Web search, advertising and other products.’

The use of full color LED billboards is the latest development in the segment of on-premise advertising. This is not just because this advertising mode is affordable but also because these billboards are proven attention-getters and draw the attention of potential, busy customers far better and for far less than one might think possible.

One of the best things about LED billboards is the ability to communicate with imagery, which is the most powerful and result-oriented form of communication in the world. If that is not all, an LED billboard can easily turn itself into a landmark or message center used by potential customers on a regular basis. Moreover, LED billboards put the message front and center in a way that just cannot be missed by the targeted audience. This advertising mode also offers a high degree of flexibility and the message can be changed at any time or any way.

The list of benefits associated with these billboards does not end here – the associated cost per view is incredibly low, far lower than that of advertising via radio, newspapers, and television. A business opting for LED billboards can easily experience gains of 15 to 150 percent in the context of saved money that could have been incurred, in the absence of the LED billboards. In addition to that, businesses opting for LED billboards can even write off the entire asset as a business expense in the year of purchase, subject to income limitations, even when leased (under IRS Section 179). These and many more advantages allow advertising companies to schedule multiple clients per day, provide customized packages, and sell more of advertising space at one location.

Static billboards, on the other hand, do not offer such advantages. One of the hurdles before static billboards is instantaneous communication. The message to be conveyed cannot be changed at ease and will. Moreover, resources such as time, money, and manpower are wasted on setting up a static billboard or relocating it to satisfy the ever-evolving needs of a modern day business. In addition to that, static billboards do not offer the same advantages (such as incredible uptime, image quality, maximized ROI, streamlined efficiency, and safety) as LED billboards.

In short, the advantages of LED billboards work together for streamlining every facet of digital billboard advertising to help your grow business at an incredible pace.

If you are looking for solid leadership quotes, these inspiring quotations will surely make a difference to your life.

The NBA is never just a business. It’s always business. It’s always personal. All good businesses are personal. The best businesses are very personal. – Mark Cuban

You can fool all the people all the time if the advertising is right and the budget is big enough. – Joseph E. Levine

A business has to be involving, it has to be fun, and it has to exercise your creative instincts. – Richard Branson

The entrepreneur always searches for change, responds to it, and exploits it as an opportunity. – Peter F. Drucker

The great leaders are like the best conductors – they reach beyond the notes to reach the magic in the players. – Blaine Lee

To think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted. – George Kneller

To the degree we’re not living our dreams; our comfort zone has more control of us than we have over ourselves. – Peter McWilliams

The enemy of the truth is very often not the lie – deliberate, contrived, and dishonest – but the myth-persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. – John F. Kennedy

Long-range planning works best in the short term. – Doug Evelyn

No enterprise can exist for itself alone. It ministers to some great need, it performs some great service, not for itself, but for others.. or failing therein, it ceases to be profitable and ceases to exist. – Calvin Coolidge

Live daringly, boldly, fearlessly. Taste the relish to be found in competition – in having put forth the best within you. – Henry J. Kaiser

Porn websites were among the big winners after Google made a change to its page ranking algorithm.

This finding was revealed by German Analytics Company Searchmetrics.com, compiling lists of the top 100 losers and top 100 winners of the change in Google’s algorithm.

From Newswire.xbiz.com:

KeezMovies.com,YouJizz.com, PerfectGirls.net and SitesLike.com were among the porn winners with the update, known as Panda. Even file sharing site FilesTube.com was in the top 100.

Panda lowers the ranking of sites with aggressive advertising and recycled content.

Searchmetrics says that it has performed an analysis of 8 million different keywords in the U.K. in the past 10 months that shows the impact of the recent update.

The list of losers and winners was calculated using its Organic Performance Index on a week-on-week basis, according to a keyword’s search volume, position and statistical value of the traffic distribution.

These sites may have won a favor with Google but many big names including Microsoft-owned comparison site Ciao have brought anti-trust complaints against Google.

The two big German cities, Cologne and Dusseldorf, have selected “Meetropolis” as the name for jointly advertising as appealing locations for meetings and congresses on an international scale.

The new marketing cooperation was initiated by the Convention Bureau Dusseldorf and the Cologne Convention Bureau.

From Traveldailynews.com:

Initiating the new marketing cooperation “Meetropolis” Cologne and Dusseldorf now intend to leverage their benefits on an ever broader base while still emphasising their individual strenghts. This is also the brief for the conception of advertising materials and the joint presentation at trade fairs.

To Josef Sommer, CEO of KolnTourismus GmbH, of which the Cologne Convention Bureau forms part as an independent competence centre, the two cities with their new marketing alliance create a win-win situation for all parties involved: “Not only our two cities Cologne and Dusseldorf profit from the shared advertising image but also interested congress and event planners. Under the new brand you will find from now on all relevant data on our metropolitan region from a single source. This reveals our operational excellence at a glance.”

Hilmar Guckert, CEO of Dusseldorf Congress Veranstaltungs-GmbH, that runs the convention bureau Dusseldorf in cooperation with Dusseldorf Marketing & Tourismus GmbH, is also convinced of the long-term success of the “Meetropolis” Cooperation: “Both Cologne and Dusseldorf hold an enormous potential for organising large-scale congresses and meetings. Both cities combine high economic power and excellent infrastructure with a charming flair and impressive diversity. Thanks to the new marketing cooperation we can leverage our benefits even better competing with international destinations and canvass and bring more and other important events to our region.”

The first official “appearance” of the two Convention Bureaus will take place at the International Meeting Exhibition IMEX, Frankfurt from 25 to 27 May 2010.

An industry group has recently disclosed that using skilled marketers could accelerate growth of modern day businesses and both small as well as big businesses now understand the need of their importance in attaining long-term expansion.

It was remarked by Ray Jones, head of communications and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, that businesses get “good value” from their marketing dollars with the help of a search engine optimization company or online PR agency.

From Clickthrough-marketing.com:

Ray Jones, head of communications and external affairs at the Chartered Institute of Marketing, said that working with a search engine optimisation company or online PR agency can help to ensure that businesses get “good value” from their marketing spend.

“In both small and large businesses the key role that marketing plays in terms of stimulating growth is fully recognised these days,” he added.

Mr Jones’s comments come after the latest Monster Employment Index showed that online recruitment activity in the marketing, PR and media sector rose by 12 per cent, indicating that spending on advertising and promotion is on the rise.

According to figures from IPG’s Magna, UK advertising revenues are expected to grow by three per cent this year.

It added that the value of the country’s media economy is expected to top £11.3 billion in 2010.

This news is expected to offer some respite to businesses that have been troubled by the waves of recession in the recent past.

If you have never heard of the concept of “honest marketing” or think it does not work in today’s cutthroat business world, you need to think twice.

Let us start the journey of this blog by having a frank discussion. Have you ever come across and know a small yet successful business that gave or is still giving stiff competition to a big business? (This business can be related to any product or service and may include your nearest grocery store or a small brick and mortar company.)

If the answer is a yes – which it surely would be – then find out how things were effectively managed by this business despite lacking the big power of money or advertising. You will find that honest marketing was what contributed greatly to this success saga and this is what most businesses fail to understand.

The point to be conveyed is that it is always better and recommended for a business to accept its weakness rather than luring customers by making false claims and losing them all in the long run besides brining a bad name to business ethics and professionalism.

Tips for Honest Marketing:

If the product or service has a shortcoming, a business should be frank to admit the same. It is best to work on the weaknesses and inform the customers that things are expected to be better in a specific time frame and informing them when things have been sorted. Furthermore, it is best to put down all business terms and conditions in a font size that is easily readable rather than luring customers by concealing what should have been said and saying what should not have been said.

In short, honest marketing is the thin line of difference between a successful and unsuccessful business in the long run.

In bygone days, a small business used to succumb to the infrastructure of the big businesses while promoting its products and services. But, this is not the case any more as online business marketing now provides a level-playing field to all the participants (small as well as big businesses). This clearly means that a small business is able to make necessary moves to ensure that its prospects are realized on a continuing basis just like a big business.

Let us have a close look at some of the advantages offered by online business marketing to get a clear and complete insight on the usefulness of web.

Since the Internet never sleeps and can reach local, nationwide and global audience in no time, it becomes easy for a small business to promote its existence and offerings to the general public and other interested parties such as vendors and investors etc.

A website is like an extended shop or outlet for a business that never gets closed. It stays attentive to the critical business needs and objectives to ensure that the business is able to achieve its predefined objectives without any deviations.

Since the web offers uninterrupted and seamless solutions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days a year, a business availing its services is protected against any internal complacencies and inefficiencies.