Cisco Systems announced on Monday one of its most unusual deals: it has purchased the technology assets of Tribe.net, a mostly forgotten social-networking site.
It is a curious pairing. Cisco, with 55,000 employees, makes networking equipment for telecommunications providers and other big companies. Tribe.net, run by an eight-employee company called Utah Street Networks, has been trampled by newer social sites like MySpace.com and Facebook.
But along with the recent purchase of a social network design firm, Five Across, the deal will give Cisco the technology to help large corporate clients create services resembling MySpace or YouTube to bring their customers together online. And that ambition highlights a significant shift in the way companies and entrepreneurs are thinking about social networks.
The new social-networking players, which include Cisco and a multitude of start-ups like Ning, the latest venture of the Netscape co-creator Marc Andreessen, say that social networks will soon be as ubiquitous as regular Web sites.
Anyone here ready to sign up for MyDvorak?
I’d sign up for mydvorak in a heartbeat.. I’ve made a mint from marketing to bands on myspace.. Now if I could only hit the tech side of the house..
techies need my products too, but they don’t have profile type websites with groupies.. (well except this one)
#2 – Besides bullshit, what do you sell?
ATA cases.. Server rack cases, tradeshow cases.. etc..
Hit me up if you need one..
http://www.maxlinecases.com
or
http://www.myspace.com/maxlinecustomcases
I have a dirty mind…
I misread Cisco and read Crisco instead and all I could think of was fisting parties XD
#3 – You’ve got cool stuff. You’re convinced that social networking gives you a better sales channel than other means?
James Hill beat me to it. Why are those sites better than more traditional web-based sales techniques?
James..
Did you look at my myspace profile? I have over 17000 bands listed.. and I can add hundreds of thousands from around the U.S. they can talk to me personally and I can them back.. its a lot more personable than using a sales@ they like it when I drop them comments and if I go to their shows and take pics and post them they love me.. plus I sponsor and endorse bands.. Plus I use it as a way to get people to my website.. rather than just herding people who may or may not need my product to my site via dirty tricks.. I can point people who definitely need my product right to my site.. I get way more traffic from myspace than I do from google yahoo and msn.. and I have some great rankings on them all too..
So for selling to bands.. Myspace is totally the way.
Now for tradeshow and tech stuff.. well the ole search engine is the best I can do so far.. Its tough personally marketing to large companies because you can’t get past the front desk.
wow part of my comment got lost.. after the sales at part…
Anyway.. I should also mention that being a persona on myspace does wonders for word of mouth.. Most every band in Portland knows me or knows of me or the company. I get references from other people all the time. I had a (college)classical music instructor call for an obscure custom peice..
A tripleneck acoustic from 1820’s well he mentioned he needed a case for it, to his class, and 3 people said hit up (me) at Maxline..
I’ve brought up our music sales from less than 5% to about 20 % of our total sales.. and its been more than 75% of febs work alone. Guess the Tech folks are still getting ready for their spring and summer tradeshows.. anyway.. I’m hooked, its been an awesome tool for marketing..
so when is mydvorak opening up?
Raff – very cool info – thanks!
Raff, this is interesting stuff, but I have two questions with what you’re talking about:
1. What percentage of that 17000 have been converted into sales?
2. Do you worry that once the MySpace fad dies all of the work you’ve done to develop this channel will be for naught?
There is no such thing as a “social-networking” website. Social implies friendly, communal activities. This is in direct contrast to scores of teenage boys sitting at computer screens posing as middle aged experts on a variety of topics who occasionally trade JPEG pictures of a woman taking a dump on some guys chest. That isn’t social-networking.
James.. not a huge percentage.. probably 5% or less.. which isn’t that bad because usually my customers are spending 200.00-300.00 or more when they buy something from me.
but theres also a thing called branding.. or brand recognition. so even if I don’t sell to person A.. they may later tell person B about me or come back to me when they are in need for a product. Either way they have a link to my site on their own site and they like it.. so I can’t complain about that.
And On question 2.. I’m not really worried per say. Is it worse than spending several grand on an ad in a magazine or newspaper that only runs once? I’m sure it will go by the wayside eventually just like geocities did, but by then there will be something better to market with.. plus I still have my regular website which is still doing well naturally with the search engines.. (meaning I don’t subscribe to paid links) as they say all good things must come to an end.. but I’ll be riding this train for the foreseeable future..
11. Is that what you do? You shouldn’t say theres no such thing as a social networking site just because your a social invalid…
I personally use it to talk to many of my friends and acquaintances and to send out fliers and bulletin for events and happenings. I’ve met lots of people from myspace and various other websites whom I hadn’t known before and its always been pretty fun and interesting. Many of them I still talk to and many of them are repeat customers..
Well thats my take.. take it for whats its worth..( which unless your in marketing will probably be nothing..) : )