Recently Google has been developing their online apps, these are essentially programs to aid the chore of everyday Internet activities. One example is Google Wave, which allows users to remotely collaborate on documents. Also Google has recently acquired DocVerse, which enables Internet users to collaborate with many of Microsoft’s programs, like Excel. Well now Microsoft wants to get into the cloud application market in order to keep up with the competition. It seems as if the company has created a perfect opportunity with the upcoming releases of Office 2010 and Sharepoint 2010. Windows Live users will be able to access simple versions of OneNote, Excel, Word and PowerPoint by means of their browser, but the catch is that some features are restricted to the full edition. So what is the difference?

“The difference in our platform is simplicity,” said Google Docs project manager -Jonathan Rochelle

These two companies have been competing for several years now and it seems like the war has only just begun.


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This article focuses on a leverage point that many companies have not yet realized, and that is their employees. Their employees are the face of the company itself. The author states that for a staff of twenty people, that almost equates to 2 million connections. Thus, if given the opportunity, it very likely that the company establishes a "social brand," where there are real people talking to real customers. He uses Starbucks as a classic example, referring to them as one of the leaders on employees and branding. As employees start speaking well on behalf of Starbucks, on top of good customer relations, it also creates a socialized image of the company because their employees are social, and therefore the company and brand is associated with being social and real. He states in the next few years, business is going to see a new focus: hospitality.

I think the author makes a very valid point, as I personally love to go into a store and have a friendly conversation with the person behind the counter. At Starbucks, I have never experienced someone who was unfriendly, and it is a genuine friendly, not the " Hi, welcome to Taco Bell..." that is mumbled and sounds like part of a script. If companies become more aware of the employees and how they feel about their employer, they could either use it and advance themselves, or the company can ignore it and get left behind.

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Guy Kawasaki explains 10 luxuries of having a LinkedIn profile and how it can help you in your job search. To start, they include getting the word out and getting recommendations from colleagues. He next explains that through advanced searches you can find out where people with your background are working, where people at a company came from, and where they go next.

He then explains that you can also check if a company is still hiring, contact the hiring manager, and get to the right HR person. A very helpful point was to find out secret job requirements. Lastly, he recommends that you can find start-ups to join and build your network before you need it.

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Although major brands have embraced social media marketing, until now a basic question has gone unanswered: How do you quantify the economic value and other contributions to the business and brand of all these activities?

Here are 6 things everyone should know about the new Facebook Connections, the program Facebook has put into place that makes aspects of your person profile "connections" that link to various people to form networks:

http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2010/05/things-you-need-know-about-facebook

Lyrics:
On the Internet, marketing takes
Some hard work, and a few lucky breaks
But I'm too tired, and I'm too busy
So I'll just sing this song

Cuz on the Internet, music is great
But you're wrong if you think that it's easy
Cuz your song must be catchy and pleasing...