Last weekend I helped to do some viral PR and event promotions, so I started by publicly inviting my larger social networks, such as going.com. Then I updated my Facebook status to tell my closer network of friends to meet me at the venue. Once inside the event, I sent up to the minute tweets to my Twitter followers, and the buzz grew from there. Like it or not, social networking has recently become the #1 activity on the web. In a competitive business market, it's important to stand out from your competition by tapping into the power of social networks. So, this month, I welcome to SPARK PLUG our guest blogger and social media marketing expert Jeremy Mays, president of Transmyt Marketing.  
 

According to a new report from eMarketer, the resistance to using social media is rapidly fading.  However, what is not fading (and never will), is the need to stand out.  With Facebook and Twitter, user numbers are on the rise. So, it's almost an obvious choice to work these platforms into your overall strategy. But do you risk becoming just another page in your fans' endless list of pages? Maybe.

Then why not start your own Social Network?  What you stand to gain is great. Imagine being able to harness the power of sharing your brand, spreading your message, and getting real-time feedback from your customers, all while allowing users to do what they mostly want to do online in ever increasing numbers... SOCIALIZE

• Social Media has recently become the #1 activity
  on the Web
   
• 1 out of 8 couples married in the U.S. last year met via Social Media
   
• Years to reach 50 million users: Radio (38 years), TV (13 years), Internet (4 years), iPod (3 years), Facebook (100 million users in less than 9 months), iPod app downloads (1 billion in 9 months)
   
• By 2010 Gen Y will outnumber Baby Boomers, with 96% of them having joined a social network
   
• More than 1.5 million pieces of content (web links, new stories, blog posts, notes, photos, etc.) are shared on Facebook daily
   
• Companies care more now about how their social graph ranks their products and services than how Google ranks them
   
• 25% of search results for the World's Top 20 largest brands are links to user-generated content
   
• If Facebook were a country, it would be the world's 4th largest
   
• 80% of companies are using LinkedIn as their primary tool to find employees

The concept of starting your own social network or online community is not new. Companies like Communispace build and monitor online communities for some top brands, while online tools such as ning.com allow you to build out your own Social Networks.