YouTube blog has announced the release of the beta version of Video Annotations . Video annotations allows you to add commentary to your videos - interactive commentary at that. To quote the YouTube blog: With this feature, you can add background information, create branching )"choose your own adventure" style( stories or add links to any YouTube video, channel, or search results page " at any point in your video.

The latest craze in social networking is microblogging through sites like Twitter - a form of communication similar to SMS. They say that microblogging is a great way to share with others what you're up to in any given moment. There has been a lot written recently about microblogging and the amount of time it can take out of your regular routine. My rider to that is simple - if you let it. For social networking it appears to be quite successful.

One of the benefits of being active within the various social sites is your ability to turn social marketing into a link building exercise. Social marketing as all about connecting with individuals in similar genre's to your own. As you build up credibility you will find more and more individuals visiting your site pages. When they do, they will sometimes bookmark your page. Every time your page gets bookmarked, it is gaining a new link.

Marketing to the Social Web: How Digital Customer Communities Build Your Business is the ideal book for anyone looking to market through the social web. Larry Weber understands that the world is going digital and it is only an advantage for those looking to be competitive in their market. Although brands can speak, customers speak louder than ever through these social mediums and it is up to you to keep up to date with these tools.

Many website owners take on the role of social marketing themselves and it can often be a great idea. After all, who knows your products/services best and who is best placed to answer any questions? You are! The problem with undertaking the social marketing role yourself is knowing where to start and what to do. We have published many posts here that may answer some of those questions. However,

Social networking is supposed to be the practice of expanding the number of business or social contacts and in the online world can be achieved by developing a presence on social networking sites. The theory is that people use these sites to make contacts that could be good for them and their business, however, without the social sites, they would be unlikely to have met otherwise. It sounds good in theory and for many individuals it works and works well.

Every now and then an opportunity in social marketing raises its head and this week is one of those weeks. Erica O'Grady, social media coach and consultant, is delivering a training session through a free live broadcast on UStreamTV. The broadcast, to go out live on Monday June 2 at 3pm )EST- US(, will cover personal branding and show you how to increase your blog's traffic using social media tools such as Twitter. A social marketing lesson not to be missed.

Some would say, if my customers don't use social networks, why should I? One response could be, 'what about the potential for new customers?' I tend to take a different path. Everyone has the potential to be influenced. This post may influence you. When looking at social marketing we are often told to segment that market and to target those that fit our potential customer profiles. That is fine. What if my customers are children?

Social networking is one of the hallmarks of Web 2.0, however many businesses have found entry into this environment confusing and daunting. Its that first step that has been the most daunting of all, and not without good reason. The question asked is whether or not they need to be involved in the social networking or social marketing scene or any other aspect of Web 2.0. Most consultants would reply that you can not afford to not be involved.

The more I read the more I find that individuals are realizing the benefits of social marketing through Myspace. The latest little tidbit comes from the WAHM blog who has recently discovered the benefits of Facebook and social marketing. It has been slow in coming for many professionals who still see both Facebook and Myspace as teen havens. Not any more. In fact a recent article suggested that the 30-40 age group where the fastest demographic to join over the last 12 months.

Microsoft will next week reveal their latest addition to the family with a new social bookmarking feature for MSDN and TechNet. According John Martin's TechNet blog, the new social bookmarking feature will be unveiled for preview next week and showcased ad TechEd North America the following week.

The projection for advertising on social networks has been reassessed and the prognosis is that it will not grow as quickly as first though. Following on the heels of a slower than projected growth in mobile advertising and the environment does not look too rosy. Social marketing on the other hand may just fill in some of the blanks.

YouTube continues to grow and as it grows it is constantly updating its features. There are number of new features the most important for social marketing interests is the ability to import contacts from Google. From the Youtube blog: To import your Google contacts into YouTube, click "Import" on the "My Contacts" page, then log in to your Google account. Once we've finished importing,

If you are active in the social bookmarking scene then there are several tools that you may find of use. Depending on how active you are and what sort of information you are after, these tools can help to make smarter use of your time. Digg Alerter : Digg Alerter helps you to keep track of your submissions. Bury Alerter : Bury Alerter is a must have if you are a regular Digg user. This tool records any Digg that has been buried including when,

It can be difficult finding the time to be social on all these social sites and some, like Facebook and Myspace seem to take more time than many other. There are several ways you can manage your activities on Facebook that will increase your presence but don't take up all your time. Limit your contacts - With Facebook you will get a lot of people wanting to connect with you. Check them out first and only connect with those that are going to be of value.

Andy Beal may be onto a winner with his reputation management tool, Trackur. I think his sales pitch opening line really drives home the point: "You've worked hard to build your online reputation; wouldn't you like to know if a blogger is about to flush it down the toilet?" I know I would. Considering you can get a free 14 day trial of his reputation management software, it seem to me to be waste if we don't at least give it a try.

It seems like it does. Place a sexy image on your page and you can bet it will be seen. Use sexual overtones in a post or on a video and it will get watched at least once by your visitors - females included. DoshDosh has an interesting article on the subject titled: Viral Marketing on Youtube: A Look at LisaNova's Sexy Videos where he has made some interesting observations: Take Youtube for example,

Social bookmarking is a little different to social marketing in that when bookmarking, you are often either submitting your own site or having a 'friend' submit on your behalf. Before submitting your site to one of the social bookmarking sites, check to see if it fits the following criteria.

One of the great things about the internet is that no matter how big or small you are, the playing field is level. This particularly true for video marketing. Visit YouTube or any of the other social media sites and you will see that no matter how big or small the video maker is, if the video is good, it will get seen, voted on and used. The moral of this is very clear. Produce good quality videos that entertain and you can sell any message you like.

Social marketing can be a time consuming activity particulalry if you are starting out for the first time. You can make a little easier for yourself by being organized and following a few straightforward steps. The biggest problem that new social marketers face is getting themselves known. The biggest mistakes they make is trying to do to much to quickly which can often have the effect of making the social marketer look like a social marketer.