Gina Trapani over at Fast Company wrote a great article about How to Do Everything in Google Buzz (Including Turn It Off). The best piece of which I think is how to post a buzz so that only certain people can see it:
You can use Buzz like you would Google Reader–to just keep up with your friends’ social network streams from around the web. But you can also post status updates via Buzz, and limit who can see those updates. From the Buzz posting text area (which looks a whole lot like Twitter’s), add your text, links, photos, or videos, and from the drop-down choose Private to limit access to that post. Check off the Contacts groups who are allowed to see the update.
Make sure to read the rest of the article for the other great tips.
Steve McKee over at Business Week says that Social Media Is Nothing New:
Who hasn’t recommended a product to a neighbor, received a tip from a colleague, or asked for a referral from a friend? From grocery store aisles to cocktail party asides, the “social media” we’ve commonly called word-of-mouth or relationship marketing have always been the most trusted form of outreach.
In the last few years, however, a dramatic transformation has taken place in this oldest and most effective form of media. It’s been a cause for celebration for many, confusion for others, and consternation for a few. What it should not be to anyone, however, is surprising. It’s the same transformation that has happened to industry after industry, from computers to cars, televisions to telecommunications.
Social media has gone digital.
He’s of course absolutely right. Social media has always been with us, but now the digital era has allowed everyone to speak across greater distances and to more people than ever. Social media and word of mouth have moved beyond the regional and have become global.
Tomorrow marks the first day of the 2010 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver, BC. Years of training, hard work, discipline and relentless dedication have given the great athletes of Team USA the right edge to grab that gold. To make sure you keep track of who is skiing the fastest and skating the hardest, register with TeamUSA.org where fans get chance to take part in all of the action. GO USA!

Register at TeamUSA.org and you will:
- Receive exclusive updates during the Winter Games
- Get the inside scoop, event by event
- Hear directly from our Olympic athletes as they chase their dream
- Be able to download photo and video highlights, right to your desktop
There is more than one way to get involved with this year’s Olympics. Show your support by making a donation or becoming a member the Sixth Ring. Check out TeamUSAnews.org and get ready to rally behind the great USA!


Huge Growth Expected in Leading Latin American Online Market
SAO PAULO, BRAZIL – (February 4, 2010) – OLX, already present online in 90 countries, has announced the opening of a new office in Brazil. OLX.com.br has grown by 450% in the last two years and already counts 14 million visits per month in Brazil, with more than 1 million published items. The online classifieds company expects continued strong growth, aiming for 20 millions visits per month in 2010.
“The new office complements OLX’s presence in Latin America and allows us to be closer to our local clients, create marketing action plans and provide better technical support and stronger client relationships,” says Rodrigo Ribeirão, head of operations of the new Brazilian unit. Through those efforts, OLX anticipates attracting an even bigger Brazilian customer base, advertising and buying and selling online.
OLX offers seven categories of ads: real estate; autos, motorcycles and boats; community; classes; jobs; meeting people and services. The market for autos, real estate and jobs has the highest demand, representing more than 1 million ads published in Brazil and around 40 million around the world.
OLX sees Brazil as a very promising market since the country already has 67 million internet users and 14 million of them visit the OLX.com.br site every month. “We see Brazil as one of the most attractive online markets in the world. With the largest and most mature online market in Latin America, our goal in having a local presence is to better understand the Brazilian internet user and adapt our products to the needs and preferences of the local buyer and seller. Furthermore, with the opening of the Brazilian office, we expect our local activities to grow by 175% in the next two years, reaching 3.5 million active ads on the site,” explains Alec Oxenford, founder and CEO of OLX.
About OLX
OLX is the next generation of free online classifieds. OLX is used in over 90 countries in 40 languages. The company was co-founded in March 2006 by Internet entrepreneurs Fabrice Grinda and Alec Oxenford. OLX is privately held. The company is based in New York, NY and Buenos Aires, Argentina and operates two leading online classifieds networks hosted at www.olx.com and www.mundoanuncio.com. For more information, visit: www.olx.com.br
CONTACT:
Fabrice Grinda
Co-CEO
OLX, Inc.
#(917) 371.5441
fabrice@olx.com
I’ve been reading through Edward Bernays‘ 1928 book “Propaganda” and I’ve really been enjoying it. Now, the word “propaganda” has been given a bad reputation, but really it’s what PR, marketing, politics, and the world is all about. As old Edward says, “The mechanism by which ideas are disseminated on a large scale is propaganda, in the broad sense of an organized effort to spread a particular belief or doctrine.” Of course when you’re trying to promote a person,. product, company, or brand you’re working in propaganda.
Bernays would have been right at home in the digital era, working to influence the top bloggers. Even in 1928 he pointed out, “If you can influence the leaders, either with or without their conscious cooperation, you automatically influence the group which they sway.”
The business world may have forgotten it for a while, but what Bernays wrote so long ago still rings true, “Business realizes that its relationship to the public is not confined to the manufacture and sale of a given product, but includes at the same time the selling of itself and of all those things for which it stands in the public mind.” A company or brand has to sell itself to the public before it can hope to sell its product.
It seems that Bernays would have loved the social media revolution that the business world is taking part in. As he said, “Business must express itself and its entire corporate existence so that the public will understand and accept it.” What better way for a business to do that than to reach out in the most direct and social ways possible.
The father of modern PR is still kicking around and still completely relevant.