Is There a Use for MySpace in Business?

Most of us who are not living under a rock have heard something about the Myspace buzz. It seems to be another internet revolution. The business side of this behemoth is something to behold. It was purchased by Rupert Murdoch (of Fox News fame) for $580 million in July of last year. At the time, people almost wrote it off, saying it was Murdoch’s attempt to play catch-up in the new media of the internet. Today, experts say the site is probably worth 10X what Murdoch paid for it. They have 100 million member profiles - almost a third of the US population in terms of numbers. And, as of this writing, Myspace has just sealed a deal with Google to provide AdWords space on Myspace, thereby guaranteeing a new flood of revenue to both Myspace and Google.

If you’re anything like me, you have all but written off Myspace as another internet social experiment, attractive only to social butterflies, high school students, and other “punks” with little to do in their real life. Personally, I am too busy running a real business to worry about posting pictures of my dog on Myspace. But, then again, am I being short sighted?

Myspace is, of course, a social networking site. People set up their personal profiles on the site and then they can set up their personal webspace. Think of it like a Geocities on steroids. Those of us who have been working online awhile remember Geocities. In fact, my largest website, PC Mechanic, started out on Geocities in the late 90’s. You could set up a personal website, and they provided some little tools to play with to perfect your site. And the sites we organized into communities, complete with a community leader and everything. Well, Myspace, too, is a place where you can set up your personal website and add a bunch of flare to it. It has a lot more multimedia capabilities than Geocities did (thanks to broadband).

Now, I’m going to begin speculating at this point. I have not personally, yet, used Myspace in any way for my business. But, its my job and the job of anyone else making a living online to keep track of trends. Myspace is one of the biggest online trends of our time. So, how can an internet entrepreneurs use Myspace for their business?

Here are some ways to do so:

1. Networking, networking, and more networking. With 100 million profiles, you’re bound to have a public in that community interested in your product, service or maybe even somebody you wish to work with or hire. If you go to the Myspace search page, you can search profiles by field, sub-field and role, thereby searching for people within your own field. Some of them may even be local to you. This is a great medium for making contacts which could, in turn, turn into prosperous business relationships.
2. Myspace has a classified ad section. Why not use it? It isn’t Craigslist, but it can be useful.
3. Add-on services. A whole Myspace sub-culture has formed here, and the demand for interesting services for Myspace profiles has been on the rise. One example is FussyCodes, an entire site dedicated to enhancing your Myspace profile. Forbes.com published an article on the Myspace economy in which they speak of some of the offshoot businesses which have branched up due to Myspace.
4. Keep track of trends. The younger generation is the future - it can’t be said enough even as cliche as it sounds. Look at what is interesting to the younger generation and you will find future markets. Myspace is a great way to research trends and interests. By browsing Myspace profiles, its almost like being a fly on the wall into a teenager’s clique. Who would have thought, for example, that people would pay upwards of $50 a month to buy stupid ring tones for their cell phone? Myspace is a great way for doing market research.

Now, spend a little time on Myspace and you’ll soon find out that much of the community is very non-professional. That is not to say that the people on their are bums. Probably not. However, the majority of profiles on Myspace are of a personal mature. The comments are, many times, stupid “shout outs” and you get a lot of people looking for love on there. Young teenagers post flattering images of themselves and then seek approval for their looks, similar to Facebook. So, there is no getting around the fact that Myspace is full of this kind of material. For that reason, most people exploring Myspace for business purposes are going to need to wade through a lot of muck to find things which are useful for them. And as for market research, what you’re basically looking at on Myspace is the younger generation. If you product or service is going to be targeting the younger generation, then Myspace is a great place to check out and maybe use in business. However, you’re not likely to find any law firms on Myspace.

There are some alternatives that are more professional in nature. Some of them are CollectiveX, LinkedIn, Ecademy, and Ryze.

Social networking is here to stay. Myspace happens to be the big fish in the pond at the moment. But, in the business world, networking is important and contacts are important. It is almost important to keep an eye on new trends. There is no doubt that Myspace is a huge trend and therefore it is important that internet business people take a look at Myspace and see if that pool of people can be used in your business.

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