fondalo Blog Makes the Jump to Wordpress

Yes, it's true.  I have decided to make the jump to a Wordpress blog.  I will not be making anymore posts on this Blogger site and instead will be focusing all efforts on Wordpress.  Come check out the fondalo Social Media Blog and my latest post - What REALLY are Fans and Followers?

Facebook Devalues Fanpages

What company in the world could get away with making constant changes to its products against the desires of its customers?  What company in the world would jeopardize its relationship with its customers without regard to their desires?

I decided to complete this article today so nobody could accuse me of an April fools joke tomorrow. It amazes me how many times Facebook has made significant interface and functionality changes to its technology without regard to consumer and business users obvious dislike for it.  Most of the changes have proved largely harmless, with exception to unannounced privacy issues I have written about previously.  This most recent proposed change however could result in a massive reduction of value to Fanpage owners across the board.

I originally intended to write an article that asked the question, “What is a Fan or Follower?”  The intent of either can vary drastically from someone that visited a retailer in the past, all the way to a consumer that is a loyal repeat customer.  But how do you know?  The answer; in most cases you don’t.  Therein lies the problem that largely results in posting with content that is highly general, or frequently throwing out discounts that result in devaluing your brand and offering… But I digress.

The most recent change will affect Fanpages and the many brands and retailers that utilize them to engage consumers.  The reported intent of the change is to “unify” the way users “connect” to things they are “passionate about”.

There are so many problems with this mentality.  First and foremost, do people use the same emotion or “passion” to show a like of a comment made by an old high school buddy talking about a party last weekend as a consumer does when they express to their contacts their trust for a business?  I think not.

The fact is that “liking” a brand on Facebook and being a Fan, using the context that has become standard in social media, are two very different things.  True, gaining what are currently called fans can be a much faster process based on the change that is apparently inevitable.  True, it will definitely unify functions within Facebook.  True, people currently click “like” almost twice as much as “becoming a fan”.  But there is a reason for that, and it has nothing to do with un-unified link text.

What about the issue I brought up previously relating to what a fan really is?  This gray’s that issue further.

You can like the Steelers and be a Fan or the 49er’s.  You can like a burger but be a Fan of Burgerville.  The bottom line here is that there is a significant difference.  This self-serving decision by Facebook will immediately increase Fanbase for many larger brands and smaller businesses alike, which is undoubtedly the goal Facebook has in mind here.  The unfortunate result will be the further reduction of ROI from Fanpages and a further blurred line of what a Fan is/was.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc. www.facebook.com/robertcaruso
www.twitter.com/fondalo

Social Media? Bah! Why Social Media will never become anything…

Imagine if a major magazine wrote something like that.  Further, imagine if they said, “The truth is no online social media will ever replace traditional marketing.”  Finally, imagine if they said these things about the Internet in general?  Guess what?  Someone actually did!

On March 4^th, 2010 I came across an article from February 1995, by Clifford Stoll, a writer for Newsweek.  He wrote “The truth is, no online database will replace your daily newspaper, no CD-ROM can take the place of a competent teacher and no computer network will change the way government works.”  How wrong he was.

During my career in technology there are a few things I have come to respect… People and their insatiable appetite for the internet, and the ever-changing ways it can be used to expand how we navigate daily life personally and professionally. 

Though I have not come across any articles that correlate Stoll’s comments into the social media space with such confidence, we have all heard the naysayer rants.  Though recently they are all but drifting into the wastelands of Tandy, Sony’s Beta and the brick phone.

Social media has morphed into a power all its own.  A sub-set of the internet itself.  Its own animal that is evolving into a stand-alone platform in its own right.  Imagine if talented dreamers had read Stoll’s story and listened?  I myself, can’t.

My perspective on technology is that anything is possible.  Anything you can dream up can be accomplished, as long as there is a value proposition that makes sense to the consumer and business. 

There is no doubt that social networking has delivered on both sides of the spectrum thus far.  It is reaching into every aspect of Politics, Business and our families.  The next challenge for social media will be to continue to expand the value on these fronts and innovate its uses within business beyond marketing.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso
www.twitter.com/fondalo

Quit Twitter DM Spamming me! I don’t even know you yet…

I have been very busy since my last article and therefore have been a bit slow on getting articles done.  The massive flow of followers and direct messages flowing from Twitter has aggravated me enough today to stop and rant a moment.

Let’s be clear.  Social media is about connections, conversation, adding value to one another with information and interactions.  I have a tech start up.  I am not in MLM or network marketing.  More importantly I am in no way interested in getting started, and have no time even if I were.

I will continue my rant by explaining I enjoy direct messages on Twitter from new followers.  When used appropriately, it is refreshing, informative and creates a connection to a new contributor to my world.  Having said this, direct messaging every single person that follows you back with a boiler plate message pitching your worthless auto-spam/auto-follow software that will clog my followers with useless people that aren’t truly interested in my space and won’t provide me anything valuable is just plain rude!

Now, don’t take my preceding run-on sentence as a jaded hack on all direct messaging, or templated auto-DM’s, however I do want you to THINK and take some advice.

1)       Use your Twitter DM’s to engage, not pitch.

2)       Thank followers for following and make a connection to them and what they tweet about.

3)       For God’s sake, quit spamming me!  J

Ok, I’m done.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso
www.twitter.com/fondalo

Facebook changes terrible, but what you don’t know CAN hurt you – 4 things you need to know

Facebook made some dramatic changes to their systems and user interface that once again created an uproar.  It seems as though they completely re-code their GUI a few times a year without regard for user input.  Furthermore, this last major change appeared to not be planned well at all, leaving mobile users without access for some time.

In light of these recent changes there are four things I want to cover that you need to know.  Some need your attention immediately to prevent potential damage and others are helpful tips to make your use of Facebook smooth and inline with your goals.

Email Address Display

Facebook made a substantial change to how they display email addresses within user profiles just before the major user interface “upgrade” that was pushed on everyone.  This change is significant and can harm you so pay attention!

Just a few months ago, Facebook displayed a user's email address within their profile as an image.  This was done to prevent SPAM spiders and bots from easily screen scraping and capturing email address to be used in Spam emails.  THIS HAS CHANGED.  For whatever reason, Facebook has changed to now display a users email address as text, leaving many open to Spam.

So what should you do?  Change your profile settings for your email display immediately to be a minimum of “Friends Only” view, and a maximum of “Only Me” view.  Here’s how to do it.

1)       Go to your Profile and click the “Info” tab.

2)       Next to your email address click the “edit” button.

3)       Then click the Lock icon and select the level of protection you wish to have.  Again, I suggest either friends only or Me only to ensure your email address is not abused by people you don’t know.

Feed Display of Friends

Again for unknown reasons, Facebook now controls the number of friends (randomly it appears) whose posts appear in your news feed.  The number of friends is capped at 250 automatically by the Facebook system.

If you are like me, you have more friends on Facebook than their 250 cap, and missing posts from some could be harmful to my reasons for using Facebook to begin with.  Therefore, you need to increase this cap so as to see all stream posts from all of your friends.  Here is how you change this setting.

1) Go to your Facebook home page (News Feed).

2) Scroll to the bottom of the page and click the “Edit Options” link.

3) Change the “Number of Friends” from the 250 default to 5000.

Your Profile Display Settings

If you use Facebook to network, conduct business or connect with people in specific industries as well as your friends, it is important to manage your profile settings appropriately.  The default settings for profiles have changed so many times through the “upgrades” Facebook has done, that it is important to constantly check your settings.

So many times I notice a friend of mine has become a friend with someone and I click to view that persons profile only to see that their profile is “locked” down and not displaying their location, employer or website.  That’s great for those who just social network to stay in touch with friends, but if you are using Facebook for business, you are missing opportunity to connect and meet others.

1) To edit your profile display settings, go to your profile and click the “Info” tab.

2) Click the “Edit” link next to the section you want to change your settings for.

3) Select the viewing options you want others to have.  Again, click “Everyone” or “Friends of Friends” if your goal is to network with others you may not know yet.

Blocking Game Posts

One of the biggest advantages with the Facebook changes is the ability to block posts from annoying games in your news feed.  Now if you play games and enjoy that sort of thing that’s great, however some people don’t and find the hundreds of posts beyond annoying.

If you want to remove posts from a game application, follow these steps.

1) Go to your News Feed and find a game post you’d like to block.

2) Hover on the right side of the post and a “Hide” button will appear.

3) Click the Hide button and it will give you three options.

4) Click the center button to block posts from that game application.

It has been said that if something doesn’t grow or change it’s dead.  As with all changes we experience in life, some are bad, some are good and some just require us to change along with it.  I hope you have found these tips helpful and enable you to be more effective with Facebook, while protecting you from any harmful affects of change.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc. www.facebook.com/robertcaruso
www.twitter.com/fondalo

The True Genius Behind Pepsi’s Superbowl Social Media Decision

I spend about one to two hours each day reading, researching and tweeting about social media and social media marketing. Since the announcement Pepsi made late last year, that it will not be having ads in the Super Bowl, I am still seeing posts, tweets and articles coming into my inbox via my Google Alerts. This is no small announcement as this will be the first time in 23 years they will not have a Super Bowl presence.

Monday this week, I was continuing my daily routine of research and reading and to my surprise I continue to see posts, articles and buzz surrounding this announcement. I decided to take some additional time to evaluate this significant decision deeper to uncover what lies beyond the obvious.

I started with what we already know… Yes, social media has come into its own and is being recognized by the likes of Pepsi, Starbucks and hundreds of major brands. Yes, this decision moves millions of dollars out of major media and into other more meaningful things. And yes, utilizing social media marketing instead of the black hole of Super Bowl advertising expenses is a far more cost effective endeavor that better engages WITH consumers. But the question remained, what outside of these things was the genius to Pepsi’s decision.

Then it hit me. This decision was masterfully timed. It took into consideration two of the most talked about subjects today, the Super Bowl and Social Media. The resulting buzz created through the major television, radio and print media, not to mention Internet blogs, social media and word of mouth reached well beyond any sum of money Pepsi could have spent this entire year.

The true genus behind Pepsi’s announcement was made from a PR and Marketing perspective and not based on financial considerations as it may have appeared on the surface. The executive team at Pepsi that authorized the major culture shift within their organization should be congratulated, but not more than their PR and Marketing teams that clearly had to push for this decision.

It will be very interesting to see whether Pepsi figures out how leverage this ground-breaking move and continues its commitment to social media, breaking away from its competitors. Will they go back to looking at social media as just something new and interesting, or will they recognized the revolutionary shift they have created and deliver value to fans and followers through continuing to innovate the space?

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

Fans and Followers Want Deals – Social Media Marketing Should Respond and Measure ROI

The latest survey by MarketingSherpa indicates Facebook fanpage and Twitter followers expect something from the brands they are following. As a matter of fact the study reveals that a solid 64% of average fans that “friend” a brand in order to get the inside track on specials, sales and deals. For the most part, major brands have recognized this trend, however this astounding percentage can’t be overlooked by small and medium sized businesses either.

Though the study identified two user “friending” categories of Max connectors, those with more than 500 connections and Daily users that were described as average users; I am going to focus on the Daily user in this article. The Daily user is your typical customer or prospect and the one that is likely to not have their feeds overflowing with thousands of posts everyday that go unseen.

In an earlier article I wrote this year, I explained that 2010 will see a change in how social media is used and that delivering value will continually trend higher as fans expect more. This latest survey places an extreme exclamation point on my statement and warns brands that though many parts of social media marketing has no cost, i.e fanpage and Twitter account creation, a mind set of paying fans through special deals needs to take hold.

We know the social media Value trend is upon us now, so building and executing a strategy is a next step, however there are several other extremely important elements to consider.

1) How do you intend on deploying your deals to your customers?
2) How are you going to be able to track views of your offers?
3) Do you have the infrastructure to measure offer acceptance rates?
4) Can you easily measure the return on investment of your fan offers?
5) Can your offers automatically be made viral and encourage your fans friends to accept the deal also?

Until yesterday, measuring fanpage traffic and analytics was impossible. However, Facebook announced that they are instituting a new analytics system for fanpages. But only for those pages with 10,000+ fans. Great for major brands, not so helpful for local and medium companies. More importantly, is the fact that there will still be nothing in a fanpage to deploy, measure and track views and acceptance rates of the special deals being offered to your fans and followers.

As you move forward with your social media marketing strategy on Facebook and Twitter, large and small brands alike need to be sure their Value proposition is inline with followers expectations AND create a plan to deal with the other important ROI elements required to make it profitable.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.
www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

**fondalo - one solution to consider**

The fondalo platform forever changes the ROI landscape for business social media marketing and delivers a platform both within an outside of Facebook. The fondalo website AND integrated facebook application gives business a tool to deploy and track special deals to fans and followers, that automatically posts views and acceptance of your offers to a users feed, suggesting their friends accept your offer as well. At the same time, the fondalo system manages the number of views, offer accepts and can deploy your deals via controlled online coupon, direct web link or even through a special telephone number.

Call fondalo for additional information on how we can help your company strategize and execute your social media marketing campaigns with a quick return on investment. 503-764-1444

Socializing your retail business - The facts of why Social Media is a must!

If you are a retail business considering getting into Social Media Marketing –or- you are currently utilizing social media but are trying to figure out the what’s and more importantly the why’s, this is a must read.

According to Razorfish’s 2009 Digital Brand Experience Study, as reported by eMarketer, over 40% of US Facebook and MySpace users have “friended” a brand or company. Couple this data with the chart put out by The Business Insider, showing the average Facebook user views 662 pages a month and the data begins to become almost surreal. These numbers beckon retailers, whether kicking and screaming or with positive enthusiasm to engage in the medium.

Meeting with several prospective clients of fondalo recently, I’ve heard many excuses or reasons why a company has decided not engage the medium for their retail business. Two of the top reasons have been 1) “our customers are not on the internet/Facebook” and 2) “we don’t have the knowledge, time or bandwidth to do it”.

Let’s address these individually:

1) Our customers are not online or on Facebook: Excuse me, but I beg to differ! With almost 100 million social network users in the US alone, your customers are not only on Facebook, they are finding your competitors and NOT you.

Further data in the Razorfish study shows that 64% of consumers said they made their first purchase from a brand because of a digital experience—be it a Website, microsite, mobile coupon or e-mail. More importantly “friending” or becoming a fan took raising awareness to consideration, purchase and recommendations to friends. What other medium you have used has these results?

2) We don’t have the bandwidth: What company now days are blessed with additional human and/or expertise bandwidth to throw at a new requirement? The answer, none! So making decisions, setting priorities and even seeking outside professional help is a must.

fondalo helps many clients to build a sustainable social marketing strategy and use social media marketing to achieve ROI immediately, while escalating the results of branding and viral customer sharing of your offers.

So lets review… Step one: realize that the reasoning you have used for not creating a social media presence is flawed and modify your decisions to engage your customers. Step two: find and hire a social media professional, consultant or company that can help you build a strategy. Use these outsourced resources to help you execute the strategy and learn the necessary skills and information you need to make it successful.

By Robert M. Caruso

www.facebook.com/robertcaruso

CEO fondalo, Inc.

Social Media Value changes – change your strategy

Yesterday I wrote about the shift that’s happening in Social Media and how Value is going to be the significant driver this year. Today I am going to continue with my thoughts on what this change should look like for you and your social media marketing strategy.

I am continually coming across Twitter accounts and Facebook fanpages of corporations that consist of unrelenting rants about themselves, their product or service. Now if indeed you are an interested fan/follower of that company this starts out great. However just like with your ex-wife or husband, NOBODY likes being talked AT all the time.

You know, the friend you have coffee with now only once a year because when you get together they continually talk about themselves? You feel exhausted and overwhelmed and can’t handle another minute with them until maybe next year. Social marketing must be careful not to become that friend to its fans.

Here are some changes to your social media strategy that you need to consider this year.

1) Know your market. Who are you talking to and why are they interested in your brand/product.


2) Focus your messaging to instill “social value” by understanding your customers concerns, needs and desires. Post messages and information that is helpful, interesting and not solely focused on you or your brand.


3) Enlist communication and feedback that not only engages your fans, but because of the value you are providing they share it with others.


4) Create a formal strategy with clear targets and goals for what you hope to achieve and more importantly how you plan to achieve it.


5) Follow the plan and be consistent with your communication.

This year social media will bombard followers and fans in your networks with overwhelming data, information and posts. Those companies that heed this warning and emphasize value in their strategy will thrive, those that implement old marketing tactics in their social marketing will have a much more difficult time.

By Robert M. Caruso
CEO fondalo, Inc.

Social Media Marketing in 2010 will be about Value

Yes, we all know that 2009 gave rise to social media marketing and corporate acceptance as it plunged into the mainstream. But what now? How is small business through the major corporations going to turn these millions of eyeballs, followers and fans into revenue? That is the million-dollar question that needs to be answered this year.

Twitter accounts and Fanpages have done a lot to extend the reach of the business environment into the social world for some. As a matter of fact it was recently reported by Razorfish over 40% of internet users have “friended” a brand on Facebook or MySpace. Here’s the thing. Social marketing could easily be running fast and hard into a wall. All the gains made with corporate America beginning to tentatively embrace the medium will all be for not, without a drastic change.

“Social marketing is less about what you want consumers to do for you, but more about what value you are giving them so they will respond, purchase, share with their network and stay engaged”. In 2010 you will see a shift begin to occur where consumers will start pulling back their “friending” and following of businesses that don’t realize this, in an effort to cut out the flood of useless information and posts being made with selfish corporate motives.

My suggestions that you need to consider for your 2010 social media strategy coming next…

Robert M. Caruso

CEO fondalo, Inc.

VanderVeer Center Joins the fondalo Buying Power Social Network Application

VANDERVEER CENTER, THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST’S PREMIER COSMETIC MEDICINE CENTER LEVERAGES NEW BUYING POWER SOCIAL NETWORK APPLICATION TO OFFER EXCLUSIVE SAVINGS

VanderVeer Center launches program to save people money with new social network application, fondalo®, for Facebook and Twitter

Portland, Oregon December 4, 2009 – VanderVeer Center, the Northwest's premier cosmetic medicine center, helps men and women of all ages restore a youthful, natural look without surgery is proud to extend exclusive offers and savings to new and existing clients with the new fondalo® Facebook application. fondalo offers VanderVeer Center, as a fondalo member company, a new way to leverage social networks in unprecedented ways. The agreement between VanderVeer Center and fondalo brings exclusive deals to fondalo users on VanderVeer Center services including ZERONA™ Body Slimming, BOTOX® Cosmetic, Dysport™, Restylane®, Juvederm™, Perlane® dermal fillers, facial rejuvenation, fat removal, laser hair and laser tattoo removal, liquid facelift and many more. Those offers are posted directly to Facebook and Twitter user news feeds making the consumer outreach truly viral.

“VanderVeer Center is excited to be part of the best way to both offer consumers great value in this tough economic time AND work within social networks like Facebook and Twitter to reach out to men and women who may be planning for a wedding or reunion, re-entering the job market or dating scene. The targeting and social sharing components fondalo delivers within their buying power social network application provides exciting and expanded reach to new and existing clients, ”said Elizabeth VanderVeer, MD, President/Medical Director, VanderVeer Center. “We love the fact that we can social network with our existing and prospective clients this way. It's a win for them with savings they can't get any other way and a win for us in that our brand and offers are shared with their Facebook and Twitter social networks.”

How Does It Work?

fondalo users identify the categories, brands, products and services that interest them and can also connect with friends and other like-minded users to request special offers from retailers. fondalo member companies make exclusive offers to fondalo users based on their identified user purchase preferences, which are then shared within Facebook and Twitter.

"VanderVeer Center already has great name brand recognition in this market,” says Robert M. Caruso, fondalo, Inc. CEO. “Having them as a member company making special offers to our user base delivers significant value to a whole new user demographic both inside Facebook and the fondalo system. We believe fondalo is the solution to leverage social networks both for consumer buying power and social marketing at its finest for companies."

The company launched version 1.0 on September 1st, allowing consumers to create their own deal mobs, users to build their category, product and service interests, make their Facebook and external friend connections, then start requesting and joining offers from companies. “In October fondalo launched its application to give local, regional and national companies a results driven social media marketing platform that gets response marketing results while maintaining the traditional social branding and communication businesses need” says Caruso.

VanderVeer Center is making their first offer for the incredible ZERONA™ Body Slimming lazer package. This surgery-free treatment was featured on AM Northwest recently.

Click here to view the video.

Click here to accept the offer in the fondalo Facebook application.

About fondalo, Inc.

Based out of the Portland, Oregon metro area, fondalo is a buying power social networking application, that gives business subscribers a way to effectively launch marketing campaigns into the most popular online social networks, including Facebook and Twitter.

fondalo gathers buying preference information from its subscribers to create a powerful marketing database. Business subscribers use this database to identify consumer groups within the system that are most likely interested in their offering, then they use the fondalo system to push targeted marketing campaigns into social network sites. Once inserted, the offer is spread throughout the targeted subscribers' social network. The more appealing the offer, the more virally it can spread via connecting social networks.

Consumers join fondalo for the opportunity to find bargains locally, regionally and nationally. They build a profile of their interests and join together around those interests to request deals from businesses that sell those products and services. Business subscribers can make offers to subscriber requests or make their own offers, based on non-identifying user profile data.

About Elizabeth VanderVeer, M.D.

Elizabeth VanderVeer, MD, President/Medical Director, VanderVeer Center is a Board Certified Medical Doctor in Portland, Oregon with extensive sub specialty training in Aesthetic Medicine. Dr. VanderVeer is a National Trainer for Allergan, Medicis and OrthoNeutrogena. and a Luminary for Alma and Candela Lasers, for which she has conducted clinical studies. Dr. VanderVeer is also a well known TV personality as the Medical Expert and Anti-Aging Editor for FOX 12’s nationally syndicated daily television news program BETTER.TV and has appeared onCBS, NBC and ABC news. She is a sought-after International Lecturer and published author.

About VanderVeer Center

VanderVeer Center is one of the top full-service non-surgical aesthetic practices and the #1 cosmetic injectable facility in the Pacific Northwest (BOTOX® Cosmetic, Dysport™, Restylane®, Juvederm™, Perlane®). VanderVeer Center was selected as the best in non-surgical facial enhancement by Health Forum and is a preferred medical site for introduction of new aesthetic medical equipment and treatment as well as a premier training facility for physicians and their staff.

Contacts

Robert M. Caruso

fondalo, Inc.
503-764-1444 Ext 101
http://apps.facebook.com/fondalo
http://fondalo.blogspot.com


Francine Raften
Director of Marketing/Public Relations
VanderVeer Center
office 503-443-2250
cell 503-720-2034
Francine@vanderveercenter.com
http://www.vanderveercenter.com/

###

Social media branding with direct response results

Recently fondalo engaged a clients campaign through the fondalo social network buying power application with impressive results. The campaign provided three exclusive deals to fondalo users over the course of a one-month period achieving direct response rates coupled with branding, social interaction and viral sharing.

The client, a regional grocery chain in the northwest, produced three exclusive offers on products they sell that were significantly better than advertised in any other medium. fondalo then staged the three offers expiration dates over the month long campaign, making a single offer active at anytime during the month.

fondalo broadcast the exclusive offers within the system to users whose buying preferences, locations and favorite company listing profiles match the industry and offer type of the client.

The results achieved included a total branding share of some 8,000 fondalo and Facebook users, as well as response rates (accepted offer rates) ranging from 6 to 11% for the first three fondalo offers.

There actually can be a balance between Social Media Branding and Communication, yet still achieve marketing results!

Social Marketing - What consumers want from Brands

In an article released today by eMarketer, Inc. and quoting from data from Lightspeed Research, consumers want Offer Discounts!

The report shows the significance that consumers are placing on the desire to get valid news and information about a brand they like, as well as the desire for useful and relevant online applications that benefit them.

One of the more interesting points detailed in the article data is that consumers ranked advertising in places that are relevant to you as a 2.8 out of 5 in level of importance. Further data indicates consumer’s community surrounding their brands.

fondalo, launched it’s version 1.0 social networking buying power application in September of this year, well before this study was released, has hit on these points with incredible clarity and usefulness. fondalo primarily does two things: 1) adding value to social networking for consumers by allowing them to join together around brands, products and services to get better deals and 2) gives businesses a powerful tool to launch effective, targeted marketing campaigns into facebook, twitter and other social networks.

These two focuses of the fondalo application team up nicely with this latest report on what consumers want from brands. Inline with the fondalo focus, toping the list of what consumers want is clearly offers and discounts. fondalo hits this nail on the head!

Try the fondalo facebook application: http://apps.facebook.com/fondalo

View the entire article from EMarketer at: http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1007349

Portland Oregon Area Mattress World Joins fondalo

MATTRESS WORLD LAUNCHES SOCIAL NETWORK MARKETING CAMPAIGN WITH FONDALO

http://apps.facebook.com/fondalo

PORTLAND, OR, October 21, 2009 – Mattress World, one of the Portland area’s most recognizable brands, has chosen the fondalo buying power application, to deliver exclusive offers into facebook and Twitter.

“We’ve been looking for the best way to engage consumers through social networks that provided a clear advantage,” said Mark Garrison of Mattress World. “fondalo gives us an effective way to reach our current and potential customers through social networks, and allows our exclusive offers to be passed along from friend to friend virally through facebook news feeds where all their friends see it as well.”

Mattress World's first fondalo offer: Facebook users Click Here

Businesses are franticly searching for an effective way to use social networking sites, like facebook and Twitter, to reach customers in a meaningful way. On the flip side, millions of consumers are trying to find more value in their online social network connections.

The fondalo buying power social network application gives businesses a powerful tool to launch effective, targeted marketing campaigns into facebook, twitter and other social networks. At the same time, it enriches the social network experience for the consumer, by turning it from a time waster into a money saver.

“Everybody’s looking for a bargain, especially in today’s economy.” Says Robert Caruso, CEO of fondalo, Inc. “We’ve found that people will jump at the chance to share a real deal with friends and family within their social network, far more so than through other ways. Mattress World is a great example of a highly recognized company offering some amazing discounts on their quality products for our subscribers. That’s exactly what we want, so consumers can redeem real value from their social networks.”

About Mattress World –
Started in January 1996, Mattress World blankets the Portland metropolitan area with 12 mattress superstores and has the largest selection in the Northwest. Mattress World plays a big part in the communities in which it conducts business through many charitable organizations and strives to help those in need and give back whenever possible.

About fondalo -
fondalo, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon area based start-up that launched the first buying power social network, fondalo, in September of this year. In less than a month after the version 1.0 launch, the company has landed some notable business subscribers, including the Thriftway Grocery chain, and the VanderVeer Center.

Contact Information:
fondalo, Inc.
Robert M. Caruso
Website: http://apps.facebook.com/fondalo
http://fondalo.blogspot.com
Voice: 503.764.1444

Thriftway Grocery Chain Joins Fondalo

fondalo and Thriftway leverage consumers grocery dollar

fondalo® is please to announce that the Oregon/Washington 28 store grocery chain has joined fondalo as a member company. Thriftway shoppers that use fondalo will now receive exclusive offers and savings because of the stores’ affiliation with the new fondalo buying power social network.

The first Thriftway offer is now posted in fondalo’s Facebook application and saves consumers $15 over the company’s last week’s newspaper circular ad.

Thriftway has given fondalo users an exclusive FREE 12pk of soft drink offer available from October 2 through the 12th, with more weekly offers to follow.

facebook users can finally get some real benefits within their social networks. Click here to view and accept the Thriftway Free 12 pk offer.

The "Mommy" Economy

There’s no getting around it times are tough. Unemployment numbers are reaching highs nobody thought we would approach again after the great depression. The real estate and banking industries are now at less than a crawl and people are hurting financially. Welcome to the mommy economy.

What’s the mommy economy you ask? It’s when those gifted women we love so much do more with less, keep everything together in the household and display incredible prowess at keeping the family going regardless of unexpected reductions in finances.

Let’s face it guys, women are born with God-given abilities we just don’t have. I have a hard time clipping a coupon properly, let alone organizing several into a family hunting expedition that results in savings and instant rebates of equaling discounts of more than 50%.

Here’s an actual example of a woman I know. During last weeks grocery shopping she made purchases of over $100. As a result of her watching ads, choosing wisely and maximizing brands and double coupons she walked out of the store paying only $47.02As a matter of fact, at the time of her trip the store was busy and the store manager picked up the slack by getting on a register. He commented, “It was fortunate for her that he was on the register because he had to override the register due to her saving more than she spent.”

Mind you, she was not buying just top ramen and mac and cheese. Her list included everything from meats, cheeses, produce and even snacks. This woman and the thousands of other talented and dedicated mom’s in this nation are truly what makes America and our ability to survive tough times happen.

Now imagine if we got all those and countless other mom’s together to create buying power on everything from groceries to cars and automobiles to clothing. What would these incredible women be capable of? In short, a lot!

Fortunately, fondalo.com has done just this. We have built a free community of consumers that bring not only savings but also power to the mom’s everywhere. By joining forces with others interested in the same products, brands and stores fondalo users can request offers and obtain the buying power of large corporations.

We take our hats off to the mom’s that are keeping this economy alive right now. No amount of stimulus or government investment could keep this many families afloat as you do. Thank you for what you do!

fondalo explained - Video - What is fondalo?

Enjoy this new fondalo video. It's short and sweet and gives you what you need to know to understand fondalo social buying and how it works.

FACEBOOK USERS GET BUYING POWER TO ADD TO THEIR SOCIAL NETWORK

fondalo launches facebook application that helps consumers build social buying power.

Portland, Oregon May 21, 2009 – fondalo, Inc. today announced it has released its facebook application designed to make social buying accessible to over two hundred million facebook users. The new application allows consumers to come together around brands, products and services they are interested in and request offers on those items. All offer requests created within the fondalo facebook application build buying power as other users join. Once certain critical mass levels are achieved, fondalo advocates go to work to get companies to make offers to the group.

“Our research shows that over three hundred and fifteen million consumers are using one or more social networks currently. More importantly, most didn’t want to join another, invite friends again and manage an additional site profile.”, said Robert M. Caruso, fondalo, Inc CEO. “This facebook application delivers fun and value to millions of users without the obstacles of joining yet another site.”

fondalo was built to be used as either a stand-alone website, or as an application within facebook. Users can decide how they want to run fondalo and connect with friends as well as other like-minded users around specific brands, products and services. All fondalo offer request content is completely controlled by users, allowing them to easily request offers and invite other users to join.

The new fondalo facebook application delivers significant benefits to business as well. Companies focused on either local, regional or national markets can now get in front of millions of facebook users at costs reasonable enough for even the smallest local business. This exposure capability, as well as the core fondalo value proposition of enabling companies to market directly to consumers that have already said they will buy from you is truly unique.

John Altes, the company’s vice president of business development commented, "What we have really established here is reverse marketing. We remove the demographic and geographic guesswork and expense and bring self-identified consumer purchasers together with the brands and products they are asking for. Nobody else has done that within facebook."

The company has launched its user-side system, allowing users to build their category, product and service interests, make their facebook and external friend connections, then start requesting and joining offers from companies.

Local, regional and national companies that desire to gain the exposure of the fondalo facebook application to directly reach their interested audience are now signing agreements with the company. The fondalo company side system provides many search and tracking tools that provide detailed anonymous data designed to better connect the consumer and the business.

About fondalo, Inc.

fondalo, the first social networking site designed to build buying power for consumers, is a start-up based out of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. fondalo is a user controlled social network that lets consumers decide what products and services they want and what kinds of offers they will accept from companies nationally, regionally and locally. Consumers can create offer requests for specific brands, products and services -or- join offer requests created by other users to build buying power and get the best deals.

To join the fondalo face book application, click here: http://apps.facebook.com/fondalo

To visit www.fondalo.com

CONSUMERS GET INCREASE IN BUYING POWER DURING TOUGH TIMES

fondalo launches Beta service that transforms social networks from time wasters to money savers.

Portland, Oregon May 7, 2009 – fondalo, Inc. today announced its formal user-side launch of the world’s first social networking site designed to build buying power for consumers. The new service allows consumers to leverage existing social connections with product and brand interests locally, regionally and nationally to request the best deals from small and large businesses for anything from groceries to automobiles.

“We wanted to find a way for consumers, not just big business, to benefit financially from social networks. As consumers feel more pinched by the realities of the economy, this is the perfect time for fondalo.”, said Robert M. Caruso, co-founder and CEO. “Our desire was to design a system that addressed two of the most significant trends, social networking and the economy, so we developed fondalo to save consumers money and utilized social networking to get there.”

fondalo, meaning “We found it” in Italian, is a first for social networking. Designed to be completely user controlled around content, it provides consumers the ability to tell companies what they want and what they will pay for it. At the same time, they can request offers for specific brands, products and services, and invite friends and other interested users to join that requested offer to build buying power. A new fondalo user recently described it best. “You have a hundred friends, they have a hundred friends, and so on. Imagine the buying power and the savings… That’s fondalo!”

Tony Schwartz, the company’s chief technology officer and co-founder commented, "We have built a system from the ground up that provides a deeper benefit to social networking for consumers. In the current economic climate, we thought it was time that consumers had the ability to pool together and achieve buying power previously reserved for big business and large affinity groups. Our system delivers that benefit!"

The company has launched its free user-side system, allowing users to build their profile category, product and service interests, build their friend connections and start requesting offers from companies. Early users are already building buying power in preparation for the full launch later this month on May 31st.

fondalo is signing local and national companies that see the benefit of going directly to consumers, rather than spending thousands on demographic and geographic guess work through online and major media outlets. The company intends to charge businesses for the ability to make responsive, special offers to these large user groups, as long as it is the best deal available.

About fondalo, Inc.
fondalo, the first social networking site designed to build buying power for consumers, is a start-up based out of the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. fondalo is a user controlled social network that lets consumers decide what products and services they want and what kinds of offers they will accept from companies nationally, regionally and locally. Consumers can create offer requests for specific brands, products and services -or- join offer requests created by other users to build buying power and get the best deals.


Contact

503-764-1444
info - at - fondalo.com
www.fondalo.com
http://fondalo.blogspot.com

how does buying power work with social networking?

Buying power consists of like-minded individuals that join forces to obtain special pricing and/or discounts that might not otherwise be achieved on their own. We have all seen this play out in the brick and mortar world for centuries. Larger companies, affinity groups and clubs pulling their buying power together in order to get better pricing than you or I could obtain ourselves. Could we actually buy a computer monitor at the same price Microsoft can? If we each try on our own, it’s not likely. If we pool together, we will get close.

We know that the business world, affinity groups like AARP and other clubs can get discounts for things from clothing, services, insurance, hard goods and even automobiles. Heck, we have all been approached about Amway and their buying power. There are even special buying services and clubs you can join, Direct Buy for example, which requires you to pay to get access to the benefits they provide.

There are many reasons why companies selling their goods and services are willing to cut their price to these large groups. A few examples of these are:

1) Increased sales volume
2) Reduced marketing expense
3) Expansion to new markets

Social networking has become widely accepted and used by more than 315 million people worldwide. This large demographic lends itself to significant buying power. Until now, no internet service has focused on bringing buying power to this highly touted phenomena online.

Buying power works with social networking by bringing people together around brands, products, services and companies they are interested in. The groups can request a deal for these items they want and others can pile on and build the buying power more.

Uniquely, fondalo does not develop the content for our social networking system. Users are in control of what companies or products they wish to add or request a deal from. You say what the specific product, price or details should be when an offer request is put into the system. You can invite friends to the offer request, or even promote it to other fondalo users already interested in that specific company or product.

fondalo social networking, buying power works for anything. Restaurants, Cars, Software, Groceries, Music and more. Whatever you buy now, or are interested in, you can build buying power and save money and have a lot of fun.