Microsoft’s new Kin phone is not quite a smart phone, and certainly not a feature phone, but is that enough to draw people back to their products?

Kin is the result of Microsoft’s “Pink” project which we have been waiting to find out for almost two years now.

The two Kin phones have three home screens each. The first screen lets you use your phone and shows you your news feeds, music, e-mail, messages, photos, and the browser. The second screen offers a continuous loop of status updates from a variety of sites. The third just offers you the latest updates from your favorites list, so that you can keep up with those most important to you.

If you are interested in learning more about this, you should check out this article I saw.

In an article entitled ‘The macro economics side of Web 2.0 marketing efficiencies‘ the author Dana Gardner takes an in-depth look at the how Internet marketing can be used to keep companies afloat during the upcoming period of economic uncertainty.

Many businesses may be constrained in how they can grow revenues, perhaps because they only supply a static region or supply a shrinking customer base. Most businesses, however, can find new ways to sell their goods and services in more places — especially by better use of the Internet. That’s because the Internet is and will continue to be a marketer’s most powerful tool. 

One area in particular that the author looks at is the use of Web 2.0 or Social Media Marketing.

The freely available trustworthy informational assets on the problem-solution set that defines your business value, including conversations, media write-ups, third-party endorsements, interviews, and blogs … anything that your communities generate about you.

This is how new revenues and market opportunities will be born most productively. When the going gets tough, a business’s online marketing gets going.

Read the full article here.

The SMX Social Media expo is scheduled for October 16th and 17th in NYC.   It should be a great conference with lots of great speakers including Danny Sullivan and Neil Patel.  And it’s sure to be a great platform for exchange of knowledge on the subject.  I’m looking forward to it!

How useful is social networking for companies involved in B2B marketing? Its worth has been identified for B2C but has never really been integrated into B2B.  This may be changing as outlined in this article entitled ‘A New Place to Face-to-Face: B2B Social Networking.’  Suggestions for utilizing social netwoorks include these rules:

Now before you run off and start participating in 100 different social networking sites, there are a few rules to abide by. First make sure you are only participating in those sites that are truly relevant to your product or service. Second, participate in a transparent fashion. Let people know who you are and be open and honest. Third, be prepared to accept the good with the bad. Don’t get defensive if people don’t love your product or service. Use this as a critical R&D feedback loop. 

The article goes on to suggest that a total commitment is required to make use of these opportunities and that a two way dialog (without actually meeting face-to-face) is the goal.