Social Media (network, technology, blog, community, virtual reality, etc...)

Boot Camp Digital prese ts this infographic on the importance of Pinterest to online sales- for example, Pinterest is the #1 referral of traffic to marthastewart.com. That and the rest of the statistics might be surprising to some.

Learn more about the importance of Pinterest when it comes to marketing a business online, and take a look at this infographic on the Purchasing Power of Pinterest...

Robin Good: Woobox is a web app which allows you to integrate and display inside any Facebook Page you manage, your full Pinterest board set (or a part of it).

In addition you can get stats on page views, likes and visitors and you can choose to show all of your boards or just the pins from a specific one.

The service is free and can be activated in a matter of seconds.

I have already activated it on my Facebook page here: http://facebook.com/RobinGoodItalia ;

Check it out: http://woobox.com/pinterest ;

***** Cool. Marty

A lot of people have been complaining about the waste of white space on on Google +. Now, they do not have to anymore. Why? Look at the picture below.

This piece was written by Dave Copeland for Readwriteweb. There have been many articles about Pinterest but if you do nothing else, read the white paper by Engauge and report they're referring to. It is absolutely the best one I've seen to date. (more details below)

The most important thing in this piece is the report, here's what you'll see:

A new Engauge white paper breaks down:

**the make-up of the average Pinterest user 

**shows that the end result of less reading is more of a focus on content curation than creation.

**The timing of that trend, combined with a stunning design when Internet users are focusing more on visual than text, has allowed Pinterest to explode in popularity.

This is what caught my attention - a quote from a user:

"When I'm looking for new trends on specific topics like fashion or birthday party themes, I now search Pinterest first -- not Google." - Karah Street

Curated by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

If you're in making Pinterest work for you, you might want to visit my other topic: Pinterest Watch. 

Read full article here: [http://rww.to/yQtDNQ]

Pinterest is the social media plateform where, not to be or not to be on the right way can make the difference for those who want to use this platform for their business. This guide should support you in your approach. [note mg]

Just because Pinterest is a female-dominated network doesn't mean men don't fit in. In this post, learn how to leverage this network as a male user or male-focused brand.

Pinterest’s popularity has exploded in the past few months. Their traffic and user base has grown exponentially, bringing it to the attention of marketers around the world.

One of the most unique factors of Pinterest is the fact that its user demographic is made up mostly of women. This key factor has forced many male-oriented brands to rethink their marketing strategy if they want to leverage this social network.

Read more: http://bit.ly/y0J3uK

Pinterest is driving increasingly significant amounts of traffic to retailers' websites.

If you are looking for even more visual data in your streams and if you are looking for more connections on Pinterest, here are 15 more boards to consider.

Women In The US Trust Pinterest Over Twitter [SURVEY]...

This piece (user chart included) was written and posted by Matt Silverman, contributing editor for Mashable, .

My commentary (I'm personally experiencing amazing results after being on Pinterest for about 4 months).

****Even with all the hooplah surrounding Pinterest, it's important to remember, that Pinterest is only a side dish in your business, paying attention to your main course and how Pinterest supports that is what is key. See article here: http://bit.ly/yXET4P by John Jantsch.

Having said that...........

This user engagement chart is astounding, as you see the rise in Pinterest users in a very short time.

**In my opinion, Pinterest gives you the opportunity to showcase your work without a lot of text anything that gives us a breather in that way is a blessing.

**Images speak a thousand words if you know how to use them properly.

**Showing other sides of you that are consistent with your brand message gives people a chance to see you beyond the text you post on other sites.

**Pinboards like favorite books, homes and spaces, etc. give people points of entry, a connection with you because they identify and like the same things, a great way to start a conversation, have them look to see what you do and who you are.

**Everything we do online tells a story about us, it's our digital identity, Pinterest is a place where you can tell your story in a whole different way.

**Pinterest is also a place where you can relax, fantasize about the wardrope you'd love to have, or the amazing car or cars you want to have. Let's face it, we're all plugged in 24/7, this is a place where you can lighten up and/or market your business all on the same site.

**Pinterest is not only gaining a ton of users, but those users are spending an average of 89 minutes on the site

** Facebook is still leading by 405 minutes along with Tumblr also 89 minutes but it's obvious Pinterest is moving up quickly.

**It's important to know how to use Pinterest to showcase what you do in a subtle but engaging way

Feel free to visit my topic "Pinterest Watch"  a collection of articles from branding, case studies, metrics all in one place.

Selected by Jan Gordon covering "Content Curation, Social Business and Beyond"

Read article here: [http://on.mash.to/xNZoVj]

Robin Good: If you are looking for ways to let your scoop.it content to reach more people and to get discovered by those who are not yet aware of you, the new Pinterest integration in Scoop.it should certainly be a welcome addition.

With this new addition, not only you can share your curated stories inside your Scoop.it newsradar with your Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Tumblr and Wordpress friends, but you can also "pin" selected ones to create alternative "collections" on Pinterest.

One potentially good approach is the one of leveraging Pinterest to do what Scoop.it is not (yet) so good at. For example, after you have been curating a newsradar for a while, you can easily create "greatest hits" collections out of the best ones, or sub-thematic digests on specific topics, and Pinterest is a perfect tool to do that.

In essence you can "re-curate" your own curated news, in alternative ways which take advantage of Pinterest strength in building "visual collections" rather than news channels.

More info: http://blog.scoop.it/en/2012/02/24/you-can-now-share-your-scoops-on-pinterest/