Two years ago Meebo.com hit the web. I just found out about it today. It’s sort of a cool premise. You can IM other people via Google Talk, AIM, MSN, ICQ, Jabber, or Yahoo from their site. You only need a web based connection… no software downloads required.
It’s a pretty neat idea really if you just want to zoom into an internet cafe to IM people you’d otherwise have to do something SLOW like email.
The latest news is that now Meebo.com is trying to become another rival for Facebook and Google. Here’s what WSJ online has to say:
Now, in a bid to become a broader “destination” site and cash in on the online-ad market, the Mountain View, Calif., company will allow outside software developers to build programs and applications around its instant-messaging technology.
The new programs, which could expand Meebo’s reach, will stress activities that can be enjoyed live online with groups of friends, like interactive speed dating and computer games. Meebo, backed by high-profile Silicon Valley investors Sequoia Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson, hopes to make money by selling online ads inside the programs.
Are all these new social networking sites driving you nuts yet?
Hey, I’m sure Meebo.com is great, will get greater, will whip Google like a sorry dog and rule the world, but I’m asking this because what does this have to do with your work at home business?
The danger for small online entrepreneurs is to go flocking to all these new Google wannabes and wasting all your marketing time playing around on the latest greatest one trying to get rich quick.
If you like something, use it.
If you can market on something market on it.
These are great for building networks, but they only build your business if somehow people get to know, like, and trust you.
But these companies are coming down the pike so fast trying to “corner” each new one for a few fast quick bucks is going to drive you nuts and - for most people - waste alot of time without making money.
Sure, if you find something you can use, test it. If it works, test some more. But don’t blindly fly from platform to platform hoping that riches are just in front of you.
If you actually have your own product to sell or service to provide, it’s time to start escaping the traffic tyranny of the search engines and gaming social networking sites (or letting them game you more likely).
The strategy that still works is the Joint Venture.
If you have a real product offering real value at a good price, then there are people who should be willing to buy it and people who already have traffic who are willing to earn a commission selling it.
Who are these people?
Do you have a relationship with them?
Are you their customer?
Is there anything you can do to help them?
Do they know you to be a friend not another barracuda?
These are the relationships that will produce profitable long term joint ventures and help you escape traffic tyranny in the long run.
Related Link: Fast JV
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