An Excerpt from my new friend, Jim Seybert

Facebook, Twitter and MySpace Growth

June 15th, 2009 by Jim Seybert

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Inside Facebook is reporting a milestone reached by the social network in May 2009 - that’s when the number of unique US users on Facebook exceeded unique US users on MySpace. The margin was small, but to paraphrase Aristotle, “a win is a win.”

The Internet measuring site comSCORE pegged Facebook’s unique US users at 70.28 million in May 2009 with MySpace at 70.26 million for the same period. What’s probably more telling is the rate of growth - Facebook gained 97% between May 2008 and May 2009. The number of MySpace unique sites declined by 5% during the year.

And you certainly shouldn’t be surprised to learn that Twitter grew nearly 2700% from May to May - from just over 600,000 users to a whopping 17.5 million in 12 months. (Nearly everyone I know who is now using Twitter was not using Twitter at this time last year - including me).

One of my first Strategy Retreats (in February 2002) included a short segment where I helped an executive team think through how they might use email to supplement their marketing efforts. The agenda for an upcoming retreat includes a half day focusing solely on taking Facebook and Twitter “to the next level.”

The futurist in me is dying to know what we’ll be talking about this time next year?

Me: I just found a treasure trove of Twitter secrets, email

berachahleadership@gmail.com and I’ll send it to you.

From Church Leaders Intelligence Report

06.17.09

How Your Congregation Reacts to Recession Reacting to Recession, a study by London‘s M&C Saatchi, uncovers the attitudes and behavior adopted by different groups of consumers and finds eight typologies with distinct approaches to the use of their money. Churches can benefit from understanding each segment and adapting their communications in regards to generosity, giving and financial projects. Each typology has adopted a different predominant behavior or ‘strategy’ to cope financially with the downturn, and it is this behavior that defines each grouping. Crash Dieters (26%) identify and cut out all non-essential spending until things improve. They live from week to week, and when the money runs out, they’re forced to take drastic action. Scrimpers (13%) down-trade rather than cut out. They are more likely to substitute brands with private labels rather than dropping them altogether. Abstainers (15%) want to maintain their lifestyle and postpone big purchases until the situation improves. Balancers (9%) rob Peter to pay Paul. They prefer sacrifice to compromise. Treaters (12%) don’t find it easy to cut back, but know they have to. So they reward their frugalness with regular small treats. Justifiers (12%) are happy to give, but in the current climate they want to be sure their money is well-used. They’re looking for value deals. Ostriches (9%) feel unaffected or in denial and are spending normally. Vultures (4%) are looking to profit from others’ misfortune. (Let’s hope your church doesn’t have any of those!) The findings of this study indicate certain communication techniques and language that may work well among certain segments, but not others. Take some time and evaluate the primary typology present in your church and modify your communication strategies accordingly. Adapted from Center for Media Research Brief, 6/3/09