ANTenna Blog -- Services

Between Facebook and Twitter, is there room for other social networks? Not only is there room, but the networks that aren't in the headlines every hour may be exactly the places you should be considering invaluable business resources.

You'd think with all the attention and buzz showering down upon Facebook these days that it would be the hands down leader in social networking. Think again. The market share leader, at least according to Hitwise is MySpace. Last month, Rupert's Murdoch's social media platform captured upwards of 34% market share, outpacing Facebook by more than 10% (see following chart). For more detail and downloadable spreadsheet of the Hitwise report, click thru to Seeking Alpha.

As any business owner or entrepreneur will tell you, there's rarely a direct one-to-one relationship between popularity and effectiveness. Point being, that the most popular social network is not necessarily where you should be directing your business efforts to build your brand, extend your reach, conduct market research and affinity studies, or bolster your customer loyalty. That top 10 list should be different for almost every business, but that doesn't mean that other list aren't worth a look. For instance, Dan Schawbel, Personal Branding Blogger and author of "Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success" compiled a list of the Top 10 Social Networks for Entrepreneurs over at Mashable. His criteria: these networks provide guidance, tools, and resources to set up a company and gain exposure. And guess what: Facebook and MySpace are conspicuously absent. Here's Schawbel's list (click through for detail about each):

1. Entrepreneur Connect
2. PartnerUp
3. StartupNation
4. LinkedIn
5. Biznik
6. Perfect Business
7. Go BIG Network
8. Cofoundr
9. The Funded
10. Young Entrepreneur

And as Schawbel concedes, this -- and any other list -- is just starting point. Make your own depending upon your business needs and goals.

More About Social Media From bMighty:

• 10+ Twitter Users Every SMB Should Follow
• Should Facebook Be Your Company's Intranet?