Is email going to die?

I know this is really quite far fetched but I think we need to look at the growing population of social network users and also the increasing features available on these platforms. With many of them you have private messaging features and I know that Facebook allows you to add attachments as well. I've also seen that many websites are allowing users to sign up with their Twitter or Facebook and this is growing.

Email is like your key to the internet you can use it to sign in to the vast number of websites on offer some which will send you discounts on your favourite stuff! but every time we visit our inbox many of the unfortunate ones need to delete a load of emails we don't want. This is time consuming and frustrating that when you get to the ones you want it's like finding a needle in a haystack. If your a daily deal subscriber you can get some cool stuff or your teeth whitened for cheap :)

On the other hand, this isn't very likely anytime soon because many websites would need to find a new way for them to stay in contact with their users and have them sign up. Also sometimes its good to keep your email for work and then personal social platforms for keeping in touch with friends & family - not saying people don't mix them. However we all know about Google+ having a circles feature which allows you to separate groups and change the visibility they have on your profile.

Tell us what you think?

Groupon or GroupOff?

Groupon has had phenomenal growth in the past three years and many more competitors such as LivingSocial have popped up, many turning niche to compete. Launched in November 2008 by Andrew Mason the company now operates in 43 countries with "about 7,000 employees". The business was offered $6bn from Google which Groupon turned down.

For those who don't know? Groupon will offer their users in each market a "Groupon" each day. The deal needs to be bought by a certain number of people so that it becomes available to all. The company has had both good and bad reviews by businesses. The benefits include being able to draw in new customers which can then become loyal and make repeat sales. It's not usual for the business to make a profit from Groupon in fact many companies make losses. These are justified as a marketing expense and I have also heard a number of unsuccessful reviews where the companies don't get the support needed. They already have over 83m subscribers so it is quite an attractive opportunity for many businesses.

I feel that not every business is going to be suited to running a deal because Groupon is trying to make profit and they may stretch your business too far. Its so important for the business to really think about whether the deal Groupon wants to run will suit their business.

Groupon reportedly made $713.4 million in 2010 and has already bought in $644.7m in the first quarter of this year and has only made a profit in the first quarter of 2010 of $8m. This could be put down to its rapid growth and high marketing costs. Its obvious that Groupon are making sure that they have majority market share and are looking for long-term profits. With an IPO in the pipe line are investors going to get the profits they seek and are the business going to be better off or are Groupon just going to cash in. Their IPO is reported to make Groupon worth $25bn.

Tell us what you think...

In Your Hour of Need! - Peopleperhour.com

Peopleperhour.com for those who can't do and need something doing. With an estimated amount of jobs posted valuing £28million and over 130,000 freelancers,  people per hour is becoming a real benefit for organisations who wish to outsource work remotely. The business re-branded and launched in 2008 as Peopleperhour and have allowed clients to have a flexible workforce since.

Their head offices are in London and they operate in over 150 countries worldwide with three offices. For clients its simple(see picture left) you post a Job, review the the bids from freelancers, award the work, pay for it once completed and leave some feedback. The freelancer can bid for work by filtering out the jobs they don't want, their are over 45,000 clients outsourcing work on Peopleperhour. Freelancers need to pay a percentage service fee on the work they do however if you upgrade your account you pay less and you can make more bids on work then the 10 bids you get with the free account.

Elance is the equivilant with 448,000 freelancers and has had over 49,000 jobs posted in the last 30 days. They have also managed to reach nearly $400 million of work since being founded in 1999.

Tell us what you think...

Skype on Facebook!! - ***CONFIRMED***

***NOW CONFIRMED***
This recent spoiler that I have heard, doesn't surprise me - Skype is being brought to Facebook! With the recent knowledge that Google+ has a group video feature how will Facebook's compare? Are both skype and Facebook going to see a huge rise in users, almost certainly.

Skype was recently bought by Microsoft for $8.5bn. Microsoft became the "exclusive third-party advertising platform partner for Facebook" and began to sell advertising for Facebook internationally on  Oct. 24, 2007. This shows their close ties and Microsoft's lack of entry in to the social network market other than Facebook. Is this as Mark Zuckerberg put it "awesome"? Tell us your thoughts @snaksocial

Reported on techcrunch - Facebook Announcement on 6th July 2011

To be continued...

Dropbox - in case you drop your device.

Have you come across Dropbox yet because it's quite a nifty tool and simple to use. Basically you have three options 2GB Free, 50GB $9.99 and 100GB $19.99. This allows you to access your files from any your different devices such as a PC, Mac and your mobile. Its was founded in 2007 and received funding from Y-combinator who have also "funded over 300 startups" such as Scribd and Airbnb.

Dropbox revealed that it had over 25million users and it serves over 175 countries. They have "over 200 Million files saved daily" according to their website. Their mobile app is free on Android, BlackBerry and iPhone. It also allows you to share files using a link by email or on your social networks etc...

Box.net is a competitor but there are many different solutions to choose from and they have integrations with some of your other business tools such as Salesforce and your Google Apps. Their is obviously more focus around larger organisations with companies such as Dell and Virgin using them. So Box.net has a free plan which gives you around 5GB storage and then 25GB = $9.99 and 50GB = $19.99. If your a big file saver you may need 500GB for 3 or more users at $15 per user/month.

Tell us what you think...