It feels like users are finally getting the hang of LinkedIn, or at least the buzz is big enough (with a little help from a tough job market), that people are checking it out.  But the power of a social network is usually its breadth, and that seems to be where LinkedIn is heading, according to company reports, which released the news that LinkedIn has now reached 50 million users: potential clients and job seekers all.

Still trying to figure out how exactly the “BidSimulator” Google launched last month for Ad Words, can help you bid more efficiently?  Google has released a tutorial that might help you.

After several recent months of unprecedented growth, Social Media sites like Facebook and Twitter are starting to see users maximize their large userbases. They are starting to become places where people ask for advice on where to find quality merchandise and services from trusted sources: their friends.

Officially acknowledging, and perhaps attempting to capitalize on the growing trend of businesses (small and large) utilizing Twitter as an important tool for interacting with customers, Twitter has published their official guide for business use of Twitter.  Whether expert or naif, anybody with a brand will probably want to check it out.

A lot has been made of Twitter use by larger companies to interact directly with customers, sometimes more quickly and effectively than with more traditional customer service tools, such as telephone, email or even letters.  Twitter has made it possible to get real time information out to customers much more quickly.  And customers have used it in the other direction, to send immediate feedback to companies.

While much as been made of the Comcast & Whole Food models, smaller companies are using Twitter in very inventive ways, that actually don’t just benefit their marketing profile, but benefit their bottom line.  An article in the New York Times, discusses some real world examples.

Has the “tipping point” finally been reached for online ad revenue? 

While the web is certainly “ubiquitous”, and seemingly fertile ground for advertising revenue, it is also well known that more traditional businesses (newspapers, magazines, television), for which ad revenue has been their life-blood, have had a hard time converting high returns for online ads, because they just haven’t had the monopolies on viewership to justify the rates.

Now perhaps that trend is turning the corner?  According to recent reports, television media companies are reporting for the first time, that based on viewership, they will begin charging more for online ad rates than for prime-time tv advertising spots.

Wondering how other companies are utilizing Twitter?  Maybe looking for an exchange of ideas with someone in the same field?  ExecTweets is still in Beta, but they are aggregating what seem to be “verified” accounts of CEOs from various industries.  Check to see if anybody’s Tweeting information that might be helpful to you and your business here.

For those businesses who have pages on Facebook, and want to “lock-in” their vanity URL, in order to make sure that potential customers or partners can find them, the basic requirement is that it must have at least 1,000 fans to even attempt to lock in the name.  According to All Facebook, one way around this is to “apply” to reserve a username, but the catch is that the business name has to have a trademark. 

So guess the bottom line is to continue using those strategies to build your fan base, so you can then reserve that URL.

“All Facebook”, a blog chronicling trends and changes on Facebook has developed a quick 10-step guide to maximizing the power of the “Pages” feature on Facebook.  Check it out to see if any suggested strategies might work for you and your brand.

Time Magazine explores how Twitter has tapped into an innate desire for people to connect, and turned a seemingly innocuous 140 characters into powerful snippets of exchange.

Have a “smart” ad for a product, that you think has hit the “super bowl” sweet spot for Advertising: popular ad, leading to buzz about your product?

Under a new advertising regime, instead of paying billions for a spot on the Super Bowl, you could pay less to have it display on the web, if your ad becomes “popular” and users vote for it.

Harbinger of a new way of charging for ad space on the internet?  Certainly all kinds of content providers are hoping for some revolutionary thought.  Too soon to tell if this will pan out, and it’s only being tested on Digg.com.  But if successful, it may become a standard.  Good to check it out.

Most of us wouldn’t be able to invite and have half of these Social Media executives show up to discuss strategy with us for our own personal social media campaigns.

But as any good marketer knows, it sometimes helps to attach your brand to a high profile personality….say, a personage some people are saying may be a presidential candidate.

So when Cory Booker invited the Social Media elite to a “strategy session” recently, most of the current luminaries showed up to share expertise, and gain a little star power as well.

Still trying to figure out how Twitter can really help you in your business?

Probably the single biggest added-value that Twitter has over the competition, is direct access to people and organizations with which you might never otherwise have direct contact.

These can translate into: potential customers, clients, suppliers, and business contacts.

So, you’ve read up on Twitter, and given its rising prominence, decided you better check it out. But what do all those 140 character Tweets mean?  And how best to maximize those 140 characters, while simultaneously building a following for you or your business, and really mine Twitter’s utility?  This handy guide by Ruhani Rabin, unlocks the secrets of the “Twitter Code”, and will help you become an expert so you can start Tweeting immediately.

According to research from CMS Watch, which looked at several social media sites, LinkedIn is currently the site working the hardest to address enterprise social computing needs. Read why LinkedIn might be the best place to gain client base on the web right now, and also check out the original report from CMS Watch.