RIP Meme: The Double Rainbow Guy Sells Out to Microsoft

We were enamored of your childlike delight. We reveled in the remixes. But now, Double Rainbow Guy, we are less than amused. What’s the sure-fire way to kill a viral video? Festoon it with dollar signs.

Yup, the above video is a commercial for Windows Live Photo Gallery, and yup, the… read more

Announcing MashBash BlogWorld: Win a Free Pass [CONTEST]

Mashable is excited to announce MashBash BlogWorld, the opening party for this year’s BlogWorld & New Media Expo in Las Vegas on October 15-16. To kick off the Expo, we’ll be hosting the first night’s official party at Haze at Aria Hotel.

We would love for you to join us, so… read more

Keeping Clients: Ongoing Clients & Agency Work

By definition, the word “freelancer” implies that you are self-employed take on several projects from multiple parties. Many freelancers find this sort of a glamorous life, but in a sense I have to argue against it. In fact, there’s not too much that is desirable about scraping for food. And… read more

QR Codes Help Consumers Shop for Wine

Selecting the right wine for every occasion is a form of art most of us only pretend to understand. That’s why Lion Nathan Wine Group, a wine owner and importer, has put QR codes on wine bottles to help everyday wine buyers make better selections.

Cellar Key, a joint initiative between… read more

We’re Hiring! 50+ Job Vacancies in Social Media, Web Design, and More

If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage… read more

Target to Sell Facebook Credits as Gift Cards in Stores

Target will be the first retailer to sell Facebook Credits in its stores come Sunday. The Facebook Credits gift cards will be available in $15, $25 and $50 denominations at all 1,750 Target locations and at Target.com.

The cards will soon make their way to two or three additional national retailers,… read more

Thank You Our Valued Sponsors For Being With Us In The Month Of August

This is a post in which we want to say a big Thank You to the SmashingApps’ fastest growing community for regularly visiting our blog. Do you want to be the first one to know the latest happenings at SmashingApps.com just subscribe to our rss feed and be the one… read more

Salesforce and Jigsaw Help Keep Business Data Up-to-Date in Real-Time

Enterprise cloud computing company Salesforce.com is introducing the newest component to its platform, Jigsaw for Salesforce CRM.

Jigsaw for Salesforce integrates the Salesforce CRM and Salesforce Chatter experience with Jigsaw’s crowdsourced business data service. Salesforce acquired Jigsaw in April; this is one of the first big developments from that acquisition.

… read more

4 Tips for Writing SEO-Friendly Blog Posts

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

In addition to writing for their human readers, web writers and bloggers have to consider the digital web crawlers employed by search engines like Google. Your business… read more

FashionStake Shifts Fashion Industry Power to the Consumer

Put this on your startups-to-watch list: FashionStake, a New York City-based company that allows consumers to buy a “stake” in a designer’s collection in exchange for varying degrees of perks and privileges, such as pre-order discounts and runway show tickets, has launched just ahead of New York Fashion Week.

The startup,… read more

Top Articles On The Web Design Billboard In August’10

A perfect layout, A Good Design and Nice Resource can produce a creative output. Layout, textures, typography and patterns are used more often than one may think but the outcome of different combination can result verity of excellent designs. Professionalism is built upon knowledge and experience. However, When it comes… read more

How To Create An Effective Banner Ad Marketing Campaign: Part Two

How To Create An Effective Banner Ad Marketing Campaign: Part Two

read more

Japanese Resort Caters to Men with Virtual Girlfriends

File this one under “only in Japan”: A beach town near Tokyo has begun catering to a specific segment of young men, ones who play the game Love Plus and have a strong desire to take their virtual “girlfriends” from this game on a romantic holiday in the real world.

Love… read more

Loopt Checkins Can Get You Two-for-One Tickets to Mexico on Virgin America

Social-media savvy airline Virgin America, which used Twitter to announce its expansion to Toronto, is making use of location-based rewards network Loopt Star to draw attention to its next international expansion: Mexico.

Virgin America will be running non-stop flights from San Francisco (SFO) to Cabo (SJD) and from Los Angeles… read more

Appbistro: Supermarket for Facebook Apps

Just like Android apps, Facebook apps are growing exponentially in number. But just like the Android platform, Facebook app platform is also bogged down by the lack of a great centralized repository from where people can find, read about & install apps and comment on the usefulness apps as well.

Enter… read more

Digital Coupon Clipping Comes to the iPad Via CardStar

Today, a Verizon-backed startup is releasing its iPad application and introducing a new functionality — digital coupon clipping.

CardStar makes mobile applications to digitally manage retailer club and membership cards. CardStar for iPad doubles as a personalized, digital circular for coupons. The app lets users discover coupons relevant to each of… read more

3 Winning Alternatives to Online Sweepstakes

Meaghan Edelstein has gained national media attention through her blog, I Kicked Cancer’s Ass, which she started to document her battle with end stage cancer. She is an attorney, the founder of the non-profit organization Spirit Jump, and works for the Real Time Marketing Group.

For some time now, companies have… read more

Know When to Stop Talking

I think I experienced a new first for me in my life of freelancing.  I responded to a tweet looking for a copywriter to do some basic web copy.

I responded, and chatted with the client for a little bit, discussing his needs and my offerings.  Things were moving in the… read more

How CEOs Will Use Social Media in the Future

This series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here.

Today’s CEO is not social. So says Forrester… read more

HOW TO: Respond when Social Media Attacks Your Brand

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

For all the praise that brand advertisers have for social media, they must be aware that it’s very much a double-edged sword. And for all the free… read more

An Interview With Professional Nature Photographer Jon Cornforth

I was blown away the first time I saw Jon Cornforth’s images.  Even more so because many of the images were taken in my native Washington State.  While we have many talented photographers in our fine state, I was also impressed with how personable Jon was on Twitter and… read more

The Next “Oxford English Dictionary” Could Be Online-Only

Bad news for everyone out there who was eager to hold the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary (that exceedingly portable 20-volume set of wordy goodness): Thanks to the rise of the Internet, the next OED will probably be online-only.

Granted, OED3 is still about a decade in the making… read more

Writing and Web Design: Editorial Calendars and Style Guides

A few years ago, you might not have pointed out during a meeting with a potential client that you maintained a blog. Over time, though, blogs have evolved from the being a personal hobby to a serious work tool. In fact, today, web designers are supposed to know much more… read more

Promoting Yourself To… GASP!… Live People!

By Speider Schneider

A friend of mine started an organization named “Creative Connect,” a twice a month get-together for anyone in the creative field. He said it was to, “get people away from their computers and to get them talking at least twice a month.” Mostly designers, programmers, illustrators and photographers… read more

Samsung Ships 1 Million Galaxy S Smartphones in the U.S.

It seems that Samsung’s extensive marketing campaign for their Android-based smartphone, Samsung Galaxy S, is paying off: the company announced it has shipped one million of them in the U.S. market.

The Galaxy S is a powerful smartphone with a 1 GHz processor, 512MB of memory and a 4-inch Super AMOLED… read more

Honda Takes Social Gaming for a Test Drive

It’s not unusual for a large car company like Honda to advertise its newest release on a billboard — unless, of course, that billboard exists in a virtual gaming community on Facebook.

To promote the U.S. launch of its latest sport hybrid coupe, the Honda CR-Z, the company initiated a two-month… read more

6 Job Search Tips for Aspiring Programmers

It’s true that most programmers don’t need any help getting a job. While other professions have cut down on hiring during the recession, the number of programming jobs has shot through the roof. Demand is expected to increase by 21% between 2008 and 2018.

But not all programming jobs are created… read more

50+ Web Development, SEO, Social Media and Sales Job Opportunities

If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage… read more

Multi-Website Publishing with Halogy

Remember that website you always wanted to create but never managed to find the time or lacked the technical expertise to get it running? Or maybe you’re a designer that loves being creative but you’ve always struggled to grasp the process of converting your designs into a theme that can… read more

Facebook Faces Class Action Lawsuit Over “Like” Buttons

A class action lawsuit has been filed against Facebook in a Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging that the company commercially misappropriated the names and likenesses of minors without parental consent. The plaintiffs are seeking financial restitution for revenues and profits the company and third-parties earned from the alleged charges.

In… read more

4 Beer Companies with Social Media On Tap

Terry Lozoff is President and CEO of Boston-based experiential and digital marketing agency Antler. He has been on the front lines of the non-traditional marketing industry for a decade and has worked with many international and forward-thinking brands including Miller Brewing Company, Liberty Mutual, Magners Irish Cider and GlobalPost.

Beer… read more

Sites of the Week #117 – Ronin App Giveaway

For this Sites of the Week, we have a special edition with a giveaway from Ronin App, I’m sure you’ll love it! Also we have selected some great sites such as Organizze and Spring. As usual we would love to hear from you, keep sending your suggestions and don’t forget… read more

How to Stay Simple with your Product

Let’s face it, we designers love to start from scratch. For example: How may times do we revamp our own portfolios? Staying simple is crucial when starting from scratch.

We hear this “staying simple” phrase a lot these days. Is it just a bunch of jargon or is there something to… read more

HOW TO: Get the Most Out of Your Business Facebook Page

Susan Payton is the President of Egg Marketing & Public Relations, an Internet marketing firm. She blogs at The Marketing Eggspert Blog. Follow her on Twitter @eggmarketing.

So you paid attention to what everyone is saying and you created a Facebook Page for your business. You’ve got your press… read more

Eight Days in Haiti – Photos by Bobby Moon

Bobby Moon is one of our readers and regular Daily Inspiration contributors. Lately Bobby sent us some pretty interesting photos to feature at DI, images from a series called Eight Days in Haiti. As the images are really beautiful we decided to show more of them here to you.

Born… read more

Yelp Continues Roll Out of Daily Deals

Yelp has unveiled a Daily Deal for its San Diego members, offering an official glimpse at the pending service-wide Daily Deals program that the company is readying for release.

Earlier this summer, select Yelp users in the Sacramento area noticed Groupon-like deals appearing in the right-hand side of the home page…. read more

Typography as Art

Typography is one of the cornerstones of good graphic design. Selecting and manipulating typefaces is an art unto itself. Therefore it’s no surprise that classic typography regularly makes its way into famous paintings and sculptures.

Below are some inspirational images of typography used in the fine arts to help give you… read more

HOW TO: Handle an Employee’s Controversial Online Behavior

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Even the best organizations make missteps. Whether it’s a product that doesn’t work correctly or an employee that makes an odd comment, let’s face it: Stuff… read more

Announcing Mashlanta 2.0: Mashable Returns to Atlanta

Ask and you shall receive. Mashable is excited to announce Mashlanta 2.0 in partnership with Regator. After an amazing event last year, we’ve gone bigger (200 to 300 more tickets), longer (an extra hour) and we’ve added a venue with ample parking.

This year, myself, Adam Ostrow, Vadim Lavrusik, Brett Petersel… read more

Unified Business Management using Zoho

Despite having friends who can get me all the latest business management solutions in unbelievable volume licensing prices, I have decided to keep all my operations in the cloud. It’s only logical for anyone to invest in the future rather than outdated, cumbersome software that is often disconnected from the… read more

“Old Spice Guy” Ad Wins an Emmy

Ad agency Wieden + Kennedy’s “The Man Your Man Could Smell Like” TV spot for Old Spice has won the Emmy for Outstanding Commercial.

The spot starred former NFL wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa as the Old Spice Guy, a character now well-known in pop culture thanks to the TV ads and… read more

Top 5 Ways Big Brands are Using Foursquare

This series is supported by The Awareness Social Marketing Hub, a leading enterprise-grade application for marketers struggling with the social media chaos of managing multiple social channels. Click here to learn more.

Unlike other more mainstream social networks, the business potential of Foursquare may not be immediately apparent. At present,… read more

MTV Launches Social Dating Game on Facebook

MTV is adding another social game to its roster, and this one is for all you homebodies out there who can’t score a date this Saturday night: I Woo You, a new casual game from the TV network and Stone Creek Entertainment.

All right, that was a little on the sarcastic… read more

AT&T Pilots In-Store Rewards Using SCVNGR

AT&T has begun offering rewards for in-store interactions via SCVGNR, the mobile app that approaches location and checkins as a way to create a game layer for the real world.

The SCVNGR rewards pilot program, which launches today, extends to 50 stores across the midwest. The stores testing the initiative will… read more

Morning Brief: New Seesmic for BlackBerry, Xbox 360 Chip Detailed, TiVo’s QWERTY Remote

This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America’s first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The “First to Know” series keeps you in the know on what’s happening now in the world of social media and technology.

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in… read more

AT&T Pilots In-Store Rewards Using SCVNGR

AT&T has begun offering rewards for in-store interactions via SCVGNR, the mobile app that approaches location and checkins as a way to create a game layer for the real world.

The SCVNGR rewards pilot program, which launches today, extends to 50 stores across the midwest. The stores testing the initiative will… read more

Get Free, Real-Time Social Media Data and Charts from ViralHeat

Social media analytics company ViralHeat is giving away free access to a treasure trove of data from Twitter, Facebook and a number of other social properties, all housed within the site’s more than 4,000 topic-based profiles.

The company’s revamped ViralHeat Social Trends offering gives users a fast and simple way to… read more

Snoop Dogg Promotes “Mafia Wars” by Blowing Up a Truck [VIDEO]

Last week, rapper Snoop Dogg promoted the social online game Mafia Wars by blowing up an armored truck in the middle of the Nevada desert. Video of the event garnered 2 million live views on Ustream.

Las Vegas was recently added as a playable city in the social game Mafia Wars,… read more

Cubicle Spy: At Work with Steve Rubel of Edelman [PICS]

As part of the ongoing “Cubicle Spy” series here at Mashable, we’re taking a look inside the coolest, quirkiest, and most gadget-laden offices of people who work with social media.

For our second peek into the cube, we scoped out the office of Steve Rubel, Senior Vice President and Director of… read more

100+ Upcoming Social Media & Tech Conferences and Events

Every week, Mashable puts together a calendar of upcoming social media and web events, parties and conferences. Would you like to have your conference or event listed here? If so, please contact us at least one month before your event to establish a media partnership. For more upcoming listings, check… read more

4 Things to Consider When Creating a Business Logo

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

With all the noise on the web today, good branding is more important than ever. Even if your business is not a cutting edge tech startup, the… read more

Mashable Weekend Recap: 16 Stories You May Have Missed

We hope you had a great weekend and that you have an even better work week. To help you get into the swing of things, we’ve assembled 16 helpful or entertaining stories from Saturday and Sunday to help you start your Monday on a strong information foundation.

The big news this… read more

Seth Godin Gives Up on Traditional Book Publishing

Writer and marketing guru Seth Godin doesn’t plan to publish any more books – at least not in the traditional sense.

After writing 12 books, he doesn’t think the traditional publishing process is “worth the effort,” he revealed in an interview with Mediabistro. Godin, the author of bestsellers such as “Purple… read more

Beyond Foursquare: 5 Location-Based Apps for Your Small Business

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Foursquare is blowing up with megabrands like Starbucks and Jimmy Choo, but smaller businesses can find a niche with smaller location-based services, as well.

Working with location-based apps… read more

“Mafia Wars” Viral Marketing Angers San Francisco City Hall

The San Francisco City Attorney wrote a letter to Zynga, makers of the online game FarmVille, accusing the company of “sidewalk vandalism” for the viral marketing campaign it used to promote the new expansion for Mafia Wars.

Zynga allegedly authorized an ad agency to plant fake $25,000 bills on the sidewalks… read more

10 Tips For Aspiring Community Managers

As the world of dominant brands becomes more fragmented, established companies and startups are hiring community managers to cultivate an engaged community in a digital world where customers’ experiences with the product is amplified through social media, whether good or bad. And it’s not just the experience that a users… read more

Email Newsletter Designs #10

Email Newsletter Designs #10 is a post from: Power Plates | Free Email Templates | Email Marketing | Web Designer London | Asian Bridal Makeup | Shaving Tips

This post is part of a weekly series where we take a look at the best email newsletter designs. If you do come… read more

Why Social Media Monitoring Tools Are About to Get Smarter

Jim Tobin is president of Ignite Social Media, where he works work with clients including Microsoft, Intel, Nature Made, The Body Shop, Disney and more implementing social media marketing strategies. He is also author of the book Social Media is a Cocktail Party: Why You Already Know the Rules of… read more

5 Huge Trends in Social Media Right Now

What’s the first thing young women do when they wake up? Check Facebook. How do enterprise employees pass the time at work? With social media. With so many studies highlighting ever-accelerating social media usage rates, the conclusion is obvious — social media is everywhere.

What follows are five of the hottest… read more

Designing Microsites: Factors To Consider

When creating a website, so many things need to be planned and considered before even beginning the design — content, audience, goals, usability, color schemes, and so much more.

The design of a microsite, on the other hand, would seem to be an easier task to execute. But… read more

Organic Blueberries to Snoop Dogg: Branded Virtual Goods Are Booming [REPORT]

Branded virtual goods are set to take off in the next five years — in a big way.

A report by social gaming platform Viximo and virtual goods platform Virtual Greats predicts that branded virtual goods (BVGs) will generate $150 million in 2013 and reach an annual revenue of $318… read more

Groupon Smashes Sales Records with Nationwide Gap Deal

Groupon launched its first national deal today, partnering with Gap to offer $50 worth of apparel and accessories at the low price of $25.

The site is known for its local daily deals, often offered by small businesses including restaurants, gyms and spas. With a $1 billion valuation and more than… read more

Top 5 Mobile Advertising Trends To Watch

The mobile trends series is supported by Samsung. Read more about the Samsung Galaxy here.

Mobile advertising is increasingly important, as cell phone adoption rates, especially smartphone adoption rates, soar. With a range of mobile advertising options, including SMS, WAP, mobile app display ads, search ads, rich media, video and push… read more

30 Creative and Inspiring Golf Logos

Sport logos are fantastic to work with – some of the world’s greatest brands are sport-related (think Nike, Adidas, ESPN and Everlast). Golf is a popular sport with wealthy and successful people – as such, golf businesses (such as golf clubs, golf courses and golf websites) can be extremely… read more

How Foursquare Feels About Facebook Places [VIDEO]

Conventional wisdom dictates that when an industry Goliath repackages and rolls out your core product, your business is in a bit of trouble.

For many location-based startups, including Foursquare, users and tech industry analysts are concerned about their chances of survival in a post-Facebook Places market. They and their investors have… read more

Location-Based Text Message Ads Get a Major Boon

Beginning today brands such as The North Face can reach 60% of all U.S. consumers with opt-in, location-based marketing SMS messages.

The extensive distribution possibilities are thanks to a strategic partnership between Placecast — makers of ShopAlerts — and Location Labs; the two companies have combined forces to tackle location-based mobile… read more

Facebook Application Lets Retailers Import and Sell Etsy Goods

Payvment’s Facebook application is designed to help retailers set up e-commerce shops on the 500-million-member social network. Today, the startup is releasing a new export tool to let Payvment users import their entire Etsy inventories and sell them via their Facebook Pages.

The Etsy-to-Facebook import tool is a product of the… read more

5 Useful Facebook Trend and Search Services

As the world’s largest social network, Facebook is a fascinating place to find out what’s hot, what’s news, and discover the latest meme.

Despite recent improvements, Facebook’s in-site search doesn’t necessarily offer the best way to see such data. However, there are various services that provide a dedicated way to either… read more

People Magazine iPad App Launch Stalled by Photographer Disputes

Publishers are clamoring to get their magazine titles onto Apple’s iPad, but many may be facing a new challenge: photographers.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that Time Inc. has been forced to delay the release of its People magazine iPad app, in part because of disputes with photo agencies over licensing agreements… read more

Crazy Roger Federer Trick Shot a Viral Hit for Gillette [VIDEO]

A video featuring tennis star Roger Federer that plays on our collective fascination with “real or fake” hit the Web earlier this week and has quickly gone viral, accumulating more than 700,000 views as of this morning.

The video, which was part of a Gillette commercial shoot in Switzerland, features Federer… read more

10 Essential Free E-Books for Web Designers

While many may still prefer print for long-form reading, e-books are gaining popularity as a worthy digital alternative. Aside from all the usual benefits of digitizing a book (faster searches, less page-flipping, linked pages, additional resources, etc.), e-books are a huge help to digital and online professionals.

There are now e-books… read more

50+ Immediate Job Openings in Social Media, Web Development and More

If you’re seeking a job in social media, we’d like to help out. For starters, Mashable’s Job Lists section gathers together all of our resource lists, how-tos and expert guides to help you get hired. In particular, you might want to see our articles on How to Leverage… read more

A Sneak Peek at Premium for Non-members

Vector Premium launched in late September 2008. Since then we’ve added over 60 Premium tutorials for Premium members and hundreds of Illustrator and InDesign source files. Over 10,000 members have formed our unique Premium community. Learn more about the material and resources available to Premium members to Join Premium today.

Join… read more

Miracle Film Turns Any Surface into a Touchscreen

Here’s one for all you lovers of futuristic interfaces. An interactive hardware company called Displax has begun marketing Skin, a paper-thin, flexible film that would transform any non-metal surface into an interactive touchscreen.

You could place Skin on any surface, transparent or opaque, flat or curved, and use it to display… read more

Why the Social Gaming Biz is Just Heating Up

Jeremy Liew invests primarily in the Internet and mobile sectors, with a particular interest in social media, commerce, gaming, financial and methods for increasing monetization. He joined Lightspeed in early 2006.

These are interesting times in the social gaming industry. Two weeks ago Disney acquired Playdom, and last week Google acquired… read more

Recession Survival Tips For Online Businesses

In a recession, companies go one of two ways: either they become the cautious cat, adopting a wait-and-see attitude, spending carefully on their marketing and less overall, cutting back, or they become the ferocious lion, bold, taking advantage of their competitors’ caution to seize opportunities in the tough market.

Whatever your… read more

TV Guide Gets a Slick New iPad App

TV Guide has just released its official, free app for the iPad [iTunes link].

The application features television listings, the latest news from TVGuide.com, video clips and episode sneak peeks.

The app also has a built-in social component that lets users share what shows they are watching or are excited about seeing… read more

Target to Launch Flash Sale on Gilt for Fall Designer Lines

Target is partnering with the members-only Gilt Groupe flash-sale service to create an exclusive experience around its upcoming fall capsule collections.

For years, Target has worked with big name designers — think Jean-Paul Gaultier and Proenza Schouler — to produce affordable high-end lines for Target shoppers. This partnership takes previous efforts… read more

The Future of Public Relations and Social Media

This series is supported by Gist. Gist provides a full view of the contacts in your professional network by creating a rich business profile for each one that includes the most news, status updates, and work details. See how it works here.

Public relations specialists were some of the first… read more

Official Snoop Dogg Landy Challenge

Our aim is always to inspire you to become the greatest artist in the world. Now lets see if you are skilled enough to design Snoop Dogg’s next commercial for cognac brand Landy.

At Abduzeedo it has always been our goal to help the community get inspired, learn new techniques, educate… read more

Best Buy Launches Shopkick Automatic Checkins and Rewards at 257 Stores

Best Buy is readying 257 of its U.S. stores for a digital loyalty program that rewards customers who walk-in and automatically check-in via the Shopkick iPhone app and future Andriod app.

The Best Buy Shopkick initiative was announced earlier this month and will award offline shoppers with “kickbucks” — the Shopkick… read more

Why Location-Based Social Media Needs to Get “Passive” Aggressive

Jesse Thomas is the CEO and Founder of JESS3, a Creative Interactive Agency. JESS3 designs products and experiences for brands like Google, Nike, Facebook, MySpace, C-SPAN, Microsoft and NASA.

Ten years ago, Seth Godin predicted the demise of “interruption marketing” and the rise of “permission marketing.” His idea was that intrusive… read more

Advertisers to Spend $1.7 Billion on Social Networks in 2010

The latest numbers from eMarketer project that advertisers will spend nearly $1.7 billion in the U.S. on social networking sites in 2010. Worldwide, spending will hit $3.3 billion according to the report.

The numbers represent a significant bump up from estimates published by the research firm at the… read more

5 Tips for Aspiring Copywriters and Art Directors

Between high-profile awards shows and TV series like Mad Men, more and more of the American population are coming to realize the glamor of the advertising industry — and there’s perhaps no role more inspiring, frustrating and, yes, sometimes glamorous, than the role of an advertising creative.

Advertising creatives fall into… read more

5 Key Benefits of Monitoring Your Client’s Brand on Social Media

Lauren Fernandez is the Agency Community Manager at Radian6, the social media monitoring and engagement platform. She is @cubanalaf on Twitter, and blogs at LAF and MarketingProfs Daily Fix.

From an agency perspective, many utilize social media monitoring at the request of a client who either doesn’t know much about… read more

40 Highly Effective FaceBook Business Pages

Facebook is huge. With the average user connecting to 80 community pages, groups and events and with over 900 million (!) objects that users love to interact with (pages, groups, events and community pages), Facebook pages are massive and with a well thought layout they will prove to be a… read more

Gap Offers 25% Discount for Foursquare Checkins

Gap is cutting 25% from the prices for all the clothes in its retail stores for customers who check in on Foursquare in connection with an event the chain is calling “The BlackMagic Event.” The Foursquare deal is only valid today, so you’d better grab your smartphone and head to… read more

Foursquare + Groupon = “It” Startup GroupTabs

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: GroupTabs

Quick Pitch: GroupTabs members check in for group deals… read more

Mashable Hosts #SummerMash in Chicago [PHOTOS]

The 2010 Mashable U.S. Summer Tour came to a triumphant close Wednesday at the Crystal Ballroom of Chicago’s Hyatt Regency hotel. Hundreds of guests from all over the Midwest joined us in the Windy City to cut loose, have a few drinks and put the “Chic” in Chicago. Mashable’s NYC… read more

The Best of the Business Blogs, July 2010

At the start of every month, we’ll be rounding up the best posts from the business network of blogs and directing you to them. Here’s the best of business in July, including articles from WorkAwesome, the Netsetter and FreelanceSwitch.

The Netsetter

50 Netsetters You Should Know About

There are thousands of… read more

15 Excellent Corporate Blogs to Learn From

This post originally appeared on the American Express OPEN Forum, where Mashable regularly contributes articles about leveraging social media and technology in small business.

Creating and maintaining a corporate blog, or a blog of any sort for that matter, isn’t always the easiest of tasks and doesn’t come naturally to most… read more

Morning Brief: Foursquare Numbers, Bieber Scam, HTC Mystery Event

This series is brought to you by HTC EVO 4G, America’s first 4G phone. Only from Sprint. The “First to Know” series keeps you in the know on what’s happening now in the world of social media and technology.

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in… read more

Sites of the Week #115

For this Sites of the Week we have selected some great sites such as The Combine 2010 and Participatory Politics. Also we’re featuring the portfolio of Tuispace and much, much more! As usual we would love to hear from you, keep sending your suggestions to us and we will be… read more

5 Tips for Dealing with Complaints on Twitter

Megan Berry is Marketing Manager for Klout, the standard for online influence. She also blogs at The Huffington Post and Brazen Careerist. You can follow her on Twitter at @meganberry.

Every business, blogger, and the rest of us on social media have experienced it: someone just called you out on Twitter… read more

“Paypal for Groups” Startup WePay Raises $7.5M Series B

WePay can most quickly be described as a sort of Paypal for groups. It allows users to collect, manage and send money as a group online.

Hypothetically, it works well for clubs, small organizations, roommates and other groups and could become a household name — at any rate, the VCs at… read more

Track Social Media Campaigns from Inside Microsoft Excel

Social media monitoring company RowFeeder has launched an analytics solution that gives marketers and brands the ability to monitor and measure social media data from inside Microsoft Excel.

The product is built on Excel, so instead of simply exporting data, RowFeeder generates native Excel files with pre-populated charts, visualizations and pivot… read more

Delta Starts Selling Flights on Facebook

Delta Air Lines has launched The Delta Ticket Window, a Facebook application that lets members find, book and share flights via the “Book a Trip” tab on the airline’s Facebook Page.

Delta aims to reach travelers with Facebook-happy trigger fingers when it comes to travel booking. The application was built to… read more

“Bridezillas” Explores What’s Possible With TV Show Checkins

Cable network WE tv has partnered with entertainment checkin service Miso to create a branded campaign around the show Bridezillas. The partnership plans to reward Miso fans who checkin to the show with extra content such as show-themed badges, exclusive photos and access to video clips.

Miso — which… read more