why internet marketing

Let's cut through the marketing speak and look at how we got here, what today's so-called 4G networks offer, what the common acronyms mean, and how they are different from today's 3G networks.

Understanding 3G

Most modern 3G phones (including the iPhone 3G) currently use a technology called HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). It was this technology that allowed users to really use the Internet on their mobile phones, send pictures and watch streaming video at usable speeds. HSPA tops out at about 3.6 Mbps.

Then, with the introduction of HSPA+ - with speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (and with some modifications up to 21 Mbps and a theoretical limit of up to 168 Mbps), wireless speeds started to rival those of many wired connections in users' homes and really allowed for the full spectrum of Internet services to be usable on mobile devices. Just to complicate matters, 3G devices that support speeds around 7.2 Mbps are often called 3.5G devices.

Today's So-Called 4G

Over the last year or so, we have seen the introduction of two so-called 4G technologies: LTE (Long Term Evolutions) and WiMAX. In the U.S., Sprint is using the WiMAX standard for its networks and Verizon is using LTE. With CLEAR, Clearwire is also offering a WiMAX-based broadband network that targets consumers who want fast Internet speeds on their laptops and at home, though the reach of the company's network is still limited to a select number of cities in the U.S.

One of the major differences - besides the faster speeds - between these networks and 3G is that voice - which until now travelled over a separate line - now runs over the same network as the data, and telephony on the phone basically becomes a VoIP application similar to Skype.

With speeds of over 100 Mbps, wireless networks can easily rival the speeds of wired connections. Thanks to this, areas where it is currently too expensive to update wired networks may soon get access to real broadband. By doing away with the enormous costs of physically connecting every household to the wired networks, we will also hopefully see more competition among Internet providers.

WiMAX operators like Clearwire are also able to offer so-called "triple-play" bundles that bring together Internet, phone and television services over the wireless connection.

Real 4G: Coming in 2012

While no actual 4G spec has been finalized yet, the current expectation is that the standard will call for a minimum speed of 1 to 1.5 Gbps. According to a recent report (PDF) by Rysavy Research for 3G Americas, the first networks that will actually fulfill these official requirements for 4G will probably use the LTE-Advanced specifications. The final specs for LTE-Advanced won't be completed until March 2011, though, and the first networks with support for this standard won't go online until 2012. The other real 4G spec that is currently being discussed is the IEEE 802.16m standard, backed by the WiMAX Forum.

Faster speeds are not just the only advantage of these networks. The latency - that is the time it takes the network to respond to a request - is also greatly reduced over these networks.

Image credit: Groupe Aménagement Numérique des Territoires.

Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media, and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

Non-profit organizations are leading the way when it comes to creatively harnessing the power of social media. A report by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shows that the largest U.S. non-profit organizations continue to outpace Inc. 500 businesses and higher education institutions in their familiarity, use and monitoring of social media.

In fact, 93% of the top U.S. charities have a class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook page, 87% have a Twitter profile, and 65% have a blog. Why does this matter? Because the rapid growth and adoption of social media is helping non-profits in their quest for change — they truly are using social media for social good.

But what about the little guys? The social web can give smaller players a big voice if they know how to leverage it. Here are three inspiring success stories of small non-profits who met or exceeded their goals with the help of social media.

1. Create a Video, Start a Movement

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project will inspire you. Suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Darius and 11 of his best friends decided to head out on a cross country road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where Darius hoped to have his wheelchair spiffed up by MTV’s Pimp my Ride. Though his wheelchair did not get pimped by MTV on that trip, there was a far better outcome that even Darius couldn’t have imagined.

The 25-day trip resulted in memories, experiences and 300 hours of video which were turned into a documentary that has impacted thousands of people around the world. That very same documentary has now raised over $2 million for DMD research.

According to the Darius Goes West team, “We had offers from distributors, but, in the end, we decided to self-distribute our film. By opting to self-distribute, we bear the responsibility for marketing, but we also have the power to devote $8 of every DVD sale to promising DMD research.”

It’s apparent that social media has played and continues to play a significant roll in helping to raise both awareness and money for DMD research through Darius and his friends. Here’s a snap shot of their social media footprint:

They’ve accrued close to 700,000 views on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, collected more than 14,000 Facebook fans, obtained roughly 2,000 Twitter followers, and raised almost $45,000 through Facebook Causes and FirstGiving.

2. Empower Your Supporters to be Free Agent Fundraisers

Well known cycling blogger Elden Nelson did something incredible a few months ago — he raise more than $135,000 in less than 10 days for LIVESTRONG and World Bicycle Relief using his blog, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Friends Asking Friends.

It all started when Nelson sent Lance Armstrong’s racing team manager, Johan Bruyneel, an open cover letter as if he were applying for a job.

Nelson, who dreamed of becoming a pro cyclist, reached out to Bruyneel, with low expectations on its return. But through the power of social media, Bruyneel did see it, and he challenged Nelson via Twitter and his blogclass="blippr-nobr">blog to raise $50,000 for LIVESTRONG and $50,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Nelson took on that challenge and completed it in less than two days.

Without the ability to quickly connect and mobilize his network using social media, this wouldn’t have been possible in such a shot amount of time. Nelson tweeted numerous times as the story unfolded, as did Bruyneel, @livestrong, @livestrongceo and @lancearmstrong. Those three accounts combined have over 3.5 million Twitter followers. Add to that the numerous blog posts, Facebook status updates and YouTube videos, and you get a social media-fueled fundraising phenomenon like we’ve never seen.

3. Raise Funds by Creating a “Heartspace”

Mothers Day 2010 brought about quite a few online fundraising initiatives, but none were more impressive than the To Mama with Love campaign created by the passionate folks at Epic Change and a host of great volunteers. The goal was simple — raise money to support Mama Lucy in her efforts to educate children in Tanzania.

Mama Lucy is a change agent who saved her own income and used it to start a primary school in Tanzania, believing that education is the key to transforming a country gripped by poverty. Over the last six years, Mama Lucy has grown the school from one classroom with fewer than 10 students, to a school that now serves more than 300 children at eight grade levels.

The initiative was simple but powerful. Supporters were encouraged honor their own mothers by making a donation and then creating a virtual scrapbook or “heartspace” on the site, including photos, videos, notes, and artwork. They could then share their “heartspace” with their mother, friends and family via Twitter and Facebook, or via a customized e-card.

Using social media as the primary communication and engagement mechanism, Epic Change was able to raise close to $17,000 and provide a safe home for 17 children in Tanzania, while also encouraging more than 300 mothers along the way. They did all of this in about a week’s time with a staff of two.

So you see, social media has truly enabled non-profits both large and small to reach out and make some real change. Tell us about the social cause campaigns you’ve donated to in the past in the comments below.

More Social Good Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network/> - 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Social Good/> - 10 Ways to Start a Fund for Social Good Online/> - How Social Good Has Revolutionized Philanthropy/> - 5 iPhone Apps to Help Fight Poverty

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

<b>News</b> the Old Media Won&#39;t Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>

12774581 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fbigjournalism.com%2Fmpleahy%2F2010%2F10%2F03%2Fnews-the-old-media-wont-tell-you-more-trash-at-one-sparsely-attended-left-wing-rally-than-at-all-the-tea-parties-around-the-country-in-a-year-and-a-half%2FNews ...

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

Buffalo Bills cornerback Terrence McGee had minor surgery Saturday to repair a pinched nerve affecting his left leg, an NFL source told the Buffalo News. The procedure was successful, but it could sideline McGee for up to four weeks. ...

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Breakfast Fail - Epic Fail Funny Videos and <b>...</b>

epic fail photos - Probably Bad News: Breakfast Fail.

eric seiger eric seiger

Let's cut through the marketing speak and look at how we got here, what today's so-called 4G networks offer, what the common acronyms mean, and how they are different from today's 3G networks.

Understanding 3G

Most modern 3G phones (including the iPhone 3G) currently use a technology called HSPA (High Speed Packet Access). It was this technology that allowed users to really use the Internet on their mobile phones, send pictures and watch streaming video at usable speeds. HSPA tops out at about 3.6 Mbps.

Then, with the introduction of HSPA+ - with speeds up to 7.2 Mbps (and with some modifications up to 21 Mbps and a theoretical limit of up to 168 Mbps), wireless speeds started to rival those of many wired connections in users' homes and really allowed for the full spectrum of Internet services to be usable on mobile devices. Just to complicate matters, 3G devices that support speeds around 7.2 Mbps are often called 3.5G devices.

Today's So-Called 4G

Over the last year or so, we have seen the introduction of two so-called 4G technologies: LTE (Long Term Evolutions) and WiMAX. In the U.S., Sprint is using the WiMAX standard for its networks and Verizon is using LTE. With CLEAR, Clearwire is also offering a WiMAX-based broadband network that targets consumers who want fast Internet speeds on their laptops and at home, though the reach of the company's network is still limited to a select number of cities in the U.S.

One of the major differences - besides the faster speeds - between these networks and 3G is that voice - which until now travelled over a separate line - now runs over the same network as the data, and telephony on the phone basically becomes a VoIP application similar to Skype.

With speeds of over 100 Mbps, wireless networks can easily rival the speeds of wired connections. Thanks to this, areas where it is currently too expensive to update wired networks may soon get access to real broadband. By doing away with the enormous costs of physically connecting every household to the wired networks, we will also hopefully see more competition among Internet providers.

WiMAX operators like Clearwire are also able to offer so-called "triple-play" bundles that bring together Internet, phone and television services over the wireless connection.

Real 4G: Coming in 2012

While no actual 4G spec has been finalized yet, the current expectation is that the standard will call for a minimum speed of 1 to 1.5 Gbps. According to a recent report (PDF) by Rysavy Research for 3G Americas, the first networks that will actually fulfill these official requirements for 4G will probably use the LTE-Advanced specifications. The final specs for LTE-Advanced won't be completed until March 2011, though, and the first networks with support for this standard won't go online until 2012. The other real 4G spec that is currently being discussed is the IEEE 802.16m standard, backed by the WiMAX Forum.

Faster speeds are not just the only advantage of these networks. The latency - that is the time it takes the network to respond to a request - is also greatly reduced over these networks.

Image credit: Groupe Aménagement Numérique des Territoires.

Frank Barry, professional services manager at Blackbaud and blogger at NetWits ThinkTank, helps non-profits use the Internet for digital communication, social media, and fundraising so they can focus on making an impact and achieving their missions. Find Frank on Twitter @franswaa.

Non-profit organizations are leading the way when it comes to creatively harnessing the power of social media. A report by The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth shows that the largest U.S. non-profit organizations continue to outpace Inc. 500 businesses and higher education institutions in their familiarity, use and monitoring of social media.

In fact, 93% of the top U.S. charities have a class='blippr-nobr'>Facebookclass="blippr-nobr">Facebook page, 87% have a Twitter profile, and 65% have a blog. Why does this matter? Because the rapid growth and adoption of social media is helping non-profits in their quest for change — they truly are using social media for social good.

But what about the little guys? The social web can give smaller players a big voice if they know how to leverage it. Here are three inspiring success stories of small non-profits who met or exceeded their goals with the help of social media.

1. Create a Video, Start a Movement

Darius Weems and the Darius Goes West project will inspire you. Suffering from Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD), Darius and 11 of his best friends decided to head out on a cross country road trip from Atlanta to Los Angeles, where Darius hoped to have his wheelchair spiffed up by MTV’s Pimp my Ride. Though his wheelchair did not get pimped by MTV on that trip, there was a far better outcome that even Darius couldn’t have imagined.

The 25-day trip resulted in memories, experiences and 300 hours of video which were turned into a documentary that has impacted thousands of people around the world. That very same documentary has now raised over $2 million for DMD research.

According to the Darius Goes West team, “We had offers from distributors, but, in the end, we decided to self-distribute our film. By opting to self-distribute, we bear the responsibility for marketing, but we also have the power to devote $8 of every DVD sale to promising DMD research.”

It’s apparent that social media has played and continues to play a significant roll in helping to raise both awareness and money for DMD research through Darius and his friends. Here’s a snap shot of their social media footprint:

They’ve accrued close to 700,000 views on YouTubeclass="blippr-nobr">YouTube, collected more than 14,000 Facebook fans, obtained roughly 2,000 Twitter followers, and raised almost $45,000 through Facebook Causes and FirstGiving.

2. Empower Your Supporters to be Free Agent Fundraisers

Well known cycling blogger Elden Nelson did something incredible a few months ago — he raise more than $135,000 in less than 10 days for LIVESTRONG and World Bicycle Relief using his blog, Twitterclass="blippr-nobr">Twitter and Friends Asking Friends.

It all started when Nelson sent Lance Armstrong’s racing team manager, Johan Bruyneel, an open cover letter as if he were applying for a job.

Nelson, who dreamed of becoming a pro cyclist, reached out to Bruyneel, with low expectations on its return. But through the power of social media, Bruyneel did see it, and he challenged Nelson via Twitter and his blogclass="blippr-nobr">blog to raise $50,000 for LIVESTRONG and $50,000 for World Bicycle Relief. Nelson took on that challenge and completed it in less than two days.

Without the ability to quickly connect and mobilize his network using social media, this wouldn’t have been possible in such a shot amount of time. Nelson tweeted numerous times as the story unfolded, as did Bruyneel, @livestrong, @livestrongceo and @lancearmstrong. Those three accounts combined have over 3.5 million Twitter followers. Add to that the numerous blog posts, Facebook status updates and YouTube videos, and you get a social media-fueled fundraising phenomenon like we’ve never seen.

3. Raise Funds by Creating a “Heartspace”

Mothers Day 2010 brought about quite a few online fundraising initiatives, but none were more impressive than the To Mama with Love campaign created by the passionate folks at Epic Change and a host of great volunteers. The goal was simple — raise money to support Mama Lucy in her efforts to educate children in Tanzania.

Mama Lucy is a change agent who saved her own income and used it to start a primary school in Tanzania, believing that education is the key to transforming a country gripped by poverty. Over the last six years, Mama Lucy has grown the school from one classroom with fewer than 10 students, to a school that now serves more than 300 children at eight grade levels.

The initiative was simple but powerful. Supporters were encouraged honor their own mothers by making a donation and then creating a virtual scrapbook or “heartspace” on the site, including photos, videos, notes, and artwork. They could then share their “heartspace” with their mother, friends and family via Twitter and Facebook, or via a customized e-card.

Using social media as the primary communication and engagement mechanism, Epic Change was able to raise close to $17,000 and provide a safe home for 17 children in Tanzania, while also encouraging more than 300 mothers along the way. They did all of this in about a week’s time with a staff of two.

So you see, social media has truly enabled non-profits both large and small to reach out and make some real change. Tell us about the social cause campaigns you’ve donated to in the past in the comments below.

More Social Good Resources from Mashable:

- 5 Easy Ways to Support a Cause Through Your Social Network/> - 5 Trends Shaping the Future of Social Good/> - 10 Ways to Start a Fund for Social Good Online/> - How Social Good Has Revolutionized Philanthropy/> - 5 iPhone Apps to Help Fight Poverty

Image courtesy of iStockphotoclass="blippr-nobr">iStockphoto, AndrewJohnson

For more Social Good coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Social Goodclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Social Good channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

<b>News</b> the Old Media Won&#39;t Tell You: More Trash at One Sparsely <b>...</b>

12774581 Commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fbigjournalism.com%2Fmpleahy%2F2010%2F10%2F03%2Fnews-the-old-media-wont-tell-you-more-trash-at-one-sparsely-attended-left-wing-rally-than-at-all-the-tea-parties-around-the-country-in-a-year-and-a-half%2FNews ...

BillBoard - Blogs - The Buffalo <b>News</b>

Buffalo Bills cornerback Terrence McGee had minor surgery Saturday to repair a pinched nerve affecting his left leg, an NFL source told the Buffalo News. The procedure was successful, but it could sideline McGee for up to four weeks. ...

Probably Bad <b>News</b>: Breakfast Fail - Epic Fail Funny Videos and <b>...</b>

epic fail photos - Probably Bad News: Breakfast Fail.

eric seiger eric seiger