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According to a recent press release, 2012 will be the year that micro-entrepreneurs will hit the big time.  This will occur thanks to the help of sites such as Used Everywhere.  As the name would suggest, this site (or rather network of sites) lets people sell used items to buyers from all kinds of different locations.  According to the information given in the press release, over 90% of Used Everywhere listings are from people who have small businesses of some description that are based at home.

The company offers a strong social commerce platform.  They provide a marketplace in which transactions can take place, and this marketplace uses connections with sites such as Twitter and Facebook to enable users to make the most of the social side of the business.

At present, the business has dedicated sites in various locations in Canada and the UK.  If Used Everywhere continues to enjoy the amount of success it has so far, we can expect other sites to pop up in the near future as well.

However, the real question is whether Used Everywhere will be the first of a series of such sites, focusing on giving the small business owner a chance to sell online by using proven social commerce techniques.  The service is offered free of charge so it is likely to appeal to the very micro-entrepreneurs who were mentioned in the release.  Earning small avenues of income could be wanted by many in the New Year.

There has been no shortage of drama with regard to the relatively new social media site from Google, Google+.  The site has suffered a drop in traffic in recent times, but it now appears to be fighting back and giving Facebook a better run for its money.

The latest news is that the social media site is going to roll out an interactive game for its users to enjoy.  This game will be based on certain aspects of Google Maps, although it is not yet clear exactly what the game will involve.  It will be called Play Your World and those who play it will see a similarity to such games as Labyrinth.  As such it could well prove to be immensely popular with users.

Games have certainly been a successful part of Facebook in recent times, so there is every chance that they will prove to be just as good for Google+.  It remains to be seen whether people join the service just so they can try the game, but if it is successful Google will no doubt roll out more games in the future.  It is a smart way to promote another of their products too, so the cynical ones among us may not approve.

But we shall have to wait until February to try the game for real on Google+.  This is when it is expected to be launched.  Google+ has already released a video on the game, so you can get a sneak peek before then.

On February 8-9 in San Francisco, California, a conference bringing together today’s leading developers of social and mobile apps will be held.  Inside Social Apps is a two-day summit on the future of app and game growth on social and mobile platforms.

Presenters include Tim Chang of the Mayfield Fund, Daniel Terry of Pocket Gems, David Glazer of Google+, Barry Cottle of EA Interactive, as well as representatives from Facebook, Disney Interactive, and many more.  A couple of dozen in total, in fact.

The event is two full days of critical discussion and is being produced by Inside Network.  The agenda is robust and includes:

• Facebook, Apple, Google – Which Platform(s) Hold the Most Opportunity in 2012
• The Facebook Platform Roadmap in 2012
• Monetizing Social Games on Facebook: Credits, Today and Tomorrow
• Social Apps for Marketers and Brands: Maximizing Audience Engagement
• Cutting Edge Mobile App Development: iOS, Android and HTML5
• Social Game Marketing and Performance Advertising on Facebook
• Monetizing Mobile Games on iOS and Android
• Investing in Mobile and Social Apps: Risks and Opportunities in 2012

Rates are held until January 31 for both days or a single day’s attendance.  Given some of the big names involved, it will definitely be a great networking opportunity for startups and entrepreneurs.

In fact, the admission price is worth just that opportunity alone.

Find out more at Inside Social Apps 2012.

The New Year is almost upon us, and as marketers get ready to see out 2011, it would appear they are already focusing on their goals for 2012.  According to a survey on marketing trends from StrongMail, 55% of respondents stated they were planning to spend more on social media marketing during the upcoming year.

Nearly 1,000 people took part in the survey and more than 90% stated they were intending to spend more (or at least the same amount) on marketing in the coming year.  This includes all marketing and not just social media marketing.  Nevertheless, one interesting fact that might surprise some people is that mobile marketing still appears to be dragging its heels.

Indeed a quarter of the people who took part in the survey did not yet understand what mobile marketing could offer them.  A little over a third of respondents were intending to spend more on mobile marketing next year than they had in 2011, but this is way down on the number intending to increase their spending on social media marketing.

It would appear that mobile marketing still has a long way to go before it becomes as mainstream as social media marketing.  With many companies still trying to get the hang of the various internet marketing channels open to them, it could simply be that mobile marketing is one step too far at the moment.  At least social media marketing is improving in leaps and bounds.

When Google Plus first launched a while back, those in charge stated that businesses would have to wait a little longer to get their own dedicated Google Plus service.  Of course a lot of businesses then went on to create pages on the standard Google Plus service, but now at last the proper business pages have been launched.

Nevertheless, while this has hit the news much as you would expect it to, there has not been as much fanfare around the launch as you might expect.  In fact, some people seem to be rather underwhelmed by the launch.  Some have jumped on and created a business page but then wondered what they should do next.  This has been the experience of some on the rest of the Google Plus site as well.  Therefore, it remains to be seen whether the launch of the business pages will take Google Plus to another level or not.

Some have questioned whether it is worth spending time promoting your business on Google Plus when it still has only around 50 million users.  This is a hefty number, but it soon feels a lot smaller when you compare it to the 800 million users Facebook can boast of.  Furthermore, you have to consider how many of those 50 million users are actually on Google Plus on anything like a regular basis.

Some still seem stumped by Google Plus.  Even though we can now create business pages, the launch seems to have been a damp squib more than anything else.

According to a senior executive at the company, it may well happen.  They expect that even the number of members in America will eventually be surpassed by those from India.  At present around a third of internet users living in India are members of Facebook.  The company predicts that this will rise further in the future, eventually causing the number of members from the US to be exceeded by those from India.

It may come as a surprise to some but apparently only a quarter of Facebook’s total audience of 800 million (give or take a few) is based in America.  The remainder – some 600 million people – come from all over the world.

India is currently the third biggest country represented on Facebook by the number of users.  Taking second place on the social networking giant is Indonesia: perhaps not a country many would guess would take up that position.  Indian users are currently closing fast on Indonesian ones, so it would appear that the Indonesian market will soon drop down into third place overall.

One key reason for the jump in the number of users from India who are logging on to Facebook is that internet usage is gathering pace over there.  New internet users in India are coming in at anything between five and seven million per month.  With a third of existing users on Facebook, this means that Facebook could gain anything from 1.6 million to 2.3 million new users every single month.