'Net Features : ning

Expand Your Brand with White Label Solutions

Allison Howen — Fri, 31 Aug 2012 19:00:00 GMT

There are a lot of great new technologies being developed for the Web everyday, and much of it can be used to benefit businesses of all shapes and sizes.

Even if you run an enterprise-level organization, however, you may not have the resources necessary to develop your own unique technology, so most of us end up using robust solutions from third-party companies that specialize in those specific fields. And while this is the ideal method for the vast majority of Web companies, it does sometimes create a branding problem and many of these solutions can cause an inconsistent experience for customers. Brands can combat this problem by leveraging white label solutions – which just so happen to be the only type of white that is still okay to wear after Labor Day.

These white label solutions (occasionally referred to as “private label”) allow companies to utilize their own unique branding to offer a service without having to invest in the creation of the technology or infrastructure. This enables you to build up your own brand, sell products or services directly from your website and simplify your customers’ conversion path.

The best part is, there are white label solutions for pretty much everything! So if you’re interested in adding daily deals to your site, creating your own YouTube-like video platform, building mobile apps or even creating a private social network for your company, there’s a service for that. Check out five of the best white label platforms available below.

App Building

Do you love apps enough to launch your own app building service? If your answer is yes, then check out iBuildApp’s white label Reseller Program, which allows clients to use the company's technology to provide their customers with a mobile app building service. The software comes with promotional and marketing tools, and allows resellers to set their own prices and add a set up fee. By offering app building services to clients, businesses can generate a recurring revenue stream and maintain close relationships, who can use the service to create apps for iOS and Android devices.

Daily Deals

After the initial industry boom a couple of years ago, the daily deal sector seems to have tapered off a bit. However, one thing is for certain – saving money will always be in style. This is why some publishers have found success in creating their own branded daily deal sites through white label software programs, such as PoweredByTippr. This software is ideal for Web workers who already have an audience and merchant relationships in place. It enables users to start their own group buying site, which brings new customers to local merchants, local deals to consumers and traffic and revenue to publishers.

Social Networks

The Internet gets more social everyday, so why not add a branded social community to your website? A few weeks ago, Salesforce launched the pilot of Salesforce Communities, which enables businesses to create a customized and private social community where they can connect with customers and partners. This platform combines social networking features like profiles, real-time feeds, trending topics, recommendations and influence measurement with business information and processes from the Salesforce platform. While general availability isn’t available until 2013, those who are interested in participating in the Salesforce Communities pilot can register here. However, if you can’t wait that long to add a social community to your site, you can check out some other social website creation platforms, like Ning or SocialGo.

Video Services

If you’re looking to deliver professional quality videos to your audience on every conceivable type of screen, look no further than Brightcove’s Video Cloud platform. It comes with a number of easy-to-use tools and various features, including uploading and encoding, customizable video players, secure delivery, HTML5 video, social media integration, advertising and monetization capabilities, analytics and much more. Moreover, publishers can totally customize their channel within the Brightcove Console, where they can update details like its name, logo and description.

Gamification

Web businesses have been learning how to play with their consumers by using gamification services. Big Door is one of the ‘Net’s best gamification services, allowing publishers to add game mechanics to the Web interactions on their site by enabling points, badges, levels, leader boards, virtual currency and virtual goods to increase visitor engagement. Built on top of a white label engine, the Big Door platform helps users create a customized rewards program that offers both virtual and tangible rewards to increase customer loyalty.

Grouply Has Free Alternative for Ning Users

Linc Wonham — Fri, 14 May 2010 15:00:00 GMT

Since last month’s news that Ning would eliminate free social networks from its platform, other companies have been competing to produce the best free alternative for Ning’s millions of users. Grouply appears to be the winner at the moment, having developed a migration tool that will seamlessly import Ning networks onto its own platform — and releasing it on the same day that Ning announced its new pricing models.

After setting up a free Grouply social group, the content from a Ning network can be imported seamlessly to the new platform and members can be notified of their new home with a single click. Grouply social groups provide the same functionality as Ning networks such as a customizable community website, events, forums and an app store. Grouply also offers some services not found on Ning networks such as a comprehensive e-mail interface, group analytics, advanced site privacy and a cross-group administrative dashboard.

Ning has had a difficult spring in replacing its Chief Operating Officer, ending the free service and laying off 40 percent of its staff, but the site still attracts about 6 million unique monthly visitors. This week the social network platform announced the new paid models it will be rolling out in July, ranging from $2.95 per month for a Ning Mini Network to $49.95 for a Ning Pro subscription.

Grouply, a startup that helps users create and monetize social groups, is not the only company trying to lure refugees from Ning. What will be interesting to see is how many users do leave Ning for free services elsewhere, and if the free social network-building model is viable in light of Ning’s move to subscription services.

Social Software Maturing: Too Little, Too Late?

Pete Prestipino — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 18:20:00 GMT

Social software vendors are increasingly focusing on scenario-specific solutions and analytics according to new research released today by CMS Watch.

CMS Watch's Enterprise Social Software & Collaboration Report 2009 evaluated twenty-seven social computing platforms against eleven enterprise use-cases. Vendors reviewed include IBM, Microsoft, Google, Oracle, Jive, Telligent, Awareness, Drupal, SocialText, blueKiwi, Wordpress, Atlassian, Lithium, and Ning.

Despite some notable exceptions among wiki vendors, Social Software suppliers in 2009 are easing their pace of feature expansion, placing more emphasis instead on things like performance and analytics. According to the report, "Despite some notable exceptions among wiki vendors, Social Software suppliers in 2009 are easing their pace of feature expansion in favor of better solutioneering and productization, with more emphasis on things like performance and analytics," noted CMS Watch founder, Tony Byrne. "In other words, they're growing up."

CMS Watch also found Social Software vendors settling into traditional categories, including best-of-breed vs suite vs platform; SaaS vs installed; and open source vs commercial. "Customers have many good choices," adds Byrne. Other findings from CMS Watch include:

System and administrative services - things like back-up, archiving, and multi-instance management services - still remain weak across the board in this marketplace
"Cloud" computing is beginning to impact the Social Software market and blur line between on-premise and SaaS, as more vendors employ services from Amazon and others
SharePoint 2010 could still become a disrupter if Redmond dramatically improves the platform's social networking services, but it is too late for SharePoint to dominate across Social Software use-cases in an increasingly crowded marketplace

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