Early in the year, Race-Dezert.com was approached for the purpose of initiating an advertising campaign. A fraction of the initiative was unconventional and something I had yet to see upon the web. I wanted to park a brand's Facebook and Twitter widget in the direct line of site and embed it above the fold of editorial and community-created forum content. The conventional banner ad was a no-brainer. But the direct engagement social widget advertising was a request that seemingly fell upon death ears.

Just found this slick new Facebook app from the makers of Flip Video Cameras, which enables you to upgrade from the standard photo avatar to a video avatar for your Facebook profile.

As the day began at the crack of dawn, just prior to the sunburst emerging from behind the eastern horizon, I filtered through the various RSS feeds and and categorized favorites upon my top Firefox bookmarks. And what follows is a snapshot of what I read through, which includes blog posts that span the gamut of technology, marketing, advertising and retail ecommerce and mobile commerce. Amid the favorite items of interest is Facebook, specifically Facebook Places, as I am engaged in the launch of similar Facebook Check In marketing campaigns for two clients in the coming months.

I've been hunting around for a way to migrate from my old school Motorola Q9M that I initially purchased due to its integration with Qik and subsequent video streaming capability to Mogulus, which has since become Livestream. At the time, Qik was the only way by which you could stream video from mobile device to Mogulus. With some hacking, I was able to get the phone to work down south in Baja and streamed some audio and video from the Baja 1000 as well as a Baja 500 or two. But the phone is archaic, running on an outdated Windows Mobile operating system and proves this with extremely sluggish performance. Well, there was the Google Nexus that raised an eyebrow. Then there was the Verizon Droid. Both run on the Android operating system. Yet today, Sprint has just upped the anti and is going big with its Sprint HTC EVO 4G, as in four gangsters can beat up on your clan of three when it comes to the battle of big bandwidth.

I've been slammed with the demand for skills that span the gamut. I love it. Not so much on the web end or social media end, since that's unfortunately taken a back seat to developing media and marketing infrastructure but also extended into business strategy and implementing practices and associated business software applications.

Got links? Here are some good reads. Perhaps the best of the lot is the 10 free social media tools every public relations (PR) pro should master. And if you're a small businesses and looking for some insight on how to increase the eyeballs landing upon your good name when conducting local business searches, then there's a great link for optimizing your business listing. For those looking for domains for an existing business or a startup, there are five tips to get you started. Got content? There's an excellent strategy for those charged with developing a web content strategy. In my experience, especially for those working as contractors, you'll want to maintain an open stream of communication between client and client assets. Social media strategy, tactics and success is yet another link worthy of a read.

Today's links focus primarily upon promotion of your business through social media channels such as Twitter and Facebook but also include business link building by way of calls to action. The favorite amid the day's links I've read is the Facebook Fan Page app for those looking to boost their brand page's functionality. There is also a link for those interested in youth marketing, which focuses on Generation Y, specifically the convergence of email marketing and social media. And lastly, for those looking for last week's news today, check out the sneak peak on Twitter's redesign.

It's late. It's me. And I'm tired. I have another site that generally serves to host all my off-road racing photos. It used to turn a profit on them and retail e-commerce sales. That is why I was long deserting the idea of hosting a photo gallery here. Why do so when the photos were contributing to my bottom line and double up on the work for nothing.

It seems the business of marketing, particularly social media marketing, remains on course with a continuum of exponential growth. Bouncing around between a massive list of bookmarks and well categorized RSS feeds within my Mozilla Firefox web browser, even with advanced organizational skills, it is often difficult to keep up with certain aspects of the industries I engage. Organizing data, identifying opportunies and prioritizing them according to objectives is key.

Do I stream? Do Ustream? Well, if you're considering launching a web cast that seeks to stream a live audio or live video show, then Ustream is an excellent platform to place your web streaming efforts into. I love the social media channel for its compartmentalized embed options, which can be easily tailored to your website's design layout. If you're not familiar with Ustream, a decent place to begin delving into how the platform works is found within the embedded video upon this page.