We’re glad to announce the launch of a new business unit of the Pi Group, Pi Legal Service – a specialist Legal Process Outsourcing (LPO) company providing legal support services to the IT and Software industry.

This new LPO firm has a special focus on IT and Software companies, e-Businesses and Law Firms, and this domain focus helps clients get end-to-end services as Pi legal experts translate legal provisions in the context of technology.

Group CEO Siddharth Jhunjhunwala explains the rationale behind this new specialized type of legal service targeted at technology companies – “With the increasing complexity in technology, we often find legal counsel and lawyers unable to provide a 360-degree service to their clients in the IT and Software industry. Lawyers often do not have detailed technical knowledge required, and most would be unable to differentiate between a cookie that’s eaten and one which gets stored on our PCs.

At Pi Legal Service we have several lawyers and advocates who are supported by engineers and designers from the technology field, bringing in a unique blend of legal and technological knowledge and experience. We aim to serve both law firms and the General Counsel of corporations to become an extension of their legal departments.”

Pi’s team of lawyers, paralegals and engineers provide a comprehensive range of legal support services required by tech companies, including but not limited to Master Service Agreements and NDAs, Software License Agreements, SLA and Support Agreements, IP and Patents Management, M&A, VC Transaction Agreements and Employee Agreements.

To learn more about how Pi can help you with your legal requirements, please visit www.pilegalservice.com.

A new survey by Nielsen Online has thrown up some interesting stats. People actually spend a lot more time (three times, almost) on the social networking site Facebook than on Google, the undisputed leader in search! This is not an aberrant statistic, but a growing trend. In July this year, users spent an average of 4 hours 39 minutes on Facebook, which increased to 5 hours 46 minutes in August.

It’s true that Google’s role as a search engine basically means that’s it succeeds when people leave their homepage as quickly as possible. But from the viewpoint of marketers, Facebook is a gold mine… a place where people spend triple their time when they’re online. Same goes for Social Media Marketing – it’s easier to reach out to an audience and engage them at a place where they’re willing to spend more time.

Google’s weak presence in social networking remains it Achilles’ heel… Orkut hasn’t really made much of an impact beyond Brazil and India, and the remaining social initiatives—Friend Connect, Open Social, and even Google Reader—are still fledgling and yet to make their mark. This becomes even more evident as Facebook pulls ahead significantly in usage stats.

With even giants faltering in the social media space, what would your plans be for promoting your business through social networking? To use the power of Social Media to successfully market your business, meet us at www.pisocialmedia.com and we’ll help you grab the bull by the horns.

Pi Business Research is proud to launch our new specialized online marketing website, Pi Social Media. Pi Social Media helps you promote your business through the major social media channels, using social media platforms, blogs/ RSS, viral content, online communities, news aggregators and social influencers.

Pi Social Media is not just a portal to our Social Media Marketing services; it is also a one-stop resource for Social Media enthusiasts.

Here you can find an exhaustive directory of all the major social media tools and platforms, categorized under various sections like Business Networking, Analytics / Measurement, Social Bookmarking, Blogging, Microblogging, Social Networking, etc.

You can also get an in-a-nutshell idea about how Social Media Marketing can revolutionize your business, the latest stats showing how it betters traditional marketing approaches, and what kind of returns you can expect from your campaigns.

If you’re confused about the seemingly unending variety of tools and techniques available, the Engagement section will guide you on how you can develop a comprehensive Social Media Plan depending on your specific requirements, tailored according to the various variables like industry, product/ service, objectives, target audience, timeframe, etc.

Browse through the Case Studies and keep up with the latest news and updates in Social Media through our Buzz section. And if you’d like Pi Social Media to jumpstart your marketing campaign, just drop us an email at contact@pibusinessresearch.com and we’ll get back to you in a flash.

Susan Boyle, the hitherto unknown Scottish singer, captured the public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the third series of Britain’s Got Talent. When she appeared on the stage to sing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables, the audience and the judges appeared apprehensive and judgmental of her unpolished appearance. What happened next is history… her captivating performance echoed across the globe and the lady became a social media sensation overnight! According to the leading Web stats measurement firm Visible Measures, 200+ videos of Boyle’s scintillating performance wowed fans around the world with more than 100 million YouTube hits!

But after she narrowly missed winning the top spot in the competition, many wondered whether we’d heard the last of her. Well, that was not to be!  This social media sensation is about to launch her debut album “I Dreamed a Dream” in November, and it has already topped Amazon.com’s bestsellers list on the strength of pre-orders alone! Tens of thousands of copies have been pre-ordered, resulting in her album climbing to the top of Amazon’s charts. The popular online entertainment website E! Online is calling her “the new queen bee of the album charts” and declares, Susan Boyle Already Bigger Than Whitney Houston, New Moon & the Beatles!

Here’s the song that started it all:

If you’re interested in harnessing the power of Social Media to effectively market your business online, have a chat with us at www.pisocialmedia.com. Of course, we can’t promise you any magic; it requires commitment, creativity, honesty and a REAL product/service in order to bring marketers any worth… just like the talent of Susan Boyle. If you have anything worthwhile to offer, social media marketing can deliver you results much more effectively than traditional methods ever could, and also, at a fraction of the cost.

Social Media is redefining marketing as we know it. If you think “redefine” is too strong a word, listen to what Forrester Research’s Senior VP Josh Bernoff has to say about it. “This isn’t an ad campaign. This is the beginning of a transformation of how your whole company runs,” says Bernoff. “So think about it first… but your competition is doing it right now.”

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is the latest buzzword in the online marketing world. But it comes with a lot of “ifs and buts” that can be discouraging for the uninitiated. Surely you’ve read reams on the lengthy procedure and low return on investment? Irrespective of what the naysayers predict, if handled properly, SMM could prove to be the most effective communication and marketing tool for your business.

First, decide how you want to approach the Social Web. Quit thinking about Social Media Marketing as the end deliverable, and try to connect with the audience. Have a purpose, and write in simple language. Most importantly, be transparent to your audience. And the easiest way to do that is – Be Yourself! And of course, remember to keep a tab on how you are allocating your resources. Here are some tips:

• Plan your Content – Create a detailed action plan. Decide who your audience is. What kind of information are they looking for? Include a section in the plan about the best content tactics and the associated success metrics. Decide how you can best execute your strategy.

• Do a Content Audit – As you continue with content writing and interactions with your audience, pause and look back at what you have already said. It’s important to create a benchmark and then follow it, rather than blindly creating content, just for the sake of doing so.

• Strategy for Content Maintenance – Regularly discuss ways and means to keep your content updated and fresh. Respond to customer needs regarding information, and keep the communication channels open at all times.

• Content Marketing – Do your research regarding proper distribution of content. Also check if the relevant content is reaching your target audience.

Don’t be too concerned about all that you apparently need to do to flag off your social media campaign. Actually, it’s easier done than said, provided you are committed and determined to follow through. What is important is that you keep developing these habits as you move ahead.

Yes, social media is free, and you would be saving a lot on advertising. But make sure you hire a good strategist for your Social Media Marketing; it’ll be an investment that’ll keep paying in bucketfuls over the long run. For more on this, meet us at www.pisocialmedia.com.