Francis Gaskins, the President of IPODesktop.com, told us that, even though Facebook’s IPO has a lot of potential, its estimated valuation of $75-100 billion is not reasonable. As he explained, when you look at the past 4-5 quarter results, Facebook’s earnings were flat.

What’s more is the fact that Facebook didn’t really have a competitor during that time. Now, however, with Google+ on the scene and growing at a rapid rate, Gaskins believes that the company’s forecast could be off.

According to him, Facebook should have gone public last summer, which would have made it the first of its kind.

Do you think Facebook should be valued at $100 billion? Why or why not?

Truant runs a different type of business that falls into the category of a “Third Tribe” business, a term that Sonia Simone of Copyblogger coined. He doesn’t believe that a certain set of standards make a business successful and encourages others to think in this same way. Do you agree?

WebProNews is partnering with BlogWorld and New Media Expo, the world’s first and largest new media conference, in an effort to broadcast how new media can grow your business, brand, and audience. BlogWorld takes place November 3-5 in Los Angeles. Stay tuned to WebProNews for much more exclusive coverage.

However, as Sage Lewis of SageRock Digital Marketing Agency explained to WebProNews, this “doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.” According to him, successful Internet companies take risks, innovate, and are passionate about what they do.

Yahoo, on the other hand, has undergone a search deal with Microsoft, numerous management changes, layoffs, and has also closed many properties in recent years. Lewis believes that this series of events, among others, led to Yahoo no longer being a “courageous, frontier-leading company.”

We all know that each of these platforms can be extremely valuable to business. However, many businesses do not allow their employees to use them due to a lack of productivity. For this reason, WebProNews would like to extend a challenge to you to see how long you can go without Facebook, Twitter, and Instant Messaging.

We are, by no means, suggesting that you drop these platforms entirely. Instead, we would like to see if you notice any changes to your personal well-being, your business, and your level of productivity.

For starters, you could try going without the 3 mentioned platforms, or any other technologies that consume vast amounts of your time, for 1-2 hours each day. When you turn everything off for the first time, it will probably seem way too quiet. In addition, you will likely struggle with the urge to share something.

Once these instincts pass, chances are, you will develop a stronger focus. Not only could you dedicate more time and energy toward one project, but you could also generate a greater appreciation for what you do. What’s more, you may find yourself developing new ideas and strategies that could take your business to the next level.

So, are you up for the challenge? How long can you go without Facebook, Twitter, and Instant Messaging? And, are you more productive for doing so?

From Yelp’s mobile application for the iPhone, it can see that there is a phone call happening to a local business every 5 seconds of every day. Another statistic they are seeing is 27 percent of all the company’s searches are happening through their app. In addition, a little less than 1 million mobile searches for directions to a local business have occurred in the last 30 days.

In other words, Yelp is helping bring consumers and local businesses together. With the continued adoption of smartphones, Swift does not see mobile traffic dropping for a while. For example, the company saw 1.8 million unique visitors through its mobile app in the last month, which is up from less than 1 million 9 months ago.

Yelp also has an app for the iPad. Swift says it is similar to what users see on their website, since they have a more real estate to work with on the iPad. Although the majority of Yelp’s mobile traffic comes from the iPhone, Swift pointed out that the company is investing in Android as well.

First of all, he advises businesses to be extremely careful. There are many franchise development firms that will try to take you for your money. Secondly, he suggests having at least 1 or 2 locations already in operation. In addition, he recommends having an operation’s manual formulated in order to have a structured plan.

According to Libava, the franchising industry is also beginning to adopt social media. Because everyone is tired of pushy advertising, he said smart franchisors are utilizing article marketing and social media in order to attract people.

Libava also points out that franchising is not for everyone. Be sure to consider all the options before taking the plunge with your business.

Although social media adoption is increasing, many brands are still struggling to be effective with it. Businesses have to understand what consumers are doing now in order to be successful moving forward.

One trend that businesses need to grasp is that “real-time is not fast enough.” Customers are quick and companies, no matter how big the staff, just cannot keep up. Owyang advises businesses to create advocacy programs to address this issue. An advocacy program is a group of customers that act as a company’s “army” and take care of problems that arise. Since most companies already have a group of people that support them, all they have to do is enable them for the task.

Another trend is that most consumers find corporate websites irrelevant. As a result, businesses should utilize platforms such as Facebook Connect, Google Friend Connect, and Twitter Connect to bring a social experience to their own website. In addition, businesses have the opportunity to personalize its content for customers.

Predicting the future is nearly impossible. But if you look at what is happening around you and integrate it into your business, chances are, you will be just fine.

As Amanda Watlington shares, SEO business has seen budgets cut, managers shifting their budgets to see where the value lies, and slow closing processes. In addition, some SEO consultants are focusing so much of their time on retaining their large clients that they neglect the smaller potential clients. Watlington offers this advice:

“We, as business people, have to watch that we don’t let bad work drive out good.”

On the positive side, the field of SEO has seen some increases in business. The paid search front has especially been favored because it is so measurable.

Watlington however, still believes in the business of SEO in spite of the many challenges associated with the economic climate. She says:

“Search still, in 10 years, is still to me the best game in town.”

How has the economy affected your business? What advice do you offer to other SEO consultants?

What are the benefits of videocasting over podcasting? What are the benefits of both over more traditional PR avenues? WebProNews had the opportunity to attend a panel of professional podcasters / videocasters at the PPME 2006 addressing these and other issues. Join John Furrier and Robert Scoble of PodTech, Jeff Nolan of Teqlo and Bill Kircos from Intel to learn about podcasting power and how it can offer innovative branding for your company.