Cashing In on the New Social-Shopping Trend

2. Peer-to-peer recommendations deliver credibility. Social shopping Web sites allow for word-of-mouth marketing at its best. The Internet empowers consumers and accelerates the flow of information. Product recommendations that come from peers may be more trusted, so site visitors may return more often and be more likely to spread the good word and purchase the products they learn about on the sites.

Social shopping sites reflect users' personal tastes and allow for online conversation. Visitors can learn what's popular, get shopping ideas and follow links to products they wouldn't necessarily find on their own.

3. Sites have distinct personalities. Here's a sampling of the hottest social shopping sites.

• ThisNext.com: Users can browse recommended products, add them to their wish lists, recommend or find out where to buy them, and create themed lists of their own.

• Crowdstorm.com: This site measures the buzz around products based on user recommendations. Popular items go to the top of the list.

• Kaboodle.com: Users create wish lists with photos and links to products for sale online. It's easy to post a summary of anything found on the Internet.

• Stylehive.com: This is the hot site for women's fashions and interests.

• Wists.com: Users tend to focus on interesting new products and share links to the ones they want to buy.

4. Social shopping sites are an open door for entrepreneurs. Right now, any business owner can use them to build positive word-of-mouth that leads to sales. But you'd better move quickly. Some sites are testing free-use models as they build traffic and will likely adopt paid structures as they reach critical mass, perhaps through revenue generated by marketing agreements with vendors and retailers or by selling the trend information generated by users.

As with any marketing campaign, your first step is to get to know the media. Bookmark your favorite social shopping sites and learn how they work. Test the waters by posting one or two products with their URLs, taking special care to send your click-throughs to specialized landing pages so you can measure your results. Then have fun and stay active -- and keep your postings interesting by sharing products others will want to buzz about.