Philippe Matthews Show Guru Advice, Author Reviews, Tech Reviews, Entertainment News

Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs.

Read it and tweet : Social media takes a lot of time, but it pays off, says a report released today. Ninety percent of marketers surveyed say that social media is important for their business, with the self employed and small business owners with two or more employees "more likely to strongly agree," says the 2011 Social Media Marketing Report, which surveyed some 3,300 marketers. The No

Last week, Biz Stone appeared on the Howard Stern Show, where the satellite-radio host grilled the Twitter cofounder on virtually every aspect of the social network. One of the funnier parts of the interview came when Stern asked Stone about how much money he's made from Twitter, to which Stone replied that he makes a perfectly good salary, has a mortgage, and leases a Mini.

After I started my Web design and social media company, in 2008, I realized I needed a way to streamline communication with my clients, employees, and personal contacts. For about a year, I've been using a free Web-based service called Threadsy , which lets me access my e-mail, Twitter, and Facebook accounts in one place. You can access Threadsy through a Web browser, but I use a Mac app called Fluid to turn it into a desktop application.

A leading search marketing firm says Google's best shot at becoming competitive in social is acquiring Twitter. Yesterday, Google searches became more social with +1, which allows you to flag URLs you like for others in your social circle. It seems the next logical step in Google's gradual encroachment on the social space

Google encroaches on social, with its new +1 feature. You click on stuff that your friends like.

Each day, Inc.'s reporters scour the Web for the most important and interesting news to entrepreneurs. Here's what we found today. Watch your backs, millionaires.

1. Late yesterday Amazon proved last-minute rumors true and released the Amazon Cloud Player--a cloud-based music "locker" and streaming system that beats Apple to the punch

An ad agency has resorted to an innovative hiring technique: a hashtag battle. Say you're a hiring manager at a leading advertising firm, and you're looking to hire a summer intern

Mining clues from Jack Dorsey's inner life, just as he seems poised to return in a larger capacity to the company he founded, Twitter. Several

Admit it, you’ve Googled yourself to see what pops up. When I Google myself, what comes up on the first page is my company’s website, Inc.com, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, my book, my Twitter feed, and an article about my book.

1. It's here: The first precise pricing figure for the BlackBerry PlayBook--RIM's first (and last?) big hope in the tablet wars. A 16GB Wi-Fi-only model will cost you $499 in the US and $499 locally in Canada, and it'll be available from a decent list of stores.

Once again , the White House wants to hear ideas about innovation in general and eliminating impediments to startups in particular from you Fast Company readers. [video_twistage 1] On March 23, from noon-12:40 p.m. EST, Fast Company senior editor Nancy Cook will travel to the White House with your questions in tow to moderate the panel, "Startup America--Reducing Barriers." It's part of the White House's Startup America initiative, which began with an executive order in January by President Obama, instructing federal agencies to identify and take steps to reduce old or burdensome business regulations.

Twitter allows users to lock in use of HTTPS--meaning not just any amateur sitting next to you in a cafe can hack your account. Twitter recently became the latest major site to bow to pressure to make itself more secure. It added the option for users to permanently run the site via HTTPS, a more secure protocol that foils simple hacking strategies that have gained major press of late.

New research is adding a Twittery flavor to the old adage "birds of a feather flock together," because it suggests happy twitterers tend to aggregate. Does this have implications for PR-related tweeters? In a paper titled "Happiness is assortative in online social networks," University of Indiana researcher Johan Bollen and other authors conclude that "Social networks tend to disproportionally favor connections between individuals with either similar or dissimilar characteristics.