While I didn’t attend this last conference, I did feel like I was in the loop after reading all the coverage. Here’s my summary of the top 10 things learned from SMX Social Media, 2008.

1. Vertical social networks are the way to connect with your enthusiasts. This is a no-brainer, but I thought I’d mention it because more and more niche networks are being created everyday
2. Having a strong network of friends makes all the difference. Don’t just throw up a profile and call it good. Reach out.
3. Tweet Scan can be a life saver when trying to scan and search tweets in Twitter – yeah, finally!
4. Social Media Marketing is risky if your brand is fragile or easy to target. Not every company needs to be on Facebook.
5. Social Media is driven by great viral marketing ideas. So get some of those.
6. Social Media isn’t just about digg, reddit, etc, it’s also about connecting and being social with others on mainstream sites. Many sites are creating social opportunities. Maybe your site needs to have such a hang out?
7. Rumblings were that the optimal time to submit linkbait or content is Tuesday or Thursday at 10:30am PST. I have NO idea where that stat came from and cannot verify based on my experience.
8. The command to find emails of digg power users (just in case you can sweet talk them in to digging content on your behalf)
   1. Site:digg.com/users/ “@hotmail.com”
   2. Site:digg.com/users/ “@gmail.com”
9. Facebook social ads are getting better and more targeted: age, keywords, place, etc
10. Facebook Lexicon is the new social media darling – helps you find keywords within profiles – like how many times your company name was mentioned.