Here's my brush-with-fame story: I worked with Mark Cuban, billionaire owner of the Dallas Mavericks and Dancing with the Stars loser, before he became famous to produce an Internet live event with the company he sold off for billions, Broadcast.com.




Even then, Cuban had that great mix of business savvy and love of a good time. He jumped right on stage with us to interview some high-tech execs and swung by our magazine after-party for a few drinks.

Cuban's latest idea has a big social component as well, and should hold a strong appeal to small business owners: combining affiliate marketing with social networking.

Cuban's Radical Buy is a Facebook application that lets users add classified ads onto their Facebook pages. The twist is that if a product is sold via one's "circle of friends" network, sellers earn a commission on the sale.

The social network generates the reach and word of mouth. The affiliate commission furthers that reach by adding a few bucks to the process.

Of course, the power of any Internet idea is all about scale and reach. If Radical Buy can broadcast classified ads across Facebook's 50 million users, and then add the power of affiliate sales, Cuban might really have something.

If advertising and e-commerce takes hold on Facebook, look for a wide-range of affiliate networks -- already a major revenue product on blogs -- to take hold in the social network realm as well.

Read more about Radical Buy.