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Are You Catching the Social Media Wave? Better Do It Fast! Here’s Why Even Network Marketers Need to Jump In!

Are you catching the social media buzz?  It’s all the rage today! It is increasingly becoming a more integral part of people’s everyday lives, especially now that people can carry the world in their pockets with cell phones that are Web enabled and have data packages. Since there are now over two billion people — nearly one third the entire world’s population — who are connected via social media, it has become crucial, even critical, for businesses to take advantage of the huge potential afforded to them by social media. Those who fail to take advantage of this trend do so at their own peril!

Dejavu All Over Again!

Some say we’re seeing the repeat of trends we saw at the turn of the century… all over again. The Internet as a communication tool began October 29, 1969, when we celebrated the first communication between two distant computers. Since then, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in March of 1989, giving us the hyper-text markup language (HTML) that enables pages, links, and browsers used all over the world to interact with each other. This allowed everyone from household users to market savvy businesses from all over the world to change the digital landscape forever!

In the year 2000, the Web as we know it today, was a mere eleven years old. Businesses were beginning to realize that the Internet was becoming bigger and bigger,moving beyond the military (its original user), academia and business, and increasingly into people’s homes (and now…even their pockets!) Online shopping platforms were gradually gaining on brick and mortar retail establishments, competing for their shoppers’ dollars. Businesses that took advantage of the trend became more successful, whereas those that didn’t suffered as their competitors beat them in the online marketplace.

Good examples that have made the news recently include Borders Books and Blockbuster Video. Borders didn’t believe the Web would become as big as it has and was soon upstaged by Amazon, who began using their online platform for books, and now sell just about everything. Blockbuster Video, once seen in so many communities, has now closed many of their brick and mortar stores since Netflix came on the scene. Had it not been for Dish Network stepping in, most Blockbuster stores would have had to close. Now their trying to win back Netflix customers angered over recent fee hikes. Blockbuster is hoping to stay viable and relevant with their newest program.

Return on Investment….Bang for Your Buck!

The main point is that we’re seeing a similar trend in business today with regard to social media. Business is experiencing the “humanizing” effects that social media is helping to create in the sense that people can remain digitally more connected than ever…even as they “cocoon” in their homes/offices and have less face-to-face communication. While we can argue the ill social effects of that social trend, businesses can’t ignore it.

Even for Network Marketers?

By the very nature of what they do, those involved in network marketing, a.k.a. affiliate marketing or multi-level marketing (MLM), certainly can’t ignore it as a primary tool for building down lines and expanding their business beyond their warm market of family and friends, many of whom may or may not be interested in a home-based business or work-at-home business opportunity, however quickly growing that trend is.  Social media marketing, and the use of social media marketing tools, is becoming the latest marketing revolution.  It is even being included in network marketing tips and training materials, since successful  network and affiliate marketing depends on establishing and maintaining social connections with potential leads and prospects.

Why Are Some Not Yet Connected?

Business trend experts like Gary Vaynerchuk, author of The Thank You Economy, say that we’re seeing the “calm before the social media storm”. Many people in the business world haven’t yet jumped into social media. They’re sizing it up and calculating the return on investment…not realizing that the longer they wait, the more they stand to lose out on the enormous potential of being able to get their brand, product(s), and service(s) out in front of potentially millions of people in an extremely cost efficient way compared to traditional print and TV advertising media. Branding, name recognition, market share growth, customer loyalty, brand ambassadorship…are all important goals of business that can be enhanced via social media.

But We Have a Website!

Individual entrepreneurs, organizations, network marketers, even nonprofit organizations that think that having a web site is enough of an online presence these days are sorely mistaken. Since so many current and potential customers and clients are engaged in social media, they’re coming to expect more and more that businesses and organizations they associate with will also be able to engage with them on social media platforms. This worldwide recession we are in is making it more important to remain relevant to maintain a presence, build customer loyalty, and just survive. It’s actually becoming critical for survival!

I’m Broke…My Budget is Limited!

Those on a limited marketing budget will find out that social media marketing is very cost effective, with a great return on investment compared to traditional, non-trackable forms of advertising. Having an employee devote even part of his/her time keeping social media up to date is well worth the effort and expense in the added, perceived value it will create in providing information about your products, services, news, sales, deals, etc., and the potential increased customer base it will create.

Blogging, for example, is an easy way to create an outreach program for your brand, company, organization, etc., that will not only raise awareness of who you are and what you do, but increase your credibility with an ever-growing, social-media-savvy public. They will be able to share both positives and negatives about their experience with your products and/or service, especially if you respond to them. They will develop more confidence in your brand, feel more connected to you, and develop more loyalty. They will more likely become the willing ambassadors for your brand, product, or service that you want them to be! Also…those who DO have a web site, which is normally used to provide information, take orders, etc., will most likely see increased traffic on their sites which will result in increased sales…and an increase in your return on the investment you made in your social media campaigns. Best of all is that most social media platforms can be used effectively FOR FREE, or with little actual monetary investment relevant to other advertising.

A Growing Trend…Better Jump On the Bandwagon!

Some estimate the number of social media sites at 30,000 and growing by 300 new sites a month! So, to avoid the pitfalls of starting at the wrong place, the best places to start are with the current top giants, like Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and LinkedIn. You want your customers to get to know you first. You want to share useful information with them…information that is educational, informative, entertaining, even funny…but valuabel You don’t want to do outright selling of your goods and services in social media, which is more for engaging your customers or potential customers. You want to lead your customers to your website, and that is where you will do your selling!

Facing the Giants!

Facebook, with an estimated membership approaching 750 million users, half of them logging on each day an average of half an hour to an hour, is DEFINITELY an audience you need to get in front of! If Facebook were a country, it would be the third largest on the planet. 100 million mobile users access Facebook regularly. 40% of Facebook users become “fans” of products and services. So, you’ll need a Facebook fan page (See Social Outbreak information in my resource/bio box below for the way I’ve found to do this the best way!).

Twitter is one of the fastest growing, on-the-fly social media platforms, with some 200 million users, 460 thousand new accounts daily, and 1 billion tweets a week! This medium allows you to post instant updates on almost any topic you wish, alerting all those who “follow” you closest…your most loyal “fans”, say, from Facebook or most loyal customers/clients who use your services frequently. And...it’s free!

YouTube is the second largest search engine to Google, and is actually owned by Google now. Over 2 billion videos are streamed daily, with 35 hours of new footage being added each minute! There are some 200 billion views per day! The average YouTube user spends 15 minutes a day on YouTube. Obviously, this represents another huge marketing opportunity for those wanting to get themselves in front of an audience…and again, it’s free!

LinkedIn, which just went public last spring, has over 100 million users right now. Although geared more towards the networking of professionals, it still represents a great way to network with people and get your business promoted. People in your network can refer and recommend you to others, thereby giving you more credibility.  Again…it’s free!

Just Do It! Get Going Today!

As you can see, social media is here to stay, and those who take advantage of it and truly harness its potential will have the edge. The next few years we’re expecting the social media wave to grow to enormous proportions.

To sum up, businesses using social media say social media marketing will:

1) generate exposure;2) improve web site traffic; 3) help build new partnerships;                      

4) attract qualified leads; 5) turn many leads into customers; and 6) effectively brand you and your business!

Some 80% of business-to-consumer companies plan to increase their social media usage…will you be one of them?
73% of marketers plan to increase their YouTube usage…will that be you? 
81% of B2B companies maintain profiles on social networks…do you?
85% of consumers want to engage companies using social media…will they find you there?

It’s time to catch the social media buzz and jump on the wave…before you’re swamped by it!  See you in the surf!

Consumerism, life has no meaning

OK today I have spent the day in Liverpool city centre (mostly window) shopping. These thoughts have been brewing for a while: Why do we spend our lives shopping? whether it’s the latest fashions or re-decoating the house, is buying all there is or is there more to life?

I think you are on to something. Consumerism is ultimately meaningless. The reason why people spend their lives working so much to have a lot of money to spend on stuff that they really don’t need and will forget about soon enough is because of the intense social pressure to do so. Our society is awash in advertising. And while we have gotten so used to it we don’t notice the effects it has on our actions, billions wouldn’t be spent by corporations every year on advertising and marketing if they weren’t effective. Advertising aside, peers provide an enormous pressure to consume. Things like keeping up with fashions, spending a lot on nights out, buying new gadgets and so on are driven a lot by pressure from one’s peers to conform. Plus of course, consumerism is reinforced unconsciously all the time by the mass media. Things like fashion and electronic gadgets constantly play big roles in television shows and movies, again sending messages that these are key parts of life.

I don’t know if we can make the world better as a whole, but we can separate ourselves from consumerism and the unhealthy mindset it produces. In my own life I have found that a few things have helped me to avoid consumerism.
-no TV. I haven’t had a TV for years. When I watch TV after having been without it for a while, it really stands out how over the top and artifical everything is. I seriously cannot even watch CNN because it seems too sensationalist. And watching Fox News would probably kill me.
-Spending time outside the 1st world. Our lives here are so enveloped by the mass media most of us seem to forget that there is a big world outwise the developed world, and it is not, for the most part, miserable. I spent some time in India (among other places) and this really helped me to distance myself from the myopia that the mass media industry induces.
-Education. Fields like psychology, philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies all question the assumptions that consumer culture relies on. Studying these (and other) fields can be rewarding and can help a person to look at accepted norms more critically.

I have no experience parenting, so I can’t give you much advice about your children, but I think if you expose them to other cultures, particularly developing world cultures, which are typically ignored, dismissed, or subverted by consumer culture, limit their TV time, and encourage them to learn about the world, you will be off to a good start.

Organic & Eco-Friendly Pet Products at the “Yellow Green Farmers Market”, FL

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