Peopledollarstore.com Blog

It’s fascinating how internet marketing has evolved. Right now, we’re on the cusp of a revolution in the social media. It’s been around for quite some time, but now it’s at the forefront and it’s something you need to pay attention to in business. Otherwise, you’ll get into trouble, because you won’t know what’s happening around you.

Right this second, millions of conversations are occurring online about millions of different things. What we do is take all the traditional Search Engine Optimization ideas to see where they now meld into social media research and social media optimization. It’s a new way to handle SEO, as opposed to building up search engine visibility and building links and setting up linking partnerships with people. It’s dying quickly.

So we set out to categorize the tens of thousands, maybe millions, of social networks, including forums, blogs, typical networking communities like MySpace and Facebook. We have categorized 23 different types of social media platforms that we will cover later.

How do we take all these technologies, classify them, see if they’re appropriate for our business, and then how do we actually get into that and make it so it’s effective and accepted by the communities, rather than being rejected?

So from aonline business standpoint, if I’m a Realtor, or I’m into network marketing, and I’m just trying to develop my own business online, social media isn’t just a bunch of college students exchanging pictures from last weekend. It’s where conversations are happening, and that applies to big business as well.

So what kind of conversations are going on out there? What are people talking about? Why is this social media something business people need to be aware of?

They’re plugging into the actual conversations. These are results and information that you can never garner through any kind of polling or surveying. It’s a real conversation, uncut and raw. You can go to just about any market that is social in nature and see what people are talking about. See what they’re saying. See what their concerns are.

Are they badmouthing one company and praising another? More and more, especially in the last couple of years, consumers are getting much more educated in how to research and find information that’s important to them. And they’re using social networks to do that. They’re going to their social peers in the social media community and they’re networking with people.

They’re following relationships where they track the words of others. They go to communities now where they say, “Hey. I have this problem I need help with.” And they get community recommendations and act on that information.

Now, they’re asking people. And those people could be in Washington, D.C., San Diego, or Tokyo. You don’t know where they’re at. More and more people are active in social networks. There is an exponential explosion in participation happening right now.

I’ve noticed that on Twitter, JetBlue is not only posting information about some crazy low fare they have, but I’m seeing Twitters when there’s a big weather problem. They let people know, and they let them know it’s causing trouble for some people.

Also, I’ve noticed that when someone sends a notice thru Twitter to JetBlue, a real person at that JetBlue account is actually responding back. And because of the way Twitter works, they’re responding in front of the whole world. That’s a huge revolution. It’s not like having a private conversation on customer support and nobody really knows what was said. These are customer service interactions happening right there in front of EVERYBODY!

And by JetBlue participating in that media, word travels fast that they are doing that. It’ll really lend them a lot of credibility and trust. They are plugged-in. Online Businesseshave to realize that they need to become part of the conversation in the social media. Nothing travels faster than word of mouth when you use these technologies.

So when people are looking at getting involved in social media and getting connected, probably the most important thing they need to realize is that you have this opportunity to really be active and connected with these people. And as you build that trust, they’re much more likely to come to you when they’re ready to dobusiness.

So it’s a different model. Instead of just going out there and making pitch after pitch until somebody finally raises their hand and says, “I’m interested,” instead, you provide service. You give. You develop that bond of trust and familiarity so people know you, like you, trust you. Ultimately, I think you wind up with people coming to you for business, rather than you going out to find them.

Social media allows you to brand yourself in ways never possible before. When you’re branding yourself, you’re sharing content in one form or another. That content needs to be enlightening or educational or entertaining. When you want to capture people’s attention, you’ve got to target one of those 3 things, because that is what they want.

When you share that type of information consistently with your audience via social media – and it doesn’t have to be your own content, it can be links to other good content – you brand your name once again into your followers’ minds.

It gives them reason to trust you, once they start connecting you to quality time after time after time. You’re not out there pitching things. Instead, you’re giving them enlightening, educational or entertaining content that is of interest to them. And they will find your big red “BUY” button without you having to push it in their face.

MAJOR POINT: You may have heard the term “social media marketing”. You need to understand that no order of marketing can take place until you have engaged in “social media networking” first. Marketing can never precede networking