Posts Tagged ‘Networks’
Whatever Happened To Face-To-Face?
Whatever happened to meeting face-to-face, is this no longer the best way to build relationships, to build trust and the best way to move products and services. I find myself spending more and more time online than I do out in the market place interacting and networking, is something broken here or is the world truly being driven more and more indoors? I have also found that it’s far too easy to misread typed words because there’s no body language or tone of voice, talk about being misunderstood! My world is getting smaller and smaller by the moment, and me being the highly relational type needs to interact with others. So how do we accept or fight this paradigm of living online to get anything done or to get what you want?
Now I’ve been a computer geek for a very long time and I embrace new technologies, even the ones that make me wonder if we should be developing them. Computers are getting smaller, TV’s are thinner, computers run so much of our electronics now we couldn’t go back to a time without them if we wanted to. You know how you can tell if you can’t live without your hand held devices or computer…do you lie in bed at night thinking about how to make so much money so you can tell your boss which bus to get back on? I know you do, because there are so many so called experts out there telling you how to do it, in your e-mail, on your phone it’s everywhere! We are bombarded by so much information now we can’t distinguish the difference between real life and fantasy, (I think daytime soaps started this) Virtual Reality is making huge strides and that’s when we’ll have a real dilemma. But I digress.
Social Media Networks have us, Ala Matrix, Twitter is as real time as you can get and you can make more friends in five minutes than you could face-to-face. Facebook gets you connected to high school buddies much like the old website called Classmates did back in the day. Like golf courses where more business is done in a day than the whole week, Social Media Networks are becoming just like those golf courses, will we want to make that shift or will we hang on to old ways?
So what’s my point, the reality is we are changing at a pace we can’t keep up with technologically, the gap between the haves and have not’s is becoming wider every minute of the day. The truth is we are becoming less connected physically, we are dependent on technology and in the very near future we will be giving control over to technology. We will come to trust the very thing we enjoy blaming for all the crashes and freezes that force us to reboot in the windows world. The shift to Linux is real, most hand held devices run it, not windows….zero’s and one’s are the base from which all things called technology are birthed. So if you think we will be able to go back to the horse and buggy days you are in for a big surprise, technology won’t let us.
Universities are using video conferencing methods and there are more learning management systems out there than ever before making it easier to acquire accreditation online. Newspapers WILL be a thing of the past, everyone is a news reporter now which means the controls for quality are no longer held by the big blues. Which increases the percentage of error but also means we will see and hear even more about events and happenings that are less important than our current global economic meltdown.
With Nanotechnology – The New Technology, we will see the likes of nanobots doing our work for us, they will learn from their environments and eventually think for themselves. Many a person far smarter than I will argue this point but I’m not convinced we will stay in control of these technologies.The question begs to be asked, who will oversee and say what is acceptable and what is not. In my eBook The New Technology – The End of Mankind? – The Beginning; I scratch the surface on why technology hasn’t saved us time and where the new technology is headed. In the future we will communicate in such a way where you & I will integrate with technology, we will become wireless devices and no longer have to meet face-to-face! If you are interested in getting my eBook please send me an e-mail: owen@owengreaves.com
I have to come to terms with the fact that I eventually will have to learn to live without, I mean human interaction. This electronic world is slowly killing human contact don’t you think? Technology killing human contact, that’s another story to be told.
I would like to hear from you on this, do you agree or disagree, do you think we are doomed and will be sentenced to our rooms to interact on the Internet. Or, will we mantain control?
Localize Your Social Media Marketing
What is considered successful marketing using Social Media Networks, is it how much money you made, how popular you are, how many hits your site(s) get? Many think Social Media is just being a good Internet Marketer, not so. There is this thought process of “looking out there” rather than looking in your own backyard in the Social Media World. Why is that? Is it merely thinking big or is it Ego, I think the later has a lot to do with it, we all want our 15 minutes of fame and this is the easiest way to get it.
The old saying, ” Think Globally, Act Locally” is the right approach regardless of the grandeur or weblebrity that might come from all the marketing efforts you expedite in these Social Media Networks. The Internet is the vehicle and Social Media is the platform of choice to deliver your opinion, to be heard, and too be seen! Video is now the rage within the Social Media Networks, be seen and heard is socially acceptable!
So how do you apply these Social Media Networks to a local way of doing business? If print is dead, what options do traditional businesses have in a tangible way to market their business. To quote Guy Kawasaki – ”Advertising is when you tell people how great you are. PR is when someone else says how great you are.”
Print ads have a life span of a day and a half, Radio & Television is a frequency problem and direct mail is a low ROI challenge, what should you do? You have to mass mail or run HIGH rotations of ads, you can spend more money producing no or low results the traditional way. The bigger problem isn’t the vehicle as much as the way business owners think! Old thought processes and methods are written in stone in the walls of their brains, making it very difficult to see the value in Social Media Networks.
Mike Wesely of Twittalk.tv during one of his shows suggested that building the relationship first is paramount, this will build trust which will allow you to influence those who follow you. This trust, like face-to-face relationships, takes time to develop so be patient and care about people. I had the privilege of speaking with Mike on the phone and I can tell you Mike loves people and truly wants to help people with Twitter. You can follow Mike on Twitter @mike_wesely and attend his Twittalk.tv Show for free.
Branding is the BUZZ word these days and frankly should be in traditional forms of making your business or product be top of mind. So, nothings really changed just the method has, the glue, the difference, is and always has been in the relationship. We have become markets of Social Circles that depend on knowing that its safe to buy or deal with a person or business. But most of us just want to belong and be in a safe fun place. Hang on, is that new? We as a people have always been like that, we are creatures of habits.
Now I’m really confused, if nothings changed then why has everything changed? The principles remain the same and have to be applied to every social market, only the methods have changed, not the principles of how and why people buy. So Think Globally and Act Locally helps me communicate to my target market or niche in a more accurate way. By the way, the original phrase “Think Global, Act Local” first appears in the book “The Evolution of Cities” (1915) by Scots Planner and social activist Patrick Geddes.
The world of business has not changed all that much, much of what you do to sell goods and products will continue, you will however add new ways of marketing. The principles of marketing will remain the same but your methods will change, this is going to be determined by where the largest flow of traffic is going not too mention where the greatest pool (demographic) of dollars resides.
You should and will have interaction with people at some level, so you will influence (sell) someone to get them to do what you want. Social Media Networks are best used in your PR efforts, not in advertising programs. No matter what you do, improve and be the best you you can be, because today’s markets are becoming very personal. I hope the shift to a more Social environment will make it possible for everyone to realize their dreams. Don’t forget your community for the sake of reaching the world, localize your Social Media Networks to serve your business and above all, care for your customers no matter where they reside.