Social media so called because of how it connects people and allows people to share information and ideas. But actually, social media is more fundamental than that. Its social because its helping shape the cultures of the future, its enabling engagement and its aiding collaboration on unprecedented levels.

It’s effect on the continuum of change ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous. In the future, it will assist in the overthrow of governments, research and development activity that creates amazing products and currently, its helping me meet someone in my home city I have never met before.

To critiscise it is natural, to ignore it is futile but it will, itself need to change too. There will come a point, perhaps a Malcolm Gladwell tipping point, where social media must turn into social business on a more larger scale. There are case studies. Dell reckons its generated $3 million just via Twitter. Gavin Sheppard at www.devonshiretea.com recently said to me that its the best marketing decision he ever made joining Twitter because its bringing results.

It’s truly fab connecting with people, its amazing sharing ideas but its hard work, even daunting sometimes. Social media maybe a more effective way of marketing and removed some cash spend but it adds huge pressure to your time. At some point, even us fans, followers and early adopters are going to have to turn those connections into some kind of business. And that’s where we have to claw back the control, take a hold of social media/business, grab it by the horns and decide how we are going to make it work. That’s our role social media/business can’t do it for us, its really a question of time management and influencing your followers.

At the moment it gives us connections, reach and spreadability, in the future we need to start turning that into long term relationships, robust communities and cash.

Had an amazing two hours with some incredible business people last night. Sometimes, my job really is the best in the world. I’ll be posting a series of blogs over the next few weeks to reinforce the discussions we had at Exeter Innovation Centre but its best described by Phil Rees in his lovely post:

http://deface.posterous.com/marketing-is-dead-0

The Dead Poet’s Society scene could not explain any better what has happened to marketing overnight!

This isn’t contradicting yesterday’s post, far from it. If you don’t like people, then the future is going to be hellish difficult for you. Even if you love being amongst people, you’re going to have to shift your thinking considerably. Being with people who inspire you and make you smile are critically important. How you converse with people will mean a change of position:

Involvement to participation

Communication to conversation

Customers to community

Ownership to sharing

Control to collaboration

The future will demand being intimate with people internally in your organisation as well as externally. A delegate on a workshop I delivered recently said “I’m not sure I want to get as close to my plumber as my wife.” Perhaps, but he has missed the point. If the plumber is building a community of followers who love what he does, he’s going to have to get close to you somehow!

Yes in a people to people environment you need to avoid people! Well, people who play it safe. Who don’t share ideas. Those that won’t collaborate and people who talk about customers as if they were just a transaction.

Avoid people who tell you to shout. Who talk about marketing! Run fast from anyone who thinks they own you. Become adept at picking out those that just detract rather than add value. Make a hasty escape from people who only see the money. Turn the other way if someone’s ego is the size of a small country and never engage with anyone who is talking at you.

It’s not about being rude and ignorant, manners cost nothing. Just learn to avoid and get rid of them fast and in a smart way. There are other people to converse with that are so much more inspiring!

Well I don’t need to blog in depth today because Scott Gould has just posted this. Need I say anymore? Just a fabulous overview of how social media needs to be useful…..I think that goes for anything doesn’t it?

Well worth the read, click below.

http://scottgould.me/be-useful-the-6-social-media-presences/

Enjoy….you should, its brilliant!

Hmmm…. your customers are creating the market place now not you. Give us choice and we will take it! Look at us has been replaced with look at what we are doing. The big question; is your marketing designed for a static world or an ever changing one?

Markets will always outperform individual businesses, they also learn a lot faster and are better connected than  business too. If you’re marketing ain’t broken, its about time you asked yourself why? As Jeff Jarvis said “The mass market is dead. It committed suicide. Google just handed it the gun.”

Most companies, for the last 10 years, have taken the easy way out to market their brands, they have essentially bought customers. Sadly, its cost more and more and had less and less impact. In the past it was about driving traffic to your business, now its about loyalty.

Remember this equation; Feeling valued = loyalty + commitment

Most of us are still acting as if what we do is scarce. Shouting isn’t going to get you heard above the crowd, not when everyone else if shouting too. Now really is the time to tear up the marketing you have been doing in the past. Measure its return on investment and, then when you’ve picked yourself up off the floor, go and find some other way of connecting with your customers.

In October I had to queue to get into the Likeminds Conference in Exeter. This time I was one of the many getting kicked out by Scott Gould at the end of the night!

Well they went and did again didn’t they? The organisers, speakers and delegates raised the bar without creating one! “People to people” was the focus of this full day conference which threw up just as many questions as answers, but that’s the point.

There were particular vibrant and engaging presentations from Jonathan Akwue, Joanne Jacobs, Olivier Blanchard and the irrepressible Chris Brogan. Even the thought of Chris stood on stage in his Superman underpants did nothing to dissuade the audience (sorry you needed to be in the room to get that one!)

There was nothing irksome about the day. Superbly organised with a truly community feel, we all felt a little bit human again. The key lightbulb moments;

1. “When you give people a voice, you have to be prepared for what they are going to say.” Jonathan Akwue. That one  is for all you leaders out there!

2. “Understand, participate and then lead.” John Bell. Yep you got to eat an elephant in bite sized chunks.

3. “Having a prescence in social media is worthless unless you do something with it.” Olivier Blanchard. You know sometimes a blinding flash of the obvious is so bloomin’ powerful.

4. “You have to make people feel special.” Chris Brogan. Many of us commented we did feel special!

The buzz in the room was inspiring and so positive, there were obviously no Daily Mail readers in sight! People talk a lot about the social media hype. I’m curious to what they mean by that. Social media for many businesses is the Titanic’s iceberg and its no good re arranging the deckchairs on the old ship anymore. Its a difficult time for many companies. But, perhaps by humanising the relationships we have with people, we can actually thrive.

This conference showed that even in six months not just the technology has moved on, but so has our thinking. It can’t be taken as a token gesture, its serious stuff and it has serious implications. Miss the next one? Er no!

Some people, in fact more than we would like to admit, are underestimating the scale and the power of non financial motivations. This is also true of freedom to express oneself too. I recently had a delegate offer ” why on earth would my employees want to express themselves?”

The web is not a separate world, so far in the distant, too difficult to reach and understand. It really isn’t Jupiter. It’s actually just a different one that is presenting a different set of rules, a change in the way we do things and allowing us to connect in a way we have never experienced before. It’s unprecedented.

A lot of us are having to unlearn things, lots of things. For those of you who think the web is isolating and responsible for a generation of people who don’t communicate with each other, think about this; all of us watching the Winter Olympics around the world at the moment, in our own living rooms, passive, one way, broadcast stuff, now who’s isolated?

I’m cheating today, but hey if someone posts something concise and great, why not share it, it’s what blogging is about! Fabulous post by Seth Godin, got me thinking anyway.

http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2010/01/in-between-frames.html

This social media is an amazing thing particularly for people who do a lot of thinking and have lots to say about their specialist stuff. Like anyone using tools like blogs, Twitter and Facebook, you have a journal of everything that you have ever written. The media would have us believe that this ability to record everything we do, say and photograph has its downside, well welcome to life, aren’t most things like that. On the whole, this ability to trace back and revisit something you said can be both a delight and embarrassment but, hey, how exciting and convenient is that?