A couple days ago someone asked me why they should care about social media. “After all” he said. “Isn’t it just a thing for high school kids?”
This was during the Q&A session after a presentation I did. There were 30 people in the room, and most laughed at the question. It was a bit of a wake up call for me.
Then yesterday, I read a report from Burke. (They’re a market research firm, and you can check them out at www.burke.com.) This really caught my attention: The use of PRINT yellow pages rose by 12% in 2009. Here’s the link to the .
Do you know what sprang up in my mind? Let’s walk this through together.
There are still business owners who basically think social media is crap, and a waste of time. And consumers are turning back to “traditional media” for reliable information.
In my mind, that means there’s so much garbage being shovelled onto the internet that people are throwing their hands up in disgust.
Here’s an example…I’ve been e-mailing with an acquaintance in California. They’re doing a pilot show and want to use social media to build community. Okay. Great idea.
And here’s where things are starting to go wrong for her:
- People are telling her it will cost between $18,000 and $750,000 to build community around the show using social media.
- No one has bothered to explain what’s needed so she can make a good, educated decision about using social media.
So here’s my solution to this problem for everyone…
Start by listening to Social Media: Cheap and Easy. It’s my radio show and completely free. You can download and listen to any episode just by clicking – no e-mail address required. There’s lots of good information there, and we’re working on putting up an archive so you can access every interview I’ve ever done.
Next, go to Hubspot. They have a positively huge amount of free information about social media, online marketing, e-mail marketing and just about every other kind of marketing you can think of. They also have some paid services you might be interested in using.
I’ve spent hundreds of hours on Hubspot. HUNDREDS. They have good, useful, and reliable information. And here’s the big bonus about going to Hubspot: You’re going to learn about other sites and sources of information from them.
The folks at Hubspot are quite happy to tell you about other research that might be useful to you.
And here’s your third step: Send your questions to questions AT theconradhall DOT com. (The words are put in to prevent spambots from collecting the address.)
I’ll find the answer for you and put it here, or answer it on Social Media: Cheap and Easy. This way, we’re working together to get answers for everyone. There’s no e-mail list to be part of, or some kind of “gimme” later on.
You’re giving me a question. I’m giving the answer. We’re even, and everyone benefits. Especially because we’ll be cleaning up the garbage that’s floating around out there about social media.
Okay. That’s it for toady. Thanks for reading, and have a good weekend.