ARE SOCIAL MEDIA & BLOGGING JUST A FAD, OR ARE THEY A REAL TREND?

In the past 3 years, we have seen the explosive growth of the social media scene. Facebook has garnered over 350,000,000 active users worldwide, Twitter has attained roughly 45,000,000 users, and there have been 130,000,000 blogs indexed by Technorati since the year 2002. In 24 hours alone, over 900,000 blog posts are created. But even with these staggering statistics, there are still those who believe that the social media explosion is a fad, not a paradigm shift.

I strongly believe that social media represents a paradigm shift in the way that we as a people communicate and interact with one another. When the fastest growing sector on Facebook is the 55+ age group, you don’t have a problem believing that this is a definite all-encompassing shift. But the sheer numbers of people participating in social media communities and blogs does not determine the long-term viability of the trend alone. What makes me boldly state that the social media trend is “boldly going where no man has gone before” and will show no sign of weakening is one thing… monetization.

Tech Trader Daily states that as of January 20th, 2010, Facebook is valued at roughly $14 billion. Twitpic is said to be worth more than $10 million.  MSNBC’s Motley Fool states that search monster Google could be worth $200 billion. The Tech Observer believes Twitter to be valued at around $1 billion. That’s just a sampling of a few of the major players on the social media scene. But this is not what made my mind up about the strength of this trend. What aspect of monetization makes me so confident, you ask? The local search market. Heres why…

In this day and age, nobody is reaching for the Yellow Book to find a pizza joint for dinner. They are using Google. Not only are people Googling restaurant ideas on their home computers, they are using their smart phones. The smart phone trend is getting bigger by the day, and people are becoming more accustomed to using their smart phone devices as their primary internet portholes. The use of Google for researching purchasing decisions on the local level has captured the attention of small businesses and professionals. Instead of relying solely on the radio, newspaper, and the declining television market, they must now “optimize” their presence on the internet to take advantage of local searchers by maximizing their online visibility. This has created a cottage industry that we call “Search Engine Optimization”, or SEO for short.

Now it’s time to tie it all in. What is the fastest way to optimize your business presence on the web in order to facilitate ease of indexing by search engine giant Google? It’s social media platforms and blogging. Using micro blogging sites and social media communities, business owners are able to conquer search terms related to their niche and achieve indexing for their local search market within hours, in some instances. People can pay consultants hefty fees to optimize their searchability (my new word), or they can do it organically by blogging, using targeted keywords, and interacting with people on a one-on-one basis within the most popular social media communities.

The fact remains that social media is a societal trend, not a fad, and the money tied up into this trend both on the national level and the local level is proof. So the next time you hear someone telling you that social media marketing is a farse, and the social media communities will be gone before long, just think about the hundreds of thousands of grandmas out there who are spending hours a day tending to their virtual farms on “Farmville”, and picture this obsessive activity disappearing. I don’t see this happening within my lifetime.

by Carlton Flowers
Social Media Strategist

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TWITTER TURBO NEARS COMPLETION – VIDEO UPDATE

I’ve been at the helm pounding away at the keyboard and finalizing the Twitter Turbo seminar software CD for release in February of 2010. I’m three months late on my projected release, but I’ve had so much more great information to include in this project that I just could not let it go a minute too early. Several sales & marketing professionals have expressed interest in the program, and several others are asking for information on what the program covers. This video includes a basic explanation of how Twitter Turbo will benefit you as a business owner or sales professional in layman’s terms. In the video, I encourage viewers to sign up for the email list to have immediate notification when the product is ready for release. You will need to go to the Twitter Turbo page and enter your email address at the bottom of the page in order to do so. Questions, comments, or discussion? Feel free to post them below! I’ll look forward to hearing from you!

Click Here to view the video!

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TWITTER TRAINING COMING TO CENTRAL MISSOURI!

Today I was blessed to have been interviewed by the awesome David Lile on KFRU Radio in Columbia (1400AM). David is a very charismatic gentleman who carries quite a large following with his radio broadcast. He had some great questions waiting for me, and admitted that he has not spent much time at all on the social media front, nor was he entirely motivated to do so. But by the end of the interview, he saw value in social media participation for business owners and professionals, and even stated that he may look into getting on Twitter and Facebook himself!

We had 3 callers in the latter half of the interview who all had excellent questions. I was surprised that all were interested in learning how to use Twitter, and wanting to know ways that it could be integrated into their marketing strategy. From the questions that were asked, I get a good feeling that there is a need for fundamental Twitter marketing training in Central Missouri. I plan on helping people get the basics of Twitter marketing by providing basic info in my marketing strategy podcast, and also through live webcasts. In the future, as demand dictates, I will be offering workshops and individualized consulting.

My goal is to help business owners and sales professionals explode their current market base and expand the extent of their reach by utilizing the popular social media networks, thus increasing traffic to their businesses and increasing profits. All of this is possible with the right methods and a solid strategy. For more information on social media marketing, listen to the audio podcasts on www.carltonzone.com/blog and chime in to the discussion.

Do you have a question about using Twitter or Facebook to promote your business or organization? Write in a response to this blog post, or contact me via email at carlton.flowers@gmail.com. I’ll be waiting to help you!

Carlton Flowers
Marketing Strategist

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A VIDEO PODCAST SERIES IS IN THE WORKS!

Folks, I have been tweaking and testing my video equipment for about 2 months now, and I am ready to put the polishing touches on my video podcast. I ran into major problems when my computer crashed due to overheating in early November. It turned out that my video card was damaged from years of heavy-duty use (video editing is hard on a video card). I ended up having to buy a new hard drive after the crash mopped my boot sector. I also purchased a new video card. I went with a 1GB PCI Express 16 with a GE Force 9500 chip set. I then decided to upgrade to Microsoft Windows 7 from XP, since I was loading a new hard drive anyway. It was the changing of the operating system that caused me the most problems. I found out that much of my hardware was not compatible with Windows 7, including my scanner, my Sony CDR-TRV480 Hi-8 HandyCam, my Sony DVD100 HandyCam, and yet another flash media digital camera. After much research, a friend offered a workaround solution. I installed a FIrewire PCI card and connected the HandyCam to the computer, and it worked! The only downer is the fact that the DVD100 HandyCam does not have a FIrewire port. At any rate, I was finally able to move forward and get back on-track with my video production. This video is a short test to see how we look on iTunes, and on an iPhone device. I kept the file size small (about 9mb), and plan to do a series of short videos covering marketing ideas, and gadgets for geeks (like me). We’ll see how this evolves over time. The first run does not have the bumper music or transitions that I want, but was simply thrown together to check the quality. Enjoy, and please offer your comments and ideas!

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CRAFTY WAYS TO GRAB YOUR AUDIENCE AND MAKE THEM BUY!

In today’s podcast episode, we will discuss a handful of marketing ideas, more accurately, “mind control” marketing ideas. They say you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink… unless you salt his oats! These short ideas will help “salt the oats” of your potential customers who are interested in your product or service and lead them quench their thirst for purchasing. Here is a summary of the tips. You will learn how to:

• create a problem & bring the solution
• be controversial, and spark conversation
• be the advocate for a group and lead the charge against the “villain”
• get super-creative on your ads and ditch conventionalism

For my bonus list of fantastic sales & marketing Twitter Tips that is constantly updated with fresh, cutting-edge content, visit http://su.pr/58wiGk. We’ll see you there!

Play Now:

 Mind Control Marketing Tips & Tricks [9:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

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