SOCIAL MEDIA TAKEN TO A HIGHER LEVEL – PROFIT BOOSTER

SUBSCRIBE FOR 2009 Survival Of The Fittest Entrepreneur EZINE

Entrepreneurs. It’s been a while since I touched base with you and the main reason for that is the majority of you are getting bombarded with so many emails that I know it’s tough to keep up

I am speaking strictly from experience here. I have in excess of 4500 unopened emails to go through over the past 3 months and this does not include the ones I deleted or the ones I already read!

So I am using that as a yardstick and figuring that you are probably having a similar challenge! Of course not to mention the number of product launches taking place daily. Most can barely keep up!

But let’s move on to current marketing affairs and what will impact Entrepreneurs this year 2009. The word out on the street is that only the ‘fittest will survive’ the year. And all indications point this way

We are right now caught in a wave of unprecedented change; technological, financial & economical and all of this impact trends in the market place. So whether you are a traditional entrepreneur or an internet marketer, these shifts are impacting hard and fast and if you are not in tuned or not keeping pace, the marbles will slip out of your hands, so to speak. That is, you get left behind
PROFIT BOOSTER

Web 2.0 or Social media has taken online and offline marketing to new dimensions and new heights. So what many Entrepreneurs saw as child’s play on Facebook and MySpace has turned into a huge marketing movement. Take a look at this chart below:

From 2005 to 2009 Facebook has seen its members grow from nothing to in excess of 200 million people! These numbers are good enough to blow your mind. Can you imagine this many people sharing their wants, needs, likes and dislikes? Very valuable information for marketers if you’re paying attention and know how to use it

I used to feel it’s all just useless chatter but this phenomenon we are experiencing today and these trends are changing the dynamics of marketing. As Entrepreneurs, we must listen up and learn – fast!

Over the past 12 months, Twitter has taken center stage and has become a force to be reckoned with. According to Wikipedia, Twitter is being used for way more than chitter-chatter. Here’s an extract from Wikipedia:

“Twitter has been used as a ‘social justice tool" to connect groups of people in critical situations. On April 10, 2008, James Buck, a graduate journalism student at UC Berkley, and his translator, Mohammed Maree, were arrested in Egypt for photographing an anti-government protest. On his way to the police station Buck used his mobile phone to send the message “Arrested” to his 48 "followers" on Twitter. Those contacted UC Berkeley, the US Embassy in Cairo, and a number of press organizations on his behalf. Buck was able to send updates about his condition to his "followers" while being detained. He was released the next day from the Mahalla jail after the college hired a lawyer for him.

In 2008, CNN began setting up Twitter pages for some of its anchors -reading tweets during broadcasts”

OK, so you’re getting it right? This is not just a fad. This is the marketing wave of the future. Social media has become the choice of communication because it’s easy, it’s fast, it doesn’t get too personal, or it can get personal, it’s time saving, you can be serious, business like, relaxed and frivolous, funny, scary and downright foolish. And guess what? It’s all OK!

People are being themselves and letting their guard down. Of course some folks are doing this all wrong especially marketers who don’t quite understand how to use all of this information to build their businesses and secure customers

But social media has made it possible for the ordinary average entrepreneur to connect with people from every country, every continent across the world in a manner that is unprecedented! And what a incredible time it is for marketers. Big things are happening across the world in terms of business and marketing and the smallest of entrepreneurs get to participate

Just the thought of that is heart warming. Finally it's not only the big boys who get to bring in the big bucks! Now the playing field is beginning to level out and with some savvy marketing - entrepreneurs can hone their skills and really take charge of their business online and offline and raise their profit margins and overall profits

Of course there still are some plays which not everyone can partake in, as pointed out by one of my students today. The big boys promote the other big boys stuff. And they each promote the other's stuff - especially the big ticket items, and sometimes you get that feeling of how small you are in this huge online marketing game

Don't despair! That's just the nature of marketing. Your turn will come. No one is born with marketing knowledge! Especially in a fast changing marketing environment. These techniques and strategies have to be learned and mastered gradually. But the winning edge is sharpened knowing you can do this, you too can play in the big leagues soon

So yes, today you may not have all the skills to be a Mike Dillard or a Mike Filsaime BUT you do have what it takes to be 'like Mike' ;) And don't start comparing yourself with these guys, and get all down and out on yourself

The key really is to become a better you - everyday, every week, every month and every year. If you beat your last 6 months average then you are ahead of the game. Getting better everyday is not as easy as it sounds however. Many lack the discipline to get better and blame others for their lack of success constantly. Many try for 2 or 3 months and expect to be a marketing guru. When that doesn't happen, they go back to their old habit of blaming and becoming all sour!

Like learning anything else there is a learning curve. And the faster you get the hang of this, the faster you move your business into the profit zone

As Tim Sales said, those who profit are following the trends. Those who cling to the old methods will lose. This is just the evolution of business and the business model. And as marketers whose profits depend on sales, being on top of the trend is critical to survival in 2009

So get with the program. And let’s get busy…

Here’s a TOOL that will jump start your engines and put you at the top of the heap of Entrepreneurs. GRAB THIS ONE: PROFIT BOOSTER

Nadira Haniff
Founder, Coach, Inspirational Speaker
180DaysToGreatness.com
24HourExplosion.com
Catch Me On Twitter

SUBSCRIBE FOR 2009 Survival Of The Fittest Entrepreneur EZINE