By now everyone's heard of blogging, MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn; but I still see that a lot of my clients are hesitant to jump into the social marketing/media foray.
They think it's only a bunch of college kids chatting about frat parties and drinking games.
And to be honest, social media's beginnings aren't too far from that.
But times have changed.
Social media tools are a global phenomenon that are happening in all markets regardless of social, economic and cultural boundaries.
One of the primary drivers behind this shift is that "consumers" are no longer consuming what advertising agencies have thrown at them for years.
In the old days, you could actually increase sales with TV and magazine advertising, but that's when we all watched the same five TV channels and were glued to the nightly news to see what happened in the world.
Today, we have 500+ channels, satellite radio and access to immediate information on any topic you can imagine via the internet.
Consumers are no longer consuming advertising, they are consuming content.
And social media tools (like blogs, Twitter and Facebook) make it easy and free to create and distribute valuable content.
Just look at some of the latest stats:

• 73% of online users read a blog
• 57% join social networks
• 45% have started a blog
• 83% have viewed a video online
• 39% subscribe to RSS feeds
• 36% think more positively about companies that have blogs

Do you match up with any (or most) of these? How many social media tools are you taking advantage of? It's not enough to simply have a website today.
You must be engaged in social media to gain credibility and awareness for your brand, products and services.
There are 184 million bloggers worldwide.
34% of them post opinions about products and services on their blog.
Are they talking about you; your products/services; your industry? Yes they are, but more importantly, what are they saying? Social media is all about authenticity and transparency.
Since the barriers to publishing content are virtually nil, people do not pay attention to or respect overly glossy corporate messages.
They no longer have to.
Before we were basically forced to watch the final episode of M.
A.
S.
H.
-not any longer.
In fact, right now, Millennials are watching more video online than traditional television.
Times have changed.
Where are you in relation to adopting and participating in social media? If you're not sure where to start, let me throw out a couple of suggestions:

1. Add a blog to your website.
   But make sure you host it on your website to take advantage of all of the search engine goodness that comes with a blog.
   When you sign up with Blogger or another hosted service, they get all of the search engine benefits.
   Make a new directory on your website called "blog" and install it there.
   If you're confused by doing this give me a call-or your web person-to help.
   Wordpress makes this very easy.
   BUT YOU CANNOT INSTALL IT AND NOT USE IT.
   You have to start publishing content to leverage social media for business growth.
   
2. Sign up for a free Facebook account.
   It's easy and you'll be surprised how many people you know are already on there.
   Start making connections.
   Add me as a "friend".
   Start using social media to cultivate relationships.
   After all that's what it's all about.
   

Publishing valuable content is the #1 way to be recognized as an expert in your field.
When you combine publishing with an expanding network of connections, your business is sure to grow.
Social media is here to stay.
Will the tools change and evolve over time, sure, but as a communications and business platform, it's here to stay.
Are you coming with us?