I try and I try -- but I just do not get social mrktng...

[TimothyW]

Maybe I am just too business minded. Maybe I have a stint in my brain that separates business + personal life. Maybe I associate the business side with 'getting something done' (being 'productive'), and the personal side I associate with NOT getting things done.

When I am trying to get something done, I must focus. I must avoid interruptions. I must wear my business 'hat.'

Then there's facebook, myspace, twitter. Now, I admit, I am NOT a social creature at all. But, I must say, when I see the social networking sites, the only word that comes to mind is PUB.

And I am definitely NOT a pub kinda guy.

When twitter first came out, the explanation was -- 'it fills in all the "in-betweens" between emails' -- my immediate thought was, "OH GREAT, now I gotta be updated on what people are doing BETWEEN their emails to me?!?"

Are you kidding me?

I'm trying to get something done -- trying to focus -- trying like hell to AVOID contemplating my own navel -- now I'm gonna try to contemplate the navels of OTHERS?!?

You have to be kidding me.

That is exactly what I am doing my darndest to AVOID, no?

It is the pure-bred, ultimate, ANTI-getting-something-done.

Yes, I see that you need other people to get something done -- and expand your network, and all of that. I dunno -- for me, there are friends + family -- then there are business associates -- then there are potential customers. To me, those all seem like SEPARATE groups -- and mistaking one group for another is, well, a mistake.

Where's the productivity in taking the time to follow people -- or be followed -- on twitter?

Isn't saying, 'follow me on twitter' the exact same thing as saying, 'please let me waste your time?' Doesn't it take massive amounts of GALL to say, 'please take the time to follow what I'm doing in my life, minute-to-minute?' I'm sorry, I just don't have an ego (or ba**s) big enough to even ask someone that question.

Let's put it this way, anyone who asks ME that q, I will interpret as just that -- "Please waste your time by turning my life into a reality show that you want to watch." To which I will mentally answer -- "No thanks bozo, and by the way, you have an overrated ego for even asking that."

The whole twitter thing seems like a do-nothing, make-work, colosal waste of time -- like a new modern CB radio hobby, or something.

I dunno -- I just do not get it.

Let the pile-on begin, I guess.

-- TW

[Jeremy Kelsall]

TW - I tried to get into it as well, but I don't really see the point

Twitter = too much work and wasted time
social bookmarking sites = traffic that doesn't convert (in many niches)
Facebook = Good if you "fake a profile" taking on a persona of the niche
Myspace = see above

While all of the above probably are relevant for some people in some niches -- they definitely are not cookie cutter across the board.

[CurtisN]

My take on the sites mentioned above:

Twitter - Good for casual networking and random fun
Social Bookmarking sites - good for the backlinks
Facebook - Only for personal friends, maybe family
Myspace - Died a long time ago, was never popular amongst young folks like me :P

Curtis

[Tyson Faulkner]

I feel the same way. It seems with all the other distractions
of the day, if I tried to make Twitter and Facebook part of
my daily routine, I would get zero work done.

I'm sure there's an art to it though, as I've heard of people
making money using them.

I think the only thing I would use these for in the future is
relationship building with other marketer's or something. I
doubt if I would have the time to actually use them
frequently enough to be a traffic source.

-Tyson

[Yaro]

Twitter is awesome guys, though you do need a point of leverage to build a profile.

Think of it like list building. I was amazed recently when I tweeted about the release of a product. I didn't talk about this product on my blog or my newsletter, ONLY twitter.

Within 24 hours I had made two sales totaling $300 USD affiliate commission.

That's from a twitter audience of about 3000 at the time. Not a huge amount of money, but you can see the potential there and the parallels with list building.

[Jeremy Kelsall]

Yaro,

My problem is that even using all the "tools" and "gizmos" for twitter, I only seem to be adding other marketers regardless of the niche.

I get a profile set up with what I think is a ripe crop of customers and then end up getting bombarded with links to sales pages from the people that I planned on selling to

[BJ Min]

good thread...i would be interested in HOW to make money with:
- facebook
- myspace
- twitter

i really don't hav emuch time to update twitter points all the time
but there are MANY internet marketing gurus who say it's so great...

so i would love to hear the benefits and especially HOW to use it to make money...

[L.G. Carter]

I totally, completely, absolutely identify with you!

I have some failed attempts to start networking, you know,"connect with people" and after each try i feel like a complete fool, wasting my time with those useless conversations.
To me, people who spend hours daily networking just for the fun of it definitely need to get a life!

Great post, i was afraid that something is wrong with me for feeling that way when everybody goes "oh my, networking is gold!..."
Happy to see i'm not the only one feeling this way!

Carter

[MikeWords]

I dont think IM's should spend time trying to make money off social media.

IMO, the only point of using social media for business is for branding on a large scale. If a blogger is telling you that you need to get on twitter or facebook to make money, their real motive is to get you to follow them and drill their brand into you.

I'm not interested in branding or becoming a "famous" blogger. I'd rather make a ton of cash anonymously and you can't do this with social media.

[Nathan Hangen]

Twitter is fantastic, but you just have to know how to use it right. There are ways you can use it without spending all day talking to other people. I have several accounts that I use for different things...1 personal that I don't really use for marketing, and then several niche accounts that I do.

I really like Twitter.

[Easy Cash]

I have to agree - Twitter does work.

You need to find people in your niche.

This is easy to do - I made a post about it on my blog.

How To Use Twitter.com For Increasing Website Traffic

I have had a couple of conversions from Twitter - so happy to put a bit of time into it.

It is much easier to use than a lot of the other social sites.

[ExRat]

Hi,

Here's the skinny - (translated that means the no fluff 'this or that' summary that makes annoying, broad generalisations)

There are two types of users - consumers/buyers and marketers.

All you need to know is that for a marketer to use it effectively (unless they are building some sort of social profile as a guru) they need to automate it and recycle their content on there in order to spend as little time as possible on there.

If you're not a guru, or not spamming the heck out of it, then you're probably wasting time on there and using it for 'virtual' social interaction - a bit like this forum.

HTH

[yves]

My problem is I don't like change. I hate it when you are just getting the hang of IM and then you have to be part of some other newfangled thing. I'm quite young but I like old-school style IM or something that will work regardless of the things that come in and out of fashion. All the people that follow me and want me to follow them on twitter are other IMers so it's pointless. I get other social bookmarking sites for backlinks though.

But I know I'm not using twitter it to it's full potential. i have no doubt it works but just can't face getting into it.

Oh well.

[BrianMcLeod]

TW, please don't take this personally because I'm certainly not ragging on you...

Your post just sort of struck a chord with me, or more accurately it hit my funny bone because you write well and it made me chuckle a few times reading it.

Isn't it more than a little ironic that people can find and justify the time to write long, eloquent, even well-reasoned rants against wasting time on Twitter? Hmm...

Doesn't it seem obvious that those uncomfortable with technology would be the least likely to find value in emerging platforms and new communication trends? Drrr...

Funnier still are the prolific forum posters who wave their fingers indignantly in the air proclaiming that social media is all about "look at me!"... Umm...

Anyway, I enjoyed reading your post... and I DO agree that Social Media can become a complete and totally unproductive time-suck if you let it. But it doesn't have to.

Social media and networks like Twitter and Facebook can also forge incredible new business relationships and friendships that can massively amplify your business and goals.

I've made some great friendships with really cool people and done significant business through SM that I am quite certain would never have existed otherwise.

Social media has it's costs (time) and it's benefits (reach). The cool thing is, we each get to decide which is worth more at any given moment. No need for absolutes. Got a minute to yack on Facebook? Great. Busy and focused? No Tweetdeck for you...

Best,

Brian

[Nathan Hangen]

Originally Posted by yves

My problem is I don't like change. I hate it when you are just getting the hang of IM and then you have to be part of some other newfangled thing. I'm quite young but I like old-school style IM or something that will work regardless of the things that come in and out of fashion. All the people that follow me and want me to follow them on twitter are other IMers so it's pointless. I get other social bookmarking sites for backlinks though.

But I know I'm not using twitter it to it's full potential. i have no doubt it works but just can't face getting into it.

Oh well.

Well, there are ways to target non-Im'ers too, and it really isn't that difficult...you just need the right tools. The problem is that people think using the Twitter homepage is the only way to make use of it.

[JAIDEEP2959]

Try to promote friendship, dating and relationship products on such sites.

[TimothyW]

Loudmac...

The difference is, when I type on a forum, I KNOW I'm wasting my time.

I'm out here reading this forum + contributing to it (I hope) for the sole purpose of learning + (maybe) teaching a little.

In my OP I said I don't get social MARKETING.

I see nothing wrong with using twitter as a form of communication -- or using forums or facebook, etc. as forms of communication -- between friends, etc.

Here's an anoalogy -- people who use methods like sendoutcards (offline postcard mailing automation) to send biz 'communications' that take the form of, "Happy birthday Joe!" or "Hey, Joe, it's the first day of spring!" -- The thinking being: If I SHAKE ENOUGH HANDS, surely someone of those people will buy... eventually.

To my way of thinking, that's back-assward thinking.

The REAL junk mail is the mail that tries to SOCIALIZE as a thinly veiled, 'whispering' attempt at marketing. It's not fooling anyone -- and it's almost certainly a WASTE of time.

It's wrong to think, "if I SOCIALIZE enough, someone will buy."

Do you know that old story about the two exec's who are golfing buddies for YEARS. One of them is an insurance sales guy. The other exec reveals one day that he just bought a GIANT ins. policy. The 'friend' is AMAZED, and not a little insulted! "Why didn't you buy that from ME!!!?!?!" he shouts.

The exec just says, "Bob, you never asked."

When I post on forums, etc., it is never with the intention of getting customers. You may notice I never have a sig. I would never focus on forum posting as a way to get customers. When/where I DO try to get customers (elsewhere), I am in SALES MODE -- and I do not try to hide it -- or be indirect or obtuse about it.

Selling is selling. Learning is learning. Talking shop is talking shop. Socializing is socializing.

I'm not saying small talk can't be part of selling -- but it is a SMALL part of selling. It is a pleasantry. Conversely, when I am at 'the pub,' the sales hat is NOT worn. And vice versa.

Otherwise you end up like some old-fashioned amway guy or Jehovah's witness -- going around to all your 'friends' houses, trying to sit down and have as many coffees with them, hoping that will turn into SALES -- creeeepy, if you ask me.

-- TW

[BrianMcLeod]

Originally Posted by -- TW

Loudmac...

The difference is, when I type on a forum, I KNOW I'm wasting my time.

I'm not saying small talk can't be part of selling -- but it is a SMALL part of selling. It is a pleasantry. Conversely, when I am at 'the pub,' the sales hat is NOT worn. And vice versa.

Great reply, TW. Can't say I disagree.

Best,

Brian

[Yaro]

Originally Posted by Jeremy Kelsall

My problem is that even using all the "tools" and "gizmos" for twitter, I only seem to be adding other marketers regardless of the niche.

I get a profile set up with what I think is a ripe crop of customers and then end up getting bombarded with links to sales pages from the people that I planned on selling to

Jeremy - Yes, that's an issue, but no different from the challenges you face building any audience. You have to find a way to capture the attention of people and get them interested enough to subscribe to your communication channel.

With Twitter, the best way so far seems to be through word of mouth within the existing Twitter community. My follower growth has come primarily from people re-tweeting any good tweets I make, which usually are links to quality resources I find (and my own blog posts of course!).

I've seen people with little established online profile manage to grow substantial Twitter followship by simply being prolifically useful and communicative within Twitter.

It's not going to work in every niche of course, but it's only going to grow as more people start using Twitter.

[DavidO]

Some people are naturals for Twitter and other social sites. But if you don't relate to it (like I don't) then don't waste your time. Do something more productive.

My personal take is that these sites are totally over-rated from a marketing perspective. The only thing I use them for is backlinks and getting new pages indexed quickly.

None of this stuff is necessary for online success.

[smithb]

Social Bookmarking is very useful to get quality traffic.

[Anthony Robinson]

Man I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who doesn't "get it" when it comes to twitter, facebook, etc..

I have an account with both of them - facebook is strictly for social purposes (I've gotten in touch with some old friends) while twitter seems pretty pointless. I'm actually pretty disappointed with twitter since I thought it may be a good way to build relationships with other marketers, bounce ideas off of, maybe find a JV partner, etc. What it's turned out to be is a never ending barrage of "check out my blog post" (which I don't) and "have you seen this new product" type of junk posts.

[BrianMcLeod]

Originally Posted by chopper180

I'm actually pretty disappointed with twitter since I thought it may be a good way to build relationships with other marketers, bounce ideas off of, maybe find a JV partner, etc. What it's turned out to be is a never ending barrage of "check out my blog post" (which I don't) and "have you seen this new product" type of junk posts.

That's interesting because my experience is exactly the polar opposite of yours. But I've been on Twitter for about a year and that may be the difference.

In many ways, Twitter is what you make of it. If you are a jack-ass like me, it's easy to jump into the fray and be conversational. : )

Best,

Brian

[Anthony Robinson]

Originally Posted by LoudMac

If you are a jack-ass like me,

Just ask anyone who knows me....

I think the problem I'm having is that unlike facebook where I'm dealing with people I already know, the people that I follow (and that follow me) are strangers...kind of like being the odd man out at a party where you don't know anyone and the person who does know people just stepped out.

The really sorry part is I have a few ideas that I'd like to get some opinions on but don't know who can be trusted. The WF is a great forum, but you have to be careful of what you put in the public eye since you never know who's reading it.

Maybe I won't throw twitter to the wolves just yet...

[BrianMcLeod]

Originally Posted by chopper180

Just ask anyone who knows me....

I think the problem I'm having is that unlike facebook where I'm dealing with people I already know, the people that I follow (and that follow me) are strangers...kind of like being the odd man out at a party where you don't know anyone and the person who does know people just stepped out.

I hear you, but I don't really "know" many of the people I regularly tweet back and forth with. I like their tweets, they like mine. Commonality happens. Plus, you can't get your feelings hurt of if some of your tweets wind up in the twitter abyss. Not everyone checks their replies regularly and stuff can wiz right by folks very easily. No biggie. Keep tweeting.

The really sorry part is I have a few ideas that I'd like to get some opinions on but don't know who can be trusted. The WF is a great forum, but you have to be careful of what you put in the public eye since you never know who's reading it.

Well, certainly that's true. BUT...

At the same time, an idea unexpressed is absolutely worthless to you or anyone else. This is the single most debilitating problem that new inventors face. Great idea that no one will ever hear about due to paralyzing fear of it being stolen.

Maybe I won't throw twitter to the wolves just yet...

That's the spirit! Just get in there and join the conversation.

Brian

[John Hocking]

Twitter is.....

1) A research tool.

Go to Twitter Search and type is something like seo and you will see the latest posts on that mention seo. You can watch what is being talked about and look for way to help (products etc).

You can ask questions and get feedback in near real time.

2) A community.

You can interact with others that post about topics you follow and start conversations. You will be surprised how many big name people will respond to your tweet more then an email or phone call.

3) A support tool.

You can search for people talking about your products and help them with issues. This shows people you care and can turn customers into advocates.


You can choose not be be involved in the social web but there is no denying that it is becoming an unstoppable force to be dealt with.

Facebook tried to slip in a change to it's TOS and it was discovered. Within 24 hours Twitter and Facebook users forced Facebook to change them back and work with the users in designing the new changes.

Tropicana orange juice tried to change it packaging and was forced to change it back by the demands of the social web.

I recommend you read two books.

Groundswell: Winning in a World Transformed by Social Technologies
by Charlene Li (Author), Josh Bernoff (Author)

Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time
by Joel Comm (Author)

They will help you understand the power and importance of being active in the social web.

[Andyhenry]

There's no rocket science here. They're just communication channels - you don't HAVE to use them. You're not missing the next big thing by focusing on what you already know how to do and leaving these things.

In reality they take time to use effectively and perhaps you're right and it's not the best use of your time.

It's as easy to make money with them as it is with any other communication mechanism - you just need to be focused on your outcome when you start.

Andy

[Jmn187]

Its really just about building back links and building relationships to advertise your site. Most of the traffic will not convert to sales. So if its not your thing don't worry about it. But it can be helpful if used wisely.

[Dave777]

Once Twitter starts evolving a little more in search and trends like Google trends the money making opportunities and possibilities will get better & better along with the interest in Twittering...
Twitter Begins Rolling Out Search and Trends - ReadWriteWeb

Dave

[JonathanBoettcher]

I totally agree. I hardly ever login to my Facebook account, or Twitter for that matter. I've setup an autotwit on my blog, so that new posts get posted there, but I've never really invested the time to make it work for me. I think that's the problem - those strategies can be useful but THEY REALLY TAKE TIME! and it's time that doesn't always pay off right away.

[Fabian Tan]

My take on social marketing is this: use it to build relationships and build lists.

When we go on to Twitter, Facebook etc we are not searching for information. We are looking to network.

We do not go on to Twitter looking for information on how to trade stocks. Desperate buyers don't go to Twitter or any other social networking site for that matter. They go to Google, article directories, the download free reports, they buy ebooks etc.

So social networking sites are not actually meant for marketing.

Fabian