Three gems that could make a difference in your business

If you missed Tod Maffin’s entertaining presentation or happened to be multi-tasking while you were there, here are three gems from the presentation that I think will make a tangible difference to your business.

1. Traditional versus Participatory Marketing
Tod used the analogy that traditional marketing is like being the lead bird in a flock. You send out targeted ads and the customers will follow. Participatory marketing on the other hand is where you are in the swarm and lead by becoming the go-to “bee” in the swarm.

What does this mean?

In a sense, nothing has changed. The objectives of marketing are the same. You want to be known as a trusted source for the buying and selling of real estate property (as an example).

But to build trust in the social media world, you have to deliver content, invite questions and comments, answer questions, and did I mention deliver good content? It’s nothing but work but it is doable once you’ve build a system to create that content.

2. Facebook, YouTube, Craig’s List are additional marketing channels… nothing more
The hype told us that social media would solve all of our marketing problems. Thank goodness we’re over the honeymoon and realize that it’s just another channel that needs the same marketing discipline we’ve come to know and love.

However, with 14 million Canadians on Facebook and many more millions of users on YouTube, you don’t want to ignore social media either!

Consider that many first-time home buyers are from the Net Generation, the generation of kids that never knew life without the internet. For the N-gen, interacting and building relationships online is normal! I’m still stuck with the antiquated attitude that I can only make friends face-to-face before being friends online.

So if you want to reach the N-gen, you may want to develop your “N” channel.

3. Multi-Tasking is Bad for Your Brain

Apparently talking on the phone while doing email actually damages the memory centre of the brain. Add driving to it and you’ve easily upped the hazard levels to your life!

Neurological damage aside, technology has created enough diversions to drive anyone to attention deficit disorder. *Bing* goes your email. *Pop* goes the calendar notification, and *Buzz* goes your phone.

The way I see it is the part of your brain that allows you to sit down, focus and do careful and creative work is a muscle that has to be exercised. If you are constantly feeling distracted or unable to focus, it’s not because you aren’t capable of it. It’s because you haven’t trained it!

Hope these gems give you some practical ideas to work with. Remember that you too can participate now by doing one of the following:

1. Share this post with your Facebook friends by clicking Share This
2. Post a comment below about gems you got
3. Post a question about social media you’d like answered.

All the best for your business ventures.

Chris Hsiung
U Venture
http://uventure.net

P.S. – Want to know the five mistakes realtors do in social media? Get my notes to the first half of Tod Maffin’s seminar from my blog post here.