The whole idea of using social media in politics goes back to when Barack Obama raised 6.5 million for his campaign in small increments of amounts under $100, using Facebook, Twitter and other social media tools. They won the election and left the republicans with their jaws wide open.  Since then, the Republican National Party (RNP), has decided to take a strong look at itself and make some major changes. The most recent change is on their newly updated website www.gop.com. I think we should ask ourselves, are these new changes just a reaction or are is the party really sincere.

The most important thing to remember when using social media is that you must be very transparent. People will see right through any scheme or attempt in trying to win over a certain population. The Democrats have made a tremendous impact on the young people and the minority communities during the recent election.  Now the republicans are trying to realign their thinking and copy what the Democrats have done to be successful. Are they making progress or making fools of themselves. John Stewart thinks the latter. On the Daily Show on October 15, he implied that the website was condescending to both the African American and young people. Jackie Robinson is featured on the site as a great republican; how do you feel about this nomination. Is it real or just an attempt to win over a group of undecided Americans?

The site has a lot of content; I don’t see too many comments on the blogs though. I do see the big donate button on the top and many articles that gives the Republican Party a lot of pats on the back.

I think that the RNP needs to show more concern to their readers and focus on them first. It will win them over with a lot more sincerity than making self-centered attempts at breaking into social media to win over certain groups of the American people.

Please leave your comments on how you feel about this article.

A tsunami is caused by an earthquake deep in the ocean. The earthquake shifts the ocean bed and travels through the water creating a ripple effect. These ripples expand and move outward to an excess of 500 mph, faster than a commercial jet. There are signs on the shore lines that can alert us to an approaching tsunami. The first sign would be the vibration of the ground from the earthquake. This would be the furthest event before the tsunami reaches the shore. The second sign will show the water receding rapidly out toward the ocean or possibly darkening. This is caused by turbulent from the approaching wave. The third sign is on the crest of the horizon you can see a mix of white waves. At this point you should turn and run.

You are probably asking yourself what this has to do with social media. Social media is the major tsunami that will hit the business world with a power and speed unknown to man. But there are signs.

The first news paper was created in1658. It has grown and been part of all of our lives over these many years. Radio came along and enhanced the content of the newspaper in 1864, followed by the telephone in 1876. With the advent of the television the people have all the media available at their finger tips. All that was left was to combine the radio, news paper and telephone, it is called the TV. The TV entered the world of media in 1923. All of these communication medias took years to become part of our lives. It was very costly and not available for the masses. With patients, time and money, we wove these medias into our entertainment, business advertising and education.

In November 2008 there was a great quake deep in the underbelly of the internet that rocked the business world when Barack Obama raised 6.5 million dollars using social media.  The World Wide Web, as we know it, had a slow start.  It was slow, expensive and took time to develop into our business and social world. It looked a lot like a newspaper and a radio. In the last few years the speed and usage of the internet has increased dramatically and have reduced cost to the minimal. Interactivity has spawned the use of social media to our young and has become a part of everyday life. Still today there are a few businesses that are unsure what all the signs mean. Out in the far part of the ocean is a ripple that is growing and moving toward our shore line. It comes in the form of instant messages, community websites and blogs. You can feel the vibration and see the effects of how it is consuming our present media.

As of August of 2009, Readers Digest is planning to file chapter 11. News papers all over the country are barely keeping their heads above water. Radio stations are moving to the internet and not broadcasting over the air. Companies such as Direct TV, Comcast and AT&T are fighting for position while Hulu.com is growing by leaps and bounds.

Where is your business going. Are you still doing business as usual and not adjusting to the changes. I hear a lot of people are afraid of the internet and want nothing to do with it. People don’t seem to have the time to invest and develop a social media platform. The time to prepare is now. The waves are cresting over the horizon. If you are not ready for the major tsunami called social media…..

If you have any questions about social media for your business or just want to comment please do.

Social Media Inventory

I can remember my early days in the Marine Corps, during infantry training at Paris Island, S.C. The trainers taught us to always take an inventory after each encounter with the enemy. He called it the “beans, band-aids and bullets” (B3). As a team leader, it was vital to know what assets you had before heading into the next scenario.  The beans represented the amount of food rations that were available, band-aids referenced the wounded and the Bullets were a count of our total ammo.

There is a similarity to B3 and how you inventory your social media assets before heading into the vast internet.  The first thing to do is make a list of your components.

1. Is your blog working and is it up to date.
2. Have you made an entry on your twitter account?
3. Did you create a few connections on your favorite community page i.e.: LinkedIn, Facebook.
4. What tools are you using to navigate your social media platform effectively i.e. TweetDeck
5. Do you need to add any other tools like LiveStream to increase your video presence?

Once you have taken this inventory, you now have a stronger idea of what areas need your attention. Maybe it’s time to call in for more supplies and maybe add some reinforcements. In other words take out your calendar and check for events like networking that will help add people to your platform. Also check your RSS sites, such as GoogleReader to learn new Intel, or information to increase your knowledge base and make comments to those articles.

The most important thing to do in keeping a strong social media platform is to know that it is a journey that is changing at speeds unknown to man. If you were to take off for a year and try to pick it up again, it would be very different than when you started. So at least once a week take a B3 check and keep moving forward.

If you have any ideas that should be included in this article, please leave a comment.

I attended a recent network meeting and was intrigued by the questions the main speaker, Hazel Walker, Exec. Director of Business Network International (BNI) was asking.  She asked questions about assumptions we have regarding the effectiveness of word of mouth advertising. These questions came from a new book called Truth or Delusion by Dr. Ivan Misner.

The audience of business owners was asked a series of questions that can be answered with truth or delusion. The first question went like this. “If you provide a good customer service, your customers will give you good referrals.”  The answers were divided, and the correct one was “delusion”.  Wow, I thought this was the truth, but it turns out that we have to train our customers to give us referrals. The best way to train your customers is by example.

When you are out networking, the attitude you should have is how you can help other people. According to Dr. Misner you can even network at a funeral. “Here’s the key to it, you have to honor the event…if the idea is to help other people then in networking… its call the law of reciprocity”.

I definitely want to start reading this book. The website to further your own investigation on the subject is http://www.truthordelusion.com.

\”Truth or Delusion

Ever since I have dove into the deep surf of social media, I have been asked if I think that people are becoming more detached from society and drawn to the computer to socialize and create activities with their friends. I believe that social media gives us a very wide area to receive up to the minute information on friends and family, but does not replace the face to face benefits of having live friends.

I know some people who spend a lot of time on computers, playing games and interacting with other gamers. These types of people usually don’t have much of a social life outside of the computer anyway. People who have asperger autism, for example, normally do not socialize well. They have a high level of intelligence, so computer interactive games and distant friends on the social network are more appealing to them.

Young teens seem to be drawn to social media network programs such as MySpace and Facebook. It allows them to share pictures, videos and communicate to all of their friends all at once. One thing I liked about MySpace was that you will always have at least one friend “Tom”. Facebook is becoming the most popular of the network websites. It has over 200 million members and at least 100 million are online at a time according to WikiAnswers.com.  Recently my Aunt who is 81 years old has started using Facebook. It’s not just for kids anymore.

You can now find lost friend and relitives and keep in contact with them so much easier. Recently I have caught up with an old friend I haven’t seen for 20 years. Its great using the technology we have to make the world a smaller place.

The latest thing happening on the social media playing field is businesses are using it to communicate much more effectively with their customers and potential customers. They can entice conversations to improve their word of mouth advertising and create a stronger environment for communication.

Social media is not a substitute for face to face relationships; it’s a extension of it. If you haven’t tried to network on line, just start a MySpace account. It’s free, easy to learn and you’ll make a new friend, Tom.