Why social media is the oldest industry in the world
Its the end of a fantastic year but a chat with a few friends over the past few days have got me thinking.
I think we are being played, I didn’t mind it so much before but its become so bad lately that its gone beyond a joke.
This is not about brands its about people that are so transparent in their motives that they will wipe this out for the well intentioned.
So a couple of points
1. There is no social media
2. There is no social media
3. There is no social media
Drawing “borrowed” from Hugh
One of the experts in the field that shall now be known as “the oldest industry in the world” is buddy and real good guy Chris Brogan, Chris tells us about 8 marketing bloggers to watch in 2009, now my first rule is normally to check rankings, Alexa tells me that this blog (started in April) ranks almost the same as Chris one and beats the ass off nearly all of the folks on this list of “watchers” in 2009.
So this guy who hasn’t a clue whats he is doing (me) and blogs about telecoms, alcoholism, new stuff and god knows what else beats the “marketeers”.
Well that’s not very cool my marketeer friends, how could I possibly take advice from people who rank less than me but tell me how to get more hits, traffic, brand awareness.
I think 2009 will be the year where people will not spend $30,000 a month to end up with less online traffic than they begun the year with (email me if you want to know who), $20,000 a month to be advised how to open a Facebook fan page (its here if you need to know) $10,000 a month to get your bread brand on Bebo and $5000 a month to run your twitter app.
2009 will be there year of value, where people go back to selling stuff not dreams, its a new concept, you make stuff and you sell, it works I guarantee it.
Forget all your advisers, ask for advice, its free, lets try go back to that, its why I started blogging.
More
I leave you with another Beauty from Darren, “feeling overwhelmed by social media” no Darren, exactly the opposite
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22 comments...What do you think?
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- Crime of Social Passion » Marketing Productivity Blog » Blog Archive
- Le Christmas Eve Red Links 24/12/08 : Alexia Golez
Are we going to sell something in 2009….wow that’s a change
Great post. We both know that scam artists are everywhere…even in the so called ‘social media world’.
I still believe some guys are professionals and could give good guidelines to beginners.
Happy Holidays my friend.
Eventually.
A reality check.
Time to kick social media hype into touch me thinks. It stinks of dotcom dollars, when in reality social media is nothing new.
Nothing more than engaging, and building trust. The same values that business have been using since like. forever.
Good thoughts. It’s been hard to define the bullshit that fellow marketers have been peddling for vast fees. Take task, name shame! Off to think and decorate the house about that one… Happy Christmas ho ho hum.
Hey Pat, I know what you mean about ‘social media’ and I think one line in particular is one which could/should spark some serious discussion,
“This is not about brands its about people that are so transparent in their motives that they will wipe this out for the well intentioned.”
But I would question the validity of your argument about those marketing blogs. I haven’t looked at them, but you pick a single metric, their Alexa ranking. I think that’s a very narrow view to take when discussing any kind of online marketing strategy.
The metrics for the success of a blog which is attached to ones business can be wide and varied, and a good Alexa ranking may not be necessary for ‘success’.
Besides which Chris merely puts these blogs forward as ones he thinks we should be reading. Even if these blogs had zero traffic but were full of good material, doesn’t that still make them valid?
Apart from that I agree ‘There is no social media’, but your alternative title is somewhat long and may prove difficult to catch on…
Have a great Christmas!
“now my first rule is normally to check rankings, Alexa tells me that this blog (started in April) ranks almost the same as Chris one and beats the ass off nearly all of the folks on this list of “watchers” in 2009.”
So.. why would Alexa ratings dictate the value of a blog to me? That seems kind of crazy. That’s like saying that only the people using IE with the Alexa toolbar installed are who you want to have measure the value of social media at large. First and foremost, I think compete.com is a better tool.
Second, I still don’t care about the ranks. I built my list around people’s ideas that I liked. You can build yours around what you like.
I doubt you’ll ever see me telling you how to get “more hits, traffic, brand awareness.” You might find some stuff in older posts that alludes to that, but if you’ve stayed up with me, you won’t find that.
Are all the social media types figuring out everything? Hell no. Are they worthy of the slam based on who ranks higher in an imperfect traffic tool? Hardly.
Alexa doesn’t mean you’re smart. It just means more people using Alexa happened across your site.
Chris is one smart dude.
Listen and learn.
Remember, “the biggest room is the room for improvement”
And if you switch from Alexa to compete, the numbers don’t hold up:
http://siteanalytics.compete.com/chrisbrogan.com+patphelan.net/?metric=uv
So, which one’s right? Answer? I still don’t care. I’m talking about watching them as writers, not whether or not they have direct business impact on marketing.
Now, the real question, amigo, might be: how DO we measure? I like revenue as a conversion metric. You?
@Chris
revenue all the way for me Chris
Its in the last line
Merry Christmas Bud
Awesome post! I agree mostly, an although i’m far from really even being a beginner in the blog and social media world I believe if you’re intent is to shill and sell than you can be singled out.
Content is king and if i’m reading something great then anything that goes a long with that works and i don’t mind
I learned many years ago not to base much at all off of Alexa site rank, which is common knowledge in web developer and web marketing circles.
In fact if you search the archives of WebProWorld back around 2003/2004 Alexa was debunked as being any type of “authority” on traffic ranking.
I said it before; social media is a big group wank, period.
All the same people strewn over the same networks tellign each other the same stories and following the same hypes.
It’s all very incestuous on my opinion.
In the end it’s a good product for a good service that sells.
Remember, the majority of the worlds population is still NOT using/reading social media….
And yes, my spelling has gone to shit…
Statistical rankings may be a factor but the value of a person/site and their content isn’t always based on an Alexa ranking (of all things) but more so on the interaction and conversation that goes on within that blog and the respect that the person has created within the industry/community. Something you’ll be able to see when actually interacting on the blog.
Nonetheless – I see your point on revenue but comparing your site and DoshDosh.com, where Maki has built a great blog and following, through Alexa shows that you have a slightly higher ranking than him. Does that really tell the story?
I’ll take valuable content and conversation over an Alexa ranking any day.
Bullshit social media experts/ninjas/coaches/gurus or whatever you are having yourself are ruining the communications industry.
The truth is that spinning words to wrap fluffy concepts and bullshit sales methodologies is the highest form of protectionism. Making communications tools as hazy and arcane as possible works for these Ninjas, because it’s a high demo of misdirection and illusion. Without all this bull, they’d all be on the dole or pumping off other suckers. I wonder how many of these hacks were Millennium Eve experts/WAP marketing whizzes?
Shitterville is in the shitter. Not because of the community, but because of these leaches.
It’s the same old schtik isn’t it, distasteful but nothing new. When marketers find themselves outside a market they go and buy fixers who say they can hook them up, many style themselves as holding the keys to the doors.
Thing is, the “social media consultants” aren’t really in the market the marketers want in on mostly because that neat package called social media doesn’t exist, it’s the modern day vend diagram bull, just stroke your chin and throw in a few key words and your in. So you get these social media guru’s playing the same old trend setter/spotter game that, as Pat has said, is one of the oldest games in town.
Just look at the fashion industry as the most analogous to “social media”… Nobody devoid of mental defect wares 99% of that high fashion ego fart clobber. Plenty a group wankist riding on the bandwagon, mostly for the free coke and easy sex with wannabe models…
That begs the question, social media gurus, are they in it to bed wannabe rails coders?
Personally, I enjoy the work of good storytellers and when I find them sharing online, I listen to their work. And I don’t mind listening to a Ninja spin a good yarn. There are some good Ninjas who are prolific tweeple in Ireland and they score highly when graded through Twitter analytics. It’s really up to each of us to decide whose beautiful noise works best in amplifying our stories for a wider audience.
It’s all relevant to what you want, Pat. You mention that you want people to go back to giving free advice – after all, it’s why you started blogging.
I agree – and I think you’ll find that’s exactly what Chris and others in the list offer on their blogs and through other mediums.
I see a lot of people commenting here think social media is a waste of time, and hey, maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong – but it’s an opinion and we all have our own. Which is what makes marketing and any other “service-led” industry such a funky place to be – one man’s cheese is another man’s Baby Bel.
At the end of the day, if a blog encourages interaction (which yours does well) and it makes people think and ask questions of themselves, then that’s success, no? Regardless of Alexa ranking?
(Which, according to my Firefox toolbar, my blog has a higher rating but means absolutely diddly squat as we’re geared to different audiences).
Here’s to every successful blog – one reader or more.
Agreed. Total Langerfest. However, with 100K working people (out of 2m) in Ireland responsible for 87% of the nations exports (and that’s dead for 7 years) and negative growth predicted there’ll be SFA to sell and nothing to buy it with, so the usual twatters might as well continue the headwank on blogs…
“2009 will be there year of value, where people go back to selling stuff not dreams, its a new concept, you make stuff and you sell”
Back to basics and a good thing too!
Hi Pat. Interesting bit of balance here. I’ve plunged into blogging over the last year only, coming from the squarely opposite world of traditional advertising. I’ve been swamped with information, and it seems remarkably generously given, not just on blogs but sites like Slideshare, the TED debates and on and on.
A lot of it is conflicting, so it seems that the more I read, the more the common sense rule of making one’s own mind up ought to prevail. And with opinions of difference such as your own and Jim Novo’s I feel even more forced into that view. No bad thing, but on the whole I think the friendly wild west frontier feeling probably is dissipating for long termers like yourself.
For newbies like me, coming from a more cynical marketing push background, it still feels like new media, and it feels social. A woman from Briish Columbia and a man from Cork, neither of whom I know, very generously gave me the benefit of their learnings in the last week, neatly packaged too. Yep, it feels social to me. But I don’t doubt that when the corporation figures it out finally, that will face some erosion. I’d better stop. I feel an online version of Desiderata coming on…