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Seth Godin Speaks Frankly on Social Networking and Business

Social

Social Networking has been around for, well, since people have existed.  What’s new is the technology enabled social networking, as seen in recent years online.  Many strategies and techniques have been used in social media in an effort to move commerce along for big and small businesses alike.  They way people interact with others really hasn’t changed however.  This ties into my takeaways from this segment of video from Seth Godin.  What say you?

Seth Godin Speaks Frankly on Social Networking and Business

My Thoughts On Seth Godin’s Comments

I’ve given some thought to what he said in the video, and wanted to share some of them, and also invite you to respond as well.

  • Software does not promote real relationships (although it can promote perception)
  • The Internet has allowed the propagation of fake relationships, and these offer no value to businesses.
  • You only get out of the relationships what you put it.
  • If your networking is only asking for the sale, it won’t bear fruit, you need to consider investing in the relationship for some time down the road, when you’ve earned the right to ask for something.
  • Social networking is only a component of an online marketing strategy.
  • Relationships take time to build, and are to be invested in.
  • Social networking isn’t new, social sites are.  Social sites are tools, nothing more.

With the increasing prominence of Google (and other) profiles, and the advancements in social search, the importance of real relationships will continue to grow.  Therefore it is important to have a social funnel to engage people further via email (see rings of intimacy graphic), that you might add more value, and build a relationship with subscribers.

Enough from me, what say you? Chime in using the comment boxes below.

social media strategies, Social Networking for Business

About Travis Campbell

Husband. Dad. Marketing automator. Author. Educating and coaching others in their online business endeavors. Here's his Google profile.

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  • http://twitter.com/iamchrislang Chris Lang

    This is easy for someone who has millions of followers who see Seth Godin as a god of marketing as do I. However, he has no idea what he is talking about here.

    I have built my contact list and my newsletter list from social sites. Heck, for that matter my social following IS my subscriber list. Sharing on my Facebook profile, Tweets, AND my groups on FB allow me to email a link to that list. No different than email opt in newsletters, it just not convert quite as well.

    So Seth, are your email subscribers your friends? Would they let you come stay on their couch if you were in town for a few days? Of COURSE they would, you are Seth Godin.

    What? You say you don't have an email list? Then why does FeedBurner send me an email every day with you latest blog post?

    One more example of the last wave of gurus that know absolutely nothing about social marketing because they have such a large following they don't need to understand it. They just spout misleading information like this.

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      “Seth Godin a God of Marketing, but not social marketing…” Is that essentially what you are saying here Chris? Part of what I'm suggesting in my takeaway is that, as in life, real relationships take time.

      Shaq doesn't have real relationships with 1.7 million people, but he does have a real following. Is Seth then in the celebrity camp, and therefore unqualified to comment on what makes social networking work for the common guy?

    • robyntaylor

      Chris is right. My view of it is that social netowrking sites are no different than the shopping mall. Any retail store owner will know that you need to be where the traffic is. A mall is a great place to find foot traffic and hope that you will attract people to your store. Once you have attracted them you have a chat and try to sell them something. No relationship required. Many store owners have lists of customers, many don't even bother taking your name, they just wave good bye as you say “no thanks”. Depth of realtionship is not required for retailing, and retailing is the main event experienced on social networking sites. You jsut need presence and a good product/marketing plan.

      • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

        Robyntaylor- Thanks for sharing your view, however I disagree. Relationship *is* required if you want to do commerce. This can be initiated many ways (logo, branding, email, handshake, phonecall, lunch, etc.). Trust is necessary for commerce, and trust occurs only in the context of relationship.

  • http://www.theebookcoach.com/ Ellen Violette

    The Internet is just another way to connect. The key is to turn “fake” relationships into real ones. Once someone is on your list, then the work of building that relationship begins. If someone just amasses names but doesn't work on building the relationships then yes, social networking won't work. If you work on it, it works. I think Seth was saying that.

  • http://www.movingfrommetowe.com KareAnderson

    In support of those notions, as in face-to-face relationships, if you give enough other people what they need (in the way, time and place they need it) you often get what you need (including a sale, referral, niche-building partner, advocate when you are maligned, etc.) sometimes even before you know you need it and sometimes from people you did not know could provide it.

    The difference in this Connected Age is that there is the possibility of being valuable for more and more kinds people so one can go into overwhelm or mass push mode rather than looking out for others and for that sweet spot of mutual benefit. Done right, that's the upside of social media

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      Well stated. I think where people get frustrated is correlating social media activities with revenue. If there is no vision stating that social media=measurable revenue, many don't do it, or go for automating (impersonal) the process. Looking to the benefits of social media to business, the culture of Zappos worked remarkably for their branding, and based on last weeks announcement (Amazon.com acquisition) seems to have paid handsomely.

  • http://robert.morrison.name PragueBob

    Yes, exactly why I block so many user accounts on Twitter Gotta be real! Quality over quantity, always. ( see my latest WebX.Oh! blog post about this: http://bit.ly/1hDIV )

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      This is a position that is hard to argue with. The question is, will businesses (revenue) survive the patience required to build a solid social media following? If businesses believe they do, they must have a strategy to back it up. Profitable social media strategy is still not main stream knowledge.

  • http://twitter.com/lyceum Martin Lindeskog

    Real social & business networking should be based on the trader principle. Seth Godin is welcome to attend my courses this autumn – winter! ;) http://bit.ly/bqSEJ

  • http://twitter.com/iamchrislang Chris Lang

    Again a number of things come to mind here Travis.

    If Twitter is not a mailing list then how come when Ashton Kutcher sent one Tweet last week with a URL in it the site got over 20,000 visitors in a day? Anyone with an almost 3 million Twitter member list could do the same as Kutcher.

    First, if you have never been front page on Digg, even once, don't offer Digg advice.

    Second, if you cannot sell products, I don't mean make thousands of friends, I mean sell products using social media, don't offer advice.

    Third, go look yourself in the mirror and ask yourself “How much money did I make from my contacts on Facebook and Twitter last month?”

    If you cannot answer the question with exact dollars and cents figures then you need to stop what you are doing and go back to Internet Marketing 101.

    f you cannot open an analytics program on your computer and tell me how much money you made from Facebook or any referring domain within 60 seconds you have no business here. That is the first thing you learn in 101 is to track how your traffic sources convert.

    Not to blow my own horn here Travis, but in 2008 I took KeyWebData.com from 5 visitors on January 1st to over 20,000 a month by September 3rd. I also sold almost $5,000 worth of product on Labor Day weekend, the worst retail month in the US.

    How? Because I treat social networks for what they are, just another mailing list.

    I have over 60,000 followers across 10 different social platforms, these people do not want to chat me up, they want to get updates to my leading edge free content on my blogs about (guess what?) Google Friend Connect and social marketing.

    If they wanted me to come sleep on their couch in New Zealand they would ask me to.

    My social followers simply want to consume my content and advice thru social media, rather than an email Inbox. Just like I divide my business email from my social Inbox, so do your followers on Social networks.

    What we have is too many Chiefs in Social Marketing and not enough Indians. Sales is the proof in the pudding. If you are not selling thru social media then why are you giving others advice on how to do it or saying it does not work Seth Godin?

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      You make some excellent points here. In fact, I agree with your sentiments on many fronts. The reality is many of those who buy products are new to internet or online marketing, and are sold 'the dream' no a business, or the awareness of what is involved to really make it work. Time passes and the course they bought is soon covered in a layer of dust. I have had my share of dust covered courses (in the sense of applying the information presented in a given course). Time will tell who the real leaders are, and I think we already have strong indicators.

      What you are proposing is an actual business. Good for you. Thanks for chiming in. Others wanting a long-term model are wise to consider this (and run from anything teaching otherwise).

  • ian farmer

    Good points, you only get out what you put in and as the old addage goes – garbage in, garbage out. There is work in netWORKing (see http://tinyurl.com/db7cj4) on line or face to face.

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      thanks for stopping by and chiming in Ian. We can't repeat this addage enough! :-)

  • http://twitter.com/rocquebowen Rocque Bowen

    I watched the video, and I have read some of the comments. From the people who I like to follow and have learned a lot about the internet from I see a common thread. They are active. Their websites or blogs are active. They share a lot of knowledge that is not always connected to a price tag. However if you do buy their products they go beyond the average company in their follow up and service.

    This is my first time visiting this site and I got here because I follow a lot of blogs where I find useful information. I have a list of people who I would like to be like. Visiting their blogs is like a brainstorming session because of all the quality comments. This is where I learn about the people who I want to get to know better.

    Building relationships takes time, and when you think of that, also think about whether or not you would want your friend to only contact you to extract money from you with one offer after another.

    Friends do not sell friend junk! Well, lets hope not.

    So many people expect that the internet is this untapped money machine. You spend a little and you make way way more in a matter of days or months. I have yet to see that happen for anyone. No matter how many claims there are in sales letters and sales pages that say this, I believe that you have to separate the imitations from the real thing when it comes to finding people who really care about you when they send out that sales letter.

    I wish all the new people on the internet success, and that they realize fast that there are a lot of false hopes and fast talkers around and all that glitters is not gold.

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      “all that glitters is not gold.” *So* true. Having been on both sides, it is just as important that we thing about how to apply what we learn to our own internet business, and move on from things that don't add value.

  • marksysomos

    Godin makes some really good points in highlighting the difference between “real” and digital social networks. That said, one thing I've found with social networks is how digital connections can often lead to real-life connections because they encourage people to share information and get to know more about each other.

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      Mark- It goes back to the challenge, going forward with a strategy that is worth pursuing, and making sure the payoff is worth the wait, and doing it wall 'without expecting anything in return'. The lynch pin = adding value.

  • http://www.TheFranchiseKing.com franpro

    Travis,

    Seth Godin seems to have a nice grasp of marketing.

    But…if he is serious about “connecting,” there is an amazing tool for that. It is called commenting.

    No one can comment on his blog posts, over at his blog.

    That does not reek of being social, now does it.

    The Franchise King
    Joel Libava

    • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

      To your point Joel, last I checked Seth does not have an active Twitter account either. http://twitter.com/sethgodin

      • http://www.TheFranchiseKing.com franpro

        Interesting…

  • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

    To your point Joel, last I checked Seth does not have an active Twitter account either. http://twitter.com/sethgodin

  • http://www.MarketingProfessor.com Travis Campbell

    Robyntaylor- Thanks for sharing your view, however I disagree. Relationship *is* required if you want to do commerce. This can be initiated many ways (logo, branding, email, handshake, phonecall, lunch, etc.). Trust is necessary for commerce, and trust occurs only in the context of relationship.

  • http://www.TheFranchiseKingBlog.com The Franchise King

    Interesting…

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