Social Networking 101

Oops! Six months since my last post. That's not good. But that's what I have always said is the problem with blogs. People start off strong and with honorable intentions but then life gets in the way.

It's just like the things that you tell yourself you are going to accomplish the next business day, come hell or high water, and they get swept out to sea by the unforeseeable phone call that in polite society is best described as one of those "Oh Compost" moments. Said another way: "Compost Happens." (You get my drift.)

So tomorrow -- October 21st -- I will be speaking to an organization of small business owners, mostly women entrepreneurs, about Social Networking 101. I worked pretty hard on my presentation because just as when I was teaching at Fordham University, earlier this year, preparing this presentation was a work in progress. Even though I was invited a few months ago to do this gig, I didn't really start writing and researching the topic until a couple of weeks ago. That still seemed like plenty of time, especially for someone like me who works best under pressure. Mind you, I seriously gave it a lot of thought, read and clipped a lot of articles, and visited a lot of Web sites.

But what happened, which is so often the case with me when I start doing research, is that I got carried away with collecting the information. I get so turned on and intrigued by the subject matter that I often struggle in determining where to cut off the research and sit down and do the hard part: writing it and, even harder, editing. As a result, I have enough material for a day-long seminar, much less a half-hour presentation.

So here's the message that I am delivering to the National Minority Business Council in a nutshell: Social Networking is still very much a work in progress. Like so many other technologies, what's hot today may be passe a year from now. Or it will be acquired by its competition and quickly put out of business. I liken it to the dot.com era of the late 1990s. By 2000, how many of these multi-million dollar companies, on paper, had gone bust? They got a lot of investor money because they were successful at selling the sizzle. But eventually, it became apparent that there was little or no steak.

I say: Explore your options. Figure what's going to work for you. If you're enamored by Twitter and if you're using it as a business application, make sure that you can develop a sustainable thread that your target audience will care about and want to follow. Otherwise, I can't imagine why many people would really care what color shoes you're wearing today, what you had for lunch, weather or not you have a hangover, or if you just had another fight with your significant other. Yet millions of people post this...compost...every day and sometimes several times a day.

If you are a blogger, blog more regularly than every six months. (Note to self: Practice what you preach! Next on the docket: 52-weeks of publicity results.) If you're into Facebook or MySpace, think twice about: 1) The pictures you want to post; 2) The personal information that you want to share and, 3) Who you "friend." You just may not want to "friend" your best friend if part of his or her charm is that he or she is the life of the party and never passes up a free beer. (But do you want your boss or clients or prospects to know this much information about your personal life?)

And while I haven't tried my hand at YouTube, I think it's got some terrific marketing applications and I would not discourage my clients from using the tool. A lot depends on how far out onto the silver screen limb you want to venture.

If you would like a copy of my presentation, please send me an e-mail (robs@robseitz.com) or give me a call (914-393-6144).

Oh, and if you happen to be reading this before my early curtain, please wish me well!