Major media publications are writing about the impact of blogs, social networks, social media and all the related buzz words around all this "social stuff". Academia is now launching entire research divisions to study all this "social stuff" and its implications. Everyone seems hungry to learn.
What Are They Learning?
UMASS Dartmouth University conducted numerous studies centric to the social web and particularly blogs. Two studies of interest titled: Behind the Scenes in the Blogosphere: Advice from Established Bloggers and another study titled: The Hype Is Real shares perspectives and practices that point to the wave of user generated content and engagement that continues to create disruptive changes across all markets.
The author's state: "Blogs will make or break your business. They have the power to disseminate information and host global conversations on any topic. Every publication from Business Week, Forbes, and the Wall Street Journal to online white papers from Marqui (www.marqui.com/blog) warns businesses that blogging is not an optional endeavor. Those that don't will not survive. "
"With over 40 million conversations going on 24 hours a day, the question becomes how does a business enter and thrive in the blogosphere? The answer to this question is that smart businesses will seek guidance from the experts."
What Are Smart Businesses?
Previously we discussed "Why Do Business Blogs Fail?" And "Why Do Business Blogs Fail: Part 2?" In both these post and the results of the studies mentioned above there is a single smart theme which consistently tells the story and provides the pathway to all this "social stuff".
The single theme isn't really anything new just forgotten. The theme is that relationships create and influence your economy. Relationships with people whether they are labeled employees, customers, suppliers or entire markets. The common thread is relationships with people. People are tired of the marketing hype, the corporate speak, slogans and exhortations trying to motivate them to do something, anything and everything. People are tired of being treated as objects, wallets or targets for your offerings. Chasing people the old way is going to kill your business and marketing the old way is just pouring your money down the drain.
Business runs on economic gains. The gains come from having good relations first. Markets are conversations. Transactions within a market come from having conversations with those that relate to you. How can you relate to people if you don't understand what it takes to create and keep a relationship? The social web thrives because it is about people having conversations with people about anything, everything and about your business. The conversations fill the needs and enable people to get what they want.
Get it? What say you?