Earl Grey. The Black Hat SEO Read more of my garbage on the twitter thing http://twitter.com/syndk8

yeah, you’re a bit off on what a social media consultant does. of course, I’m a variant of the breed–I build online communities, using social media, so I’m not exactly a consultant.

SEO is still very much “in”. More now than ever, if you’re good at it…and I look forward to learning more about it from you.

Social media also has a value–SEO gets people to a site, and possibly to a shopping cart.

Social media is about connecting people to a brand in ways that benefit both parties. It’s NOT just time on FB or Twitter. Those are tools…mechanisms to reach where some of the people are–but more importantly, the people who are there have reach to other people.

What’s the value of social media? Well, it’s cheap advertising for one, More importantly, it’s *connection*. Rather than *just* sell stuff, which is a one-time proposition, social media allows both sides to connect with each other and form a lasting relationship.

Marketing is now becoming about relationships, not just one-time sales.

Just like teaching people how to be good at SEO is a skill set–the art of putting people together so they form healthy relationships is a skill set too.

Don’t confuse the tools with what they can build. A house is not a hammer or a saw, but you can build one with them. FB and Twitter are just tools, not the thing we’re trying to build.

Hope this helps you understand a bit more.

I still dont get it.

All i see is social media people talking to social media people and trying to get people to their blogs or facebook.

At some point someone has to spend some money so someone can get paid.

What exactly am i missing here?

I still dont see where people are making money from actually selling something other than how to do social media.

I spoke to one person who seemed like they were full of shit and told me they made a load of money but had no way to back it up.
It just happend he sold a product that spammed twitter and it currently trying to ditch it.

I see lots of needy people trying to get more followers on facebook and twitter in the hope that they will chatter to them on a wall or reply direct on twitter.

And then i see lots of needy people begging others to go and read their blog.

Seems to me that it is just FFA Ads from 1990 under the name of social media.

Also seems that facebook, twitter and other fuckwit ways to waste time will cause a lot of people to chase round in the hope they will make a fortune or get a big name WITHOUT A POOL OF USERS COMING FROM THE OUTSIDE TO BUY.

Yes i sell tools in syndk8 but thats a tiny piece of my income.

The real money i make comes from a search on google from an end user.
They earn money at work in offline jobs and then bring it to the web.

Is twitter like warrier forum where nobody actually gets an end user to buy a product from a google search but rather just sells something to a forum member?

Maybe i have been too long in the game and i am organic seo only which means i am not evolving but looking at the fuckwit generation spending most of their time on facebook and twitter or in email replying to fellow fuckwits i am going to do ok.

I will stick to organic seo thanks because someone has to fill the search engines with products for end users to buy.

Interesting blog post and discussion, Ive spent alot of time on social media and can say that the conversion rates are very low for me and the ban rates are very high but.

Mabye its my methods because I dont understand is how to sell stuff and use social sites for marketing with out being labeled a spammer.

I believe If done in volume enough, it will bring in the money. But isnt that true for conventional methods as well?

Im certianly not going to hire a Social Media Consultant unless he could actualy prove to me it would be worth it.

I feel the best position to make profit “in the social media game” is to be the owner of a popular social media website not just a user spamming links and begging people to add you lol..

For me at least I feel instead of spending my time making profiles and getting friends it would be better to make my own social media website.

Social Media is wayyy overblown for many people. I agree with Mark, he’s all about the relationship management aspect that comes with this. I’ve got a couple of standard examples that I think would help you understand what Social Media Marketing can do for people that I use quite often. First, though- I think it makes sense to establish why this new form of relationship management between company and consumer (or other company) is making sense.

Today’s consumer is all about direct access, feeling catered to, and being able to maintain communication with many different people all at once. They expect companies to be socially responsible, very transparent, and create a brand that they can align themselves with.

So, a guy goes onto a forum where they’re discussing gas prices- a novel concept, right? -and posts about a Shell gas station where consistently the price is 10 cents a gallon higher than the 3 neighboring stations. It’s one of those 4-way intersections with a gas station on each corner, and he’s just ticked about it. “How can these guys justify consistently being a higher price,” so on and so forth.

A Shell Gas representative comes on to the forum, clearly identifies himself as a Shell rep, and then asks the guy for the address of the station. He cites the fact that a situation like this is in violation of their franchising policy, and wants to correct it. They take the conversation into an e-mail to exchange identifying information.

Literally the next day, the guy with the original complaint comes back to the forum, and happily reports that the price at the Shell station is now a penny lower than its neighbors! He’s so thrilled that he managed to help Shell manage their size and regulate itself, and declares their proactivity in seeking him out as “excellent customer service.” So much so, that he says he’d be more likely to pick a Shell gas station over others on his next trip.

The bonus to this is that not only is a relationship established here where an evangelist to the Shell brand has been created, but now this conversation lives on into the eternity of the internet. If people search for Shell gas, this conversation might turn up. The conversation itself becomes a touch point that is part of the Shell online presence, and ultimately their brand.

Now, If my client had paid me to go out and proactively perform these kinds of (honest and authentic) engagements, I’d try to even kick back some kind of ROI report to them, citing the cost it would take to specifically advertise on this cite for a certain space, then equate that to the space our conversation was in, summing to a dollar figure.
Now I’m just getting verbose. I hope this helped.

Feel free to e-mail me or follow me on Twitter http://twitter.com/jwpalmer
..you know, just in case you want to talk more!

Does anyone else have any experience with this?