It is scary to realize the the high school kids graduating and going to college this year were in first grade when google first arrived as an incorporated entity.   And for perspective purposes the kids that were in first grade when "Internet Explorer" came onto the scene will be graduating college next year.

These are kids that don't need how to use technology classes that some of us older folks need, they understand it, and expect it.  

This demographic soon will be out of school, and will be in line to become your client.   

This is why it is important to embrace the internet into your marketing mix, and grow your online presence.  Obviously there will never be 100% adoption to technology, but it will growing for some time to come.  These new consumers will be buying houses, cars, services and everything in between.  Where do you think they are going to look first when they need something?

You do realize that if you are not already setup that people that are looking for you online now cannot find you?

Are your systems in place to capture these people, or is your competitor going to beat you to it?

Coming from a small business myself, I know the pains of traditional marketing.  It seems that I was doing a major marketing push using the wrong vehicles.  I wish someone would have stopped me before I got in over my head.  Looking back now I realize the niche luxury item I was selling had no business in a "luxury living magazine", or a "country club magazine", or did it?

I became an expert  in,  "what doesn't work".  The thing that I find the most amusing about this situation is that I realized most of the people selling marketing opportunities like community mailers, postcards, TV, Radio, magazine, yellow pages, etc. aren't at all interested in if you get calls and sales from their ad.  They need to sell that ad to eat.  When my traditional ads weren't working I heard a lot of ingenious comebacks for why I didn't get any qualified calls.

"you only ran your ad for 6 months you should have ran it longer".   -  At $1750 per issue

"you should have got the full page ad like I recommended".    -   At an extra $2000

"We have no control over your sales ability".  -  This one was my favorite.

Another favorite one is the example of the one advertiser that did $100,000 in sales off of the last mailing.  They all have that same story.

I heard the same comments  from several sources.  Do they all go to the same class to learn how take the attention away from their ineffective products?  

Call me biased yes, but I've got close to $50,000 or more in a 2 year period that I either lost money, or barely broke even on my ads.  It seemed like I was running around working very hard  just to pay ads. Don't think for a second that my first question wasn't, "how did you find us?"  

Maybe the ads that we ran weren't very good, and that's why they failed? (created in union with the advertisers).

I have a lot of contacts in my industry, and I hear a lot of the same, break even, no sales, no calls, tire kickers, MORE ADVERTISERS CALLING TO SELL YOU MORE ADS!   Maybe everyone that I know can't create good sales copy?

The point of my ranting is to explain this.  This blog, website, company Fertilemarketing.com does not appreciate hard selling traditional advertising salesman.  It is kind of ironic being a marketing company, yes but very, very different.  You see we are not selling ads, we are selling time, and information. 

Don't think for a second that these blood sucking ad sellers are not going to be trying to cram "internet based traditional marketing" down our throats.   I heard of a company that sells text messaging by the thousand.  You collect and provide your customer's numbers, and they will send out X texts for Y dollars.  Great deal don't you think?  How about sending out 1 twitter message to your followers?  Or 1 post to your fan page?  Or update your blog?  Or send out a press release?

Our goal is to provide the knowledge and guidance to help you understand this new media for your small business.  That way when the blood suckers come you will be educated or already doing what it is that they are selling so you can invest your hard earned dollars smarter.

We will strive to uncover the latest and greatest techniques being used, and pass them on to you, via this blog, our Twitter feed, and our learning center.

You haven't hear the last of this very touchy subject.

  Computers Are Taking Over The World!

 Looking at my Facebook live feed today I see that my father, a few cousins, and a few other people have become fans of the Official Avatar Movie.  

If you are unfamiliar with Facebook, (I would suggest signing up, I've had more contact with friends and family than in the past 2 years without it. ) they show you when a friend becomes a fan of a page.  Then I am seeing my trusted friends and family praise the Avatar movie, "awesome",  "you have to see it at IMAX", "best movie I've ever seen", etc.  

I already wanted to see the movie, but now with these recommendations I decide to visit the fan page.  On the Official Avatar Movie fan page I am seeing thousands and thousands of likes, and comments.  Well being more curious I looked at the comments and found more of the same, "masterpiece!", "touching ending",  more "best movie I've ever seen".  

Now I can tell you my money is burning a hole in my pocket to go see this movie, and the next free night we have we are going to see it.  Now would I have watched this movie anyway?  Yes.  Would I have rushed out to see it as soon as possible?  Probably not, maybe would have rented it.  

Think about this.   You think about the power that Google has on the internet.  They are like a monopoly.  They are a giant, and unstoppable.  Or are they?   How powerful is Facebook to be able to take these  recommendations right into my life?  And they didn't even email me, or popup me, or banner ad me, or adword me.  I saw something that interested me, and followed it down the rabbit hole to the fan page.  I went there willing, not because I was shouted at to go.  My friends didn't specifically tell me to go to the page.  I went there willing.

I am thankful for Google, and they really have changed the internet, but do you really expect them to rule forever?  Doubtful.   Sure they will refine their analytics, and find you relevant content for your search, but that is not nearly the same as the word of mouth you get with social media.

 That is right.  Everything is left to blowing in the wind when it comes to social media.  It works both ways, if you have a quality products and services it will be known.  If you have poor products and services it will probably be known even more.

One of the biggest benefits to the consumer using social media moving forward is that businesses are going to be held more accountable for their actions.

Just think about that fussy customer that you want to argue with about something petty.  Is that the guy or gal that is going to go home and post a review online.  Or for that matter in the parking lot of your business!  What if they added a video to it!!?  And a couple of pictures?

The web and social media are a force to be reckoned with.  Just ask Tiger Woods!  I think he is the greatest golfer of all time.  He had more major accomplishments before he was 30 than most people will see in a lifetime.  You would expect to find stuff about Tiger's accomplishments and golf when searching Google right?

Take a look at this article, it explains a lot.  Search on Tiger Woods on Google less than 3 weeks after his "accident". .  When you put in a search term into the search box Google will give you a list of the most popular searches on your given search.  As of today it still mentions nothing of golf and positive accomplishments, and everything about what he doesn't want you to see.

Moral of the story...   Focus on offering your clients quality products and services and your social media and online presence should be a positive one.