It's All About Relationships

There is a good book I'm reading called "Socialnomics" by Erik Qualman. Here's a quote from the introduction: "...today, we are in the early stages of yet another far-reaching revolution. This revolution is being driven by people and enabled by social media."

We are starting to transform how we think about communications and marketing in the age of social media. Sometimes we can focus on the technology, and that would be, I think, a mistake. Ultimately, it is not about the technology, it is about people and relationships. What is happening today is that the barrriers to communication are rapidly being dismantled. In the old days, if you wanted to communicate with large numbers of people, your options were limited and expensive (direct mail, radio, tv, print ads, etc.). Today, anyone with access to the internet can set up a Facebook and YouTube page and communicate with the world (or, more importantly, some well-defined segment of the world). Now, it is not about how deep your pocketbooks are; it's all about the relevance and creativity of the message. In the old days, the gatekeepers controlled the conversation; today, not so much. Here at LCC, for example, students are using our Facebook page to talk with other students about issues and concerns here on campus. That presents, of course, some challenges. Not everything they say will be accurate or positive. Our choice is simple - be a part of the conversation, or not. We no longer decide if they will or will not have a conversation.

If we do this well, the payoff is huge - better communication and stronger relationships. Let's do it well.