I got this photo taken of me and Carrie Marlow while walking into a social media session! Carrie Marlow just so happens to be a loyal Bulwark Pest Control customer in Las Vegas. She told me so as she was scanning my pubcon pass. I was totally excited.

I love meeting Bulwark customers. She went on to say that she loved our service. We chit chatted a bit about the service and life in Las Vegas. Ironically, I was missing my session on social media because I was being social!  But that’s the point of social media! Social media is a tool for connecting with people.

Social media is the new frontier for a lot of SEO guys. It’s hip. It’s trendy. It’s happening now. But what exactly is social media and what’s so great about social media?

What’s great about social media when used properly is that it allows individuals to connect on a more regular bases. Sometimes it allows a more personal touch to a business. A public voice. Someone you and I can identify with. Like @DerrickWheeler, a new friend of mine from Microsoft. Now Microsoft has a whole new face for me. A regular guy just like me that likes t-shirts and jeans. I actually have a better outlook on Microsoft having met and tweeted with Derrick.

Facebook, Twitter, and other websites that are driven on communicating publicly through the web. Facebook has your status, “what are you doing now?”. It follows your gaming like mafia and farmville. It’s an open page for all of your friends to comment on what your doing and keep up to date with you. It’s social. It’s “hey how are you doing” or “congrats on your promotion.” Twitter is much of the same except it’s open for anyone and everyone including google. It’s micro-blogging as you are limited to 140 characters. Twitter is about keeping it short and brief. For extreme users it like public text messaging. I’m at the store. I’m meeting @joeblow. I”m walking my dog.

But don’t miss the boat here. Most people don’t want to be bombarded with endless marketing tactics. Tweeting that you sell shoes every 5 minutes gets a little annoying. Connecting with people should be your goal in using these platforms. Letting them speak with you. Letting your loyal customers and/or employees see the direction the company is moving. C-O-N-N-E-C-T-I-N-G. Got it?

To sum it up what I learned was:

1-Social media is a tool.

2-It’s an extention of you and/or your business. Its not you or your business.

3-Don’t let it consume you or distract you from the big picture.

4-Don’t be a tweet, or another face, or a lemming. Be you. Be real. Be social. Hence the name “Social Media”.

Thanks for listening!

-Thos003

And hey be social now by adding your comments!