Anyway, it’s no surprise that engaging your fellow human, when it comes to business, has taken a plethora of different turns in the last 10 years. So many, that most of us are never really quite sure where ‘it‘ is all at.

Think back to the 80′s…

Hardcore business guys riding the crest of the boom, much champagne, many lambourghinis and the sport of choice being hoovering of Columbia’s GDP. Things were banging in the ’80′s (apparently… I was still in school), but on a much less personal level. Advertising was big bucks because you needed to pay the price for premium real estate rental, be that billboards, TV or radio advertising.

Media was much more limited back them, so to get on it took some wedge.

We now live in the 21st century and things are a little bit different, anyone can have an online news column for free, or can go crazy and create their own online premium real estate starting at about $5-7 a month (given some time). Media is everywhere and not now just in the hands of the megacorps (although the Protect IP legislation may well change that). The problem we all now have, as no-one is looking at the billboards, is how to engage people when there is a lesser defined and obvious medium of choice?

As Gary Vaynerchuk points out, people aren’t looking at the billboards because they are all on their smartphones texting people or on mobile social media. The second problem you have when it comes to the new technosavvy oiks is that they are not taking anymore ‘push’ marketing, mainstream advertising media is fading, people fast forward the ads on their pre-recorded shows on their Tivo. How do you get them to see your message… that you just spent a small fortune on encasing in an audiovisual spectacle à la mode?

This is where I highly recommend Gary’s Inc 500 talk, he’s the Ambassador of tackling this point and gives you some great insight to where he believes it is all ‘going‘.

It appears that we all need to connect on a deeper level than just shouting out our message .

But we know that too…

Gary has a point when he identifies the ‘interesting place’ that Google is at when it comes to their algorythm. If Google is going more social, then surely the most social lion in the jungle wins no? He with the biggest network gets the traffic; The most popular guy in school gets the chicks?

I can’t get a straight SEO result without using an external plugin to keep my results ‘clean’ (here’s more on how to do it). If me or anyone in my network has ‘liked’ commented, subscribed, even blinked at a piece of content that contains the keyword that I’m trying to rank for, it’s coming up on page 1. Beware the Google +1 I reckon.

But now also begs the question, and something that Gary would tear me a new one over, is that I have quite a bit of automation going on, especially when it comes to Twitter. I am running a bit of a ‘pushfest’ admittedly, using TweetAdder. The thing here is though, no-one has ever been able to explain why having a load of Twitter followers has been of any use to anyone, but if Google are moving more into the social domain for SEO (presuming it hasn’t been dragged into the ‘Social Media Optimisation’ category) could having a gajillion Twitter followers improve your placements?… because 3 of them just liked your post, are also connected to Mary, whom has just done a Google search for your keyword? Ya see, I think that is quite possible, at least in the early transition (or until TweetAdder launches it’s IPO).

 I suppose I should really get back to the point of the article…

Is ‘touchy feely’ where you want to go with your online business? Truth is, as time goes on I think you are going to have less and less of a choice. Word of mouth marketing (WOMM) has always been the most effective means of getting a message out there, but it is hard to track and rely on. The internet is quickly becoming the home of WOMM. People are looking at what other people are doing, Facebook already puts ‘X amount of your friends like this‘ in the top right sidebar for product and fan pages. We are herd creatures, we like to ‘keep up with the jones”, we like to feel incuded.

If Mary’s herd like you, she is more likely to like you too.

Gary has it right, if everyone is going social how do you stand above the noise? As always, go over and above. Fix the problem that your customer or prospect needs fixed and be there with them, then they’ll stay with you for the long haul.

What excites me the most is that the further this moves along its course, the closer brands will need to work with their customers, just like business was done in the old days, but on a global scale. Push it even further and you’ll realise that every sale will be a Social Media Word of Mouth Affiliate Sale and we’ll all be entrepreneurs

Vive la Resistance

It was January 28th, 1986, when all eyes were glued to their TVs. It was the day of the space shuttle Challenger’s ascent into space. The media coverage was unsurpassed and public interest had peaked with this space mission. Why? A civilian named Christa McAuliffe was on that flight, a teacher from Concord, New Hampshire.

Well, I think we all know what happened after that. 73 seconds in, the Challenger space shuttle erupted into a ball of smoke, to the abject horror of the viewers in Cape Canaveral and the millions watching their TV sets.

What happened was that there was a failure in the Right Solid Rocket Booster (an O-Ring seal), which caused one of the external fuel tanks to disintegate.

Now, we all know that NASA has some of the smartest people in the world on their payroll. Yes, there was a screw-up, but obviously NASA understands the importance of Teachers, otherwise why would Christa be on that mission? Why would they have funded the ‘Teacher in Space’ Project the year earlier?

The whole affair was tragic, but we can extract a few points of wisdom from it -

1. If the smartest people in the world believe in teachers, so should we.
2. Components make systems, which make further systems. If there is a flaw in any of them, everything ceases to work.
3. As there was a flaw in one of the systems, it was rectified. The whole shuttle, and space travel itself, did not take the fall.

I would like to focus on the last 2 points and how they relate to you and your business…

Your business is a bunch of different systems. Websites, autoresponders, advertising, social networking sites, methodology, I could go on for a while. If any of these systems are functioning in anything short of perfection, your business will struggle.

How is it that when someone fails at Network Marketing, they blame the whole industry? They point the finger and say that it ‘does not work‘? Whereas, we both know their failure is more-than-likely due to a system (or lack thereof) failing. If you are not getting the results that you want, seek out the advice of someone who is.

I want to ask you something, a question that most Network Marketers can’t answer…

Do you have a system in place for how you are going to attract new people to what you have to offer? If you’re answer is, like most, No, then read on -

Here’s what I want you to do -

1. Go to this page – MLSP -  enter your details and implement the knowledge that you gain from the FREE webinar.
2. Clear out your schedule for 2 weeks and give the trial a test drive (you can cancel at anytime from right within your back office, no calling support or emailing anyone, just simply click a button)
3. Take massive action and never look back

Vive la Resistance!

Benny

But, me being me, has to get my two pence in.

Firstly, the 200% rise in yearly fees from £3,000 to £9,000 is an abhorrence, bearing in mind that in my day it was entirely free.

Secondly, I salute you for your courage to stand your ground and make yourselves heard. In the years past it has often been the students who have made the most noise, something that my generation were admittedly rather lax at and I thought the art may have been lost.

Personally, I don’t agree with damaging property, but you could counter with the addage of ‘what do you do when no-one is listening?’ Also, the guy that threw the (empty) fire extinguisher off the roof, that really was a really stupid thing to do, but you probably realise better now the possibilities of what could have happened to the people down below and luckily for you no-one was hurt. It could have been horrific and you’re an idiot! (Charlie Veitch caught it all on  camera from 13:40 onwards).

My question is, how relevant is university really to what you want to do? Is it imperative that you have a degree? The reason I say this is that from my experience for most cases it isn’t, you would really be better starting at the bottom in the industry and work you way up over the 3-4 years (obviously if you want to be a doctor, for instance, this plan won’t work). Graduates would then be entering the business at a lower level than you. Plus you have the opportunity to be debt free, your financial ‘zero’ point would be at the point of leaving school, for graduates it may take 10 years to get back to zero. Take a look at your future with fresh eyes guys.

Don’t get me wrong, I do understand that university is a riot (probably not the best word to use at present, but you know what I mean), and that you have the opportunity to meet some great people. But, by going there, to do a vague course in management, you’re putting yourself right on the back foot.

My main point to add here is that if you are reading this you have access to the greatest education tool known in the whole of mankind’s history… And it costs about a round of drinks a month. Use the internet, fill yourselves to the brim with all the information that YOU want to research. Stay off Facebook and go deep into whatever your passion is. You may not think there is a way to make money with it, but I bet if you look hard enough you will find one. Leave school, take your year out if you want one, then get a job in the industry that you think fits you the best and work up. Better still, look at monetising your passion and never get a job!

You guys are the brightest and most talented people, don’t get sold short with an impassioned degree, shackled with extreme debt from the onset. The world is changing and you guys need to be on it. I think we can all agree that having a job these days doesn’t offer the security it is supposed to, add that to a pile of debt?

Use the internet, stay out of debt as I fear it is going to get worse and worse over the years to stay afloat. If you look at how debt works and where we are at, there is no way of getting out of it. I’m talking on a National level here. All that the Government will do is increase ways of taxing you and me and there will be an increase in ways to commit offences for revenue collection. Fines for stuff will be everywhere (who am I kidding, they’re everywhere already!)

Take care guys and be safe.

Vive la Resistance!