I have to come clean. I don’t know about you all but in my opinion if you blog, you are a social networker. Dawud Miracle’s post on social networking also got me thinking about this popular tendency to promote the art of Conversation. Social networking and conversation go hand in hand. Does that make sense to you?
I read a lot of posts talking about joining and promoting conversations and also how important conversations are to relationships. But I seem to have trouble finding out what the conversation is about because people are having a conversation about having conversations. To be perfectly honest here, there have been numerous times when I want to ask the question…What?
I know I am being a little “tongue-in-cheek” here but if I get confused then there must be thousands of others. Here is my analogy and how I understand the issue of Conversations and Social Networking as it relates to the blogosphere.
I belong to a chamber of commerce and go to the mixers. This is an activity that combines social interaction with business just like blogging does. Local chamber mixers are about business people social networking and blogging is about people social networking with business as the underlying interest.
I think places like My Space and Twitter should not be compared (if they have been) to social networking in regards to business. My daughter uses My Space to keep in touch with a lot of people and family members. These sites are for fun, a little diversion and much like an old fashion telephone party line.
This may sound simplistic to many of you but this is how I have been able to understand what people mean when they start talking about conversations and social networking. I was afraid I was doing this blogging thing all wrong because I didn’t know what the subject of the conversation was about. I would search for hours trying to find something to relate to and when I did, I posted faster than you could snap your fingers while twiddling your thumbs.
In my next post I would like to expand on the analogy between chamber of commerce mixers and blogging.
Write it down,
Carma
Hello Carma. What a great blog entry. I thought it was just me that didn't get the "conversations."
ReplyDeleteLove your tag line, "write it down."
You're a great writer!
Linda Della Donna
Linda, no it is not just you. Now there are at least 2 of us. :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for your kind compliment.
I know the feeling...it seems like so much is about marketing that we fail to see content. Thanks for reminding us about the way to network on-line.
ReplyDeleteHi Kate, marketing is hard work. The questions that need to be asked more often to our audience is "What do you want to know?" and "How would you like it delivered?"
ReplyDeleteHi Carma,
ReplyDeleteWithin business, it's necessary to have a conversation about having conversation because so few business owners really know how to do it. My clients hire me to learn how to use the internet to connect with their target audience. While I can help them with their marketing message or defining their niche, most often, I'm helping them grow conversations with their target audience that lead to business relationships. And when they get it, a whole new world of marketing opens up for them.
Business is about conversation. When someone contacts you interested in your business, you begin a conversation which will lead to some sort of relationship. So why not begin that conversation with as many people as possible using all the tool available on the web?
Which brings me to social networking...
Social networking sites like Twitter, Facebook and Pownce not only serve the needs of business, I'm finding them to be an integral part of marketing business. It's just that the type of marketing isn't traditional. It's conversational and relational.
I agree with you that sites like MySpace and Twitter are where young people are staying in touch socially. AND, it's also where business is being done. Please don't take my word for it. Rather, listen to this interview that Jason Calacanis had with Loren Feldman of 1938Media and Robert Scoble of, well, Scoble-fame. Scoble talks about how he's using Facebook as a central location for all his business contacts now. Listen to the whole thing...it's eye opening.
Thanks for the link love and for bringing up this interesting conversation.
Hi Dawud,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the education. I am a traditional kind of gal and that is why I was not really understanding this whole new concept (at least to me)about conversations.
I totally agree that business is about conversaton but I was getting the impression that everyone was having conversations about everything BUT business.
That's fine but since most of us are in some kind of business I wondered why it wasn't the focus of the conversation.
I really want to thank you so much for making this more clear to me. I will certainly investigate other sites to find out how I can learn from them.
:)
I certainly understand. And that's why I thought listening to the Calacanis interview with Scoble was so valuable. Jason and Loren both pick apart the idea of using Facebook for business. Yet Scoble gives them a great bit of information about how he successfully use it himself.
ReplyDeleteYou will find lots of conversation in any of these services - most specifically MySpace - to be of a non-business nature. And, with some services like Facebook, that's changing.
Carma, you're always welcome to contact me about anything that you think I might be able to help with.
I'm just happy your 'out there.'
Just in this short time between understanding how conversations are connected to business over the internet and how to use places like MySpace to expand business, I have broadend my knowledge substantially.
ReplyDeleteI know you are just a click away.
Hey, Carma,
ReplyDeleteI think you're seeing how MySpace.com can be a great professional networking tool.
As far as conversations go. Talking is just part of literacy. The other two parts are reading and writing, so I'm all for conversations.
Suzanne
The Working Writer's Coach
http://www.workingwriterscoach.com
MySpace can be a boost to a person's business just by the exposure people get when collecting friends.
ReplyDeleteConversation and literacy are part of the art of discourse.