: Social Media an important read

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> It all comes down to who you know.
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> Are you an entrepreneur or an employee? If you plan on being an > employee, you’re gonna have to know a lot of people and have a good > rep, or you won’t be able to get a job. >
> There’s a fascinating story in Thursday’s “New York Times” about > Eric Lefkofsky. >
> Who?
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> Turns out he’s worth $750 million. And he’s only 40. He’s an > entrepreneur/investor. You know him best as the bankroller of > Groupon. Which started out as ThePoint.com, which was a failure > because it lacked the social experience. >
> I know, you hate social media. More people despise Twitter than use > it. You like Facebook, but you’re scared of its Big Brother > qualities. >
> Well, you probably don’t understand that Twitter is the number one > news source for news happening right now. But if you can’t wrap > your head around that, maybe you should look into SproutSocial, > which is a Lefkofsky company that allows you to track your company > in social media. And if you don’t think social media is key to your > company’s future, you’re on the road to extinction. >
> The problem the record business had is its audience knew too many > people, who could connect with each other online. All the labels > knew were radio station employees and retailers. That’s a fraction > of the overall consumer base, and technically, they’re not even > consumers, just middlemen. Once the consumers started talking to > each other not only did they spread the word about Napster, but they > also let each other know which records were good and which ones were > bad. Suddenly, a label could no longer jam records down the > public’s throat. It’s bad enough when albums leak in advance and > are dead on arrival due to bad word of mouth, see Lenny Kravitz for > example, but even those that make it to release date intact are > guaranteed a week’s worth of sales at best. Because by the end of > seven days, the target audience knows whether the album is worth > owning. >
> And the target audience is smaller than you think it is.
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> And if you don’t know who your target audience is, you’re screwed. >
> Imagine trying to sell CDs without knowing the name of retailers. >
> Imagine trying to sell files, to establish an act without knowing > consumers’ e-mail addresses. Sure, e-mail may be fading, especially > amongst the younger generation, but everybody’s got a presence > online. But can you penetrate their personal firewall? And behind > each firewall is not one person, but many. Everybody’s got a > network. Screw one person and you screw many. Because this one > person tells everybody he knows. Ditto in the reverse. >
> But the reason I’m writing this is because of the job market. >
> I hate to frighten you, but all your topless and drunken pictures > are gonna work against you in the job market. Inebriation is not a > criterion for employment, not even at Budweiser. You see you’re > building your resume every day online. And whether you can get a > job or not is based on this resume and who you know. >
> People have complained for eons they couldn’t get a job in the > entertainment industry because they weren’t connected. Hate to tell > you, but it just got worse! No one’s gonna hire anyone without a > history, who can’t be recommended by someone. The days of placing a > blind ad and taking on all comers is history. That doesn’t even > work well on Craigslist, and no one advertises for a good job on > that site. >
> If you want to succeed in the future, you’ve got to know people. > Who can vouch for you. Ever get called for a reference? You never > lie if you know the caller, its you reputation on the line. And > now that we’re all networked, there’s always someone who knows you, > who if they won’t say something negative, certainly won’t say > something positive. >
> You think you’re just playing online?
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> That’s wrong.
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> Do you think I’m gonna vouchsafe for the people who e-mail me with > attitude? Think about that. Unless you’re selling attitude, you’re > screwed. Because people constantly ask me my opinion on people. > And I talk to a lot of people. >
> Scary, isn’t it?
> You see we all live in a social media world.
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> Read this article. This guy is on the money. Social media is not a > fad. It’s just the past on steroids. >
> http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/business/18sbiz.html?src=busln >
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> Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
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> http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
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