It's all changed. It happened so fast, we hardly even noticed.
But looking back, it's incredible how different everything is today.
When I started out in Internet Marketing, no one had any idea who I was. No one needed to. All they had to do was know where my websites were and enjoy the content I was putting up.
It was impersonal and it worked both ways. My users might only have thought of me (if they thought of me at all) as some publisher who put up interesting stuff for them to read. I could only see them (although I did think of them a lot) as a list of IP addresses on my Web log.
In the days before comments and talkbacks, I had no idea who was reading my content and I could only tell whether they liked it by looking at whether the numbers of page views were going up or down.
Today, I could list many of my readers by name. I might even be able to recognize some of them in the street.
They'd certainly be able to recognize me.
That's what social media has done. I now have 5,000 people connected to me on Facebook, the maximum the site allows. I can see who they are, who their friends are and what they're interested in.
More than 6,000 people read my tweets, and again, I can see what they look like, who they're following and read what they're doing during the day.
I've never had more information about the people I'm trying to help.
And they've never had more information about me.
In the old days, it was possible for an Internet marketer to be a wallflower. You could hide in your home office and pretend that the Web world was some alternative universe populated by "users" rather than real people.
Not anymore! There's no hiding today. I don't know how anyone can market a website to the max without making use of Facebook, Twitter and all the other social media tools out there.
If you want to make money on the Web, there's no other way than to get out here and join the party.
And you know what I've learned in the years I've been doing this?
Change is fun.
It's Del.icio.us!
Furl It!
December 31, 2008 11:18 AM
thanks joel ...and happy new year 2009 !
December 31, 2008 12:14 PM
Interesting thoughts.I´m in the exact same position now, I don´t even have a photo of me visible anywhere.Thanks to a little cool gadget called gravatar, it makes things more personal and better.
December 31, 2008 01:49 PM
Not only is change fun, but exciting, too!
Within the span of nine months, I:
- met my mentor, Ken McArthur
- volunteered at his JV Alert Live(!) event in June
- and was accepted into his Protege Coaching Team
- I had 30 domains, now I have over 1300
- and now, we are officially an LLC!
Change IS fun, Joel! I am soo looking forward to 2009!
Happy New Year to you, yours (Dan), and your readers!
Best,
-K
December 31, 2008 02:34 PM
Christmas is come and gone and with the same enthusiasum as when we click in to Joel Comms Sites We can say Christmas is comming again!!! Keep up this great stuff. Heartily yours and much appreciated Tom D. DeVisscher And a great new year!!!
January 1, 2009 01:13 PM
thanks for info - I am catching some flak from family & friends about sticking my toe into the social media pool & it is involved & overwhelming @ times & can be additive & consume your entire, day, night, weekends, the works.
So many interesting people with some many different views, ideas, comments, fascinating to me.
anyway with that said on the same note I see the comments about don't market your business or sell things over social media, so I guess a bit concerned about what is viewed as the proper way to market over social networks because I know it is done by a large % of people involved.
thanks again - duane
January 2, 2009 01:14 AM
In the beginning it is often the hardest, and the disappointments are the biggest. but when you get some momentum going it all become easier day by day :-).
January 2, 2009 01:07 PM
I have to say that the interactions that web 2.0 has brought about have been challenging yet invigorating. There are so many opportunities. It is a challenge not to get overhwelmed, and to have some focus to my interactions, but it certainly represents the new way of marketing. And it has forced me to share my heart, making a true connection with my readers, in a way that static communication would not allow for.
January 9, 2009 01:55 PM
I know that this may be a bit off subject, however, Is Kontera working for you.
January 11, 2009 09:17 PM
Things are changing really fast on the Internet. In fact, so fast that I have to make a list of things to do just to stay focused.
It seems like everyone I know finds me on Facebook.
Wow, I just realized something, my website link on Facebook is connected to one of my sites that doesn't have any affiliate links on it.
Thanks for the post!! I'd like to stay and read some more but I just lost my focus. I have to go make some changes to my Facebook account so I can make a few dollars extra.