Big Fun by Ernst Moeksis
When advising our clients on the use of Social Media as a business tool, we have three main concepts:
1. Be Genuine
2. Be Consistent
3. Have Fun
While each of these items certainly merits their own blog entry, it’s the third item that I think is the most easily overlooked by the Web 2.0 neophyte. One of the advantages that Social Media holds over some of the more conventional forms of business networking is that it can and should be fun. Since the compartmentalization of contacts (business people are help separate from your “real” friends and family) has become more difficult and is really more of an outdated idea anyway, it’s only natural to think that we can attract new business and have fun while doing it.
Blip.fm is a good example. For the millions of you out there who enjoy listening to, creating and sharing music, what better site is there than a social networking site that allows you to be the DJ of your own radio station? The language of music establish very potent connections between people. If you’re at a party, a conversation with a stranger that starts with a common enjoyment of a song or artist could end up as a business relationship – that first area of commonality is just a springboard. Social Media provides that common ground across several arenas – you can become interested in someone because they, like you, enjoy the later work of the Beatles, or because they, like you, enjoy panoramic photographs of nature, or because they, like you, share a common love of Paulie Shore movies – stranger things have happened. Simply by pursuing the things you enjoy, you are creating relationships that can be mutually beneficial with people who, like all of us, want to do business with people we LIKE and trust.
But why should the fun be restricted to media sharing? There are opportunities to have fun all over web 2.0 – follow the Twitter updates of Darth Vader, or find & share a fun video on YouTube – while they may not be the formal interactions from which we expect results, they can create meaningful relationships that have the potential to generate business down the line.
Until you really enjoy your social media experience and have fun interacting with people, you will be missing out on the opportunity to truly connect. Now get out there and have fun, darn it!
Tags: BuzzBuilderz, Fun, Marketing, Social Media
