Social Media: For Some Has Target Marketing Gone Away?

Instead all of us feel targeted. We have a bullseye on our backs. I thought the “do not call” list was bad enough where we have to put telemarketers one by one on the do not call list. We can mark unwanted emails as spam. We can ignore ads on Facebook or MySpace. We can still see solicitations on professional networks like LinkedIn that don’t concern us or ever will. Even the networks hound you to death. Buy the professional package so you don’t see the ads. It’s the same with the apps. Using social media effectively is using those ads in part.

My first experience with hiring someone to use the social media to help me market my novel was a disaster. Turned out, I actually have more contacts of my own and those are probably the ones she contacted. I know there are good people out there who specialize in this rather new marketing, and are willing to train others. I only wish there were others who would take your product and for a reasonable price and social market it for you. That, of course, is me being too stubborn to learn something new. It happens with “old dogs” like me.

I have an old dog, but she never liked to be taught anything so she taught herself. For the most part, these are good things. Butterscotch, our Golden Retriever, taught herself to climb up into the kids wooden playset and come down via the slide; also, she would leaped onto the trampoline. All this was in effort to escape being around dog number two, Ranger, an English/Canadian standard, Labrador Retriever, who was heavier than her and couldn’t follow. He was annoyingly different I suppose. Neither would harm each other or humans. Rodents, birds and other yard critters beware. With social media giants, I feel like a critter.

This happens with young dogs, too, in terms of social media; however, I must admit I use it somewhat but not nearly enough to make a nuisance of myself. Young dogs, businesses and services, are shotgunning their products to the general public without any sense or direction. Some are losing friends over it and some would lose relatives, but you can’t because they are family. I remember in sales that you had to sell to your grandmother. Now, you are! It’s utterly ridiculous. Unbeschreiblich! (We’re taking a German exchange student in. Couldn’t resist.)

We need trainers to make it easy, or provide less expensive services we can use to sell our wares via the social media. It seems everyone wants to be a trainer these days. Sell services and in your spare time sell training, too. Right? Businesses, small companies and nonprofits used to buy ads. Public relations and marketing was different, too.

I know I seem to be taking the non-trainer side, but, in part, here are some of the problems:

• First, the training content doesn’t stay with you. It’s fleeting and the information sites changing all the time.
• Secondly, it may already be dated. You won’t know until you try.
• And thirdly, trainers have businesses organizations gasping for air, and that is a character issue with me and should be for everyone.

Put it in Biblical terms if you like: thou shalt not prey on businesses if you can’t truly help them or tell them someone who can. The business organizations are already gasping for air. Now, I’m not talking about the huge corporations who have social media geniuses on staff, but the smaller companies, nonprofits and government entities that might hire you as contractor.

Here’s what I’d like to see (and I can’t believe I’m saying this): we need more affordable direct services that work with training to keep up with trends. Not a one-time training shot that’s easily forgotten or absorbed and attempted to be used by the time the general sites have changed or techniques have been disallowed. Smaller companies end up hiring someone not nearly as qualified as they should be to do the job a trainer “trained” them to do.

Everyone wants to make money and I believe everyone should be fairly paid for their service or product. Fairly is the key word, here.

I welcome an opposing view. I gladly welcome a social media trainer or someone who sells services to be a guest writer; however, this is an opportunity to sell your products or services generically. You don’t sell your particular services or products, but the industry to include others like yourself. You don’t have to name names. It’s not a paid gig, but you will have a link to you and your company and we hope you link back to us. Interested readers are mostly to go to your website for more information.

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