You correctly focus on VALUE to the end-user/consumer. I would add, that respecting the consumers intelligence is also of VALUE to them. Happily, this same thinking is being applied by some marketing strategies, and as a subset, by some network marketing systems.

Mainstream marketing has become increasingly “sophisticated” by addressing subliminal needs and aversions – disregarding the fact that target audiences have also become more sophisticated – getting savvy about the manipulations they are constantly exposed to. The reaction has increased suspicion making it more and more difficult to get a message across – despite the innate value. Any time there is even the slightest inkling of a fragrance of a “pitch”, alarm bells go off and, literally, defense systems go onto nuclear alert. Especially when it costs money,

This, in turn, has made it even more challenging to gain the trust that is necessary for a relationship. These two elements’ in turn – trust and relationships – have been recognized as the pillars of social networking, and network marketing, however it is done.

Nevertheless, most internet advertising campaigns are still hallmarked by lengthy, impossible-to-read, aggressive squeeze pages splattered with aggressive bold-print subliminals that bring to mind the old vaudeville adage: “If you can’t dazzle them with your brilliance…baffle them with your baloney!”

Coming back to the “nuclear alert” analogy, internet surfers relate to marketers as if they (the marketers) are literally still “at war” with their prospective customers and partners and intend to conquer them.

So, regardless of the software, the principles of respectfully striving to provide value to people, must be clearly evident in the communications that we put out.

Thanks,
Jack

-RG

I congratulate you – You’ve accomplished what very few ever do – You’ve used balance in the conversation. You’ve acted as an advocate and as an inquirer, which is quite rare in today’s me, me, me blog-a-thon mentality. I appreciate the fact that we all have opinions. Let me just say Thank you for being unique.

I am not writing this sentence last – since the comment itself turned into a sub-post that I hope others will appreciate and not falme the ever-loving crap out of me for it. It wasn’t my intent to or any attempt to dominate a conversation, but to raise awareness of the urgency of technology and how as humans we change. For the lengthy post – I apologize now and let it be done.

I have long since decided that I have personally learned from so many, including you, that not all the ideas I now embody are ever all my own – they are from bits and pieces of many, many great people whom I have had the pleasure to learn from over the last 17+ years on the Internet.

It amazed me when the largest credit card processor in the world did not have a web site in 1996. I got one built for them and then their mind’s started working and so did their business. For what it cost then, you could have hundreds or even thousands of sites today. The most sophisticated technology is only at a cost of 10% what it was even 5-7 years ago.

What amazed me even more thereafter, was the number of people that never “got it”, but played as mimes – doing what everyone else did, without injecting their own personalities, to make it theirs and unique and a valued services to those they served. It seems like very few have the guts to not use the “Marketing 101″ mentality.

The final amazement is how many people do not have the least idea how to formulate a cogent plan to take their business from idea to merchant worthy – regardless the amount of money they attract or burn. In some respects, its the same today as it was 10+ years ago and I am still stumped.

The newset technology in my opinion will be…

What was once old will be new again – Everything that hits the “fringe edge” must come back to the existence of solid reality. What I’m saying is this:

As consumers we have more power than ever and we aren’t going backwards anytime soon. Treating people like they don’t matter doesn’t work. The technology must also “feel human”. We are a global society and people do matter.

We techno-geeks have a responsibility – there has never been a worse time for business as usual. That mentality will forever fail.

The MBA Marketers don’t get it, as another round of ambiguous S%$# was handed out as “research” somewhere yesterday. Here’s an idea — Let’s do something extraordinary, like ask the customer…test, try and adapt the technologies to suit the needs of the users.

For instance, let’s take the US auto Industry for example and compare it to the poor bloke whose company only updated the 3-three social networks in your experience – 2 years ago was good for him; 30 years ago was good for [them]. Ping.fm took 2, then 5, then 30+ more to make their system better than the others. That’s called progress and I pity the poor souls that never look forward.

With the auto industry, what worked for Lee Iaccoca and Chrysler 30 years ago didn’t work out so well for the clunk-heads of today. The real competitors ARE NOT AFRAID to spend money to create something new. Somehow Chrysler, Ford and GM don’t get it – Vehix get’s it. Honda and Toyota have already moved there – they spent the money. And while we are at it, I LOVE the old muscle cars. They just aren’t practical for transportation of us as people any longer; And I lamnet that maybe they never were.

“Big” companies come from yesterday – because what they did worked yesterday, meaning quite specifically that they WILL NOT work tomorrow – We are smarter than they think.

Whoever’s technology wins – Its not a win, lose or tie game. Its about getting the eyes and ears of [your] audience – the real people, who are only too happy to do business with other real people. If your product or service actually does something remarkable, your business will grow. Maybe not as fast as you’d always like, but keeping the customer in mind and their needs forefront, will mean it will grow more than you might have ever imagined.

It seems that I am supposed to insert some kind of head-jerking insight to the what, why and if of this game. Actually, maybe I don’t have to, we may have finally reached the threshold of true “skepticism”.

So, summarizing my opinion, we need transformation – A Transformation Age for our be all places at once society. Everything [we] do needs to make a difference in the lives of the people that we interact with. It seems that our goal should be to make this place (world) a little better tomorrow than it was today and to NOT prop up what was.

The technology that wins is the one that engages the people, fires or fuels the passions to exist beyond themselves and make a difference in a noisy world.

Am I wrong…Am I right? What do you think? Why do you think that (insert your opinion here)?

Kindest Regards to all and may your successes out-perform your dreams

Thanks.

Chris

-RG

There will always be a new fad to distract your time, energy, focus, attention, and $$$. From this one to the next one and then on to the next one, each one promising answers to health, wealth and happiness.

YOU are your own best teacher!

OK, Randy, my predictions:

1) I know people are going to disagree, but I think Twitter is going to be a victim of its own hype. Too many people are getting caught up in the Twitter hoopla, and there soon will be a “who cares?” backlash. Twitter won’t go away, but I predict a year from now that no one will be talking about it much.

2) I think your question “So might we see a dramatic shift from social media sites to social media browsers?” is close to the mark. Actually, I predict we will see a new social media site launched in the next year — less boring than LinkedIn, and not as cutesy-pie as Facebook. And the company behind the new social site? Google! (A side effect is that the meaning of the verb “to Google” will change from “search the Internet for” to “keep in touch over the Internet”.)

I’ll admit I could be totally off-base on these, so we’ll just have to wait and see what weird and exciting things the next 12 months bring……
- jim