Thoughts? Is regularly commenting on blogs an important piece of your social media day? If it’s not, should it be?

I know I know, you have all seen this video a bajillion times…

…or have you?

I was having a conversation during a networking lunch today about social media that got me thinking. It’s widely known that your lifestyle closely mirrors that of your closest peers. This typically applies to the amount of money you make, the opinions you hold, and the knowledge and experience you have. Because most in the social media world are surrounded by others in the social media world, I often hear some of the “social media mavens” mention how a corporate position of Social Media Manager is already outdated, or how everyone already knows about the power of networking and branding online, or how they find it funny that some people still don’t know how to spell Twitter.

I think that’s ridiculous.

I mean, have they been to a real-life networking event lately? Not a tech-related conference, not a tweet-up, but something like a chamber of commerce meeting? Or a PTA event? Or a physician’s group luncheon? Have they chatted with a successful business in a small, Missouri town that’s willing to do anything to increase sales but doesn’t even own a computer? Are they aware of the thousands of 1-doc office practice managers who are still paying for postcard-and-magnet marketing in attempts to attract new patients and keep their doors open?

Now, I realize that I am in NO WAY a social media expert. I don’t have a marketing background. I’ve never operated any type of marketing-related business. And I have definitely not been around the whole social media world for as long as many of the passionate marketers currently sharing their impressive work on Twitter and Facebook. There’s a GREAT possibility that I’m interpreting their messages incorrectly.

But if my interpretation is correct, and if there are some (emphasis on some, meaning, NOT ALL) in the social media world that think the social media revolution has already passed, that worries me. And, frankly, fascinates me!

What I do know is that, with only 12 months of self-education under my belt, I have been able to connect with a half-dozen businesses and entrepreneurs in the past month and sell them on my services. And by sell I mean I said, “Hey, I can help you with that.” and before I hit the third word they were waving their arms and jumping up and down.

And I’m not doing much. I only promise to teach them the basics of the available networking platforms and the high-level concepts of branding and listening and conversing and caring, then point them in the direction of a few good books and a couple resident experts.

Do you realize the need for this? The need for the ultra-basics? The just-get-me-started advice? It’s MASSIVE. And I think that anyone who discounts that and says that there isn’t any more room for social media managers or branding consultants or whatever might consider stepping outside of their peer-group and taking a look around.

There’s still opportunity here. Even for the only-comfy-with-consulting-on-the-basics people like me. The stats presented by the Social Media Revolution video are almost 7, 8, 9 months old (many of them even older), but I think they can still be used to help educate many, many folks.

So, what say you? Think I’m way off base? Think there’s still opportunity there?

One of the many, MANY things I will be doing to move my business – more accurately, my brand – forward once these two weeks are over is to review and expand on the length and strength of my reach online. I’ve liked the concept Chris Brogan has been talking about lately regarding your online spaces and how outposts can improve your strategy with social media. There, Chris talks about your ‘home base,’ ‘outposts,’ and ‘passports’ online. AnnieSorensen.com is obviously my home base, and one that I have many plans to expand.

I currently consider Twitter, DailyBooth, Facebook, and Corkd as my outposts; those areas online where I consistently spend time conversing and connecting. The purpose of these outposts is to have fun, network, and eventually filter folks back to my home base.

Passports, however, represent a huge growth area for me. I think of passports as areas online where I’m reserving and representing my brand, yet not actively playing in the space. And the work I could do on my passports is massive. I mean, LinkedIn? Ugh, let’s not even get into how much I’m leaving on the table in that space. That’s a current passport I DESPERATELY need to turn into a solid outpost.

Then there my other passports; Tumblr, Flickr, Ustream, Amazon, YouTube, TubeMogul, StumbleUpon, and…hmm, I’m sure I’m missing others. I will soon have much more time to develop my brand, which items from this list do I want to dedicate more time to and develop into outposts? Which would I prefer to keep as passports? What passports have I not yet even secured? Very important questions that I need to figure out how to answer.

Lots of work to do!

What say you – how do you decide what spaces to develop into strong, beneficial outposts of your home base? What spaces do you think are important in 2010 to, at the very least, secure a passport?

But is that really the case? Is it TRULY the content that’s king online? The thoughts of the brilliant Chris Brogan:

“I’ve been thinking about this a lot. Content is not king. You are. (or Queen.) Content is currency. You’re the king.

What do you say?”

Part of one of his last sentences made me smile…”focus on relationships.” That’s been the number-one, driving factor for why I have been blogging, networking online, and posting videos throughout the past year – I want to meet new people and develop quality relationships. The kind that, whenever the future need might arise, connect two people who have the potential to, together, create greater good than they could have individually.

Awesome to see what I’ve been doing stated so concisely by an online media maven.

Thoughts?

As a geek passionate about social media and networking online, I was intrigued by the summary of this book. I mean, who wouldn’t be? The founding of Facebook? Money, sex, betrayal, genius? You couldn’t POSSIBLY find a more attractive title than that! After reading the book, however, all I can think of to say, in CEO Zuckerberg’s supposed own words, was that it was “interesting.”

Was it fascinating to learn the details of the names and events surrounding Facebook’s creation and growth? Yes. Did it peak my curiosity about Mark Zuckerberg, Sean Parker, the Winklevoss twins, and the many other real-life characters it introduced? Yes. Was it overly dramatic, poorly written, and almost embarassingly corny? Yes, yes, YES.

Go into The Accidental Billionaires with the knowledge that it’s not going to be the actual written words that will inspire you – they’ll more likely annoy you – but instead the general feeling of inspiration and curiosity that the dorm room-to-riches story leaves you with upon walking away from the last page.

It’s got a pretty catchy cover, too, but you know what they say about that…
1.5/5 stars