The evolution of social networking has changed the world of Marketing forever.

If you are one of my regular readers, you will know that I have been writing about social media and books about it a lot in the last year. Perhaps because social networking is changing some of the established players in marketing or because it can be the most cost effective ways to promote your brand or build awareness and engage people on your values, the way you operate and why they might want to “Like” you in Facebook terms or be your friend in any number of social playgrounds. The author of the book Socialnomics, Erik Qualman has a You Tube Video which I have embedded below that outlines the massive channel change that is occurring. This video is an update with newer statistics on an earlier video which showed up on YouTube in 2009. It had over 2 Million views.

The next video filmed 2 weeks ago at TedXLansing continues on the subject:

The concept of social media being the engine of social commerce is not far away. As Qualman says we will have automated local search and QR codes to provide instantaneous discussion right at the point of sale linked to your friends opinions. His example of the reach and power of Social Media is clearly outlined with the You Tube video by the Sons of Maxwell musical group in “United Breaks Guitars” which has had close to 8.7 million views at the time I am writing this post.

Businesses that are not participating and listening to what is out there are acting at their own peril. Ignore the hype, embrace the channel change. It is of little wonder the number of new books and videos appearing today. If you are interested in learning more about the many no-cost ways you can use Social Media for your business or practice you can read Power Friending by my friend AmberMac who will give you a quick education on listening and acting to grow your business. I look forward to your questions and comments . Join the conversation below and let me know what your thoughts are.

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