Comments on: Disagreeing with Danny on the value of Social Media Sites http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/ Because not everyone can throw thousands of dollars at the 'How do we market ourselves online?' question... Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:03:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Matt McGee http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2511 Matt McGee Fri, 26 Jan 2007 05:00:17 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2511 It'll be interesting to see what Digg and the social media sites look like in 5 years, won't it Patrick & Nicolette? Heck, it'll be interesting to see what Google and Yahoo and Live look like then, too. Cameron - I realize it's not just about Digg, but for better or worse, they're the poster child at this point, right? We all know Danny's tremendously intelligent and perhaps he didn't mean to paint with such broad strokes. But whether he meant to or not, he did. I'm just saying that every marketer has to know where his/her target market is and go there -- and for most businesses, that's not going to be on Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, etc. Not yet. And FWIW, I'm a big fan of Yelp and recommend small businesses use it. When I speak at SES, I have a section of my Small Biz presentation that talks about how small biz can use Flickr and other "participation marketing" sites/tactics. But I wouldn't suggest they market there before SEOing for Yahoo, etc. It’ll be interesting to see what Digg and the social media sites look like in 5 years, won’t it Patrick & Nicolette? Heck, it’ll be interesting to see what Google and Yahoo and Live look like then, too.

Cameron - I realize it’s not just about Digg, but for better or worse, they’re the poster child at this point, right? We all know Danny’s tremendously intelligent and perhaps he didn’t mean to paint with such broad strokes. But whether he meant to or not, he did. I’m just saying that every marketer has to know where his/her target market is and go there — and for most businesses, that’s not going to be on Digg, Reddit, Newsvine, etc. Not yet.

And FWIW, I’m a big fan of Yelp and recommend small businesses use it. When I speak at SES, I have a section of my Small Biz presentation that talks about how small biz can use Flickr and other “participation marketing” sites/tactics. But I wouldn’t suggest they market there before SEOing for Yahoo, etc.

]]> By: Site Traffic And The Steady Paycheck » Webomatica http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2510 Site Traffic And The Steady Paycheck » Webomatica Fri, 26 Jan 2007 00:44:28 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2510 [...] Additional reading: Mathew Ingram, 10e20, SiteLogic, Chip Griffin, Small Business SEM [...] [...] Additional reading: Mathew Ingram, 10e20, SiteLogic, Chip Griffin, Small Business SEM [...]

]]> By: The Lonely Marketer - a discussion for the small business marketing manager » A Collection of Great Blog Posts and Articles http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2508 The Lonely Marketer - a discussion for the small business marketing manager » A Collection of Great Blog Posts and Articles Thu, 25 Jan 2007 23:28:00 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2508 [...] Matt McGee of Small Business SEM had two posts worth noting. In one post he responds to Danny Sullivan’s viewpoint regarding small business and the use of search engines vs. social media sites. Read Matt’s stance with which I whole-heartedly agree. Matt’s Ultimate Guide to Building the Perfect Link is also a great read. [...] [...] Matt McGee of Small Business SEM had two posts worth noting. In one post he responds to Danny Sullivan’s viewpoint regarding small business and the use of search engines vs. social media sites. Read Matt’s stance with which I whole-heartedly agree. Matt’s Ultimate Guide to Building the Perfect Link is also a great read. [...]

]]> By: Digg, Stumble and the madness of crowds » Mathew Ingram: mathewingram.com/work http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2504 Digg, Stumble and the madness of crowds » Mathew Ingram: mathewingram.com/work Thu, 25 Jan 2007 20:29:44 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2504 [...] There is no doubt that Digg and Reddit and similar sites drive massive amounts of traffic, as Search Engine Journal points out — and SEOmoz also notes the benefits of what it calls a “linkbait” strategy. But is that traffic actually worth something over the long term? It might be nice to brag about, but it’s not always something to build a business around. Ravi says Digg traffic is worth “diddly-squat.” Tony “Call me Dr. Tony” Hung has also written about this, and others are commenting on Kim’s experience, including 10e20, Chip Griffin at Pardon the Disruption and Small Business SEM. [...] [...] There is no doubt that Digg and Reddit and similar sites drive massive amounts of traffic, as Search Engine Journal points out — and SEOmoz also notes the benefits of what it calls a “linkbait” strategy. But is that traffic actually worth something over the long term? It might be nice to brag about, but it’s not always something to build a business around. Ravi says Digg traffic is worth “diddly-squat.” Tony “Call me Dr. Tony” Hung has also written about this, and others are commenting on Kim’s experience, including 10e20, Chip Griffin at Pardon the Disruption and Small Business SEM. [...]

]]> By: Cameron Olthuis http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2502 Cameron Olthuis Thu, 25 Jan 2007 18:08:03 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2502 Social media is not one size fits all, so yes there are a lot of small business that would not benefit from it. Also, there is more to social media than just Digg. What about all the niche social sites that are same topic as your client's business? Those would probably be great spots to start. What about social local sites like Yelp, are your getting your customers on those sites? Bottom line is that social media does not work for everything/everyone. I do think Danny was right though. He never said it works for everyone and I doubt he was implying it works for mom & pop size businesses. Social media is not one size fits all, so yes there are a lot of small business that would not benefit from it. Also, there is more to social media than just Digg. What about all the niche social sites that are same topic as your client’s business? Those would probably be great spots to start. What about social local sites like Yelp, are your getting your customers on those sites?

Bottom line is that social media does not work for everything/everyone. I do think Danny was right though. He never said it works for everyone and I doubt he was implying it works for mom & pop size businesses.

]]> By: Nicolette http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2501 Nicolette Thu, 25 Jan 2007 17:10:05 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2501 I'm with you on this one too, Matt. My clients are B2B small to midsize industrial companies. They've never had to market themselves and think the Internet is a necessary evil. Add social media to the mix and there is a complete disconnect. I think this is definitely a "generation gap" but as the industrial workforce retires, and their sons and daughters (the Tech Generation) take over, this will change. My projection is 5 years also. I’m with you on this one too, Matt. My clients are B2B small to midsize industrial companies. They’ve never had to market themselves and think the Internet is a necessary evil. Add social media to the mix and there is a complete disconnect. I think this is definitely a “generation gap” but as the industrial workforce retires, and their sons and daughters (the Tech Generation) take over, this will change. My projection is 5 years also.

]]> By: Branded Content and Targeting Your Social Media Marketing Initiatives http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2498 Branded Content and Targeting Your Social Media Marketing Initiatives Thu, 25 Jan 2007 15:30:35 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2498 [...] And if you’re a small business owner you’d do well to not get caught in the hype and think like Matt McGee: “I could never imagine telling a local insurance agency client, or an independent car dealership, or the bike shop down the street, that we’re going to focus more on the likes of Digg and StumbleUpon (a site I really like!) than we are on Yahoo and MSN’s Live.com. Why? Because the audiences that use sites like Digg or Reddit are 1) too small, and 2) not representative of the population as a whole.” [...] [...] And if you’re a small business owner you’d do well to not get caught in the hype and think like Matt McGee: “I could never imagine telling a local insurance agency client, or an independent car dealership, or the bike shop down the street, that we’re going to focus more on the likes of Digg and StumbleUpon (a site I really like!) than we are on Yahoo and MSN’s Live.com. Why? Because the audiences that use sites like Digg or Reddit are 1) too small, and 2) not representative of the population as a whole.” [...]

]]> By: Chuck Fuller http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2497 Chuck Fuller Thu, 25 Jan 2007 14:35:53 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2497 Agreed under the current circumstances, way too broad a generalization. Especially since small businesses are necessarily niche in many cases, which contributes to making Yahoo and Live easy choices ahead of social media out of the gate. Agreed under the current circumstances, way too broad a generalization. Especially since small businesses are necessarily niche in many cases, which contributes to making Yahoo and Live easy choices ahead of social media out of the gate.

]]> By: Patrick Schaber http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/454/#comment-2495 Patrick Schaber Thu, 25 Jan 2007 12:24:29 +0000 http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/2007/01/24/disagreeing-with-danny-on-the-value-of-social-media-sites/#comment-2495 Matt - I have to agree with you on this one. It would be a stretch for many small business to focus on the social media sites before one of the other major search engines. Unless, of course, their target market is made up of heavy Digg users. Five years from now that could all change?? Matt - I have to agree with you on this one. It would be a stretch for many small business to focus on the social media sites before one of the other major search engines. Unless, of course, their target market is made up of heavy Digg users. Five years from now that could all change??

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