Social Media – A Total Waste of Time!

I can’t tell you how often I hear that.  Business owners just do not see the point, purpose, or reason to engage in any Social Media.  If you are wondering ~ I am defining Social Media sites as the following:

• FaceBook
• FanPages
• Twitter
• YouTube
• LinkedIn
• Plaxo
• Digg
• StumbleUpon
• Flikr
• The Thousands of other media and content sharing sites out there

I am here to tell you that Social Media is WORTH your time as a business owner.  Let me explain:

Google has added a new (beta) feature that will turn your thoughts around concerning Social Media.

Social Search

Social search is the next BIG thing for searching.  I will explain from 2 points of view ~ the consumer and the business owner.  Social Search is when Google includes content from the people you know (via social sites) in your search results.   The Social Search results sit at the bottom of the first page of your search results.  They include a photo and what that person said and linked to.

Social Search Consumer

If you are looking for a service, restaurant, or whatever in your local area would you be more likely to use the services of someone you already know?  How about a service that is recommended by someone you know?  I am much more likely to click on content produced by someone I already know and trust.  Here was a search I did for a Realtor in my area.

Social Search Business Owner

I think it is obvious why you want to be featured in the Social Search if you are a business owner.  The term Realtor (in any city) is a very sought after and hard to achieve key word phrase.  To get on the first page of Google for such a highly competitive keyword takes a great deal of Search Engine Optimization and constant work on your website.  Pay-Per-Click advertising for phrases that are highly competitive is very expensive.   Both Dale Chumbley and Mitch Canton are in my Social Circle (directly connected to me) and therefore I would seek their services before going elsewhere.  As a Business Owner you will never show up in these search results if you do not have a Social Circle – period.

How Social Search Works

Google determines your Social Circle through the people connected to you in different social networks.  They know your social networks by the links YOU enter into your Google Profile. (Don’t have one ~ shame on you!)  They also look at connections from other Google services like:

• Google Friend Connect
• Google Reader
• Google Buzz
• Gmail

Your Social Circle also extends 1 more level ~ to the people connected directly with your direct connections. To get an idea of how that works ~ I have 425 Google Friend Connect friends.  My second level is 2518.  That is only from 1 service.  Factoring in Twitter, FaceBook, my FanPage, Digg, StumbleUpon, MySpace, YouTube, Flikr, Plaxo, and the other networks the number of people (including second level) is huge. I have added up 141,676 and that is not all of my network when considering the second level or the more obscure sites I belong to ~ and I have relatively small networks compared to some people I know.  When any one of those people search for something I have written content on, a service I have recommended, or anything I have shared with my Social Network then my image and content will show on their search.  How cool is that?

Do you want a piece of that pie?  Get out there are start using Social Media ~ It won’t kill you and it might just help!