Attention! This Book Will Make You Money: How to Use Attention-Getting Online Marketing to Increase Your Revenue

Chapter 39. Social Media

Here we go, yet another pundit telling you about how awesome social media is, how it's changed the world, how everything will be different, how traditional media is dead, and blah, blah, blah. I admit it, I believe some of that stuff, and yes, I'm going to talk about some of it in the pages that follow. However, it's not going to be my primary focus. Instead, I want to talk with you about how I use social media as a business tool, and how you can do the same. Also about how you can use social media to generate attention for your business or brand and how it is going to help you spend less money on advertising.

We will also discuss how you can use social media to create attention. To do all that, the first thing we have to do is get something straight.

This Is Business . . . Not Play Time!

Perhaps one of the most important lessons to be learned about being successful online is that while the Web was at first a place for people to hang out and socialize, it's not that way anymore. Okay, it still is and can be, but if you're coming at this from the perspective of business you have to think differently. Success on the Web means that you need to use Web tools as business tools. Of course, things like social media were not designed to do business, but smart marketers and businesses now realize that they can absolutely be used as such. Too many people deride the possibility that social media can be used in this way, to their detriment.

Stop looking at things like Twitter, ...