Social media is the term used to describe the various media that people use to communicate online in a social way such as blogs, wikis, video and photo sharing. One compartment of social media is social networking. Social networking, in short, is how people interact with each other online. It starts as soon as someone joins that online community and interacts with them online. Some of the most common social networking sites include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace and Flicker.

Social networking sites are all about connecting people. These sites make it easy for people to create a profile about themselves. Using their profiles they can form a network that combines their offline friends and new online friends.

According to comScore, the social networking category of websites had nearly 140 million visitors in the U.S. in early 2009 (www.comscore.com/). With Facebook recently reaching 500 million users it is becoming vitally important to be an active person/company apart of social networking. While these numbers are remarkable, we can easily lose track of what this means. You need to consider these numbers as the potential people who can spread your ideas and tell your stories. The people who are apart of these like-minded social networking sites are the people who you want to share your business. They are the ones that are going to decide whether or not they are going to buy from you. So here’s the question – What are you waiting for? Get involved and get your business apart of the online community.

Two years ago Ohio State Basketball was going to championships but now is best known for a no name, under performing benchwarmer.

There is a blog called Club Trillion. It is authored by Mark Titus, a basketball player for Ohio State. It began in November 2008. Titus has been writing 6-8 posts per month recapping his experiences, as he calls it, being the “trillion stat line”: 1 min played, 000 points, 000 rebounds, and 000 assists for a total of 1,000,000,000 trillion (hence the name “Club Trillion”).

Ohio State finished 22-11 and lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament. This was partly due to what many experts called “immaturity, lack of focus, and not enough talent” but Club Trillion has prospered. At last check there have been: 994,252 visitors since 11/3/2008, stories and references written about Titus on ESPN, numerous local news reports, 8 of the top 10 true organic searches, facebook pages, and much more.

What is the point? Titus is the “trillion stat line” off the bench on a team with more talented players than himself but he has become the face of the team. All he did was talk and share.

Who’s the “trillion stat line” retailer in your area? Who is stealing business form your company just because they are doing the talking and sharing on the web?

Ms. Jones wants to be talked to. She wants you to share with you. She wants her retailer to be real. WE all have that power that Mark Titus and others have found—so does the “trillion stat line” retailer off the bench in your marketplace.

The most important marketing advice I learned from him was at a grocery store in Hazard, Ky. He had just constructed a display of baked beans. There must have been 1,000 cans in front of a barn my mother had drawn for his baked bean ho down. They were priced at 6 cans for 50 cents or 10 cents each. A lady with four kids came up to the display. She said to my father, “I want to buy 6 cans to get the price but I only need 3 cans on my weekly grocery budget”. My Father told the women, “Take this paper with my name on it to the cashier. She will sell you 3 cans for 25 cents, and here is another piece of paper for 3 more cans at 25 cents for your next trip.” That was the reaction I expected from my father, but the words he spoke to me that day still ring true today. “What a customer wants is very important, but meeting their needs makes a customer for life.”

Meeting the needs of customers in good times and bad times is important for all retailers. Our customers’ needs have never been greater than in today’s economic environment. Here are a few examples:

• We know you need a good night’s sleep after working that second job just to make ends meet! That’s why you can save an additional 20% off the sale price on our complete selection of mattresses!
• You need to replace that washer that sounds like a cement mixer but you have no cash and can’t afford the interest charges on your credit card. That’s why we’ll pay all the interest charges for 2 years with a low monthly payment. You don’t even need any money down.

You get the idea….you are not holding a sale to just shove product down your customers’ throats. Think of it as benefit you are offering customers by meeting their needs, and you may just win a customer for life.

As a side note, my father was a member of the “Greatest Generation” or what is referred to as the Civic Generation. The Civic Generation repeats itself every 80 years. That means my sons are also the Civic Generation, or as they are commonly called, Millenniums. To find out how the transfer of leadership to the next Civic Generation will be one of the most exciting times for the world of retailing, I encourage you to contact an expert in the field of generational transfer, David Lively. David can be contacted at www.thelivelymerchant.com.