Social Media is Garbage!!!
Social media is garbage…for most people, for most businesses!
Most of it can’t be outsourced…or can it???
Ok, so let me explain.
For a long time we’ve been hearing “You’ve gotta be on Myspace”, “You’ve got to be on Facebook”, “You’ve got to be on Twitter”, “You’ve got to get onto Digg”, …
B.S.
People say “This is where all the people are!”.
I don’t care where all the people are! I care where all the buyers are!
In your business, you should too!
And the fact is, all the buyers are on Google, Yahoo, MSN, and Ebay!
Even if they’re on twitter, when they’re looking to buy something, they’re on Google and Ebay! Period!
I use all the social media sites. Every one of them. But not for networking!
Michelle Macphearson just wrote an awesome free report called the Social Media Myth that talks about all this stuff.
In my opinion, this is the best thing that has ever been written for most small business owners when it comes to dealing with social media (it’s not super entertaining, but it certainly covers what you need to know).
In fact, she describes EXACTLY how I use all these sites. (SEO!)
For most people, it’s all just a huge waste of time (you’re off goofing around when you should be focusing on making sales, you justify using twitter because people said “it’s good for your business”), and you use it as a crutch/time waster to avoid make sales in your business).
Now, I’m not saying there’s not a place for twitter, facebook, myspace, [insert your favorite time waster here]. There is. But if you’re not using the right way for your business, you’re just wasting your time.
Here’s Michelle’s Social Media Myth report. Please read this before wasting your time trying to “get thousands of leads out of twitter!”.
I know…now let the flames begin telling me how wrong I am. But before you do, please tell me how much *MONEY* you’ve made from social media sites (I don’t want to hear about the job you got because of it, or how many lifelong friends you’ve made because of it, or how you have a great lead because of it, or about how many sales you’ll make in the future from all the wasted time now, I want to hear about $$$).
The other thing I love about what Michelle says is that it can easily, easily, easily be outsourced. Zero time spent by me!
Living the Four Hour Workweek!
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Update: today I noticed this on the homepage of Omniture, the absolute best web analytics company:
Filed under outsourcing by John
Comments on Social Media is Garbage!!! »
Could not agree more. Social media sites are useless when it comes to ROI.
Cheers!
Fly Navy!
Mike
I couldn’t agree more. I read Michelle’s blueprint a while back and she nailed it (as usual). “Working” the social media sites make people feel good because they think they are accomplishing something. In reality they are just wasting time. Keep up the good work!
John, couldn’t agree with you more. I only use social media for seo….and thanks for turning me on to outsourcing to the phillipines. I now have a full time worker doing all kinds of stuff that I just don’t have time to do. Its working out great.
John, I agree there are ways to use mostly everything Web2.0 and the real key, as you point out, is knowing when to use what and how, and why. I read the Social Myth, also a big fan of Michelle, she is the real deal and quite knowledgeable about IM. Points well taken, use your tools correctly. Thanks also for letting me know about outsourcing. I now have 2 full time workers and feel the productivity increasing and my family benefiting from me begin “a little” more available to them (well, we’re still pumping, I hope to have a 4-hour work week soon, though
take care and keep your great posts coming.
You’re right again John. I’m not sure it’s even worth an outsourcer’s time. When I put a link on a Twitter post, which is not all that often, it’s only clicked on by between 2 and 6% of my followers.
I don’t think it is worth the time I’ve invested in it. Thanks for pointing out another time waster.
Warmest regards,
Ellery
Hi John, I had read Michelle’s report last week and her report really helps to put things in simple terms and helping to stop the overwhelm of social media sites so many people feel.
I liked her report so much we just firmed up a date for next Tuesday where I will be interviewing her on the subject. I was just going to get a blog post out about it today myself.
I disagree I believe social networkjing is a good marketing tool.
John, you talk about social media is garbage, but you’re using it yourself (you’re telling people to follow you on twitter. What’s that about!!!
So, what you meant to say is, “if your not making money in your business to following you on twitter”.
Much love
Gigi
I think you are just pitching low hanging softballs their John! (LOL!)
Every good Internet Marketer knows that Social Media does nothing for the bottom line..
I can say, with some certainty, that no such “flames” shall engulf the comment portion of this post..
Most of us will be in agreement with you.
I use some of the SM sites for backlinks and SEO, but that is about it.
Good post as usual John..
Robert C – The Wholesale Products Guy
@gigi – you’ll notice how little time I spend on twitter. Notice how many people I follow and how many updates I’ve done.
Overall, I find it to be a waste of my time except to push out updates. That’s it.
John
I mostly agree with this too. Soooo much time can easily be wasted on social media, look at facebook, some people would “die” if they had to go a full day without logging into Facebook.
Where it makes sense, if not outsourcing, is simply to have a presense. Take the time to set up a simple profile, linked back to your site. DO NOT spend much time at this and DO NOT log in more than once/day, or every other day is how I work it. Pretty simple really. Problem is everywhere online, including social media, its just so easy to get sidetracked and head off on some pointless internet adventure, going from one site to the next, forwarding silly jokes, etc. Even leaving comments on other folks sites. One should select a handful of favorites and keep up on what they are up to, pop in and say hi sometimes. That’s it. It is essential to maximize efforts that make you money, and, if you can, outsource the rest. That’s how these gurus do it. In fact, that is how most of the worlds wealthiest people became wealthy, by hiring others to do most of the work and its been that way since the beginning of industrialized time. A thinker hey?
Great post John!
Cheers!
Jeromy
I’ve always resisted the urge to use social media mostly because I’m not really all that social. I have plenty of friends in the real world. I want to make some money.
It’s refreshing to hear someone finally agree with what I’ve believed all along. Which is why I’m a big fan of Michelle. She always been straight to the point without all the hype and her methods work. When you are running a business, social media is just a tool.
There was an episode of Married With Children once where Al asked Bud which was more important, women or money? The answer of course is money. With enough money, you can buy all the women (or friends) you want.
That’s a bit crude perhaps, but there’s a lot of truth in it.
Rod
Absolutely true John. Therefore I hardly use these sites at all. What I sometimes do is subsribe to a rss feed, so that I know what’s on people’s mind. But that’s it. Life is too short for boring things.
JanPaul
Bob LaPlante .com » Blog Archive » Social Media is Garbage @ 9:19 am
[...] Social Media is Garbage. [...]
John Says “Social Media is Garbage!” | Social Marketing @ 1:31 pm
[...] IS garbage the way most people approach it (that’s why I wrote the Social Media Myth). Read John’s post and weigh in your own thoughts in his comments – there’s already an interesting discussion going [...]
I have to agree with you here. I use social media for social things although I also use it to network with like minded people that I may want to know as well.
Most marketers wouldn’t think about combining their personal friends with their so-called “social” friends because they would be afraid to turn off their friends. I say that if you wouldn’t send your real friends a link to something, you shouldn’t post it on the social networks. That is my take at least.
It’s fun to learn, both for personal and for professional reasons. A friend stopped by recently, totally jazzed about how Twitter had completely changed for him, and he’s been tweeting it for a while. So “social media” today may be completely different next week, that’s cool either way. Thought provoking. Thanks!
You make some good points about what social media is good for. And I admit a lot of people have been duped into thinking that Social Media would do everything from guaranteed traffic to curing cancer. And while it won’t cure cancer, it does have some great marketing value beyond SEO and is far from being called garbage. Its a terrible place to try and sell something, but is a great place to connect with your audience, get feedback, have a conversation and build your brand. For years marketers have been doing things that don’t have a specific ROI tied to them. For example, Gatorade sponsoring the NFL with orange coolers. You can’t put ROI on that orange barrel being dumped over the coaches head at the end of the game, but it is the very essence of the brand. Like sponsorships, social media is difficult to measure ROI, but great for building a brand and connecting with your customers.
Well I have to totally disagree with many of the comments and with you Jonas, respectfully. Mostly because the average person doesn’t know how to use social media, plain and simple(Michelle’s report does a great job of cutting to the chase on SM’s usefulness). Most are filled with HYPE that they don’t see the real use – to develop influence and to get people off that social network to your site. That, and too lazy to test to see where their traffic comes from – I get 30% of my traffic from social media from doing about 15-30 minutes a day and the traffic converts! Really people – find a network, join a relevant group/forum and contribute. If it doesn’t send traffic or convert, drop it and move on to the next one. Oh and stay off of twitter while trying to work ;D…wasted a lot of time there and while its useful for directly connecting with many people in real time, unless you have aims for status, its not a high converting site – its good to be there but guard your time is the bottom line. Peace.
Agree totally. Web 2.0 is overhyped and way overblown as a marketing tool. It may have it’s place for SEO but that is more slanted towards blog and forum commenting unless the publisher has a nofollow tag attached to comments. It seems that eventually the social sites get over run by marketers and it ends up being more marketers trying ot sell their stuff to other marketers.
ROI is the bottom line.
If your niche is heavily into social media then of course there may be a good ROI but it all boils down to where your target market is.
Status King Facebook Obama Bailout Ads - Costly : Neal Harmon @ 6:02 am
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I am never wrong, I am just late or early!
I agree with you 110%! Just like you, I am on all of the big Social Media sites and then some. I spend 90% of my time on Google, Yahoo, MSN, Ebay and countless affiliates trying to make money.
Finally someone who nails it. I have friends/associates who spend hours and hours and did I say hours on these time wasters.
So what if you have 10,000 twitter followers. The so-called guru’s are NOT wasting their time on these sites. They are outsourcing it.
Not only that but your comment about spending time where the buyers are–right on. I too loved Michelle’s social media guide.
Seriously here is the cycle some are following:
open your email
open your tweetdeck
open your youtube
open your facebook
and 3-5 times every MINUTE you are refreshing that!
Get off those sites and find the buyers.
Thanks John for this very refreshing and honest post.
I agree with you to a point…I found Michelle MacPhearson on twitter, and now I’m part of her Crowd Mountain group – and LOVING it. She’s awesome.
She thinks you are awesome, and that led me to you. It’s likely I will become a customer of yours to learn outsourcing.
This all happened as a result of social media! Very cool.
With that said, I completely agree that we have to manage it strategically and not let it manage us.
Thanks for this post. It’s a great “re-focus” piece!
Kate
@kate_saunders (follow me on twitter! grin.)
John,
I like what you said. You are fantastic. WELL SAID. Somebody has to say thing.
I agre with the fact that all the people do the same thing over and over again. Why? Because we all try to be the same this days. NOone is thinking wuth their own head, they just follow. We are all followers. But if we go against the current then we became millionair. That is the way the new millionair are thinking this days too.
We need peolple like you to say what other do not like to hear. But the truth is not sweat.
Love you man.