An Internet Epiphany

On December 8th I will give a presentation to a SCORE audience in downtown St Pete. The title of the workshop is "How Social Media Fits into Your Business Plan."

I've been working on it for weeks, and this week I began finalizing my PowerPoint slides.  Near the end, I realized how varied Internet marketing can be:

Internet marketing is as personal as selecting clothing!



How many people are there in America and western Europe combined? Other than nudists, how many can you imagine are dressed exactly alike at this moment?

Yes, there are certain basic requirements for clothing: Outer wear. Underwear (maybe, maybe not). Shoes. But choices get complicated, fast, when you get into specifics: Shoes or sandals? Depends on weather: rain, sleet, beach sunshine. Heels or flats? (Cowboy boots for men have heels!) You also have to learn how to select sizes.

In addition to the billions of choices and options, there is a comparable diversity in the level of skills people have to make those choices.  Mercy is a fashionista, but I can clothe myself well enough to not embarrass her.

I'm trying to wrap my head around this: there is really no one-size-fits-all advice for clothes - or advice for Internet marketing. It's really a balance between the knowledge/skill level of the adviser and the knowledge/skill level of the person being advised.

Here are the topics promised in my presentation:

• What is Social Media? What is Social Media Marketing?
  
• How can you make Social Media successfully fit into your Business Plan?
  
• What are some of the more popular Social Media sites, and how do you choose the ones that are the best fit for your business?
  
• How can you optimize the results achieved through your Social Media Marketing efforts?

Now, using search-and-replace, I'd like to make an analogy to illustrate the challenge I faced in preparing my talk. Imagine if you were asked to give a talk to the people in your neighborhood, and these were the subjects you are supposed to cover: (pardon the pun).

• What is Clothing? What are Choices do you have for Clothing?
• How can you make Clothing Choices successfully fit into your Dressing Plan?
• What are some of the more popular Clothing Choices sites, and how do you choose the Clothing Choices that are the best fit for your life?
• How can you optimize the results achieved through your Clothing Choices Dressing efforts?

(...just thinkin' out loud...)