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Stepping Out of the Walled Garden In some manner this is what business people have to do, step out of the mind set that everyone knows who they are and what they sell, and all they have to do is open the shop in the morning and people will walk though the door Sure they advertise, if they are a small business, yearly they place an ad in the back of a telephone book and weekly wait for the local newspaper or radio rep to call in and say have I got a deal for you and if they are a bigger business the sales department contacts their advertising agency who makes the same arrangements Sure many have a website but how many have any idea why, maybe they consider that having a website somehow puts them in the 21st century, but how many attempt to advertise that their website exists as in optimizing it for the search engines. Adding the name of the company website to the bottom of the company stationery is not advertising the website. Or maybe they are still in the mindset of the walled garden; everyone knows who we are and what we sell, so if they want us they will find us A world exists outside the garden Now we have the Social Media which in some ways is only an extension online of the usual or normal social interaction or conversation that happens off-line I was trying to explain this to someone, and the reply was along the lines of, it's like when the girls come over and someone says I like that perfume, where did you get it and you explain where and the price and someone else says have you tried this one. This shop has it. And by the time we have finished we know what shop in town has what and where are the best deals In a manner of speaking yes, and it all happened without the shop advertising in the traditional media The traditional media has its place but the business model is broken, no longer can anyone in business stay solely with the advertising methods previously used. Customers are not where the reps or the agency say they are. Tarps, circulation figures and rating points don't count for much nowadays, the social media has arrived But even if the people in business embrace the online social media how will they do it. Obtain followers then gate crash the party saying listen to me (any followers will soon tire) or go to the other extreme, follow no one, post many tweets and wonder why nothing happens A re-think is required which will require engaging with an audience. Being where the customer is. The mindset, everyone knows who we are and what we sell does not work well today. The Social Media is prompting a re-think in how people in business attract the customer; it is an art form most businesses are not familiar with, as previously they left it for others to do It is a process best done in-house and will require the business to step out of their walled garden and re-think and quote "make the business a natural part of peoples stream of information" Contact Firstsearch