Internet Marketing NY, Privacy & Seven Foot Basketball Giants: What your organization can learn from growing quickly

Posted by Salem Global on May 25, 2010

So Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, “sort-of” apologizes this week for the “lack of” privacy controls that basically “missed the mark.” You can read it for yourself here: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ytech_gadg/20100524/tc_ytech_gadg/ytech_gadg_tc2204 …but the truth is that I agree with the camp that says that if the website is free and you choose to use it, you BETTER read the fine print… When we started commercializing the Internet back in the 90′s, it was a great marketing ploy to give stuff away for free… and then sell advertising based on traffic etc. etc. So sometimes the model worked, sometimes it didn’t. And along the way, some businesses modified their business models and some went out of business and some made money. Millions in fact.

But years ago I wrote an open letter to Zuckerberg and told him he was an idiot for not taking the 1 BILLION (that’s Billion with a “B” my friends). I said that anyone in their 20′s that can get an offer for a billion should take the money and run. Invest it and live off of it for generations and generations. But Mark wrote back and said that he thinks Facebook (and he) are worth much more than a measly ONE billion. And he has proven himself CORRECT. So much for my advice….

Do you, dear reader, have any concept of what 400 MILLION users on Facebook represents? Do you know the old saying “if I had a nickel for every time I _________?” Well basically Facebook says that 400 million multiplied by a nickel equals BILLIONS. True there are naysayers out there who don’t think there is any money behind the traffic but what they don’t realize is customization, personalization and keyword targeting. Let’s compare Facebook with 400 million users to a television event/ program that only 100 million people watch every year usually at the end of January. Yes – it’s an American Football game otherwise known as the Super Bowl. Super Bowl commercials go for around 1 million to 5 million dollars per :30 seconds. So if you add up the 90 or so commercials that get aired for the 3 hours of the game, we are talking about $500 million dollars in revenue generated from advertising alone. Now, let’s take that number and multiply it by EVERY DAY OF THE YEAR!!! (That’s 365) And what do you get? Yes. A GAZILLION dollars.

So who would like to ask me if I think social media is a worthwhile investment? I can also break down this number for you and show you how each and every one of us, whether you are in B2B or B2C can benefit from Facebook and LinkedIn and the scores of other social media websites and opportunities out there.

And speaking worthwhile investments – here are two more stories for you this week…

I was having lunch with a friend of a friend this past Sunday who owns some real estate properties as well as a building and lumber supply company. Smart guy. Anything he needs for his commercial and residential business he buys from his other business. Gotta love making money on both ends of the deal. Anyway, his son graduates from college with an accounting degree and starts interviewing around. His father then makes him an offer and says he will double his salary if he comes to work for him under two conditions. First is he lives at home and doesn’t move into the city and second is he wakes up at 5 AM and commutes with him. Son says he will do it under one more condition, that his father joins him at the gym. Long story short, father loses 30 pounds and is in the best shape of his most recent life due to his son’s motivation. Did it work out for the father professionally? Well after the son comes into the company he tells his father that they should buy all of the domain names associated with his business and industry for real estate and building supply. Within one month he rents out 60 residential and commercial units that his senior salesperson wasn’t able to do in this economy. Using Internet marketing skills, social media and domain name strategies, the green college grad turned the biggest profit his father has seen in years. Was it worth it to offer his son double anything he could find?

Last story – Growing up in India can be hard. Read or watch Slumdog Millionaire and Water. This story is straight out of fantasyland. http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1087336 Basically, two brothers who are each seven feet tall emigrate to Canada where the family has a better life opportunity. But then the kids get into basketball and become superstars. Headed to high school in the USA and then if they don’t hurt themselves will have stellar careers in the NBA. Check out this video of them playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g1Y04AMkvdg

Final message of the week – use social media, the skills given to you and while you are growing, be smart, take it easy and don’t listen to anyone who tells you that you have limits. Oh – and read the fine print… If you want to know more about Facebook and how to market your company on the Internet and in social media, call me at 212-993-5828, email raphis@salemglobal.com or check out www.SalemGlobal.com for more information. Free website consultation to the first 5 people who read this whole post