The business of blogging

Periods of growth and transition are rarely recognized by the people living in the time period in which change is occurring.

Almost every contemporary media expert out there says that this 10-to-15 year period in communications technology and business is going to shape the next 100.

I believe that is true.

According the most recent Social Media Marketing Report 2010, via Forbes:

* 81% of businesses using social media generated exposure
* 61% Increased subscriber/traffic/opt-in list
* 56% Resulted in new business partnerships
* 52% Increased search engine rankings
* 48% Generated qualified leads
* 45% Reduced overall marketing expenses
* 35% Closed more business

What’s more – recent statistics on social media users show:

* 33% visit social media sites to engage in product research before making a purchasing decision
* 47% say social media sites influence their decision to purchase specific companies services & brands
* 26% of respondents changed their minds about purchasing a product after reading about it on a social media site.

Fact is – business hinges on barriers to entry.

Not everyone can do what you do. That's how you make money.

But the Internet has destroyed the business model of traditional publishing.

Blogging, social media and the Internet has made everyone and anyone author, advertiser and publisher. And it's here to stay. And businesses that get with the program are making more money. Bottom line.

Content is still king but there are no barriers to entry.

People only pay attention is the information that is relevant. And the Internet actually jives with the way we've evolved as a species. Think about it – when you step into a meadow, or a bustling city square, you size up the situation. You evaluate the important stuff. Threats, danger and possible ways to propagate the species. That's the way we work.

And that's the way the Internet works, too. Just on a macro level.

Instead of evaluating a threat to our physical person we evaluate threats to our time on earth. Pointless things that limit that precious time. So we avoid them because the time we waste on them actually leads us one step closer to death.

Access to everything means infinite time can be wasted. We have to be choosy.

We are much more savvy than we once were.

Things like classifieds, commercials and billboards are relics of the past. The modern equivalent are cookies and analytics that track Internet browsing trends, following consumers around the net and placing ads on the sidebar of every Web page you look at.

If you don't believe that there are program that track you, via your IP address, every time you Google something, check out this story.

Kinda blows the mind doesn't it?

But it goes right back to what I was saying at the beginning – times change faster than people can change with them. And that's especially true in law and legislation. There's a lot that tech companies are doing right now that will probably be illegal in 20-30-50 years (at least I hope). But the geezers in Congress aren't thinking about regulating the Internet – they've got bigger problems.

Oil spills, war, and economic depression.

Meanwhile, we are experiencing the democratization of the media – a blessed decentralization of power.