Fire any consultant who says Social Media cannot be monetized

The idea that social media cannot be profitable is ridiculous. Don't believe me? Look at what has been done with forums, a kind of social media that existed long before the hype and frenzy over Twitter.

Mountain Bike Review Forum:  198,183 members http://forums.mtbr.com/

Christian Forums: 224,279 members http://www.christianforums.com/

Skateboard city: 30,287 members http://www.skateboard-city.com/messageboard/

Click on the links and you will see lots of ads. 

While I agree there is a danger in over commercializing the sections of a social media site where sharing occurs, that does not mean we have to build them for charity. If this is the advice your social media consultant is giving you, fire them.

Have we lost all our publishing savvy because a few 20 year old social media consultants tell us our models are broken? Don’t buy it!

There are many ways to profit from social media. For starters, try this basic one: No ads on the social sharing sections of the site but use the site as a hub to attract an audience. Once you have an audience, go make money in all the usual ways; webinars, newsletters, e-blasts etc.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg (shown above) is betting that he can sell targeted ads on Facebook. Many pundits believe he can do it. So can you.

Comments

[sales jobs]

I think any person who wishes to sell into a particular market would benefit by 'tapping into' that particular network they are interested in. Social media is the future for sales people to communicate into....well actually its already here

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Have we lost all our publishing savvy because a few 20 year old social media consultants tell us our models are broken? Don’t buy it!