How Social Media Works

Bill Cammack — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:27:55 +0000

The other night, I realized that someone I was aware of via Social Media was going to be at an event I had planned to attend, so I sent her a “Friends Request”.

The last I had paid attention to her online presence, she was living in California, so I figured this was my opportunity to meet her and tell her I enjoyed her work (on-air talent / hostess / reporter) before she flew away again.

So I’m at this event, and someone I don’t recognize walks up to me and says “Hi. You friended me today! :D”. Looking more closely, I realized who she was, greeted her and we started chatting.

Come to find out that a) she’s moved here to NYC, and b) I thought she was “only” on-air talent, but she’s actually a producer, a complimentary position to mine as a video editor.

Her Side

So, what happened here?â€¦ Because she was doing what she does naturally, I became aware of her as online talent and someone who’s connected, however vaguely, to what I do as a hobby as well as for work. Personally, I like to give credit where credit’s due, and I’m actually a FAN of very many of my friends who do what we do. So, I was glad to meet her AT ALL. Next, she had a friendly disposition. There are lots of people who are good in front of the camera and horrible in f2f conversation. Third, she was now a New Yorker, which is like when a player gets traded to your home teamâ€¦ you’re suddenly MORE INTERESTED in her career, etc. Fourth, I find out that professionally, we’re in the same field as well as having mutual friends via Social Media that can vouch for her professional talents (or lack thereof!) as well as what kind of person she is, socially.

Therefore, having chatted with her in person for approximately 20 minutes on one day out of my entire life.. Combining that with her “online resume” and the relationships / social capital she’s built via Social Media gives me a very well rounded concept of who she is, what she’s about and where I can immediately get more information if I need it. All of a sudden, I’m much more likely to recommend her to someone who’s looking for a producer on a project. So, while she hasn’t directly monetized her Social Media, meaning I didn’t click on any ads on her site and I didn’t buy any goods or services from her, she’s converted her social capital into professional recognition plus a positive social experience.

My Side

Looking at it from the other angleâ€¦ Because I’m interested in online video, I became aware of her and a fan of hers. Because I socialize via SM, I found out that she was on the list for a party I was planning to attend, so I “Friended” her. Without those two, I would have been at the same party with her, but wouldn’t have met her. Generally, when I go to crowded events, there are lots of women I don’t meet. There are actually lots of women I don’t even SEE, because I probably know between 20-60 people in that location and never stop interacting with them.

From my conversation with her, I found out even more things I have in common with her socially and professionally, so I also achieved what I’ll call an accidental conversion. I didn’t go to the party to meet a producer that might need an editor for projects, but that’s what happened. I didn’t give her a business card, but I didn’t need to because we’re already connected via Social Media. I don’t carry cards anyway. If people don’t know how to Google “Bill”, I really can’t see what kind of business relationship we could possibly have. :D

Your Side

This is why I was saying I’m a special case when it comes to this. What I do is NECESSARY in the realm of Social Media. People have to make videos. People have to record audio. People have to blog. People have to make connections with other people. Everything they need to do, I do every day, in a quality fashion. My conversion occurs when someone decides to hire me to do what they don’t want to do or can’t do as well as I can. If you don’t know how your conversion occurs, there might not BE one.

SM is for communicating, listening, learning and sharing. Unless you get paid for one of those things, you probably won’t make money directly FROM Social Media. There are lots of people that make money by teaching other people how to use SM or by using the knowledge they already have to become the Media Department for several clients, but that’s the same process I’ve already described.. using SM to demonstrate your proficiencies in SM and attracting people who would rather pay you to do something right that it’ll take them much longer to do as well as doing a much poorer job, making their business look low-budget, thus attracting fewer customers and having their corner-cutting directly affect their bottom line.

Businesses use the search capabilities to find instances of people talking about their brands or products. They make communities or groups or pages so that people can have somewhere to find out about current events or promotions they’re offering. Some of them hire ghost-writers to be their internet presence for them. Any way you look at it, Social Media is a MEANS and not an END. Amassing an audience is only the first part. It’s like booking a theater and advertising your play. If nobody cares about your production, you won’t sell any tickets. If you sell some tickets and your production is garbage, word of mouth will work AGAINST you instead of FOR you. If you add everyone in creation and then you don’t have anything to say that’s useful to them or informs them of why they should use your company for something instead of the myriad others that provide the same services, you’re not going to see much return for the time, energy and money you spent setting up your network.

Social Media is basically a light that you can shine on yourself. It’s where the game STARTS, not where it ends and you get to relax and watch the profits roll in. It’s your opportunity to reach a global audience or a local audience that might be looking for a company that does what you do. Before you shine that light, you want to figure out what your endgame is, what you’re offering and how you’re going to express that to people without shilling and making yourself a pariah.

Your primary opportunity here exists in socializationâ€¦ getting to know people and letting them know things about you so they can make educated decisions about whether they’d like to include you in their social or business plans. This is why it’s called SOCIAL Media.

If it had been about everyone trading commercials about themselves and amassing a bunch of people you can sell stuff to and make money, then it would have been called BUSINESS Mediaâ€¦ and personally, I wouldn’t even be involved.

~ Bill Cammack | @BillCammack

How To Get Over Your Ex-Girlfriend

Bill Cammack — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 13:24:53 +0000

When a woman leaves you, you may feel heartbroken, depressed, wistful, horny, betrayed, disappointed… :( any number of feelings, consecutively or simultaneously. Here are five tips on how to move on with your life, and learn to love again………

1) Have sex with her sister

hahahahaha Just Kidding! :D

… unless her sister’s HAWT!

This won’t help you feel better about yourself if her sister’s like “eeeh, ok”, because she’s not an upgrade. Depending on how mediocre she is, you may end up feeling EXPONENTIALLY WORSE! :(

Also, this does NOT… repeat… DOES *NOT* work with her best-girlfriend! Do Not Make This Mistake. A lot of women are extremely emotionally volatile & catty. Their friendships with other women turn on a dime… like happened in her relationship to YOU! :D This means that there’s the potential that in the very near future, your ex-girlfriend won’t care AT ALL about you banging her friend, so you basically wasted your time. (Note for non-Americans… “Banging” is a slang term for “having sex”, most likely derived from the sound the woman’s head makes against the headboard)

2) Have sex with her mother

ok, *NOW* I’m kidding! :D

… unless her mother’s RICH!…….. and HAWT!

3) Get a hobby

Take that extra energy that you have, now that you’re not tappin’ that three times a day, and start working out. You want to meet women in the gym anyway, because they’re WYSIWYG. They don’t get to hide their muffin-tops under those Pee-wee Herman maternity dresses.

Besides… You were probably getting flabby anyway, since you knew you were going to get laid, regardless, so working out is a double-win for you.

4) Make tons of money

The best revenge is living well. Now that she’s not with you, buy that yacht and sail past her house every Saturday with your new girlfriends that you picked up at the gym! :D Rev your new Ferrari’s engine outside that diner where she’s working the overnight shift to make ends meet after her regular job on the assembly line at the sock factory.

oh… wait….. Make sure you didn’t have any kids with her before y’all broke up! If you did, skip this tip, because the more money you make, the more you have to give her in alimony and child support, so you’d actually be better off trying to figure out how to get her back instead of buying boats and cars. :D

5) Drink alcohol

Helps you forget your ex ever existed and makes her sister look better, in case you decide to try #1. :D

~Bill

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