"You Tube? Best marketing tool EVER!"
"If you're in business, you absolutely, positively have to be on MySpace."
"All the best marketers have blogs...or podcasts...or streaming video on their websites..."
Sound familiar? It seems as if a day doesn't go by without some new technological tidbit, guaranteed to transform the business world as we know it, is making all the papers. Blogging is hot one day, passe the next. You Tube is the place you want to be -- unless you don't want to be there, of course!
How is a Nichepreneur to make any sense of it all? How do you identify what tools are best to promote your products and services and which are destined to be no more than a flash in the pan phenomenon, long on promise and short on follow-through?
More importantly, how are you going to find the time to figure it all out? When you're busy running your business, finding the hours needed to learn about a new technology can be challenging enough -- spending all of that time and energy only to discover that something is really not for you is a frustration you don't need!
Save time and minimize frustration by adopting this six step process for approaching new technology. Followed consistently, this process will allow you to identify viable promotion opportunities, discern which ones appear to have sticking power, streamline the learning process, and adopt best practices right from day one!
Step One: Don't Believe the Hype
Enthusiastic, cheerleading-style articles touting the latest tech tool as the solution to all of your marketing challenges are fun to read -- but they seldom provide enough information to make a solid business decision!
Put yourself on a short rein, and don't let enthusiasm for the flavor-of-the-week be your only guide. Do your research. Discover what demographics are adopting the technology being touted: the audience for Twitter-powered microblogs is different than the crowd downloading podcasts onto their cell phones.
Longevity is definitely a relative term in this environment: internet trends move at the speed of light. However, longevity is key in determining when a fad has staying power: blogging has been around for years now, and has proven business applications, while other, newer tech applications have yet to prove themselves. Consider if you want to be on the cutting edge, taking the risk to try out the new tech and benefit by being an early adopter, or if you'd be more comfortable going with a known and proven platform.
Step Two: Seek Out Reputable Resources to Serve as Guides
While you're doing your due diligence and researching this new technological tool, you'll want to pay special attention to where your information is coming from. Not all resources are equally valuable. Look to those individuals who are consistently cited as an Expert by others: it's a good idea to have a rule of three for this. If three disparate sources all reference the same individual or work, there's a better than fair chance that that resource has some real value that you can benefit from.
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