Socialnomics!

I found the Socialnomics to be a very interesting book with simple ideas that could be carried forward to any business. In fact, I have already recommended the book so several small businesses in my neighborhood (Camano Island/Stanwood). Three points that I found the most interesting are:

1. People trust the opinion of people over advertising

In today's world with information a click away, consumers are becoming more and more selective about the products they buy. For example, just today I looked at movie reviews because I am not willing to risk spending my time and money on a movie that I wouldn't enjoy. This shows consumer willingness to trust customer reviews over product advertisements. Companies will probably find more value in looking at product reviews than in advertising because a good product will produce its own advertising through word of mouth.

2. Don't put all your eggs in one basket

With the rapid growth of social media, it is a daunting task to keep up. Change is difficult becuase of uncertianty. With rapid change companies have to be willing and able to adapt. By leveraging ideas on what is already successful and on loyal employees, businesses can lower investment costs to maintain economic flexibilty to avoid missing opprotunities.

3. "It's better to live a social media life making mistakes than living a social media life doing nothing"

Actively participating in social media is difficult becuase of fear of competitors, making mistakes, etc. However, inactivity will lead to missed opportunities. For example, my family owns a small furntiure and home decor store. Other businesses similar to ours have jumped on the social media bandwagon and have created websites, blogs, and facebook pages. When we finally decided to participate by creating a facebook page and hiring someone to create a website for us. It was amazingly successful until our website manager quit. Now we are stuck with a website with photos of merchandise that are from January... I have not tried to maintain the site myself becuase I don't know how, but after reading Socialnomics I am willing to take the risk of messing up the entire website because doing nothing is worse than making a mistake.