Businesses, Reclaim Your Freedom - Boycott Facebook

[Troy 2,534]

This idea is in reaction to CDBurns stating that he would be deleting his Facebook (FB) profile.  His motivation was motivated by the fact that is was not working well for him.

 

I’d actually planned to stop using FB myself, save for remote or automated updates, but then I started thinking why even bother with those updates, I should just cut the cord completely too. 

 

My motivation for cutting the "FB Cord" however is perhaps little different that CDBurn.  I can get FB to drive traffic to my site. However over time I find myself dedicating more time on FB, joining groups, engaging with others, liking stuff, promoting posts and so forth, at the expense on AALBC.com.  I'm enriching FB at AALBC.com's expense.

 

Then I thought it would be a more profound statement to black out my Facebook Fanpage wall (using an image like the one below)

 

 

I could then leave a link to a message on Huria Search (an independent, advertisement and social media free site, designed to promote other independent Black owned content providers), with a concise message explaining my reason for leaving Facebook and ask others join me.

 

Ultimately, the goal will be to develop ways that we could use our own website to share and promote content in our own virtual social network, where each site keeps their individuality and profits from their content. 

 

I’m not even considering asking for the masses to give up Facebook (it will be hard enough getting content providers to do it).  My focus is getting writers to stop posting content, opinions, ideas, stories, hosting groups or fanpages on Facebook.  Instead use their own websites as their main platform and eliminate dependence on Facebook.

 

I knew we were in trouble collectively when authors started saying "Follow Me on FaceBook and Like Me on Twitter" before mentioning their own websites, and they stopped mentioning other websites altogether.

 

I’m fairly certain I’m going to proceed. 

 

What do you all think?  

 

[CDBurns 641]

We are both leaving for very similar reasons and I can postpone deleting the page for 14 days. I will think about that for a moment, before I make my final decision. I just know that all author's are doing exactly what you have just said. We post Facebook and Twitter before mentioning our sites and in many ways we interact with people more on Facebook which waste vital clicks to get to our pages. As you know we all only have about three scrolls/clicks before a person moves on to another website or back to Facebook.

 

The thing is we all have to generate some type of blogroll and then we have to be sure to begin interacting or at least visiting other websites daily.

 

This is what writers have to understand, and I'm speaking from sneaker experience which translates to any place where we rely on sales, when you sell through your own site you make more money. I'm sure the problem for most is that they don't have a strong e-mail list and they don't know how to generate enough traffic to get people to their sites.

 

I've been able to get people to my sneaker site because I have what they want and people still google shoes. We know that googling things will lead to the bigger sites first, so, "how do you get people to your site?" is the million dollar question.

 

I've made certain now to visit your message board daily to check in. I may not scroll through all of the blogs, but I did click through and buy a pair of Allen Edmonds shoes the other day. How will people see your links to other sites? My link list alphabetized and in widget areas throughout my site. Every author isn't as web savvy so how do we get them up to speed?

[Troy 2,534]

First, thanks for responding here rather on Facebook Chris.  Smart.  I always post a summary of an article from AALBC.com on Facebook, but folks just reply on Facebook. 

 

The really frustrating thing is that comments reflect the fact that readers have not clicked through to read the full article and some of these folks are people who fused to post here regularly.  

 

I understand that an significant portion of activity, on Facebook, comes from a mobile device so leaving the FB mobile ap to go to the browser to read an web based article is not something a lot of folks do.

 

When you sell through your own site you make more money.  Of course.  The problem is most customers only by from Amazon. 

 

Consider this, the other day I was looking for a replacement water filter for my coffee machine.  I have been so conditioned to believe that Amazon has the best prices I look there first.  The lowest price I saw on Amazon was $56 bucks.  Times are hard so, I balked at a price which seemly to exceeded the cost of the coffee machine itself.  So I looked around on other sites (imagine that!). 

 

Digging deep (going 3, 4 pages into search results) I found a company who sold the EXACT SAME water filter for $12.99!  I thought something was wrong so I continued looking and found a couple of other companies with similar prices, so I ordered from one of them.  The product arrive three days later ,tracked the entire way. 

 

If the Amazon price was say, $20 bucks, I would not have bothered to search further--and never discovered the $12.99 price.  Today I would not buy ANYTHING online by only checking Amazon.

 

In my world of books, specifically the Black book world, virtually everyone buys from Amazon--even when presented with superior alternatives.  I'm collective data on this behavior now -- it is mind blowing!

 

I related that story because I understand how people use the web.  Twitter, Facebook, Wikipedia and Amazon dominate because that is where Google sends folks.  Something like 86% (I may not remember the exact stat. but it is a larger percentage) of people running a search do not go beyond the 1st page 94% do not go beyond the 2nd page. 

 

Smaller sites are only discovered in 2014 by the most most motivated.  I know about some of these sites because I dig deep for book sites.  But for book sites you have to go 20, 30 pages deep and even I don't have time for that. 

 

If you are a well known author, people can find you because people simply search on that authors name.  If you are an unknown author--forget about it being discovered!  This is why we need sites like mine and others--but we are losing visitors everyday.  Social media can not pick up this slack. 

 

Raising awareness will be challenging.  But I don't think we have much of a choice if we want to see the WWW become completely dominated by Social media, Amazon and Google.

 

If you decide not to post the banner let me know what you dislike about the idea. Maybe I can adjust it.  I need other to join.  In much the same way people put hoodies on to support Trayvon.  I'd like to see something similar-- but permanent.

 

I know one aversion for some will be potential punishment by Facebook.  But if you are not using FB;s platform, you have nothing to lose.  But I'm not completely confident Facebook's influence is restricted to just their platform...

[CDBurns 641]

I agree with everything you've just written. I'm paid by Amazon and know more about that marketplace than probably any person could imagine. But I've learned how to beat the system as a marketplace store. I can explain that some other time. The perception that Amazon is the best is just that. A search for products is completely necessary to find the best deal, but even I ealized how little i was selling on my site so I moved to Amazon so I wouldn't have to work so hard to find customers. In return I'm sacrificing 15% of my sales which is crazy, but a necessary evil because people don't buy from my site as often. The way I've countered this is by setting up my whole sneaker shop as an Amazon Associates ad. Every Buy Now is an ad instead of an actual purchase. I would still like to sell the same amount through my site, but people trust certain brands.

 

In regard to the picture, the only reason I am not using it is because I'm removing my author's page completely. What I'm thinking about is leaving it with a link. But this is what's funny, you'll get a kick out of this one:

 

I'm currently running an ad for my Kickstarter. Since I've been writing that I'm leaving Facebook, interaction on my ad has dropped off the map! I haven't had 1 click through today. This is to Facebook's detriment since they aren't paid if I no one clicks, but I find it odd that my ad is being outbidded all of a sudden.

 

So I don't have an aversion, I'm just trying to decide whether to leave it up or go with the protest. This is going to be a very difficult protest, but you can't get started without taking a step. This is a start. I updated the video html also.

[Troy 2,534]

Post a link to your kickstarter here in a new post.

 

You might also want to check out http://www.blackbloggersconnect.com basically it is a network of bloggers.  I'm going to start using it more.

 

Chris, in a few years all of this will be moot as Facebook will likely go the way of every other platform before it.  People are already talking about Twitter is on a decline now...

[CDBurns 641]

I don't know about that. I kind of think things work in a cycle, but Facebook was the first social media platform to go public in such a dramatic fashion (failed fashion). Since it is a publicly traded entity it is not like Twitter which isn't public yet and has never really worked out how to monetize their information as "well" as FB. I think our conversation is important simply from the standpoint that we are both learning from it. I haven't been this invested in CB Publish in a very long time. But working through these kinks will definitely help you when you decide to create more of a social platform for your blog. All of it is important work and I'm glad we're on it.

 

Oh, don't worry about the Kickstarter project. If it doesn't fund, it allows me to place all of my energy into CB Publishing for the first time in 14 years. Something dies, something lives... que sera and all that, lol.

[Cynique 2,308]

This devil's advocate is curious. What  do you 2 offer as an alternative to the millions of everyday people with humdrum lives for whom FaceBook offers  a place to go and interact on many levels with other people with humdrum lives? FaceBook is after all, a self-declared social media, just like online dating and porn are.  In the real world, what threat is posed to the freedom of the individuals who go to these sites by choice?  Nothing in this existence is without risk.  Life is an obstacle course and people have to use discretion, but it is their prerogative to pick their own poison and this includes immersing themselves in the cyber community. 

 

Manipulation by the corporate world is everywhere. Amazon and Google are typical.   Just recently women have been advised about how the Fashion industry lies when tagging garments so that vain gullible females will think they're fitting into sizes smaller than they really are. Look at the diet industry and the cosmetic one, both examples of the things that are being shoved down our throats with false promises and deceptive practices in an ongoing quest to make our "avatars"  more appealing.  We are a nation that wallows in superficiality. 

 

Why you want to "unfriend" FaceBook is understandable for your purposes, however, when you elect to tell people what they should not do with their free time, you, yourselves, are asking them to defer to your dictates. Yes, invasion of privacy is an issue, but it's nothing new, and it all boils down to what everybody knows about everybody else. We are all in the public domain, including those doing the snooping, not to mention the POTUS, himself.

 

I am not a big fan of FaceBook, but I still go there to be amused because I am a people watcher. I also appreciate being able to hear about my hometown acquaintances many of whom are droppin like flies and whose families post their obituaries there. 

 

What I am also not a big fan of is the glut of self-published books unleashed by a multitude of wanna-bes looking for venues to plug the trite, mundane, poorly-edited, barely-proof read books they are offering for sale. But, that's just me.      And you know me...   

[CDBurns 641]

I think that is the dilemma. Facebook for many is a means of interacting with a past that they need for validation, or in some cases they need to be nosey. Asking people to leave something that so thoroughly allows people to disappear into nothingness for hours, is like asking a crackhead to put the pipe down. I think Troy is attempting to create a movement amongst writers. Not necessarily getting people to leave altogether.

 

I used to get a nice little check from Google. I don't have half of the traffic I used to and for my sneaker company, the "friends" I have on Facebook have literally ignored my Kickstarter which is really what pushed me over the edge with this. Since most Kickstarters get their biggest push from those in your immediate circle.

 

I admit I've never really promoted my writing, but the easiest thing for me to do is remove my author's page and create a social network for anyone interested in interacting with me (which is a very small circle).

 

I think if any person awakens to the fact that ad revenue and blogs are slowly dying, then Troy has opened eyes and I have given people a better understanding of how important it is to visit websites, not just Facebook.

 

I think the thing that is going to have to occur to help get people away from Facebook is a list. People are going to have to begin sharing more websites on their walls. I think someone needs to create a meme , since they are passed around faster than anything else in social media. That meme should basically tell people to choose 5 websites a day and favorite those sites and visit those sites to check for updates daily. This will reinvent browsing which is actually dying. People no longer search the web for information, they simply click targets away from Facebook and FB stays open behind whatever page they open waiting on them to come back.

[Troy 2,534]

Chris Twitter started trading publicly last year. 

 

Also I trust you are not taking the lack of support, from your inner circle, on Kickstarter personally.  The folks most likely to generate successful campaigns are those who need it the least (think Spike Lee).  These are also the same people who benefit the most from social media.  Did you see that article I wrote about Twitter?

 

Cynique, in reality, my target audience are not people with the "humdrum lives" you describe.  Facebook can keep those folks; they are not well read, don't have substantive opinions, and are not very interesting to me.  I'm most interested in people like the ones participating in this conversation; smart, with the ability to articulate a well formed opinion.  I like people who willing to learn, people interested in perspectives other an their own and are not insulted when people disagree with them. 

 

What drew me to this site (speaking as a visitor now), was the wealth of books, ideas and personalities--they are fascinating to me.  Cynique I would never have had an opportunity to encounter someone like you were it not for this website, and we certainly would have never crossed paths on Facebook. 

 

You can't have a conversation like this one on Facebook.  Where people can post photos, videos and 500 word responses.  But more important to me is that I'll be able to find this conversation in a week, a year and even a decade from now.  Does anyone have any confidence that anything they post on Facebook to day will easily retrievable in a few months, let alone a few years... 

 

People exclaim Facebook is easier to use, but from an end user perspective the functionality is VERY limited, so it should be easier to use.  Indeed it is designed for the masses so it HAS to be easy.

 

The appeal to Facebook, like reality TV, or even porn is that it is shallow, appeals to baser emotions and is easy to consume.  So of course it will appeal to many people and the marketers interested in selling to them.

 

I know my target audience is small, but it is certainly large enough to support another ten AALBC.com's., but today we barely have one.

 

Sure smart people go to Facebook for the occasional diversion, but increasingly they go there because they don't feel they have any options.

 

My goal is to help content providers (including writers) understand why investing so much time on Facebook is not in their self interest--if they hope for their websites to survive.  I also want to work with them to raise awareness of our respective properties. 

 

I've been maintaining AALBC.com for almost 17 years, and I have been building websites for almost 20 years.  I've also observed the internet, as it relates to content for Black people, since the world wide web was born, so I have confidence in my opinion.  I do not think any other website interested in my type of audience can survive on their own over the longer term. 

 

If we fail we will continue to see a dramatic reduction in the number of sites providing meaningful content. 

 

In fact we won't need Google anymore because everything will be on Facebook, Amazon and Wikipeda.

[CDBurns 641]

Very good points. I guess I overlooked Twitter having a public offering...It has never been the beast that Facebook is, but you definitely are right about everything else here.

 

On the Kickstarter, I am definitely taking it personal. I'm an ex coach who sent over 100 players to college on scholarships and none of those college coaches have even responded to my project. They owe me their jobs in a small way. I deal with other sneaker people through messaging all day when I have Jordans in stock, but they haven't supported it at all. If I simply had the players I coached and coaches I worked with fund 10 bucks, it would have been funded on the first day.

 

You are right though and I think I've said this before, I'd like to take a look at how many Black projects are funded on Kickstarter. I actually backed the Spike Lee joint, and then I realized... he's Spike Lee! There is nothing wrong with supporting him, but there are so many young film makers who need that type of support and these guys won't even respond to a request for the bigger guys to share their projects. I actually pulled my funding and funded two much smaller projects in different areas. But this is off topic. My page is still unpublished and has 10 days before it is deleted altogether.

 

I had a lot of sign ups on the site, but it's an intimidating thing to write on a new board and share your thoughts. I guess it's easier to give all of your information to Facebook... people trust Facebook.

 

Richard gets it, but author's need to get it. The reading community is fading away and is being dominated by larger entities and local bookstores that are independent are white owned and aren't interested in targeting a Black reader since they don't go out buy (but like you've said that is a matter of the materials not being there). This discussion will be here, but I have to write an article about it on my blog that can be shared and then other writer's have to do the same. I worked on the buddypress yesterday and I will try to work on the article today.

[Troy 2,534]

I hear you Chris. Funding the smaller kickstarter projects is the move.  Giving someone who has the resources to pay a couple thousands dollar a ticket to watch the NY Knicks, courtside, each game, seems to defy the spirit and purpose of Kickstarter. 

 

Also, after running AALBC.com for so long I also noticed that it is the people with the least resources that provide the most support.  The wealthy rarely do.  I can give you countless sickening examples.  As a result, I only support people in my position or with less.  

 

I also noticed, just today, after contributing $5 to a local magazine, African Voices on Indiegogo, that I have failed to receive most of the Perks I was promised for much larger contributions...

 

If one of the Spike Lee's of the world decides to return my support and support AALBC.com then I'll consider changing my position of giving money to the wealthy. 

 

See the subject really is not off topic; this is exactly why I can't continue to enrich Facebook by posting content and engaging others on their platform without getting anything in return. 

 

It makes so little sense to continue to enrich Facebook at our collective expense. 

 

I'm looking forward to reading your article.

[CDBurns 641]

I'm still not on the article since it is a big sneaker weekend, lol. Gotta get paid. I will work on it because it is necessary and important. I think we have to become the Spike Lee's of the world and support the small biz people worthy of support. But yeah, I pulled my funding although I was going to get a signed print from the script of Mo Betta Blues (my favorite movie) lol.

 

You have to remember I sell Spizike Jordans and dude is making a killing from his relationship with Nike. He definitely didn't need to run a Kickstarter. It's amazing how many people fall short of doing what they are supposed to do with these crowdfunding events. It's unfortunate that Black Voices hasn't followed through, but Indiegogo is a dangerous platform. Kickstarter won't give you the dough if you don't fund completely. What happens with Indiegogo is you get the dough regardless. So if you say you are doing AB & C for the donations but your donations only total up to 20% of the amount you wanted, you still have to make or do 100% of the project and you are in the red 80%. I think a lot of people don't get crowdfunding. A lot of people do a great job of marketing and selling people on something they can't really accomplish.

 

I haven't reactivated my page yet and I honestly don't miss it. I'm also starting to not miss my personal page as much since I set up my own social media. I still think that Facebook is an okay tool for marketing and my position has changed a little since the campaign I was running just finished. I was informed by a person who pledged to my Kickstarter that they saw the ad on Facebook. That person pledged 120 dollars. Hmmmmmm

[Troy 2,534]

Chris to be clear I just make the contribution to African Voices, they live up to their commitments and even immediately acknowledged my contribution on social media. 

 

It was only after visiting Indiegogo to make that contribution, that I decided to look at past campaigns only to discover the none of the filmmakers provided the perks promised.  Indeed none of the campaigns reached their funding goals, but they got all the money pledged (as you mentioned).  I never thought about it 'cause who has time to check on these things...

 

I too have sold ads as a direct consequence of using Facebook too.  But Facebook has NOT allowed me to sell more than I was able to sell before Facebook was started.  Facebook was not something I needed to help AALBC.com.  Using Facebook today has just increased my overhead, and I don't think it is worth the effort

 

Sure the world has changed and a lot of people are on Facebook.  The mantra is that you have to be where the people are.  I used to believe if myself.  I don't buy it anymore.  I'm trying to demonstrate that if we work work smart (or even better together) we don't need Facebook--any more than we need Myspace or Twitter. 

 

We have the tools today. 

 

For example, I have been about to grow my eNewsletter substantially using http://www.manycontacts.com/ 1% of my subscribers pay to receive it, plus I have one sponsor in each issue.  My eNewsletter does not rely on Facebook (or even search) at all.  I have no problem if others want to share a link to it via Facebook, I encourage it.  But they will never read it on Facebook-- indeed it is not possible to even post this type of content my eNewsletter contains on Facebook.

[CDBurns 641]

Understood about African Voices. Crowdfunding is an interest animal to approach. I had a cousin call me yesterday. He said that he told another cousin about my project (I'm not very close with this side of the family). Now, what I'm about to say is a generalization, but it is definitely one that can be measured with real stats based on my two Kickstarter campaigns; Black people don't understand crowdfunding. In the same breath I would also say, that this dialogue (about Facebook) the majority of Black folks are not interested in because they don't understand the value of information, they don't understand ad revenue, and they don't understand monetizing websites or how websites earn money.

 

This cousin told my other cousin that I was looking for a handout. I was speechless, but then I realized he was ignorant. The majority of my Facebook "friends" are completely clueless about how crowdfunding works. This is verifiable in the people who pledged on my first failed Kickstarter and on this current Kickstarter. It can also be seen in the type of people who pledge their support to other campaigns. The only time it seems that Blacks support a Kickstarter or project is when there is a big name attached to it. The same can be said about any form of media.

 

I don't know if it is for us to focus our energy on Facebook as much as it is for us to focus our energy on explaining to Blacks that they need to begin visiting at least 5 websites a day in their daily web travels. Then we have to focus on having engaging content to keep them coming back. This is a distracted society we are in. They write and think in "Digital Chunks" and always with a form of communication at the ready. Facebook is a simple and easy distraction with multiple streams of information which is why it is engaging people. Our websites literally have to supply the same sort of potential for engagement. Something people can log in and look at pictures, post a comment or read information. It's becoming harder to get click throughs because people are used to scrolling now. This is why Flipboard technology is becoming more popular as well. A swipe of the fingers and new content is exposed.

 

I agree that authors don't need Facebook, but author's are not earning any money from books which means that they aren't even interested in doing blogs and writing about other things. This is one of the reasons I remained amazed at my lack of success (although I am not seriously promoting my work). If a person discovers my books, they discover my site. I have over a 100 categories on this site with about 90% of the content written by me. The content is all over the place, but gives a solid example of my writing and I know for a fact that I'm a good writer. That's not to brag or gloat, but I've read a lot and still do, and naturally I look at the books and always say to myself, I just don't understand why people haven't at least stumbled across my stuff. I guess this goes back to our original topic of whether Facebook helps.

 

It doesn't.

 

While it has allowed me to engage with other people, my page saw little interaction even with over 300 visitors. Those 300+ visitors equaled 2 books sold, both downloads.

 

Last year a local Black bookstore got me to actually print books. They even set up one book signing. It went well, but all of the women were distracted throughout the event with their phones and they were tired from work. It felt forced and many of them hadn't finished the book at all. This is the world we live in. A distracted world that relies on simple access to entertainment. Thoughtless interaction. This is not the fault of Facebook, it is the continued lack of understanding by us. I'm still not restarting my Facebook page, but honestly until I make a real concerted effort to engage readers, I honestly don't know what to do beyond what we are doing right now.

 

Oh, on Facebook all of our posts would be too long and people would stop reading.

[Troy 2,534]

I have nothing to add Chris. 

 

"Oh, on Facebook all of our posts would be too long and people would stop reading." 

 

That pretty much sums up what I dislike about communicating on Facebook, from a personal perspective.  You already know how I feel about it from a business side. 

 

Speaking about long articles, the Amazon article in The New Yorker was excellent, but I doubt many of us will read it.  I actually subscribe to the magazine and the most striking thing is the length of their articles.  They take the time to delve deeply into a story which is more revealing and informative. 

 

Clearly there is an audience for long form content--online and off.  But Black folks are being trained to consume small "Digital Chunks" of information...  News is expected to be delivered in less than 140 characters. 

 

Black folks "look for handouts", white people are "seek funding."  The resulting difference in perceptions permeates the entire culture, from crowd sourcing to investing in businesses.

 

What was the name of the store?  I want to make sure it is in my database: http://huria.org/bookstores/

[CDBurns 641]

The store is actually closed now. They had two locations in two different malls and both stores closed at the same time. The store was actually co owned by Carl Webber ( I think) Urban Bookstores was the name and I think they were on your list.

 

I got the "digital chunks" statement from a documentary on PBS. Here is a link to an article on that: http://www.convergenceculture.org/weblog/2010/02/killer_paragraphs_and_other_re.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+mitcms%2Fc3+%28Convergence+Culture+Consortium+%28C3%40MIT%29%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

 

I think we both realize that there is a problem in the depth or reading and writing that is occurring. But... back to the topic, should I simply leave the page up on Facebook and post a link to my website? What do you think? Use the picture or use a statement?

[Troy 2,534]

I have not decided what I'm going to do, specifically, myself.  Right now I'm leaning toward leaving my fanpage up, with the picture like the one above, as a permanent protest on Facebook. 

 

I think there has to be a call to action explaining to other businesses (independent Black-owned ones, in particular) why the action is necessary and perhaps join the effort. 

 

As you mentioned it is important to raise awaremeness--that is why I don't no want to just leave.  I would also like to help people understand how, through colloboration we can provide a better service to each other and enrich our businesses rather than Facebook.

 

As the rersult of our conversation I felt it was important to distiquish the protest to that of one of our business owners (including self-published authors) and those of just people "socializing" with friends. 

 

Again if people what to socialize on Facebook that is fine with me.  I just think we can, have to really, to give Black owned independent business owners a better option than Facebook.  Simply put, Facebook is NOT OUR platform.  They have no interest in serving us and they don't.

 

Facebook is doing what they need to do, we need to do thay same.

[CDBurns 641]

I just completed the republish of my Facebook author's page. When I tried to tag you on my blackout photo I got a message that read, "YOU CANNOT TAG THIS USER" Unless you have specifically decided not to allow people to tag you, Facebook has literally wiped you out of the system as far as being tagged is concerned. Crazy!

[Troy 2,534]

Yeah people where, mostly self-published authors, were getting crazy tagging me on their books and other content I have nothing to do with.  I consider that behavior spam just stopped everyone from doing it.

 

Post a link here for your author's page

[CDBurns 641]

Okay, I got you. I was about to really shake my head. This is what the author's page looks like now: https://www.facebook.com/ChristopherDBurnsMFA

I wrote a description on the picture so when people click on it explains the idea behind it. It's just a start, but a spark is a spark.

[Troy 2,534]

Chris man this looks really good.  I'll be joinging you shortly.

 

Funny, tonight I attended a presentation given by Black Enterprise (of all folks) called, "Innovate or Die: How to Successfully Leverage Your Brand in the Age of Social Media." 

 

It was all social media hype.  The notion that one would NOT consider using social media was not even considered, indeed it was stated as an assumption right from the jump.

 

The general consensus is that if you use social media, you'll reap great rewards.  If not, then you MUST be doing something wrong. So you can payt to promote more posts, hire a consultant, spend more time....

 

[CDBurns 641]

I think the next logical step in removing ourselves from Facebook/diminishing the amount of use in social media, is to begin writing more and more articles explaining the problems with paying for promotion. I think it's time I start sharing these articles. This will be for the sneaker company, because like I said, I haven't really done much with the author's page: http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/arch-footwear-springsummer-sales-report-2013

(in this article you see immediately that using Facebook ads increases likes, but it does not translate into sales. Unfortunately I did not do a thorough investigation but when you read this next article you see that Facebook ads did not really help with sales at all.

http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/arch-to-be-or-not-to-be/ (This is my last report before placing my shoe company on hiatus. By the time I wrote this I had over 900 Facebook fans. 300 of those signed up because I did a giveaway and after the giveaway was over, interaction dropped to nothing!)

 

I think this article is the most telling of all of the articles I wrote about how and why Facebook doesn't work for small business. It was written in November of 2012 and I still went against my own thoughts and paid for Facebook Ads again as you can see in the above articles. Here is that article:

http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/more-marketing-and-sales-information-on-running-and-casual-shoes/

 

That article should have been my warning, but I drank the Kool Aid up until we basically started this discussion. For anyone interested I keep an accurate account of sales on the shoe company and I honestly think the information translates to any small business including writers and publishing.

 

Those people holding that seminar are full of warm, mushy Troy.

 

Here is a sales total without using any Facebook Ads: http://www.arch-usa.com/blog/final/

[Cynique 2,308]

While scrolling down the dreaded FaceBook wall, I came across this blurb utilizing the social media to invite "Bookers" to share their social media experiences that resulted in their gaining good results by using the social media to promote their projects.  So there does seem to be a growing dialogue about the pros and cons of this venue.  Steve Harvey is apparently diversifying his focus on "thinking like a man" by investigating the success rate of those thinking like a person who is having a love affair with FaceBook.   .

 

 

Are you a Social Media Superstar? Whether you do makeup tutorials, are a fitness expert, have an online business of any kind - WHATEVER! If you're making it happen on social media, I want to know how you're doing it and you might be featured on the show. Click on the link below for more info.

http://steveharveytv.com/social-media-superstar/

 

 

[Troy 2,534]

Facebook knows better than to show me some bullshit that like :-)

 

Any any rate, this is a gimmick the Steve Harvey machine is using to build their own social media platforms.  This activity cost some serious paper to execute.

 

That is another issue completely overlooked at the Black Enterprise panel and many similar presentations that I've attended (or given for that matter)--they don't bring up costs.  Another assumption is that you can be successful on social media marketing without spending a penny.  Again, if you are you are not successful you are dumb.

 

Imagine if Harvey used his platform to uplift successful Black owned websites?  Supposed he highlighted a Brother with his own sneaker company or a Brother that has been highlighting Black books for almost two decades--including every book and film Steve has been in!

 

Instead our biggest Black platforms amp social.

[Troy 2,534]

Chris we need to figure out more effective ways for not just you to share your articles but for others to do the same on your behalf.

 

I think the data you shared is helpful, certainly, but what is more helpful is the context.

 

For example, most people would simply say, "Hey, I sold $6,000 worth of product using social media," without mentioning what it took to make those sales.  This draws others in thinking they can do the same.

 

Really this is the problem I see with social media marketing.  Too many of us are hyping the benefits and downplaying the problems and challenges small business will encounter. 

 

Book sellers have it even harder, because the margins are razor slim, competition from Amazon is tremendous, and search favors corporations.  

 

The world does not really seem to mind having only a handful of companies they can buy sneakers from.  Over the last 40 years I've only brought athletic shoes from 4 different companies.  If you ignore the one pair of Asics running shoes I brought 4 or 5 years ago (that I still use), it would be 3 different companies, and one of those companies was Puma.

 

Today the vast majority of books are brought from Amazon.  No one seems to mind that much either.  Indeed many are glad, except people like me who remember what was...

[CDBurns 641]

Once again we come back to the same point, how do we reach the reader? I've been writing these updates and articles on marketing and social media for the past 3 years. I even have a whole series on quitting ebay and trying to find a new avenue for small business. All of those articles are basically dead and missing in action. No one really reads them, but if they did would they do the same thing I've done which is to continue pushing along on social media instead of improving traffic to my own site? There is the problem.

 

Although I did all of this research I still went back and put time into social media because I simply didn't know where else to go. I now realize that it hasn't helped and it has decreased the dollars in my pocket.

 

Since we've been discussing this, I looked back on CB Publish and found this article. I wrote this in 2011!!!!!!!! and didn't pay attention to my own advice.

 

...Hello, my name is Chris, and I'm an addict (slaps self upside the head). I said I hadn't written the article yet, that's because I wrote it 3 years ago.

 

http://www.cbpublish.com/is-facebook-really-good-for-small-biz/

[Troy 2,534]

I've clarified my position on Facebook and social media in general in a Blog post yesterday and have updated my Facebook page to include the banner: http://www.facebook.com/aalbcfanpage

[CDBurns 641]

I read that and it is on point and very clear. I shared it and linked several articles to it to reinforce the sentiment. Now we just have to get other authors to begin updating their websites.

[Troy 2,534]

Yes updating their websites is one thing, but getting readers to engage them there is quite another.  There is this sister, Jessica Mitchell, that runs a website called Black Bloggers Connect, essentially it is social platform that allows blogger to network with each other. These are the types of sites I will begin to post my content on and engage other folks.

 

Chris would you mind posting the links to the other articles on the Blog post.  I will share your comments--Thanks

[CDBurns 641]

I'm joining Black Bloggers. I will be writing an article on my Kickstarter experience which is actually going to counter a lot that I've written about Facebook. I do have an article that explains why my Kickstarter tells a different story and I will link them all right here.

 

PR & Marketing for the little guy

PR or Public Relations as defined by Howstuffworks.com is, “A basic definition of public relations is to shape and maintain the image of a company, organization or individual in the eyes of the client’s various “publics.” What is a “public”…

Read more →

That’s Not What It’s For: Another Facebook Article by CD Burns •  July 27, 2011  • 0 Comments

 Like John Coffey, I couldn’t hep it  Common mistakes that come with the comment “That’s not what that’s for,” are all over the place. When you decide to work on a car and grab a flathead instead of…

Read more →

Is Facebook Really Good For Small Biz? by CD Burns •  July 22, 2011  • 2 Comments

Social Media, for those who aren’t keeping up, consists of any form of media based in technology that allows you to maintain contact with people at anytime you feel like reaching out and touching someone. The old adage from the…

[Chika Nadya 0]

Chris we need to figure out more effective ways for not just you to share your articles but for others to do the same on your behalf.

 

I think the data you shared is helpful, certainly, but what is more helpful is the context.

 

For example, most people would simply say, "Hey, I sold $6,000 worth of product using social media," without mentioning what it took to make those sales.  This draws others in thinking they can do the same.

 

Really this is the problem I see with social media marketing.  Too many of us are hyping the benefits and downplaying the problems and challenges small business will encounter. 

 

Book sellers have it even harder, because the margins are razor slim, competition from Amazon is tremendous, and search favors corporations.  

 

The world does not really seem to mind having only a handful of companies they can buy sneakers from.  Over the last 40 years I've only brought athletic shoes from 4 different companies.  If you ignore the one pair of Asics running shoes I brought 4 or 5 years ago (that I still use), it would be 3 different companies, and one of those companies was Puma.

 

Today the vast majority of books are brought from Amazon.  No one seems to mind that much either.  Indeed many are glad, except people like me who remember what was...

 

I think social media, such as facebook, is still have its heart to billions people worldwide. There are a lot of companies, online stores, businesses, communities create groups and pages on facebook nowadays, and still counting.

 

And many of people even can make a good income by using social media; with facebook, twitter, youtube, etc.

 

With social networking sites, people can make deals with or without a website.

 

And with the right social bookmarking techniques or tools, we can boost our website's SEO presence in a short period of time.

 

Not only that, there are also so many great SEO tools with low-cost priced and easy to use.

 

As an example, one of my favorite pages which inform on How To Make Money Online is facebook.com/MoneyOnlineNews - I have using some of making money tools from this page, and they are working pretty well indeed. I think you shall to try them sometime, and for sure, every single of them are covered with money back guarantee.

[Troy 2,534]

Hi Chiya, I followed the link and honestly the content on the facebook page looks spammy.  By that I mean I start getting never when I read copy like, "$3,859.19/day"  or "Automatic $500 a Day from FREE Traffic!" 

 

Now I have to admit it is executed quite well in fact the way you linked to Youtube with the "videos?sub_confirmation=1" on the URL is a slick way to boost subscribers, a technique I may use :-)

 

The other issue is that there is no content on the facebook page you have to click shortened URL to actually see what you are selling.  The shortened URL hides the domain of the destination website which makes me doubly nervous.