SPWD

Value Defined

Dictionary.com defines value as: relative worth, merit, or importance

Social Media Value

One thing I have noticed in social media is that there are two general trends. The “look at me” trend a.k.a. “it’s all about me, what I am doing, what I can do, what I have done” syndrome. The second is the “what are YOU doing” trend a.k.a. “what have you done for your friends, followers, what can you do for them, what help do you have”. Don’t believe me? Pay attention to your networks, to those who you follow or are friends with. How many of them simply broadcast their latest and greatest? Probably too many, and you are probably just as guilty as they are. Oh, did that hurt? Hey, I have been there, done that and still do it at times so I am not just calling you on your game, I am calling myself on my game as well.

I take a look at some of the more popular blogs about making money, gaining success via social media and I keep finding some common trends, and I am going to focus on one common trend started last post – value.

Chris Brogan blogs very well about value, and I believe he provides value through social media. I have been following him on Twitter for some time now, though I have not truly interacted with him yet. Many of his blog posts speak for themselves so you can head over and read them. Four posts I would like to bring to light, and what, at least from my perspective, they try to accomplish in the social media field, considering each one was tweeted and I am sure brought out through other social media outlets.

Small Town Superheroes – Chris highlights a small business owner, local and known to him. Why do this? First, Chris has obvious good traffic and good rapport with the shop owner both. So by noting this small business owner, effectively Chris is helping spotlight and maybe drive some traffic through the door of the business. Chris also links to some articles he wrote before, such as Three Goals for 2009 maybe gaining more readers of that post. But it is what is at the end of the post about the small shop owner that most people just skip right past, and unfortunately miss: “And you? Have you written about the stars in your town?” Here Chris challenges his readers to provide value to those in their local town, city etc. By blogging, tweeting, or using other social media, can you make a difference in the life of someone? I get the feeling that Chris Brogan thinks it’s possible.

Another thing Chris does is have a links page called Rockstars. Basically he allows people to add a link to their site here. Why? Why not do it…it is empowering people, making them feel like they do matter to him, plus it helps gain them exposure. The list is long, and I am sure it gets pruned now and again, but hey why not. Calling it Rockstars gives a warm and fuzzy feeling, even though we all know we are not rock stars, but that is not the important thing here, the fact that he tries to grant exposure for others says something about who Chris may be.

Darren Rowse has several blogs and each one is merely about doing a task better. Whether it is digital photography, blogging or using Twitter. He shares this value, gets value back from the comments and creates a nice atmosphere to share in. That’s value, in addition the value extends from the blog to other social media.

The main point here is, and yes I know I used Chris Brogan, Darren Rowse and Chris Garrett quite a bit in this series, is they all seem to focus and hover around creating value for those around you, helping those around you and sharing enough to help others. That is value to most people, since value doesn’t have to always mean something monetary.