I was at SocComm. And I picked a bunch of what I call Social Media realities and want to share with you. I follow up each reality with a thought on where the money is in relation to that reality. If you choose one of these ways to monetize Social Media then remember to use the “TRUTH” in your USP(unique selling proposition) somehow. And then, when you get all rich, come back and share some with me and donate some to children’s charities or animal shelters

Do not forget to subscribe to the Geekdance feed for a follow up post on the Monetizing Framework.

1.To make real connections you have to be vulnerable - Jeff Pulver

This is one basic truth. The most important one, I think. Connections online or in real life work only if they are real. And real connections are formed when we give a part of ourselves to the relationship – whether it be helping others, sharing our lives or being vulnerable. Connections are all about trust. And there is no trust developed between two people without sharing and giving. You can fake it for a day but building lasting sustainable relationships online or offline is about being yourself and being vulnerable.

The MONEY? Can you find ways to let people be vulnerable and feel comfortable? Can you create communities for sharing? Can you act as a liaison between a product and the market and find ways to establish trust between them? Can you create the next twitter that will let people all over the world connect and form real connections? If you can do one of these you got yourself a business model

Jeff Pulver does this well. With live-tagging, his breakfast sessions and conferences such as this one, he brings together people and lets them open up, interact and be vulnerable.

2. ABC – Always Be Connecting – Chris Brogan

I cannot seem to connect in order to connect because of a strong belief that I need to believe in everything I do to be able to do it. And until I heard Chis Brogan talk, my head and heart were in disagreement about “always connecting”. Watching Chris Brogan, I learned that we should be connecting all the time because the connections are what define his space. Because we are the medium. By connecting all the time, we are keeping the medium alive. Adding value by participating in the fabric of social communications.

The MONEY? Can you get people to connect? Can you do what it takes to join the links? When there are 10 people in the room, how do you get them to talk? Can you teach people the secret to connect ALL the time. And how do you sustain those connections? How do you make it ongoing?  Not easy, but that is exactly why there is the money in the space.

3. We all have vested interests and social media allows us to promote them to each other. We all have our own truths. – Fred Wilson

ME: I think twitter is so widely successful because most people are there for business – to connect and to promote themselves. We all have our own truths and anyone who is setting out to prove that there is one universal truth is just wasting his/her time. I think it is time for all of us to say what Fred said and move on about our business. It is good to remember though that while we all have our truths, the best way to promote ourselves and our own truths is by helping others promote their truths. I know this sounds like an inspiration blog stuff – but I confuse my blogs sometimes.

The MONEY? – Can you let people share their truth and feel valued? Facebook added newsfeeds(to make money) and since then I have discovered some real activists amongst my connections there. Fred Wilson talked about Boxee(he has a stake in it). He says we don’t care about channels anymore – which is true. Do I care if a program I like is on NBC or ABC ? Not really (unless I have a stake in those companies myself). I have to agree with Fred when he says what really matters to me is what other people I connect with are watching/reading/liking. So if you can help people share their truth, you are in business. I do hope I can do this with Memetales. So far it seems to be working well. I am excited and guess what – my truth has morphed into the truths of the people in the Memetales Community. Their cause becomes mine. I am loving it.I hope it works

4. Not everyone is just sharing and caring. @JeffJarvis makes $ selling books; @Garyvee makes $ selling wine …(but) Wealth  is more than just money. Attention and Intention are great wealth engines – Shelley Pamer

If we want to monetize on what is out there today, we have to focus on what creates “value”. Always be very aware of what “value” means to YOUR target market. Can you help people create value of some sorts. Don’t focus on just money. explore any value you can deliver (pretty much the premise of this post). If you deliver here, you can create you own space.

The MONEY - Are you a blogger and can you help bloggers write? Are you a teacher and can you help teachers teach in a new space (online for example)? Did you start your business and can you help small businesses take off? If you can help people focus on their passion by taking the hard work out of figuring out what they find hard (what is not their focus), then you have some ways to make money. People want to focus on their passions, so see how you can do that.

5. Life is a beta. Make mistakes – make them well. - Jeff Jarvis

Jeff Jarvis called life a beta. So true. So so true. Don’t wait for the day you feel perfect and ready. You will never start making money that way. You will never start doing what you love. It is time to play along and make mistakes. The web lets us do that. It is time to take advantage of that.

The MONEY? This truth can make you money by saving you LOTS of it. Making mistakes does not make money directly, but it creates a great path towards making money. It is also a wonderful way to save money. I have been an open business at Memetales from day 1. If you have a question and I have the answer – I tell you. This approach has been wonderful and it has started working in the other direction too. If people in the community have an idea then they speak up. I have been getting some awesome ideas for Memetales from the community. And I really would not get such ideas even if I paid big bucks for it. And will I make mistakes along the way? I hope to apologize when I do and move on. I am a real person just like anyone else, right?

6. Making a human connection, at the end of the day, that’s what social is all- Kenny Miller, EVP, MTV Networks Global Digital Media

There is nothing more to say, is there? Kenny Miller said it well. When I stayed home after I quit my job and moved cross country, I started an inspiration blog. To put down everything in my head. But what ended up happenning was real connections.

The MONEY? -Real connections give you a wonderful opportunity to better you social proof because of the trust element due to the human connections. Word of mouth works wonders to build a strong brand – especially when your business is taking off or you are in trouble. You can certainly make a LOT of money if you can teach someone or a company how to make a :”human connection” as opposed to a “connection solely for maketing purposes”. Can companies and brands do that? And how? In a world where people primarily communicate over virtual channels, how do we figure out how to make a human connection?

7. Be passionate about helping/community.  – Katja Presnal on the panel by  Lindsay Maines, Katja Presnal, Audrey McClelland, Beth Feldman

Katja is such a great example of success doing what you love. She is what she called a perfect example of “promotion through anti-promotion”. I call this “pull” vs “push”. You do not promote yourself – instead you project yourself as a helpful person involved in community and truly connect people and do it long enough and people will start thinking of you as a connector. It is hard work wither way – so you might as well promote yourself by helping others rather than just markeing yourself directly.

The MONEY? - I don’t have to say anything here. There are enough and more people that have done this and proven that the money will follow. Choose who you want to help and go for it. Help them for free while you have a steady stream of income and very soon you will quit your full time job because people  will want to pay for your help.

8. If you are not doing what you are passionate about, you are an idiot -Gary Vaynerchuk, Wine Library TV

GaryVee truly rocks. When he talks, you cannot NOT listen. Although there were parts fo his talk that I would have not agreed with, there was no point challenging him – he was passionate and he was speaking his truth. And I have to say – if you watch Gary speak live, you will realize, even if you are doing something you trulyl love, that there is more of yourself that you can give to what you are doing. This guy shook me up.

The MONEY? - There are 2 parts to the story – do what you love but be smart about it. Doing what you love is great but you will not make the money unless you create value and tell your buyer (either explicitly or implicitly) why they should buy from you and not anyone else. Be smart about executing it and find a partner with a business head .

9. Fans (People) crave authentic interaction- Laura Roeder

Laura is a gentle soul. She drew our attention towards the fact that it does not matter if you are a celebrity or a normal person. Everyone craves authentic interaction. This is no great secret.

The MONEY? The target for this service is the “rich and famous”. If you (or somebody) is already in business and making money figure out how you can be authentic in your interactons and grow your business – at evry touch point – on your blog, in your advertising material, in every email and in every conversation. Teach the stars, the heroes, the celebrities how to maintain an authentic channels for interaction and help them share their wealth with you

10. Listen to your employees. There is a marketplace of ideas within the company. – Peter Hirschberg, co-founder + Chairman,The Conversation Group

This is so true. Just like Shelly Palmer brought our attention to the fact that not all wealth = money, not all satisfaction comes from money. A big part of the satisfaction in life comes from getting feedback, appreciation and being concerned. So when you have a problem in your organization and you think you cannot fix it without bringing the next big consultant and paying him big bucks, think again. We have incredibly talented people who are passionate in our own organizations. Think of what you can give them if you cannot give money. Yes, money goes a long way but money alone does nothing. A little money and a LOT of something can produce big results. Talk to your employees and community. Let them come up with the ideas to fix problems.

The MONEY? – With this attitude built into your orgnizational management from day 1, you are all set to make smart financial decisions all along. You will save money and build an organization with a higher collectuve satsfaction. And the company will belong to the commuity – and believe me, you do not want it any other way!

What are your thoughts? Questions?

Put your thoughts in the comments or @thinkmaya on twitter and we can talk about how YOU can make money in the social media space

photo credit: udono

I do understand that I have set out to do something that I have never seen done before. I am openly sharing my business idea on this blog with some very specific goals and I would like to share them right here – at the get go. When I see how much online communities are doing these days by collaborating and helping each other, I get a sense that this experiment will be wildly successful!

So, before I go any further, I would like to clarify what my goals are for Geekdance : the blog

What is Geekdance?

Geekdance is the journey of my start-up. It is a blog. And a space for sharing. And it is a two way lane.

My goals for Geekdance:

• To learn from and connect with other business people
• To reach out to writers, illustrators, parents, grandparents and basically any inspired storyteller to learn about their needs, wants and dreams.
• To document my decisions and record my startup journey
• To think aloud and have a conversation (inspired by the cluetrain manifesto)

If you want to know more about my start-up business, please refer to this post:

My request to you:

Geekdance, the blog: Participate. Participate in either of these areas – where ever your interest lies. It will be a great journey! Drop me a note letting me know what you think and share your ideas. If you like what you see here, share it on one or more of the social media sites. Spread the word.

If you are a parent/author/writer or illustrator and would like to participate in the beta for Memetales, send me an email at m@thinkmaya.com or fill the contact form.

photo credit: hunting.glee