It happens everytime I meet as a consultant with a group of Myrtle Beach Hotels,  who want to advertise on our various sites.  They cosistently ask the same question.  How do we stop these social networking sites, where customers are able to rate our properties?  Can you help us with that?

This always leads me to my disertation on the new media versus the old media.   I would like comments from readers on this page, Do you agree that traditional media is coming to an end?

OLD MASS MEDIA

The mass media period truly began with the introduction of the radio in the early 1930's and first started to diminish in 2004 with the advent of Social Networking and newer phone technologies.  The mass media formula was about messaging and was a simple formula to follow.  It involved FREQUENCY AND REACH.  An advertiser came up with what was usually either a catchy or exagerated message about his product or service and then broadcasted that message to as many people as many times as he could.

Most advertisers and ad sales people are still living in the Old Mass Media era,  even though the train has left the station for a new paradigm.  This is one reason why our local Myrtle Beach Newspaper lost over $4 million last year.

The truth is,  we all fear change and resist it.

NEW SOCIAL MEDIA,  much like early America

The central reason,  Myrtle Beach Hotels and Myrtle Beach Condo Rentals hate the new media is because it is so much like the pre-mass media era.  Unfortunately,  no one was around to remember what life was like before radio.

In early America,  if a butcher in town put his thumb on the scale weighing the meat,  everyone in town knew it.  If a blacksmith did a shoddy job,  the word got out. If your wife or husband slept around or was the town drunk,  it was very hard to keep this information private. The new media is so much a cousin to early America that individuals,  like Paris Hilton, and most advertisers,  who have been hiding behind Mass Media are now finding their business practices exposed and are caught 100% off guard.

In the December 2007 Harvard Business review on media,  the issue is clear.  Consumers are becoming more and more in control of the process.

HOW DO I  SUCCEED IN THE NEW SOCIAL AGE:

Our Myrtle-Beach.com city portal,  which will be distributed to over 240,000 Horry County and Georgetown County locals beginning this Fall 2008, is going 100% to a star rated,  customer reviewed website in late September.  The ratings will look much like our current,  Myrtle Beach Hotels, SC site here.   Below are three reasons why we are doing this and why it will work for Real Estate Agents, Retail Stores, Hotels, Property managers, Restaurants,  etc.

1. Consumers under the age of 35 do not trust mass media.  They will trust a peer review over a message from an advertiser 10 times out of 10.
2. Iphones, Blackberries, and internet phones have limited screen space.  A star rating system that is comprised from a compilation of consumer reviews gives a snapshot of how credible this advertiser operates.
3. Being known today is not so hard.  How a business or agent is known is what is critical in the new Social paradigm.

HOW DO I MAKE  THIS WORK FOR ME?

• Be honest in your dealings with every client
• Be open about your products and services  (Don't exagerate)
• Be transparent in your operations.  If something is currently down or not functioning properly,  be the first to say so.
• If you are on a peer reviewed site,  ask your new home buyers to rate your efforts on that site.  Happy customer ratings will lead to more leads, listings, and sales.

THIS WILL BUILD TRUST IN THE NEW PARADIGM MARKET PLACE allowing you to excel where others flounder.

If you are a person of integrity,  you should embrace this new paradigm.  Over the next decade you can build a dynamic business.   The way a business or agent conducts himself or herself is now a key component to marketing.

If you are in the Myrtle Beach area and want to learn more about marketing your agency or yourself, visit our Myrtle-Beach.com area portal.