Every time I hear someone say, “I don’t use social media–that’s just greasy kids stuff” I just want to pull my hair out. Wake up people! There are some serious numbers all across the board for social media, and we ain’t just talkin’ ’bout blogging. Other social media activities, like rating content, reading/viewing content, and sharing content also rate high.

Let’s take B2B buyers as a group. Most of you should be interested in this demographic, because after all, as a techie consultant, you’re probably running into these folks at one point or another. Think they’re not using social media tools? Think again! According to Forrester research, they’re one of the most highly involved groups of people they’ve ever sampled!

Some highlights from this research (start by looking at the right two columns):

• 91% of these technology decision-makers were Spectators – the highest number I’ve ever seen in a Social Technographics Profile. This means you can count on the fact that your buyers are reading blogs, watching user generated video, and participating in other social media. Note that 69% of them said they were using this technology for business purposes.
• Only 5% are non-participants (Inactives).
• 55% of these decision-makers were in social networks (Joiners) — despite as mature businesspeople and not college students, you’d think they’d be participating a lot less.
• 43% are creating media (blogs, uploading videos or articles, etc.) and 58% are Critics, reacting to content they see in social formats. Again the numbers are very high compared to other groups we’ve surveyed, and again the level of participation for business purposes is also very high.

What does this mean for you? If you’re a B2B marketer and you’re not using social technologies in your marketing, it means you’re late. We’ve seen a lot of excellent activity here from the likes of Dell and National Instruments (both won Forrester Groundswell awards) but a lot of the blogs, communities, and other social outreach from business to business companies is less than mature, to say the least. This is your chance to stand out. Take this report and show it to your boss to convince her that it’s time to get started.

Read their blog post here.

In case you’re interested, I just wrote a piece on niche marketing over at the tdog.blog. Here’s a little teaser:

Yes, yes, I know, the title is misleading. There are probably many hundreds of myths associated with niche marketing, but I want to zero in on one particular myth today, because it is so prevalent. I’ve run into this myth when helping customers with their projects, and now I’m running into it as I set up my own side projects.

Are you ready for it? Here it is: the most destructive myth in the galaxy is “there are a limited/finite/perishing number of good/profitable/exciting niches out there.”

Fooey. Baloney. Whatever.

Read the whole piece here.

My name is Tom Myer. For the past 7 years, I’ve run a web development consulting firm called Triple Dog Dare Media. I’ve worked as a lone-gun consultant, as a contractor, as a partner with other folks in my company, as the head of ad-hoc teams, and as a manager of employees. I’ve subleased office space, rented my own space, and worked out of a converted office space. I’ve worked on small jobs that lasted an afternoon, led teams on six-month projects, and been “that guy” that comes in for a day or two to provide an assessment and flies out.

Throughout all that time, I’ve been approached many times by many wannabe, gonnabe, and oughtabe (and just a few people who were merely curious about my lifestyle but had no intentions of ever following through) freelancers/consultants. They wanted advice, ideas, and to buy me coffee or lunch. I was always glad to help. Mostly I was just stunned that anyone wanted to hear my advice.

This last year, I was approached by my book agent (Neil Salkind) about some off-the-beaten-path ideas. I’d just finished writing a book on CodeIgniter for WROX and had some other titles under my belt. The very same day that I started talking with Neil, I received emails from three total strangers seeking advice on how to become a successful freelancer.

None of these three, like none of the folks before them, ever wanted to start a restaurant or retail store or even a traditional high-tech software company with outside investors. They were Javasacript geeks, PHP ninjas, HTML wizards, and QA geeks who were tired of slaving away inside a dreary cubicle, or who were facing certain layoff or downsizing. They wanted more flexibility and balance in their life, and they wanted to make some real money with their skills–but they wanted to avoid all the pitfalls (like financial ruin) that they may encounter. And all of them were terrified of the M word…marketing.

I forwarded these notes to Neil and said, “Listen, this keeps happening to me. Why don’t I write a book about this and start a blog over at myerman.com as a companion piece?” Ten days later, I had a contract in hand to write a book, and so now I’m retrofitting what was once a personal web site into this blog.

The focus will always be on the technical professional who wants to create a thriving, balanced, and profitable freelance or consulting practice. If you want to start any other kind of business, or if you have a non-technical focus, some of these concepts will help you, but the focus will be on the geek.

Why? Because geeks are (generally) very smart people with their own strengths and shortcomings, and so far not a lot of attention has been paid to them.

Here’s what the book’s going to cover, in brief:

• How to tell if you’re ready to become a freelancer
• How to run through some effective self-assessment
• What kind of fees should you start out with
• How to figure out your specialty or focus
• How to put together an effective one-page marketing plan
• What you need to do before your first day of business
• How to get business in the door
• How to survive your first 30 days
• How to survive your first six months
• How to survive your first year
• How to grow your business

What this book isn’t:

• A dreary manual that trots out the same old advice about incorporating
• A scary book on how to make cold calls
• A fear-mongering book about the perils of financial ruin
• A rah-rah tome that would only benefit the most outgoing and extroverted

As I start writing the book, I will continue to post materials here, as well as provide opportunities for subscribers to tune into teleseminars and other materials. More later!