Why should you social network?
Let me try and put social networking into perspective for you:
At this writing there are more than 200 million active users on Facebook, and it is the fastest growing demographic is those 35 years old and older. Myspace enjoys 76 Million users, while Microsoft: Live, Hotmail, and Messenger enjoys more than 500 million users. The Twitter phenomenon has reached a staggering 752% growth and is appropriately tethered to mobile technology. It is in mobile technology where users utilize social media more than land based technology. I use many social media sites, but I use Linkedin because it is grounded in business. Linkedin has 36 million users and is adding 1.3 users per second.
To put it in perspective: I’m in the coffee business, and I get a lot of coffee out of Brazil. Brazil has a population of approximately 192 million. Facebook has a population of 200 million. My online Social Networking community trumps populations of countries. So why should you use Social Networking? The numbers are staggering, and they are growing. I fundamentally believe that social networking is one of the fastest and most efficient and cost effective means of communication.
Get your tweet on!
Join me on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Myspace, Social Networking,Youtube,Stumbleupon,Blogger.com,Jumpingoat.com/blog

Reach me at Forrest Graves 706-219-1819

Well we are back from the SCAA conference and the coffee orders are caught up enough to give you a summary.

The SCAA conference in Atlanta was great.

Aside from a few testy security guards the show was packed with products, services, and experts from every part of the globe. The show was quite enjoyable.

Seven of us from JumpinGoat attended the show and to make the most of it we all went different directions with assigned task. My objective for the show was largely to purchase a new weigh and fill machine. I viewed every weigh and fill machine at the show and went through them all with great detail. We elected “Weigh Right” for its advanced memory capability, it’s accuracy, ease of use, and for how I was treated as potential patron.

Mike Phillips of Weigh Right truly understood our business needs.

If you need information on a Weigh Right weigh-and-fill contact Mike Phillips, he is the Director of Marketing & Sales, and tell him JumpinGoat sent you.
He’s a great guy, and he has the ability to simplify advanced machinery.
His Phone: 800-571-0249

If you are in the coffee business and would like to ask me questions about the Weigh Right…please call me anytime

I was recently asked to provide the best example I have found where money has been made from social networking.
This is part three of my blog series around social networking. You can subscribe to my blog at Http://www.JumpinGoat.com/blog It’s there you will find a delightfully appropriate mix of coffee and business.
Aside from Adsence, or Sponsorships, or using your network for marketing purposes I will provide one example from my industry, “coffee.”
As you would probably expect there are well over 1200 Facebook, Myspace, and Twitter profiles and groups with a devotion to coffee and teas. According to a recent article in a coffee trade publication by Rebecca Ragain, a well known coffee house made history by filling what was probably the first ever to-go-order placed by twitter. It was so successful; it was adopted as a regular service. Imagine folks on the back deck ordering coffee or refills without getting up. Maybe that’s just lazy, maybe it’s just smart business to provide such a service?
So there is your example.
I am interested in getting your direct e-mail about your experiences with monetizing social networks. What has worked for you?
Forrest Graves
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JumpinGoat Roasters wants to thank you for the network connection you have bridged with us. If you mention “SND” Social Networking Discount, you will receive 10% off your purchase.

JumpinGoat Coffee Roasters opened our retail location at Nacoochee Village on Saturday. If you are ever in the area we would love to see you.

This is the second part of my blog series about Social Networking.  My last blog breached the topic of, “how to monetize your Social Network”.  By that I mean…how to make money!  We covered a few historical fundamentals, and the importance of sociology.  You can subscribe to my blog at http://www.jumpingoat.com/blog  There you will find a delightfully inseparable mix of business and fresh roasted coffee.LinkedIn.com

You really need to consider your audience:

Look, let’s not make this any harder than it is. Your audience is everyone in your network and potentially anyone who is aware of you, or your company. You are my audience…simply because you are reading this. That does not mean every person that reads this is my “addressable market”…you are my audience.

Mixing up the definition of Market Size, the Social Network Opportunity within, and Addressable Market can be a problem.

Addressable market: is the total amount of dollars that you or your company could generate if you acquired every potential customer.  I am in the Specialty Fresh Roasted Coffee business, so in order to garner the number I would need to realize the total number of potential coffee drinkers, and then the percentage of that number that consume specialty coffee. I could further calculate growth trends, and I should also consider calculus based on local, regional, or global markets.

Market Size: is typically referred to in terms of number of potential patrons or dollar volume in a particular segment of the economy.

Social Network:  The share of some interdependency. It could be values, data, financial exchange, friendship, dislikes, vision or perhaps similar interest.

You are my audience, you are my network, (my network audience) and we are linked via some common interdependency.

With the consideration of these three components, you will begin to see how you can, or rather should communicate with your audience. There are many other considerations that I will cover in later blogs, but the fundamentals cannot be overlooked.

Summary: Know your audience/network and know the difference between Market Size and Addressable Market. Knowing these fundamentals will help you set appropriate expectations around making money via social networking. Finally consider that “financial exchange” is only one aspect of interdependency, so set reasonable expectations around Internet commerce. I have never personally met many of the people in my social network, so it takes time to get to gain trust via the Internet.

Forrest Graves
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