Have you ever wondered what makes music, fashion, or even the names of our kids popular? Someone has to stick their head out and introduce crazy ideas like the Crocs. Who really thought that funny looking rubber shoes would sell so well that the company would even go public? They succeeded because of the herd mentality.

Back in the Soviet Union, one of the favourite past times of American tourists was starting line-ups. How it works: two people stand beside a random door and wait for enough people join the line that they can escape unnoticed. People would keep standing in the line for hours not knowing what was going to come from the mystery door. Pretty sad but true. This is a really basic example of a herd. Mark Earls, author of Herd: How to Change Mass Behaviour by Harnessing Our True Nature, in the video below defines a herd as a way of describing how large creatures (humans) interact with each other.

People follow other people’s decisions because it is much easier to do what others are doing other than thinking for themselves. I challenge myself and YOU to be the wolf to lead a bunch of sheep in this society. Be the thermostat and not the thermometer! (More on this soon)

Do you believe  we live in a herd society?

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Thanks for visiting and keep in touch ~ Alex.

Video Credit: StillMotion

When I was in school I used to love learning. This was especially true when my teacher taught with examples or case studies that showed how the theory worked in life. Only then, would the light bulb go on in my head.

And this is exactly why I wanted to dedicate a post to a quick case study to follow up the previous post on “How to Listen On Twitter”, where you learned the basic concepts of using Twitter as your business’s listening tool.

Social Media Case Study: The Travel Agent

My fiancée and I have recently been on a search for a travel agent that specializes in destination weddings. After countless Google and Yellow Pages searches, we found two travel agents that claimed to be destination wedding experts. Long story short, neither walked the talk and actually cared for our business even though it could have been a potential deal worth more than $50 000. How much commission would that be? Regardless of the size of the deal, a business should tend to tend to its customers well. Taking care of your customers will lead to positive word of mouth, overall good reputation and increased revenues. Read More

Listening is one of the most important elements of any successful businesses. There are hundreds of business books preaching the importance of listening and how to do it effectively. Nevertheless, a great number of businesses have their ears plugged or are trying to listen in the wrong places. However, with the help of new social technologies it is now easier than ever to listen to what your clients are saying about your brand, product, service, experience and even YOU.

People are also offering suggestions and solutions for your business at no cost (your time to listen may cost). In addition, there are millions of potential customers looking for products or services online BUT at the same time are having a hard time finding exactly what they want. Your goal is to help them and add value to their experience.

In comes twitter. With its simplicity, Twitter has become the listener’s tool of choice. With applications such as Hootsuite, Tweetdeck, and Seesmic Desktop listening in on what customers are saying has never been this easy.

At this point you might be asking this question:

“How do I listen on Twitter and how is this going to make me money?”

Read More