Social media is the latest craze, buzzing all over the world's media and is seemingly always in the headlines.  Outrageous acquisition amounts and sick numbers of consumer traffic grab our attention to some of the big name social spaces. 

MySpace.com
Mid 2005, MySpace was purchased for $580 million from the News Corporation. 
August 2008, comScore MediaMetrix reported MySpace serving almost 76 million people just in the US.

YouTube.com
Late 2006, YouTube was purchased for a package deal worth $1.775 billion. 
In November of 2007, ComScore reported YouTube serving almost 75 million people.

Blogging
May 2008, eMarketer reports 94.1 million US blog readers in 2007 (50% of Internet users), and 22.6 million US bloggers in 2007 (12%)
September 2008, Technorati reported there are 900,000 blog posts added to the Internet every day.

The question many in the building industry have today is 'what about us?'  Are social media spaces just for big media companies like Google, the News Corporation, and Yahoo!, or can we use them too?  Social media is the big buzz but how do I use it in my job and in my industry?

Social media has the Internet evolving at break neck speeds and can no longer be ignored by sales and marketing professionals in the building industry. The undeniable fact is that social media is not just a new fad; it is the new frontier of marketing, selling, branding, reputation management, and communication with consumers.  The faster we, as in industry, learn how to adapt and maximize these social spaces, the more productive and efficient our businesses will be.

Sales and marketing has always been about getting your product in front of as many of the right people as possible.  Millions of consumers are embracing social media which means if we want to be where the people are, we must meet them in their space.  Social media is just another form of media that we need to learn to use effectively, just like we learned to use radio, TV, and the newspaper.  I am putting together a multi-part series on making the most out of social media spaces as it relates to the home building industry so stay tuned.  As always feel free to email me at jadams [at] newhomesdirectory.com with questions or comments.

Yesterday, social media was an experimental fad; today, social media demands our attention; tomorrow, social media will be required by all business, just to stay in business.

Jim Adams
CEO - New Homes Directory.com