Go read it for yourself.

I personally think there is already enough news in the world. In fact, 24 hour a day news is kind of a joke if you ask me since it leads to much of the over exaggeration of many of today’s issues that are really A LOT smaller than the media makes them out to be.

What do I really wish a media company would do? Figure out how to cover all the good happening in the world on a daily basis rather than talk non stop about how crappy everything is. A media company that only (or 75%) covers positive news…imagine that.

Click here to view the embedded video.

I highly encourage you to watch the 20 minute video embedded above before reading the rest of this post, but of course you can keep right on reading if you wish…

There are two primary predictions made by Colony — one I completely agree with (emergence of “post social”) and the other (end of the web) I happen to slightly disagree with.

First, let’s discuss the end of the web. I certainly understand mobile and tablets are growing like wildfire, and agree “apps” are starting to consume an increasing amount of people’s time. That said, I don’t believe the web as we know it is on the way out. Not by a long shot. Last I checked, tablets and smart phones have web browsers that are heavily used. A massive chunk of “app” time is with Facebook, Twitter, and games (please don’t get me started on what a gigantic waste of time games on your mobile devices are). Most websites never reach the popularity of Facebook and Twitter, so it seems a stretch that people will go through the process of downloading and installing an app for a site that is not a mainstay in their daily life. I think games on portable devices are largely taking time away from traditional video game consoles like Xbox and PS3 rather than time that would otherwise have been spent on the web.

But IF — and that’s a BIG IF — the web is on its way out? Then search and SEO is going to make a radical change. It means agents need to rapidly figure out how to appear up high on the list for searches such as “Seattle Real Estate” from within the Apple app search. From within Facebook’s search. From within Android’s app marketplace. From within Amazon Fire. You get the picture. We tried this walled garden approach…it was called AOL. Look how that turned out for them. But, luckily for all of us, I don’t think the extreme view that “the web as we know it is going away” will become a reality.

Second, the emergence of “post social”. Social cannot continue at its current pace. Why? There are only so many hours in the day to spend online being social — at some point we need to actually accomplish something in our day rather than scroll through endless photos of our friend’s kids on Facebook or browse the latest web 2.0 or celebrity gossip on Twitter. We are already spending more time on social sites like Facebook than just about anything else (some people practically live on Facebook), But that’s not going to stop others from trying to get us to adopt and utilize the latest and greatest new social site. The problem is there simply isn’t more time in the day for me to spend another 2 hours on “social site X or Y”. Facebook and Twitter are all I can keep up with  – I don’t even get to Google Plus (remember, you need to focus to succeed with social media) as it is. We’re going to move to a point where a site needs to add real value or it will fall off the radar almost instantaneously. If a website doesn’t help me solve a real life problem I am encountering? I don’t have time to screw around with it. In my mind, there are too many “features”, and not enough “products”.

What does post social mean for agents and brokers? Really, this is not rocket science. It means you need to add value to others lives’ with your time. It means less automation and less crap. It means you need to focus on strengthening real, true relationships. It means more followers, more friends, more likes, more +1′s are not necessarily better — since reach doesn’t guarantee listeners.

Not unlike how it now takes “real” work to sell a home (no longer can you just put a home on the MLS and sell it in a week like you could in 2000). Post social means real work to stand out online. If you can’t handle that? You’ll be lost in the noise.

What do you think? Is the end of the web near? What does “post social” mean to you?

I’d rather use my influence to make other people’s lives better. Mine’s pretty damn good already.

That, my friends, is why I love Jeff Turner. If you are reading this post and don’t think you have it pretty damn good already, think again.

The ROI of social media is that your business will still exist in 5 years

Yes.

I love the fact that Jeff Turner posts things like this – and he’s right tha buy a copy of this song (or the whole album) on iTunest the ability to move people in a positive direction is a part of the power of social media. I’ll second turner on the fact that you should buy a copy of this song (or the whole albumon iTunes. Proceeds will help pay for food, clothing, guitar strings for Dred. I bought the entire album.

I hope everyone stops to think about how truly privileged you truly are; you should do that right now and buy the album for $5.99. The fact that Jeff posts things such as Dred Scott’s album is part of the reason I’m such a huge fan of the Turner family. I think you’ll all agree we need more people like Jeff and Rocky fighting for others in this world.

Social media is not “cool.” MAKING MONEY IS COOL. Social Media is simply another arrow in the quiver of marketing, and that quiver is designed to GENERATE REVENUE.

If you’re doing anything else with social media, here’s a book of matches, and I expect to never see you again after the smoke clears.

Too many people think of social media as a standalone concept, which couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve told people for a long time that people that “succeed” with social media are those that have figured out how to use it to better accomplish their day to day goals. They are not the people who set out to “conquer” or “master” social media. They are the people who started with a GOAL, and asked themselves “how can I use the tools available to accomplish goal X?” Social media is one of those tools in the toolshed, or “simply another arrow in the quiver of marketing” as Peter says.

Wow – Goals? What are those?

Sadly, some people don’t seem to understand you always fail without a strategy and goals – and many “social media experts” fall into that bucket.

I’m with Peter. I’ll never hire a social media expert either.

I agree.

Case in point: I just bought Gary Vaynerchuk‘s The Thank You Economy (affiliate link) for my Kindle. Why? Because I read Fred Wilson’s post and, though I’ve only met Fred once in my life, I trust him enough to know he won’t recommend crap. And by met I mean spoke with for all of 5 minutes at a networking event in Seattle a few years ago. Why do I trust him? I’ve been reading his blog for 4 years, he delivers value with his content, he allows his personality to come through, and I have heard nothing but good things about him from everyone who mentions him.

What are you doing to build trust with your audience?

After today’s events, The Lones Group are no longer going to own their own search results. Just minutes after publishing this post on The Lones Group on the Virtual Results Blog, it already ranks number 4! I bet it’ll be number 1 soon.

Uploaded with Skitch!

Update: I was browsing signed into Google. When I signed out, the Virtual Results post is on the bottom of page 1. Still, fairly impressive.

What is internet anyway?

What a difference 15 years makes.

Update 2/2/2011: The video embedded above was removed from YouTube, but can still be seen here – http://www.break.com/index/today-show-1994-what-is-internet-1996848

Fail

Say sh*t. Share sh*t. Answer sh*t.

What do you think? Accurate?

Yes, this is SPAM in my book. Some people really don’t get how to use social media.