I normally operate in the world of social and digital media.... things like Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, YouTube and blogging. A report released last October shows that over 7% of babies born today have their own Facebook page. If that's surprising, some 9% have their own email address.

I can understand some enthusiastic parents starting a Facebook page to proudly show off their newborn, but I have to stop and wonder what a baby might be doing with their own email address? Given these stats, it's no wonder that over 70 percent of Australian mums do the majority of their shopping online. We're a hyper-connected digital society now. The internet makes it easier to buy things we don't necessarily have access to in rural areas or for time-poor women and it certainly makes it easier to keep in touch...at least when its working!

But just because the interet makes our life easier in these ways, do we need to make it more complex in other ways - such as maintaining a Facebook profile for a one year old, or writing emails on behalf of your four year old? I am forever shaking my head at the new lengths people go to online to claim their 15 minutes of fame - be it for themselves or their children.

What do YOU think?

We covered a lot of ground, but their CEO, Jenni Seton posed a very interesting question that I felt was worth exploring. The question went along the lines of figuring out how to remain relevant in a time when people tend to be narrow-casting.

Narrow-casting by definition is when people selectively tune out what they do and don’t want to know.  For instance, I don’t want to see advertisements for hamburgers, so I fast forward those ads on television. I unsubscribe to newsletters that don’t provide relevant & timely information and block people on Facebook & Twitter that don’t add value to the conversation.

And therein lies the key. Relevance and value. 

Without sounding philosophical, we tend to get caught up in our own world and/or the product we represent. Admit it…. nothing is ever as important as our own product.
Social media represents an opportunity for you to talk about your product to an ever-present and growing audience. And that conversation will be sustainable and rewarding, so long as you keep those magic words top of mind; relevance and value.

Using social networks as a sales and marketing tool requires you to interact. Gone are the days when you could send 10,000 glossy brochures to your entire database. Today, the key to using social networks to promote your product or service is to create a conversation. Think of it as bit like going to a party. You can’t just rock up to the first person you see and yell “You’ve got to buy my widget. It’s only $9.95.”

Instead, create meaningful content – or a relevant conversation if you will – about your product. Create posts that add value to the lives of the people you’re mingling with online. Try to solve their problems or offer solutions.  

Connect with people genuinely and listen to the conversation. Respond to their requests and monitor the discussions. If you strive to remain relevant and valuable, being outcast by the narrow-casters will be difficult.

Listen, interact and respond. You might just discover your audience’s burning needs and be able to create a window for your wares.

So a few months ago when I came across a fabulous company called Urban Dog Training it was such a refreshing change.

Let me give you some background. Danielle Dickinson is an impassioned and utterly funny behavioural dog trainer. I first met her when I was desperately seeking help for my mini daschund Pippy, who I’ve allowed to believe is actually a human. Apparently, you’re not meant to treat dogs like your child, but believe me, I’m paying for it now.

Anyway, Danielle and her husband Paul have established this great business to assist urbanites like me who have either ruined their dogs or have bought a dog and don’t want to ruin it. Hopefully they get to the latter category first. They run about a dozen classes at any one time, plus do private consulting (bless you) for the hardened criminals. And by that, I mean the owners, not the animals.

Danielle and Paul ‘get’ how to turn their clients into evangelists. Even before their utilisation of social media, their website was one of the best I’ve seen in my life. Why?
1. Right from the start, they worked out who the site was for. NOT for them, but their customers. Wow... revolutionary.
2. From the first page, there’s no doubt as to what they do and how it can help you.
3. Beautiful clear, crisp graphics & mountains of information & click-throughs etc
4. And, get this.... a call to action.
Jump on the website yourself and have a play.

So, I started talking to Danielle and Paul about social media. They’re no strangers to Facebook. If you want to see a great Fan Page check out Stevie and Garry’s. For an explanation on the dog’s names, you’ll have to DM Paul (@Beezneez71) directly...

They have the fundamentals right in their online presence, making it really easy to segue into Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. But the biggest thing they have, which I cant teach, is PASSION. If you know you have a good product and you are totally passionate about what you do, it’s going to show through. Leading on from that, if you’re serious about your business, wouldn’t you want it to have a professional presence?  Dont you want your clients to know you think highly enough about them and also your product to produce a first-rate promotional presence?

My advice to businesses wanting to dive into the social media pool is to do a stock take of what it is they actually do. I never start a client’s strategy without first gauging their level of excitement for their product or service. It’s okay to be tired and overwhelmed, but do you actually like what you do or sell? If you don’t like what you do, and have all the inherent and underlying problems that go with it, then even social media isn’t going to help you.

So make like an Urban Dog, ask yourself why you’re doing things. Use that passion to your advantage, because it really does shine through making you hard to resist. And before you know it, you’ll have your clients eating out of your hand.

Implement a system for staying constantly relevant. Consider these questions to help design yours:

a. Where are you customers hanging out? Go there!
b. How healthy is your media diet? Cut out the crap!
c. How responsive are you to “requestions”? Answer them!
d. What terms are your customers searching for? Google them!
e. How are you upgrading your qualifications? Recertify them!
f. Are you dedicated to life-long learning? Rededicate yourself!
g. What publications are your customers reading? Subscribe to them!
h. When was the last time you got new headshots taken? Shoot them!
i. What three industry blogs are you reading weekly? Bookmark them!
j. How many networking events have you attended this week? Sign up!
k. What market opportunities do you need to respond to? Leverage them!
l. How frequently are you updating your online profiles/statuses? Write them!
m. How many of your customers have you taken to lunch this month? Invite them!
n. How often are you asking your customers to help make your business better? Ask them!

Let me know which ones and how you implement your relevancy strategy today.

The woman behind the Masterclass, Jennifer Frahm (@jenfrahm), commented in the event’s final remarks,  that the day came about from a single Tweet. Well, much like Jen, my interview with David came about through a single DM on Twitter. Now anyone who’s been in journalism or PR for a while will understand my amazement at this.  It used to be that you’d have to track down the subject’s agent or manager, make a formal approach, sit on your heels until a response came back and then hope like hell that the subject actually appeared on the day. Let’s not even enter into a discussion about the approval process!

Social media certainly has gotten social and public relations is definitely public again. The fact that we can communicate with peers, prospects, new friends, old friends, business associates and media groups via social media channels is really amazing to me.

David related the story of how he promoted his best-selling book “The New Rules of Marketing & PR.” Before its formal release, he sent a copy to 130 of the top bloggers around the world. These bloggers then reviewed and wrote about the book, word spread, excitement bubbled and the book became a best seller. It sounds simple, but let’s not over look the fact that the ideas and strategies David has detailed in the book are brilliant. He had a quality product to promote and an extremely savvy way to promote it.

Here’s my point. Rewarding, pertinent and relevant contact can now be made with literally one click of the mouse. We don’t have to suffer through 14 middlemen to get an answer. We don’t have to be routed through 23 receptionists and P.A’s to find the source of information. Social media has given us a direct conduit for communication.

This may scare the bejesus out of those people who prefer to be guarded and protected. Perhaps the same companies who are reticent to embrace social media as a way of connecting with their customers. And therein lies the fallacy. They often bemoan the fact that they can’t directly target their clients or anticipate their needs, yet these are the very people who can’t practice transparency themselves....

I’m loving the fact that ingenius ideas, up-to-the minute research and access to some of the world’s greatest minds are available with one click of the mouse. And if you had a great mind or idea, wouldn’t you want to be accessible to your audience too?