Tools aren't broken the mechanics are - The Social Marathon

-- I think social media and social networks are in a very funny spot right now. We are five to six years in, so it’s mature enough now that people are actually putting in an effort and money into it. Now we start getting into the real question which is the return on investment really worth it? What's really happening is these social network platforms are so different than anything that we've ever come from. This is what I see, I see everybody starting to become cynical about a lot of these social media networks, but what’s really happening is the marketing tools are not broken, the marketing mechanics are broken. For example the business return on investment of a piano for Keith and I is 0, but the return on investment of books for us has been phenomenal; even though the return on investment for a piano does not benefit us the return on investment for a piano was was a good for Elton John and Billy Joel. The return on investment is predicated on how you use the tool. In theory a basketball is broken to me as a money-making proposition, but it wasn't for Lebron. Social networks work, we just need to know how to use it to our own advantage! This is an important point that I did not put in my book, but we are coming from a digital world where things were actually quite scalable and automated; banner ads, search engine optimization and email marketing these things were quite automated. Social ironically is very heavy human, very heavy touch, very long term. We came from sprinting and we're going to a marathon and most of us aren't trained for this marathon. Gary Vaynerchuk is a New York Times and Wall Street Journal Best-Selling author, self-taught wine expert, and innovative entrepreneur. Find more at http://garyvaynerchuk.com Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook is now available for pre-order on Amazon! http://bit.ly/jjjrhamazon