If you are as tired of the doom and gloom about the worlds economy as I am, then here’s the obvious solution: social media.

Specifically, Social Media for Small Business.
As we leverage social media for our businesses, it’s called marketing. So if we use social media to deliver extraordinary customer service and tell our story in a compelling manner, our prospects will become customers and our customers will become brand ambassadors and they will tell their friends that you are cool and suddenly you will have more customers.

Spoiler Alert! You have to be doing a good job, selling a good product or service at a fair price to people who want and need it.

It’s quite likely that the real economic recovery is going to come from small and mid-sized businesses, entrepreneurs who have the vision, passion, courage and work ethic to turn their dreams into a business. A small business at first. A local business, that does business with the local folk. Real people; you and your friends. They do well, treat you well and you spend some of your money with them, and so do your friends. Perhaps they then spend some of their money with you, and so do their friends.
Soon enough, lots of real people are buying real things from other real people and we are all spreading the word via social media and after a while we all have a little more money and we spend a little more money and suddenly things are looking up!

What’s the hook? Well, this buying local stuff means making the effort to support each other, it means buying an organic tomato from an actual farmer at the farmers market instead of going to WalMart and buying some genetically modified round red monstrosity that looks like a tomato but doesn’t really taste like anything because Cargill/Monsanto took out all the ‘taste’ genes so they could add ‘never spoil’ genes. Sure, it’s cheaper – but is it worth it?

If we invested a little more in our local economy and consumed a little less, if we made an effort to buy local (or at least American) when we can, then the world becomes a better place.
As we do this and use our social media connections – our friends – to help spread the word, our town or city becomes better because we know it more, we know the merchants and shop keepers – and they know us.
Pretty soon we’re part of the movement – the sanity movement, the keep it local movement, the “let’s buy less crap from China” movement, the “let’s demand real food not science projects from giant corporations” movement.

We can save ourselves – and social media, the technology that allows us to connect instantly and effectively with lots and lots of people, can make that happen.
Social Media can save the worlds economy and give us a better world to live in – if you want it to, if you want to be part of it.
I do!

Mike Wolpert / Social Jumpstart
(we are a marketing consultancy that teaches business people how to leverage social media and online marketing to grow their revenue – we have some very cool clients and we give away some pretty great training, inspirational advice and coaching. If you’d like some help – or inspiration, call me! 407.405.3500 is my cell or email: Mike (at) SocialJumpstart (dot) com – I’d love to chat)