Look: We're Not Like Any Other Consultant You're Going To Hire

People have a tendency to either fear the unknown or in a business deal fear being swindled by the unknown.
That definitely happens in Social Media, and Political Consulting.

The idea behind social media for me is a lot more about creating a culture of ethics in our world than simply earning a paycheck from consulting businesses and public figures.

We're standing on the edge of a cultural revolution. The way we do business isn't the only thing changing. The way we elect our leaders and talk about national concerns are, too.

Every day there dozens of hearings on Capitol Hill on topics ranging from Facebook usage in Iran to poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. Imagine the impact if these could live-streamed for free over YouTube?

In 2009, Boston College stopped issuing email addresses. Why? Because Generation Y'ers aren't looking to show off that they go to Boston to job recruiters and intern scouts--that's why we have resumes. Our value system is different: if you're worth our time, we'll make sure you know: through Facebook. Gmail made it cool to use a non-proprietor email address, and we still use our Gmail account extensively here at the firm.

Back to what we do.


Social Media Consulting is a form of Social Entrepreneurship. By designing a strategy for a candidate share their message over Orkut.com and Facebook .com, we're making politics better. Why? Because we're giving Mr. Smith the ability speak directly to his electorate for pennies on the dollar when compared to Television and Radio ads. By helping Mr. Smith have a shot at being elected, we're leveling the playing field to have a Citizens' Congress, not an "old boys club" in Annapolis, Washington or anywhere else.


By helping a small business establish its LinkedIn.com and Twitter.com following, we're giving Main Street a fighting chance against the national franchise that opened up next door. 


And by helping a local homeless shelter raise awareness to local press and other traditional media, we're helping niche causes inspire mainstream audiences. 


That's the power of Social Media, and the power of my generation's printing press.
The YouTube clip below is a little boring, but it's aimed at people who want to think deeper about just what Social Media is doing to how businesses live and breathe in America:

"It's a PEOPLE DRIVEN economy, stupid."

-Erik Qualman, 2009.


Social Media  is Generation Y's printing press.
It isn't a fad. It isn't temporary. It's the beginning of the people driven economy.

What does that mean?

By the end of this decade, consumers and electorates will access in real-time to just about all the information they need to make a decision about who to vote for, and what child-labor backed companies to boycott. And they'll be getting this information through word of mouth, blogs, Twitter and yes, even Facebook.

This poses a huge problem for corporate giants and "election-favorite" candidates.

Why? 

Because now people can organize and respond to something they don't like in real time.
That means a serious restructuring of our economy and political culture in the next 30 years, and that small businesses and dark horse candidates have a much more equal playing field if they're aimed at becoming regional powerhouses and world leaders.

Mr Smith and Mr. Bailey Finally Have A Chance.

This video is from the activist website MOVE YOUR MONEY. MOVE YOUR MONEY focuses on getting Americans to take action against what it perceives as gross excesses by banking giants by getting everyday Americans to move their money to local community banks. It focuses on the theme that community banks look out for the little guy, while large banks have only one rationale: greed.

It's hosted on the popular social/new media site, YouTube, where it has around 500,000 views from site users with and without YouTube accounts.

What's so important about it?

About a month later during the State of the Union, President Obama announced his intention to divert TARP funds to help community banks lend more to "the people who need it most". We can only wonder where the administration might have gotten that idea. The otherwise neglected industry of community banks and savings & loans now have regular meetings with administration officials, as well as national attention to their brand(s), in part because of social media tools like the YouTube video above.

Social Media tools allow for the dissemination of information in real-time. Better than any other mode of communication we have out there (unless you believe in telepathy). It means that we're becoming a people-driven economy, where the consumer has a lot more power than the institutions they interact with.
Companies and politicians who don't take heed of that do so at their own peril.

Just to explain...

We are Maryland's Premier Consulting Firm for Social Media and Grassroots solutions."

Now, what does that even mean?

Well, we're a new media consulting firm. This means that we use the latest new media and social networking applications and apply them to create unique solutions for businesses and political clientèle. Our partners and staff consult clients on the use of new media campaigning to enhance marketing campaigns, grassroots presence, and fundraising potential. Also, we deliver young interns and volunteers to any and all political or social events. We help politicians create a system of grassroots to enable a greater span of communication through out the region.

We utilize social media tools to connect our clients to the the people they want to hear their message. Then, for political clients, using our vast networks, help campaigns put together the grassroots support that helped get Obama elected in November 2008.

New Media, Youth Involvement, and Grassroots.

That really is our game plan, and it can help a local business grow a loyal and dependable customer base, an embassy develop a reliable press and public interest platform, and get a shiny-eyed first-time (or incumbent) candidate elected to office. That's the reality of what we do. And why you should think twice before going it alone in an economy as bad as this one.

If you're interested in just how we make such heady claims a reality, well it takes more than a blog post to that. But we can give you an idea of the new media tools we use:

Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtube, Digg, amongst others.

Now, this blog post isn't designed to answer all your questions about new media, social media, or why you'd ever need a consultant to help you with any of these problems. But it does give you food for thought.