Whether you’ve accepted it or not, we now live in an extremely digital world.  Six Pixels of Separation by Mitch Joel touches on why it’s important to understand the many new online channels and describes different ways that businesses can take advantage of them.

You’ve most likely heard about the concept of Six Degrees of Separation, the idea that we are all connected through fewer than six degrees.  While the theory has been around for ages, it is no longer relevant in today’s world.  The degrees have since been removed as a result of the Internet, the many online social networks, and new media tools.  Everyone is now connected.  It’s no longer about who you know, because we all now live in a world where we can choose to know everyone, and everyone can choose to know us.  “We are all a click (or a pixel) away from one another” (Joel 4).

Since online social networks and social media are becoming more invasive, your personal brand is becoming more important.  At any given moment there could be someone checking out who you are, what you’re about, and whether or not they are willing to invest, or maybe even divest, in you.

It’s time for you to get extremely comfortable with being a little uncomfortable.  There will always be aspects that are out of your control.  You can’t control the conversation.  You can’t control whether or not people will be talking about your brand, and you can’t control what they’re saying about your brand if they are talking about it.  However, you can control whether or not to participate and take action.  You can control whether or not you’ll be accessible should things go wrong.  You can even control whether or not you choose to encourage consumers to be so passionate about your brand that they’ll actually help market your company for you.

Building your business through the online channels doesn’t require you to be tech savvy.  In fact, all you need is a computer and an Internet connection in order to publish something for free.  If the cost of publishing something is free and if it comes with a global audience, as a business owner you now only have one choice: to get involved and build awareness.

“The primary objective is, and should be, to drive consumers to take action and keep them engaged” (Joel 27). These goals are reached by either bringing them from one of the social channels to your Web site or, if applicable, to your business’s physical location.

There are several traditional advertising and communication strategies that have been adapted for the online world.  These include cross-channel promotion, display advertising, e-mail marketing, search engine marketing and affiliate marketing.

While understanding the traditional online advertising channels is important, there are more conversational channels that should be focused on as well.  These include blogs, micro-blogs, podcasts, online social networks, sharing sites, user generated content, wikis and widgets.  The above-mentioned channels will help your business become a source of insight, information and community.

These new online channels represent a big change for businesses.  If you let them, they can change how you sell your products and services to people.  While building relationships has always been important, turning those relationships into an online community is now more powerful than ever.  In today’s world, it’s no longer solely about how much money you put into advertising and PR, in hopes that people will see and respond to your message.  “This new economy is driven by your time vested – and not by your money invested” (Joel 5).  You will find that the new channels will work for you only if you work for them.  All you need to do is add your value, your voice and allow your consumers the chance to connect, engage and take part.

It’s not necessary to overwhelm yourself by adding an assortment of Internet-based tools and gadgets to your life.  It is, however, important to have a concrete brand strategy.  “Having a solid brand strategy will empower you to decide best which tools and tactics make the most sense for you and the growth of your enterprise” (Joel 51).

Most businesses embrace digital marketing channels because they think it will be relatively cheap and fast.  Conversely, digital marketing is all about being slow.  While it does enable you to make fast decisions, see results immediately, and have the ability to change things with the press of a button, real tangible results take time. “The older the content, the longer it has been online and searchable through the engines, the more people who have linked to it, shared it, and tagged it, the more valuable it is” (Joel 33).  With that said, the sooner you post your content, the sooner people will find it and the sooner it will become more valuable over time.

The digital social spaces are built primarily upon trust.  Businesses that build trust and engage in their community are seeing real results and, therefore, real return on investments.  While trust is slowly built over time, “the more human, honest, and transparent you are, the quicker you will be able to build trust and leverage it to build community and your business” (Joel 44).

You can’t fake passion and you can’t fake your personal brand.  While you do have the power to influence people and win friends, if it does not align with who you really are, those relationships won’t last long.  “Live your brand every day by focusing on what you bring to the lives of others, from co-workers and community to clients and customers” (Joel 131).  Realize that your brand is not for everyone, so there is no need to focus on everybody.  Instead, focus on connecting with like-minded people.  Make those real connections that really count.

Joel, Mitch.  Six Pixels of Separation.  New York: Business Plus, 2009.

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