NING, My Social Media Experiment

September 27, 2009 at 6:57 am · Filed under Social Media

I had a good experience working with NING.

The interface was easy to use and within an afternoon I was able to set up an entire social network interface complete with Adsense ads and Google Metrics.

The next challenge will be to drive cosmetic consumers there organically. Mary Kay people all too often set up their social networks so that they can connect with other Mary Kay people. While this is great for sisterhood support there is another horizon to be experienced in social media: That of gaining new contacts and clients outside the “pink bubble.”

For my social media experiment on NING I wanted to create a domain where cosmetic consumers could find out about the entire market of cosmetic products, not just Mary Kay. It’s an old retail axiom that if an intersection has a gas station on the corner it will make some money, but if there’s a competing gas station on every corner of an intersection they will all make a lot of money.

So the main page on my NING site has informative blog feeds from the general cosmetic milieu. I have also included news and commentary about high end proven names like Eeste Lauder and Clinique. My next step is to get some discount offers included from these companies to attract their consumers and give people some incentive to get involved.

I also hope to attract consultants from competing direct marketing companies who will join me in offering services and products. I don’t want to “manage” what happens in this site. Instead I want to watch and be available and participate as a fellow member instead of an administrator. I have great products at great prices and if I’m a good and personable person to do business with then I’ll do just fine in a competitive environment.

My NING social experiment is here: Cosmetic Comparisons

Fish where the fish are. It pays.

-Love, Tony

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