"Advertising: the science of arresting the human intelligence long enough to get money from it." - Dennis Leacock

Every now and again, a new idea will come along to change the traditional way of doing things. For years, if a company wanted to get the word out about their brand, they would run advertisements and put out flyers with coupons and special offers in the local newspaper. This used to be the most effective way to reach out to your community because everyone read the newspaper. Today, this is not the case. Social media websites, such as Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, have changed the traditional way of reaching out to people.

Many small businesses are finding it more important than ever to find ways to adapt to the changes happening in today’s society in order to keep their heads above water and stay competitive. Slowly, they are realizing that pop culture has changed the measures they must take in order to stay current. Instead of spending hundreds to thousands of dollars a month in paper coupons, magazine advertisements and local mailings that seem to be becoming less and less effective, they are starting these free web pages for their brand and doing the all of the promotion themselves.

The process is simple: pick a popular social media site – any one will do the trick – and create a profile. Add some pictures of the products that the company being featured on the page sells, maybe some pictures of the place of business, and some detailed background information about the company. Tell the reader what the company is all about, where it has been, and where it is headed. Post a few special offers as incentive for the public to choose this business over one of its competitors. If it’s a restaurant, add the menu and some of the dishes the establishment is famous for. Next, add employees, family, and friends as “friends” to the webpage and therefore friends of the company. Their friends, family, and acquaintances will see the profile created for the business when they visit their profiles, and, hopefully, will in turn click on the business’ profile and check it out. If they like what they see, they will more than likely at some point use the business to fulfill their needs and add it as a “friend” to their own profile. This will hopefully continue with several different people and the amount of people the business is reaching on a daily basis becomes endless, only limited to the millions of people that are interconnected through these social networking websites. Having these people as a “friend” to the company profile also enables a direct communication line between the business owner and the consumer, which is something that many small business owners strive for.

Ideally, after word has spread amongst the networking community created through the business profile, some of the consumers may go to the business and post something about their experience on their webpage, or the webpage for the business. If they had a good experience, it makes the business look good. If they didn’t have a good experience, it gives the business owner some feedback as to how the public sees the company, and offers insight into changes that may be made in order to improve the brand. “Friends” of both webpages will see this information and be exposed to what is happening within the brand. It’s a win-win situation!

While many people are happily jumping on this new and innovative way of free advertising, there are just as many others that think it is nothing more than a passing phase. It seems that in general, people are either open to this new idea, or they are not. There will always be those that are set in their ways of thinking and will always choose to get their information from something they can physically hold in their hands, like the newspaper, and will never see or hear of the new efforts being made by the business. While this community of people should not be ignored, it is impossible for them to continue to be the primary focus in local advertising. The world is changing, and with that, traditional ways of doing things are changing. It is something that cannot be ignored, only accepted. In the article “Moshing Etiquette,” Gamaliel Padilla writes, “Do not attempt to go against the flow of the pit. Salmon do this against the tide to lay eggs, then die. Learn from the salmon” (254). In this case, that is all the business owner can do in order to stay ahead of the curve in their promotional endeavors. Whether a person agrees with it or not, it has become essential to adapt to the new ideals pop culture has created for us in order to survive.