The sales world is changing. Are you changing? Been in sales for more than five years? Notice any changes? Of course you have – but probably not the ones I’m going to talk about. I’m NOT talking about the economy, or customers in financial trouble, or slow sales, or price pressures from competition, or pressures from your boss to “sell more now.” Oh and, by the way, how about YOUR changes? Still cold calling? Still learning “how to close?” Still “finding the pain?” Still trying to figure out social media? Still a bit behind technology? That’s your problem.

I AM talking about changes that have taken place over the past five years that will affect sales into the next decade. Your sales. Here are the major changes that have taken place, and how you must take advantage of them and master them to sell and succeed:

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube today.

I get a lot of emails from salespeople complaining that their bosses won’t let them use Facebook for business, orLinkedIn for business, or Tweet for business on the internet. That there’s all kinds of policies against social media and all kinds of lawyers telling them what you can do and what you can’t do.

Yes there’s government regulations if you’re in certain industries but there’s also bosses that are chicken. They don’t trust their people enough. They won’t give them an hours worth of time and say, “Ok, between 9 and 10 you can build your base of social media contacts.” All bosses that are against social media are the ones who don’t know how to use it. Why don’t you offer them a tutorial?

Connect with me on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Most people don’t know what to say on, what to do on, or what to do with social media. And it’s a club with more than 700 million members.

There has gotta be an opportunity in there someplace.

Here’s the thought reality: Stop thinking of it as social media, and begin thinking of it as BUSINESS social media.

Immediately some clarity begins to creep in. You’re already using LinkedIn as a business proposition. You’re getting contacts, finding prospects, searching by company and title for qualified people to connect with (link with). You may even be job hunting or job upgrading.

Why not use Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube the same way?

Why not create daily/weekly/monthly value messages that your customers would find so interesting and informative that they would save them, print them, put them into action, and forward them to others?

Sounds way more powerful than cold calling and groping, grasping, begging, or manipulating your way to an appointment – that will most likely result in rejection – even if you use your fanciest, newest, “closing technique.”

Cold calling is such a cruel joke in this day and age.

TODAY’S REALITY: Do everything you can to use business social media to build brand, image, reputation, and perceived value with your customers and your business community.

YOUR CHALLENGE: Send messages that your customers perceive as valuable to them. Messages so valuable that they will tell others.

BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA REALITY: It’s not about tweeting; it’s about being re-tweeted. It’s not about finding someone on LinkedIn; it’s about them finding you, and wanting to connect. It’s not about searching out someone on Facebook; it’s about someone finding your business Facebook Page and “liking” it. It’s not about posting a video on YouTube; it’s about someone sending your video to someone else.

“But Jeffrey,” you whine, ”How do I know what’s most important or most valuable to MY customers?”

Click here to read the answer and the rest of the article.

Social BOOM! contains every aspect of social media, including the business periphery (blog, personal website, e-zine) that you need in order to create the real law of attraction. When you create a connection, it’s an indicator that that prospect, or that customer, or that person wants to continue the online relationship, which may lead to real business. Graduate from social media to business social media by creating value that others will perceive as important to fulfilling their needs.

Social media has become a phenomenon beyond words. Hundreds of millions of people all over the world have joined the party. In a millisecond, millions of people can know everything about everything and everyone.

You knew it couldn’t be long before business got involved. Small business, big business, your business.

I’m 65-years-young. I’ve seen a lot of opportunities come and go. I have also seen the complete evolution of the computer, and the complete evolution of the Internet. But never have I seen, or could I have imagined, an opportunity so great as business social media. And the best part is, it’s just beginning.

Now is your time to take full advantage of this low-cost (often no-cost), global, and local opportunity.

BUSINESS SOCIAL MEDIA REQUIRES AN INVESTMENT: Your time.

You must be willing to allocate an hour a day to build your network. When you do, and do it right, the rewards will be beyond your ability to measure. You will reconnect with business associates and you’ll attract people and prospective customers to connect with you a thousand times faster and 10 thousand times better than making the 100-year-old cold call.

Business social media is the new cold call.

You’ll make sales, you’ll create loyal customers, and you will profit from your ability to expose yourself, your thoughts, your experiences, your interactions, and your value to your market around the corner, and your market around the world.

CAUTION: After you begin to see results, you’ll curse yourself for not starting sooner. Turn that energy into action. Business social media is still young. There is still plenty of time. Commit to involve, decide to do it with value, intend to stick at it until you win, and reap the rewards both in reputation and in profit.

Get ready to ride the social media wave. It’s a big one. Perhaps the biggest ever.

It started like a small bunch of burning leaves in somebody’s backyard…a little Myspace here, a little Myspace there, a blog or two…and then the wind picked up. Facebook. YouTube. LinkedIn. Growing from a windstorm to a firestorm, social media is a tornado running wild over the internet plains.

How social are you? How serious are you about social media? You can’t ignore it. More than 100 million people are involved so far, and it’s just a few years old. I tried to ignore it for a while, but it soon became apparent that it is the new NEW Wave.

Learn more: