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Agricultural sharecroppers often devoted years of intense labor – the efforts of entire families – to improving the land and buildings which they called home.  Still, they held no legal claim to the property, and the owner was free to sell the land or evict the tenants and replace them with others.  In such cases, any improvements which they had made to land and buildings were fully owned by the landlord.  The sharecroppers had no claim to, and no reward for those efforts.  Their primary reward for all of that work was just survival.

What does agriculture have to do with e-marketing?

This terminology has been in use for several years, going back at least as far as an article by Nicolas Carr in 2006.   The ’06 piece was updated and re-released in August, 2011.  It’s a theme which has been treated by numerous other writers – yet recent developments in e-marketing just keep emphasizing the relevance of the issue.

Whether the author is a well known expert or someone you never heard of before, the topic is well worth your careful consideration.  The issue is rooted in the question:  “Are you realizing the maximum value of your labors, or are you setting yourself up for an uncaring “landlord” to confiscate most of the value from your efforts?  The truth is that an uncomfortably high percentage of people who contribute value to the online community are exploited / rewarded much like the proverbial sharecroppers of earlier years.

It is important that you realize:  any intellectual property which you post on Facebook (or any similar venue) instantly becomes the property of the “Landlord”.  Although it may serve to provide you with some temporary gain, it is no longer yours.  If you inadvertently offend the owner, you can be instantly, irrevocably “kicked out” – even without explanation – but anything which you ever posted there remains the property of the landlord.  If you doubt the veracity of this statement, read the fine print of your service agreement!

The latest rage – social media marketing…

To illustrate the significance of this medium:  In the Montgomery, Alabama region, alone, in early 2011, Facebook reported that they had over 200,000 subscribers, of whom over half spent more than an hour per day online.  No other approach to marketing currently reaches anything nearly that size of audience – and it’s comparatively cheap!

Clearly, this field of marketing must not be neglected – yet we all know that anything which is ever posted to Facebook (or similar sites) is their property.  This means that whatever time and money you invest into advertising there belongs to the landlord.  He is free to use, distribute, or dispose of it at his discretion. 

You are likely to reach a much larger audience at a very economical price – but once you have posted it, you no longer own it.  In other words, you are sharecropping.  You gain a small reward, but most of the value of your post belongs to someone else.

Is it possible to utilize “state of the art” without being a sharecropper?

Yes!  You can do it – and it’s not even all that difficult.  The key is to have a URL which really is your own.  It’s registered to you, and whatever you post on it belongs to you.  In effect, it is your own farm!  Don’t avoid the social networking systems – but utilize them discretely.  The key is that your “valuables” are stored on your own site.  Your postings on Facebook, YouTube, or the latest incarnation of social networking – all point readers to your own site.

If you have already ventured into this field, carefully evaluate what you have done.  Never use your site to point customers to one which you can’t control – rather, use your exposure on those “sharecropped” sites to point readers to the site that you own.  Do this discretely, though – “by the rules” – or you may offend the landlord and find that you have been evicted!

Never forget that “the Panda is watching”—

But don’t obsess over it Make your website the best that you possibly can.  Get rid of any low quality articles, or upgrade them.  Eliminate any plagiarized or otherwise copied content, and focus on providing truly valuable information to your readers.  .  A refined site which offers quality content will be rewarded – and if you really offer good “stuff”, satisfied customers will return, bringing their friends with them.

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One of the aspects that can aid in your success is to know what to keep your hands on and what to delegate. Although designing your own website and developing a presence on the internet may appear to be an easy way to save money, there are two things you must consider.

First, how much is your time worth and should that time be devoted to other aspects of your business or organization? And second, do you have the abilities and know how to design, maintain, and market a website that is both aesthetically pleasing and highly functional? In most circumstances, spending your time learning all the aspects related to website design and internet marketing does not make good business sense. A well orchestrated website can increase your exposure, your customer base, and most importantly, your profit potential. And these increases will help you gain online market shares.  On the contrary, a poorly architectured web presence can cause inaccurate impressions and do damage to your business or organization. By allowing ClearviewONE to take the internet side of your business out of your hands, you can focus on the many other aspects of creating your quality products. In turn, ClearviewONE will create a quality product for you, in the form of a dynamic presence on the internet.

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