I was just reading this great post by Robin Carey , the co-founder of Social Media Today, about the maturity of social media and the challenges it faces on the way. One of the main challenges for the businesses is monetization of social media. I completely agree with the thought that “Information does want to be free, free to move around at any rate, even if we’ll increasingly seeing value put on that information in various ways”, and who can evaluate or put the value on the content best? The Consumer. The recent news about News Corp plans to monetize the content again, it kind of reminds me this video of Prosumer, where corporations are trying to control the free movement of the content but at the end they loose the battle. Do not get me wrong I am not against paying for the content, but sometimes I don’t understand why can’t I pay for my favorite blogger or journalist directly? I think that’s about to change. I believe that “freemium” business model and payment systems will have to evolve to become more flexible and provide more choices for the consumer. I can easily imagine the media platform (i.e.  Social Media Today) where I come to read the news and with a click of some sort of social “pay me” button I could pay for the good quality post and support my favorite blogger/journalist directly without any intermediaries by donating 10-50 p for the post. The emergence of such function could massively improve the social media content quality as there would be kind of “natural selection” in social media because people would be motivated to build up their personal brands by creating valuable content (monetary motivation always helps). Furthermore, the media brands would be interested to attract good journalist/bloggers to maintain their brands who in return would be willing to share their revenue stream with the company because big brands attract more visitors. The more I think about the more clear it gets , that such kind of system could be a game changer and a win-win situation for everyone . What do you think about it?

Jim Kukral is a serial web-entrepreneur, professional speaker and consultant,  who at the moment spends most of his time helping entrepreneurs and small business owners learn how to find success online. For over 15-years, Jim has advised small businesses and large companies like Fedex, Sherwin Williams, Ernst & Young and is credited with building some of the first major Fortune 500 websites and blogs in America. Jim is the author of  “Attention! This Book Will Make You Money” and “The Ultimate Pitch”  and has been featured in Top online and offline print publications such as Forbes, Brandweek, Entrepreneur, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, BusinessWeek, Inc …to name just a few.You can follow Jim on Twitter, Facebook  or Linkedin.

G: How and why did you get into social media?

J: Like everyone else I saw it as a way to communicate more easily with my friends, and later on, potential customers.

G: What is it like to be a real Social Media Citizen?

J: I monitor Twitter and Facebook and Linkedin all day. It’s always there, but not a huge part of my day. I find it a distraction actually and I’ve been trying to spend less time worrying about it. When I do, I get more real work done.

G: What are your favourite social media hang out sites?

J: Twitter and Facebook. They offer the best possible situations for me to connect with potential customers.

G: How are you keeping up-to-date with social media environment ?

J:  I get most of my news through Twitter. Updates from places like my local newspaper Cleveland.com, CNN and places like Mashable.

G: How would you define a  Social Media Citizen?

J: Somebody who realizes that social media is a part of their lives every day, for business or personal, or both.

G: What are your favourite Social Media Citizens?

J: My favourites are:

• Jason Falls,
• Shawn Collins,
• Missy Ward,
• Jeff Rohrs.

G: What are your favourite Marketing/PR tools on social media?

J: Not sure I have one.

G: What are your favourite social media campaigns?

J: Willitblend.com going viral with Youtube videos.

G: What are your Top 3 secrets of social media marketing?

J: Social media is business, not playtime. Separate your fun from business and use it as a tool for your business. Or don’t, everyone can choose, but that’s how I use it primarily.

G: What do you see in the future for the social media?

J: I think it’ll all be congruently pushed into our mobile apps.

G: Describe yourself in five words?

J: Web, marketing, good guy, entrepreneur.

G: What is your favourite hobby?

J: Either Texas Holdem or Golf.

G: What don’t you like about social media?

J: All the wasting of time.

G: What is the funniest/most unexpected thing that happened due to social media?

J: I’ve connected with some big name people through SM channels. Amazing how open people are to accepting message/intros via SM.

G: How did social media change your life?

J: I’m more connected with potential customers and I get more of the news I want pushed to me.

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A big Thank You to Jim for his great insights!! You can find the rest of the interviews with Top Social Media Citizens at SMC List or Social Media interviews category.