Raise your hand if you know what m. means.

If your hand is in the air it probably has a smartphone in it. You smartphone users are pretty smart.

If your hand isn’t in the air, there’s still a very strong chance it has a smartphone in it.

mobile search

Now, take a close look at the URL field. If you’re web browsing, there’s probably an m. right there. If not, there should be.

m., short for mobile,  is gaining some serious m.omentum. It’s m.assive.

But it’s also a fairly new phenomena, so it’s m.ysterious. Who knows how to do it? Or maybe a better question is who knows how to do it right? But is that a fair question? What’s right? What’s wrong? I have no further questions. Well, actually, I have a million of them.

This is exciting.
It’s kind of a thrill to be a part of a revolution. I remember in grad school I wrote a paper about the soon-to-come DAD, the digital audio disc, which ultimately become the CD, which means compact disk, which really isn’t compact by today’s standards. But I digress. Anyway, my paper said these shiny little discs of data are going to obliterate records (For you youngsters, records are those big discs that now go by “vinyl.”) And they did.

Thanks to technology, these revolutions come to us often. And, thanks again to technology, they spread faster than ever before. Take social media, for example. ‘Nuf said.

I sat through an informative webinar about getting started in mobile marketing last month where most of the speaking was done by Jamie Turner of 60secondmarketer. (I addressed this webinar in a prior post that may interest you.) He told us within one to two years the mobile marketing rage will dwarf the social media marketing conversation 5:1.

Do you know what mobile users do?
They shop. They shop with their mobile device in hand, so they use it guide them not only to the store, but down the aisle right to the product. Then they research it, gather other people’s opinions, check on prices, and cash in on coupons. If you have an impressive mobile presence at that time and place, you have a seriously powerful advantage. If you don’t, you don’t.

Is your marketing ready to go mobile?
You need to get your arms around 4 operating systems. You need to get schooled in m.sites, mobile search, voice search, snaptags, virtual business cards, QR codes, SMS, MMS, NFS, GPS, apps, location-based marketing, context targeting, click-to-call, click-to-map, gaming, and come what may. You need to think big, but think small. You need to think global, but think local.

We’ll close with some rock and roll, CSI style, featuring The Who, with an excerpt from their tune, “Goin’ Mobile.”

Out in the woods or in the city
It’s all the same to me
When I’m driving free, the world’s my home
When I’m mobile

Well said, Pete Townshend. The world’s your home when you’re mobile. If you’re not “at home” with mobile, it’s time to get going.

Here’s where you’ll find my m. site, with your QR scanner, a work-in-progress…
QR code
Please tell my readers and I a bit about your m. experiences thus far.