Social Media and Natural Horsemanship – Do You Know How Are They Alike?

Do you know how Social Media and the Natural Horsemanship movement are alike? If you are into horses like I am you may figure out the answer right away but for those of you who only admire horses from a distance let me explain. All horses are prey animals (because their defense mechanism is to flee from danger as opposed to staying and fighting) and all humans are the opposite. Humans are predators because their natural reaction in the face of danger is to fight plus they eat prey animals. I am just talking about the basic nature of the beast here. Horses look large and powerful but are actually very easily intimated. Because of that, fear and intimidation has been the accepted method for getting them to do what we wanted since they were first tamed 1000s of years ago.

About 20 years ago some visionary horseman began to experiment and teach ways of interacting with horses based on developing a relationship. They first build rapport with horses before demanding obedience and the results were amazing!  In this partnership there still needed to be a leader but since horses are natural followers it usually makes perfect sense to both parties that the leader would be the human. The difference in this training is the horses are allowed to become willing participants.

Slowly but surely people in all aspects of the horse world are coming to realize the tremendous advantage there is to developing a partnership with horses. They are beginning realizing how much more they can accomplish with a willing participant as opposed to an unwilling slave. Of course there are some people who will never change, some that will cling to their outdated methodologies because it is all they know but as time passes I think more and more people will discover the benefits this partnership can bring.

Now here is the exciting part (for me anyway), Social Media Marketing is built on the exact same principles as Natural Horsemanship.  It is built on developing relationships and willing cooperation and it is exciting to watch! It started out small 10-15 years ago with blogging and has slowly spread across the online world until major companies are now realizing the incredible value there is in connecting with their prospects.

The face of marketing has been changed forever because the consumer is now the one who is in control. They decide who provides the relevant content. They choose whose marketing message they will listen to. The rules are different now and businesses must give before they can get. The people who are the most successful online are the ones who give away the most. This is all about humans learning to turn off their predatory tendencies and begin to act like partners. Now isn’t that a novel concept? To actually help people weather they do business with you or not. This really excites me and if you love people and want to help them it should excite you too!

 

« Previous Page