A little hip hop first…I have to say I’m a big Jay-Z fan. Growing up I always listened to BIG and remember PAC slamming Jay-Z on a few songs, so I never really gave Jay enough of a chance. A decade later, I think he’s one of the greatest lyricists of all time. Just look at his latest song, So Ambitious. Talk about pumping you up as a business owner…

Not only are Jay-Z’s lyrics incredibly motivational, but they hit on a big change in business today. Through the internet, and more specifically, social media and other online tools, people have been able to connect with other like-minded individuals in a way that we have never seen before in history. What that has done is even the playing field for entrepreneurs and startups when it comes to competing with larger organizations with bigger bank accounts. If you can build a large following, the big competitors will have to begin paying attention. Just listen to how Jay-Z became successful.

Jay tells us in his lyrics from So Ambitious when he says, "Had a couple of meetings no offers yet, Maybe I ain’t good enough for these offices, Back to the drawing board ducking officers, It’s all good cuz the streets is A&R’ing this, So with or without any of your involvement, I’m coming for all of this, respect my conglomerate, I went from pauper to the President". When he says, "the streets is A&R’ing this", he is telling the big record labels who wouldn’t sign him that it’s OK, he has built a following of supporters and through their support, he is building his own successful brand.

American business used to be built on selling products and services, but now things have changed through the advent of online tools. They allow entrepreneurs to sell nothing but ideas. Ideas that other people across the world can get behind. As the idea spreads, people will find a way to monetize it if it isn’t already generating revenue. Need more evidence that this change is occurring? Hearing Jay-Z talk about it and me write about it just hasn’t convinced you? No problem.

Check out Seth Godin’s "Tribes". Seth talks about the power of building your tribe. Seth Godin is, in my opinion, the leading marketing thinker on the planet, so I tend to give a lot of credibility what he says and writes about. If you’d like even more evidence of this change, look at Twitter. The micro-blogging service is supposedly valued at $1 billion after their recent round of funding. Twitter doesn’t generate any revenue at this point, though they have left the door open for future advertising initiatives. What they do have is millions of users who love their service. Twitter is literally changing how numerous industries do business. So not only is Twitter a great example, along with Jay-Z, as to how building a following is a legitimate way to become a successful business, but the service it provides actually allows entrepreneurs to do the exact same thing!

So go buy the Blueprint 3, listen to So Ambitious, and start building a tribe for your business today. Take advantage of the many free online tools out there like Twitter and Seth Godin’s Squidoo. Let us know if you have any questions about what social media tools to use.