Reaching the unreachables ... you've got to let them come to you

Okay, so we know that traditional mass media is shrinking, as Mike Driehorst writes about today. The mainstream is now broken into millions of mini-streams, or slivercasts.

We know that by research, by anecdotal evidence and personal experience.

We also know that social media -- blogs, podcasts, etc. -- is growing, but in reality social media just breaks the mini-streams up even further. And it's likely we'll never reach full adoption (read Andrea Weckerle's recent episode).

In fact, many people I know use their computers for e-mail (or IM'ing if they are young) and not much else. They don't read blogs, don't care about YouTube, don't spend time creating commercials for their favorite brands.

They live in the real world, not the online one, as I'm fond of saying.

This is where I run out of brilliance. I have no idea how to reach these folks. They are unengaged, unplugged in, uninterested in what you and I have to say.

Don't get me wrong -- the unreachables are often smart, college-educated, career-minded folks who simply have better things to do with their time than be marketed or pitched to.

They also represent the majority of the audience out there -- if you remove the techies and the politicos from the blog world, what are you left with? A bunch of teen-agers, some PR folks and a handful of early adopters who are still struggling to be heard.

The answer, I think, goes back to the niche. Engage people when they are ready. Be available when they discover their passion. Be visible when they are out and about.

Let them come to you. On their terms.

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