Nine years ago this month I launched my business on an unsuspecting public. Nobody had warned me at the time that in addition to being an accountant, I had to be social as well!
Much has been written recently on how to use [insert favourite social media application here] to win the hearts, minds and business of new and existing customers. Being a non-typical Generation Xer and an early adopter of computer / internet technologies, I’m loving the opportunities being opened up by Social Media.
When I first started my business I joined the local Chamber of Commerce, Rotary, breakfast referral groups and so on. Every so often I’d go to networking events which were not unlike what I imagine speed dating to be like. Get as many contacts and business cards as you can then move on to the next group.
I had far greater success with the regular meeting groups which weren’t JUST about speed networking. I’ve always preferred to establish some kind of rapport with someone, and this doesn’t happen during a 30 second conversation in a noisy room.
If I felt I knew a bit about the person, then I would be more likely to do business with them. And for me, this is where the strength and power of Social Media lies.
Why I’m Loving Social Media
Over the last few years, most of the friendships I’ve made with people have been online. As a result, I’ve come to know people all around the world and even had the pleasure of meeting some when travelling overseas. This non-confrontational method of communication suited my anti-social self down to the ground.
As a result, I’ve found it very easy to slip into a similar style with my social media interactions. Getting to know like minded people via Twitter, Facebook and so on has led to new connections which have already led to new business.
Face to face interaction obviously is still required, but breaking the ice online first has made it far easier for me personally to make new business contacts. And there is no doubt that social media will change the way we all need to do business.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sIFYPQjYhv8[/youtube]
This video is in a similar vein to one I posted previously (with the same backing track too) – and is deserving of a whole blog post discussing some points it raises!
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one comment so far...
Hi Meredith,
Nice post
Wow! I can remember those ‘speed-dating’ days of ‘SWAP’ meetings etc. For anyone in the audience that is ‘Gen-H’ or younger, ‘SWAP’ was ‘Salesman with a Purpose’. For a young, blinded by the light, would-be Real Estate Agent, it was all a bit ‘born-again’ for me…the only thing missing was the group-hugs…
We’ve been having a conversation over on Paul Hassing’s blog (http://mybrc.myobnet.com/2009/10/08/spitting-chips/), that your topic ties-in well with.
I think the excellent video that you’ve included sets the stage beautifully and leads into the underlying dynamics of not only Social Media, but business practice itself.
The interesting thing from my perspective is how businesses seem to be trying to measure and control social media, so that they can ‘maximize’ its potential (meaning their ROI).
We’ve been discussing the power of Micro-Loans in Third World Countries and why we don’t have them here…my short answer was (and Matt might have an insight on this as an experienced professional), Insurance.
Anyway, it seems to me that Social Media, through saturation by ‘non-Carnegie’ marketers, will avail a similar dynamic to the Micro-Loans…that is that out of the hype, human nature in the form of ‘good-will’ may organically float to the surface? It seems to be already happening on Twitter.
It will come back to what is meaningful and trustworthy and that meaning and trust will have to be earned…the days of audio-visual coercion through advertising may indeed be numbered? It may be that advertising will focus almost entirely on brand-recognition and leave the convincing to the product/service and users.
Have any multi-bazillion dollar empires been able to replicate any of the viral-media legends? e.g. United Breaks Guitars – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YGc4zOqozo ).
I reckon folks like your good self and Matt are on the right track re: Social Media…keep it real, keep it personal and back it up with a great product/service that folks can choose to use as the need arises.
Cheers
Stephen G