Last week I attended a luncheon where a “leading authority on social media and online marketing” was the speaker. It was an interesting presentation and the presenter shared her numbers to substantiate her success; sharing x number of FB followers in one year, x number of Twitter followers, and the success attribute of making six figures.
What’s stayed with me is what she said regarding how she became successful. Apparently, she didn’t leave the house for her first year in business and presented herself as “being everywhere without being anywhere”. Isn’t that something? That, with the power of ‘social’ media these days you can actually launch a business and be in business without having to ever leave your house.
My thoughts:
– Yes, these days, you truly can start a business from the comfort of your own home computer
– If you’re presenting yourself as hyper connected and attending stuff, then you’re fibbing a little when you actually do not attend that something. The first rule of life, IMO, is showing up. Maybe for some it’s having an online presence, but don’t you have to ‘show up’ for that to work, too?
– If this behavior takes form, we’ll all just be online reflections of ourselves
– Do numbers really matter? Can a self-employed person or business actually still build cred by claiming how many FB or Twitter followers they have? The latest rig on the number game is on LinkedIn and the number of recommendations by a particular skill. A good 90% of the people who have offered me a tic, I’ve never worked with and I haven’t accepted these ‘recommendations’ for that reason.
Net net:
-Online presence does matter and there are tools and practices a business can use to move existing and potential consumers from awareness to purchase. I think for many businesses the challenge today is how to move from having an online presence to having sales.
-It’s not cool if you present yourself as being everywhere (as in attending stuff) and then you actually don’t show up.
-Sure, you can be everywhere online but are you truly building deep relationships with potential and existing customers?
-Use social media as a mechanism for fostering deep relationships; not as the sole mechanism.