photo credit: joiseyshowaa
‘Hard working young entrepreneurs lack the entrepreneurial spirit when it comes to social media’
Henri Kaufman dropped this bomb during a conference for young business owners in Avignon, France. Some saw tough love, others were just lost.
“What does Web 2.0 mean?”
This was the first question not 5-minutes into the presentation by Jean Christophe Anna on the use of LinkedIn for employers. To say there is a gap between social media consultants and the everyday business owner in the South of France would be an understatement.
Who needs these tools?
The interesting thing about the audience of this conference is that they were all successful entrepreneurs with up to 50 employees yet had little to no social media presence.
Their reasoning is simple. They have been successful until now using old school marketing and sales methods, why change?
The change in mindset wasn’t happening.
Looking around the room I could see a serious gap. This isn’t Blog World New York where the audience is composed of digital practitioners.
No, these are brick and mortar business owners who meet their clients in person for drinks or a meal and know paper a lot more than cloud computing. Once again they are being baffled with big words and social media strategies for their business.
Ironically for a 2.0 conference, none of the speakers actually knew the size, the type of business or the marketing needs of the audience members.
Can we stop the BS baffles brains approach and actually start a two way conversation with the audience? Isn’t this what 2.0 means after all?
Stop playing on fear and big words
Some social media ‘gurus’ would have you believe that brick and mortar businesses are quickly disappearing.
‘Social media is the air we breath, if you don’t breath you die’ exclaimed one of the speakers.
Big words for a big impact but what do statements like these actually bring to a business owner?
- They already know and feel they should be online
- Scaring them into jumping isn’t really going to work
Money, fun, Web 2.0, digital natives, Foursquare, location based services… some of the words the speakers used, in English actually. The feedback from one of the entrepreneurs was simple ‘how can this help me reach out to all architects in the South of France?’
No big words, or complicated strategies required here.
These business owners know that it takes hours, sweat and tears to get a service or product off the ground. Fancy English words do not impress them.
They want to figure out what these new tools can do for them, but they keep getting acronyms thrown at them. Stop trying to be a genius.
A blog, and a business
Everyone here had one thing in common (except for some speakers): they own and run a small business. In a sense they have already done the tough part and yet they hesitate to start online.
Sure they all have websites which are beautiful brochures for their services but none of them have blogs.
Their excuses are numerous and we all know them (time, effort, don’t know what to write, etc…) but their biggest excuse lies with those who should be leading the way. People are beginning to see through crap and filter out inane.
Those who have been running a real business (not a blog) for years can feel when someone is trying to sell them snake oil.
The sad part is that social media is a great tool which is more than often abused by so called ‘business’ bloggers.
Business owners want to hear it from other entrepreneurs who deal with the same day to day grind, the same fears, and live on the same roller-coaster.Walking the talk
So now this is my question, are bloggers becoming another excuse for small business owners NOT to go online?
Are we blogging based on personal experience and actually running a real business behind the online presence or just adding to the myth of the social media guru?
Hi I'm a coach who believes life is an adventure, and entrepreneurs need to cultivate an adventure mindset to succeed.
{ 74 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a great question! I think you are well stated in surmising that most brick and mortar business owners are scared off by the lingo and feeling they are being “sold” something. They do know that they should “be online” but it all seems a bit overwhelming. I think that we have an opportunity to help those people move forward. I wrote a list on my site of 63 tools I use everyday to run my business. Now, I don’t use each one of them each day, but by offering a start point with basic things that can help them get comfortable with using tools online that break down the mountain that is “I need to be online” into usable chunks that are actually helpful.
Love the blog! You have a new subscriber!
Thanks David, your tools sound interesting, which one are your favorite?
Hi John,
Sorry I’m late to this, but at least I am here
I have been thinking a lot about this lately, but maybe not on the exact same level as your conference. I find what Marcus is saying to be true. I have talked to a lot of local business owners where I live, and most of them don’t get the social media frenzy. They are participating, they are on Facebook, but it’s not for their business, it’s just something they are a part of and they don’t feel that they want to add their business to this new and uncontrollable virtual world. And it doesn’t help that the teachers are Gurus spitting fancy words and statistics in their faces either.
Now, what I have been thinking about lately, is that we’re actually closer to the “old” economy. Where the important part for local businesses was about being social on a local level. We’re back to the time where it was important that the customers did know the owner of the store or the man behind the counter. This was important. We wanted to feel loved, and that they cared about us, and that we had friends inside the store. It was about trust and engagement. Then, something happened, and people started to care more about the products and prices, and not so much about being personal. But that’s changing.
My point is this, I’ve seen local businesses doing a great job of being personal in the offline world. I’ve seen business people (store owners) who are walking around the city just in order to find people to talk to, and to engage in a conversation, instead of using Twitter and Facebook. And to me, that’s even more brilliant, especially since their business is local, and it’s all about the people living “next door”.
Jens
Jens, I live in a small village and the local businesses although they are not online, actually use 2.0 everyday. They engage me by name, ask me questions and listen to what I say. They don’t dump flyers in my mail like the larger retailer do.
Now if only they could make the step and translate that great offline behavior online
John – YOU ARE BANG ON THE MONEY!
You also referred to some great posts, I read and loved both Marcus’s and Danny’s recent posts!
I think there are five major problems:
1) Many Social media “experts” don’t really know what they are going and alienate sbo’s even more.
2) The internet seems to be the worst place for scummy conmen praying on the naivety of newbies.
3) Fear never has a positive outcome. It is another strategy which will further alienate small businesses from Social Media.
4) Like Marcus’s (amazing) post, experts try and impress themselves by making others feel inferior through the unnecessary use of technical jargon.
5) I recently wrote a post on the fact that we have to understand someone to influence them, speakers that do not make the effort to do this bring no value to anyone they speak to, as Marcus’s post about the closing keynote at Blogword NY recently discussed.
Haha I’ve never given Marcus so many shout outs in one comment, but he’s an awesome guy who deserves it!
I think there is a huge gap in local business markets all over the world for the right social media consultants to go in and help local businesses establish and build their online presence.
Great post man, thanks! Would have had something to say if the speaker had said that about young entrepreneurs!
Just kidding!
Robert, Marcus is Da Man! I am right next to you singing his praises. He’s one of my mentors online and sits right next to Mark Harai when it comes to being helpful and super supportive to others online.
Hey John – had a nice little 3 night mini-vacay with the family and returned this morning!.
I don not think SM is a MUST for small business owners [yet]. Why? Because I know a lot of them who make HUGE sums of money without it (and that’s their goal – to make money). I do, however, think it could help take their business to the next level potentially if utilized in the right way. Which to me is a business opportunity in itself!
Also, the way things are framing up – it will be a requirement. At some point companies only used faxes and didn’t move towards email…in time, if they didn’t adjust, they had to close shop!
Hi JK,
Great to hear you are spending some time with the family. Music to my ears.
You are so right SM is not a must and nobody is going to go bankrupt next year because they don’t have a blog. Thank you for coming out and saying it, there is way too much noise in this bubble about how important social media is to business.
You are absolutely right, when everyone has moved they will move also. Just like they moved from horses to cars, and faxes to email. But these are only tools, not a business model
Hey John,
I appreciate what you’ve shared here and in my experience I find that a big part of the problem is lacking purpose when it comes to having a web presence. So many “social media gurus” throw tools and advice at small business owners without helping them establish goals or a purpose. In inevitably this serves to deter small business from interacting online. I think if social media professionals spent more time addresses the specific goals of small business owners, rather than throwing some whiz bang ideas and words at them, small business owners would certainly see the value of being online.
Hi Marlee,
Yes these ‘gurus’ can’t really go out and say well there is nothing new under the sun, the rules of marketing still apply but here are a few tools which might help.
What happened to ‘engage or die’?
In any business you need to be where your customers are. You need to put together a marketing plan that captures and lures in customers.
Social media is one, only one, way of doing that. Albeit it is a very effective and therefore important one.
If you aren’t using the internet and reaching your customers there on a personal level you are leaving a lot of money on the table.
Hi! I’ve been reading lots of blog posts and articles about small businesses engagement with social media as their tool in their marketing activities. And there were stories about their success. The issue with the bloggers may not be that crucial if businesses would only have knowledge about blogging and understand the benefits from it. But you have great post here and it helps small businesses to be more aware with business blogging. Thanks.
It’s that age-old problem isn’t it? People want to experience more and more success, yet they don’t realise that in order to attract more, they have to open themselves up to fit it all in.
I’m happy that these ‘brick and mortar’ entrepreneurs decided to attend the conference, as they at least have a sense that something big is changing in the business world. That they had no idea what it actually was is a little disappointing, but they’re stepping in the right direction.
Right now, you don’t ‘need’ social media, otherwise everyone would be doing it. But it’s a sign of the times that social media, and the internet as a whole, is becoming much more of a need than before
It’s a new tool in the box. Did businesses go bankrupt when we started using cars instead of horses? Or telephones instead of telegrams? Probably but as you say the tool doesn’t matter the mindset needs to change. They have to open themselves- your words sum it all up.
“Marcus Sheridan is right, stop trying to be a genius.”
Excellent advice, John.
I’ll add that if you don’t have meaningful answers and can’t give any kind of assurance on results, don’t fake it. Customers may not recommend you for a job well done, but they will talk about how you mislead them.
Thanks Stan, @twitter-92096544:disqus knows his stuff, inside out.
I think most of the time a lot of the ‘social media gurus’ try to make themselves sound smart by complicating things.
You are right about how often we complain about being mislead or ripped off
John,
Having lived and worked in Silicon valley for internet based companies and high tech companies for over 10 years, i come from a different mindset. I automatically assumed that everyone knew what twitter was, facebook, linkedin and all that Social Media stuff. I was surrounded by people who live and breath it.
It wasn’t until the last year that i realized i was living in some weird vortex and many businesses didn’t even have a web presence let alone a social media marketing plan.
In fact I met someone last week who had a soap making business. She had a local shop in a small town in Virginia.
I loved her soaps and asked if i could order soaps online. “NON” I asked if she had a web presence, yes but only as a catalog. She didn’t know what twitter was. She didn’t have a blog showing people her awesome process and products. I was flabbergasted and dumbfounded. I asked her how she got the word out and she said she did a lot of craft shows and word of mouth.
I wanted to tell her how much my sleeping mask business has benefited from using social media and the internet but instead i just paid for my soap smiled and walked out.
ps
The soap was a verbena scented and it was lovely…
This is exactly what the business owners I met at the conference were like. Did it stop them from being hugely successful in their trade? No.
They are still waiting to meet someone who can clearly demonstrate to them that all the time and money they will invest online will actually bring something back.
Sounds like your business would make a great case study Annie
So Brian Solis’s “Engage or Die” mantra wouldn’t work here?
It boils back to two key things – know your audience, and do your research. Your audience can be anyone – customers, blog readers, event attendees, etc. And you research is finding out what they need and how it can be delivered.
The rest is just circumstantial. Well, except for those who’re trying to kid their way to fortune, that is…
Danny,
I am not sure big mantras like these (especially with the word die thrown in) really get the message across.
So the marketing rulebook doesn’t get thrown out of the window once you go online ?
G’Day John,
Three years ago i decided to take my 30 year old offline business online. My target market is small-medium business. As you could imagine, after 30 years I had some truly loyal clients offline.
Few of these people have blogs. They can’t see any reason to have them. They do have websites but mainly because they believe they have to “have a web presence.” Many are distrustful of web marketing and of social marketing in particular. Many have horror stories about being “ripped off’ by web designers and web consultants.
I can relate to that, I had my fingers burned to my elbows when I first went online. Ultimately they’ll have to go where the prospects and customers are. That’s no different to what successful businesses have been doing forever.
But here’s an interesting thing.
Earlier this year, “Advertising Age” conducted a poll of readers to find “The Best Marketing Book Ever.” The winner was “Positioning;The Battle for The Mind” by Al Ries and Jack Trout.
It was first published in 1882.
After three years’ on the web, I’m still surprised by two things: the “unusual” ethical standards of many web marketers. And the extraordinary amount of wheel spinning and wheel reinvention in web marketing. Ignorance may well be bliss. But it’s still ignorance. There’s quite a fair dollop on www!
Then, of course, there’s the unbelievably high level of ineptitude about presentation and instruction. But that’s another story….
Have fun John
Regards
Leon
LOVE LOVE LOVE THIS POST!
As promised I am responding Mr. John
Last night on the way back from the minor league baseball game I saw a florist in a small 4 store strip mall that it’s 1/4 of the big sign on the street had the words LIKE US ON FACEBOOK. And I started thinking of Uncle Marty’s Adirondack Grill a great restaurant that is a bit of a drive into the forest from Albany in a smallish town near some lakes. Uncle Marty does great business. He has a Facebook page.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Uncle-Martys-Adirondack-Grill/161990131799
600 Fans which isn’t bad. An email list. We go 4-6 times a year. Great Ribs. Yet notice only 12 check ins via Facebook Places. He seriously does 100-300 meals a day easy. Only 12? And the fact is people just go there. They go from word of mouth. Social is not impacting his business. His business is CRANKING! He does plenty of traditional marketing.
I checked in on Gowalla and 4SQ for the baseball game. 4500 tickets sold. At 12 minutes to 7pm which was game start time I was there with 6 people on Gowalla and 4 on 4SQ.
So many businesses are seeing books in the bookstore, reading Mashable or being slung a line of bull. Kind of like the Social Media is causing revolutions. Because we never had any before Facebook and Twitter in this world. Or before Telephones. LOL
But John we are the vocal minority and it is going to take a huge crash of lemmings going off the cliff before people see. I screamed for 2 years about the dot.com bubble. 3 years about the Real Estate Bubble in the US. I still had a couple I am very close with buy a home in LA in 2006 for $660k because the husband who has no schooling and builds movie sets swore the house would double in 5 years. It is worth $500k right now if that!
How many people have been swindled by Religious Evangelicals after all the fraud and theft? They still are being. I think the key is to figure out how to help the smart people and say screw the rest. Sad to say. But then don’t we want our clients to crush their competition anyway?
Howie,
I left a bubble in 2008 just before it crashed…the real estate bubble in Dubai was insane, people were flipping houses, apartments, and then one day the banks stop lending.
I know a few people who are exactly in the same situation as your friends in LA. They bought expensive one bedroom apartments for the price of a mansion in most countries.
They are now in negative equity.
The small business owners I met are exactly like Uncle Marty, they are rocking their business so why really do more online?
Besides are Facebook fans the same as clients?
I think I need to Fan you on Facebook LOL Sorry I outed you as a 15 year old in Dusseldorf on erica’s blog today
Thanks Buddy, someone needed to do that.
Wow…John.
I’ve just read your post for the second time, and read the great comments below.
I know the kind of conference you’ve met and the people in there.
All have been said.
I will just add a point that seems to me essential and on which I’ve debated today on my blog: there is a strong confusion in the perceptions of the “teachers” and the “entrepreneurs”.
They are not talking the same language…Everyone is looking to run forward the best expertise but it finally doesn’t help the industry.
The really needs are not in having a bunch of mobile applications or Facebook pages.
The principle is what are you using those tools for ?
Think about the telephone or the TV at their beginnings. Some answers are niched in their use over the times.
Anyway I really love this article, great content my friend.
Yael
Yael, you are absolutely right. The latest toy isn’t the answer for these people. What are you using them for is what it is all about. They should have invited you
You already know how much I loved this article John. Gosh I wish I had been at your conference so that I could have delivered a message where the light bulbs actually came on!
I’m so sick of stupid ‘gurus’ who haven’t the first clue as to how to even teach social media. After all, if that can’t teach an average Joe business owner to do it, how in the heck can they get average Joe consumer to respond to it??
I’m serious when I say at least 90% of SM ‘gurus’ stink…BAD.
Anyway, great stuff John, keep spreading the good word brother.
Marcus
All day I was thinking where is Marcus when we need him…seriously you need to start franchising your wisdom. Start having little lions running around all across the globe giving blue colar business owners the magic you bring in your presentations!
Forget franchising his wisdom. Let’s bottle it. Sell it in supermarkets next to Vitamin Water and Gatorade.
Thanks for sharing John! I would have to say it is change and fear of it for these small businesses. Business blogging is miles away in Qatar! They may see it in another decade, lol! I think in Qatar, they have so many “mom and pop” businesses and feel they don’t need to promote them any further. Many things are still word of mouth although I have sen this change drastically in the past 6 years.
If you could put up with finding a sponsor and the not thinking outside of the black box, a business in Qatar would be easier to have take off than anywhere else b/c it is such a small market and still largely word of mouth!
Enjoy the weekend and Happy early Father’s Day!
@socialtango:disqus , I see you are in Ohio (Akron if I remember your twitter profile!) I will be in Cleveland for 5 weeks starting July 2nd. Small world! Will have to check out your blog!
best,
Rajka
Hi Rajka,
I was talking to clients in Dubai and it’s the same situation as Qatar. There is no internet penetration and in 2010 only 130,000 broadband lines, this is not where business is made.
Everything over there is who you are, who you know and how much wasta you have to get a contract.
Now who says you have to sell your services or products to people in Qatar only?
The web means you are now targeting clients globally
John, I love that term “Wasta”. So true about who you know in that part of the world probably as anywhere.
Agreed on the global market. I bought http://www.globaldoctormom.com and various other domain names that reflect a more global market last month for this reason.
Love this Rajka
When are you launching?
I was thinking of transition over when we move back to the USA… so next year?
How are you liking Disqus? I am still favoring Livefyre… need to hear the pros and cons. I liked Brankica’s post talking about the links and all the other perks. I fear it will hinder my readers as they are mostly not bloggers themselves.
One reason I am hesitant about Lifefyre is the often difficult way for commenters to log-in, also for some reason when I first installed it, it didn’t work.
It can also be confusing for non social media savvy readers, non bloggers….so another reason I don’t use it.
Moving back next year?
Some great comments here John. Loved @TheJackB:disqus about showing others how to incorporate digital; and really liked @MSchechter:disqus point on mega-brand marketing not being scalable to other businesses. It’s relativity and relevance. Why make it harder to understand, hide behind acronyms and case studies that have no meaning? Make it relatable and relevant to their business.. don’t talk tools and platforms, ask about strategy and objectives.. then make the tools relevant. @robertdempsey:disqus is right.. it’s easy to give straight forward, real world examples of how everyone goes online – to check email, buy something, research a project – even these business owners’ customers.
As for the conference, sounds like a mismatch with the speakers not knowing their audience, the organizers maybe recruiting the wrong presenters? Something’s definitely off if a group of biz owners attend a conference for a reason, then walk away scratching their heads b/c it wasn’t helpful. Again, relevancy. For wine I will.
You just said the magic word Davina.. ASK…and this is usually followed by LISTEN. Why do both when you can listen to yourself speak
Yep there was a disconnect in the conference but it was interesting for me to see how SMB owners here lag, I imagine the US doesn’t have this issue.
Some SMBs lag here as well; think it’s like anything else, viewed as somewhat elusive and mythical vs. say buying an ad. SM is a tool, one that has to be researched, strategically applied, carefully measured, made adaptive and responsive accordingly; it takes time and work, something not everyone is willing to try or ‘sell’ as perhaps some of these presenters did, talking over and at the audience rather than to and with them. FWIW.
You mean to say that when I visit Avignon and the south of France this July, I’ll be tripping over social media gurus? Damn …
Ironic that when so called gurus are in the same room with the people they mean to help, they have a communication problem.
I enjoyed your post, and your blog.
Oh no Rhonda you won’t be tripping over them, there aren’t any here. The ones I mentioned flew in.
Give me a shout when you are in Avignon, I enjoy meeting other bloggers
Will do!
I have always thought that only a few business owner think that they don’t need social media for their small business. But as I read this post, I realize that I was wrong. One insight that I got from this post is that small business owners who refuse to use social media have built confidence with going offline for a very long time already. That is, they are confident with their current offline method that they feel that there is no need to go online. Another insight is that these small business owners that don’t do social media are most likely influenced by others who have been successful in their small business without going online. But I say that bloggers are should never be a reason for a small business not to go online. It’s okay not to go online, but it’s a painful stab for us bloggers if small business owners become afraid to go online because of us.
Extreme John, Great name!
Yes they have confidence that offline has worked until now so why changed it when it isn’t broken.
You are right, it’s ok not go online. Some do want to go online though and it makes me sad to see willing business owners loose faith in social media because of poor advice.
Thanks for stopping by John, glad to see you joined Triberr
Hi John,
Here is my answer, please forgive the wordiness.
Every year my children’s school puts on a big gala dinner that includes a silent auction. The dinner/auction is the biggest part of their fundraising efforts.
A few years ago I suggested that we incorporate an online auction to supplement the silent one at the dinner. There was a bit of an uproar because people who didn’t understand how it works thought that it wouldn’t be particularly classy.
I convinced them that doing so was of paramount importance because it exponentially increased the pool of auction customers. There were lots of items that people who weren’t associated with the school would like, so why limit it.
To me the question to ask these business owners is who are their prospects. Once we hae that answer we can identify if they are online and proceed accordingly.
That’s an interesting reaction, not ‘classy’ as if the online experience is of poorer taste than the offline one. I have never heard this before.
They know their prospects, but doubt if they are online actually. So demonstrating to them that their prospects go online is a great idea.
Happy Father’s Day Jack.
Happy Father’s Day to you too John.
Thank you Jack.
Hi John,
Here is my answer, please forgive the wordiness.
Every year my children’s school puts on a big gala dinner that includes a silent auction. The dinner/auction is the biggest part of their fundraising efforts.
A few years ago I suggested that we incorporate an online auction to supplement the silent one at the dinner. There was a bit of an uproar because people who didn’t understand how it works thought that it wouldn’t be particularly classy.
I convinced them that doing so was of paramount importance because it exponentially increased the pool of auction customers. There were lots of items that people who weren’t associated with the school would like, so why limit it.
To me the question to ask these business owners is who are their prospects. Once we hae that answer we can identify if they are online and proceed accordingly.
I think, as has already been mentioned, fear of change (and the unknown) is some of what stands between small business owners and social media. Businesses are living, breathing organisms; particularly so to small, independent operators. For all the effort required to start, grow, and sustain a business, it’s got to be hard to find resources to attempt something new and potentially unproven.
Wherein lies what I believe is the bulk of the problem. For all the social media hyperbole, there just isn’t enough sitting down with business owners to listen to (and understand) their strategic goals before offering tactical advice full of followers, friends, and foursquares. Those who do not understand the specific need are in no position to prescribe specific solutions.
Hi Brian,
The sitting down is what it’s all about, listening and learning where these smb owners are experiencing pain. This is why I enjoy watching @thesaleslion:twitter speak, he involves his audience.
This should be written in big fat letters on top of all conference halls, Those who do not understand the specific need are in no position to prescribe specific solutions.
The only excuse a small business owner for not being online is the ones they make for themselves. While the speakers at the conference you attended do no justice to the cause of helping business owners see the value online can bring to their business, there is no shortage of people working to bring the two worlds together. The people you mention in the post are but a few.
Bottom line is that people like to be comfortable, and not doing something new is comfortable. It’s what our brains tell us to do.
Will an offline business die because they don’t go online? Not necessarily, and frankly it’s ludicrous to say that. Sounds like fervor to me. On the other hand are they missing out on an enormous opportunity? I’m 99% sure they are. I reserve the 1% to be able to say it depends. And it does, based on where the ideal customers of that business are.
I’m blogging based on my experience and the work I do for clients. I know you, Marcus, Mark, Gini, and many others do too. Hopefully it is our voices and the voices of those like us that can rise above the fervent masses who aren’t making it happen everyday from the trenches. They’ll always be there.
Hi Robert,
As you probably know their answer will be “my customers aren’t online’.
Agree 100% with the comfort level and in this sense Henri Kaufman is right, for entrepreneurs they lack in entrepreneurial spirit.
Good to bring the other side of the coin to the discussion
I’ve had clients say that they didn’t believe their customers were looking online for their services. Research proved otherwise. We don’t honestly believe that people are 100% productive at work and never look online do we? Or that people (in various countries) do research online for their jobs?
I’m willing to wager that unless they are living in a town where no one has Internet access, computers or mobile phones, their customers are online somewhere. Just have to find them.
And if they live in a place that remote chances are they probably don’t need (or can’t afford) the services or products that firm offers
I live my life with one foot planted inside the bubble and one foot planted inside a relatively luddite industry. The words of the bubble and the reality of the those outside of it are often at odds.
As I see it, there are two reasons for this 1) The web is scary and confusing to those who built their businesses over the phone and we are talking WAY over their heads (and almost none of that talk is tactical) and 2) Many of us built our presence on the web and applied that to a business. It is a very different story to take an existing business and apply it to the web. We are inventing our way of doing things as we actually create what we are doing. They believe the web is important, but don’t want to break what is currently working. They want to learn from us, they actually think this stuff is important, but more often than not they leave the room more confused than they were when they entered (and they entered the room pretty damn confused).
I was at a trade show two weeks ago where a major magazine was walking through what brands like Coke and Patagonia are doing with their presence as if these small mom and pops should apply the same philosophy as they mega-brands. As if a million follower strategy is going to a business with 400. It was not only confusing, but it was dead wrong.
Many of us have the technical knowledge, but to a certain extent we lack the traditional business expertise and communication skills to make what we do mesh to what they need. What we do works, for us. What we do will not likely apply to a traditional business. That said, a thoughtful strategy based on the two skill-sets… that is a force and an opportunity to be reckoned with… The thing that we haven’t figure out, is that we need them just as much as they need us.
Hi Michael,
Pleasure to read you here and wow! I need to call Griddy she has some serious competition in the long and valuable comment department.
You are in a perfect position,as you said one foot in the bubble and one foot firmly on the ground. Just like your conference experience, I see many consultants use the same presentation they have for a Fortune 500 company when they speak to small business owners.
Imagine telling someone who employs 5 people that he/she needs to hire a full time community manager? Why not explain to them that this person can already be employed and spend some time online?
I really like the way you look at the issue with the two skill sets required to bridge the gap.
How does your luddite industry deal with social media?
Yeah… wordy is in my wheelhouse. Sorry about that
To be honest, we do poorly with it. Lots of personal pages for businesses. Lots of BUY ME, LOOK HERE, DISCOUNTS GALLORE. Things that hurt the perception of their brand and the industry at large. And worst of all, essentially no sharing or support of each others efforts. We have a long way to go, thankfully there is a small dedicated group that is both dedicated to sharing what the industry is doing and helping those who are just getting started figure out where to begin. The upside, the perceived ease and perceived low cost has made social media the fastest adoption of a technology in our industries history. We just have to get our heads around how to use it well rather than just using it.
I know all us SM folks bemoan the bubble, but I think we often underestimate just how much it has helped us to get this far.
As for the full time community manager, I could not agree more, this is overkill for most of the people I speak with. I think getting help with the strategy is always a good idea, but I never understand why businesses don’t at least try to handle the day to day on their own.
Don’t apologize it’s not wordy when it brings that much value
This is a great quote, we have to get our heads around how to use it well rather than just using it.
The idea that the bubble helped SM grow this far is very true. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, it’s the smartest thing I have heard in a while.
Thanks John, I’ve always been a little (read: a lot) jealous of the bubble
and have been trying to cultivate that commitment to sharing that exists
within it in my own industry… no easy feat.
John you have a challenge ahead of you in France that is for sure.
Me, here in Ohio, mostly not that much different.
I started blogging to create the presence online first.
In August or thereabouts I will launch my the first part of my business with an e-book, a site to supporr the e-book and speaking to support the ebook after that.
I don’t see how you cannot have a digital voice today, you must have a conversation at some time with your prospective customers, an future clients. That’s me and How I see it.
I have sniffed around enough sites to smell the B.S. when I get close enough to it. Too much around as far as I can see.
I found your site via Danny Brown, stellar Scot who impresses me with his being himself, and others that I have visited and really looked at what was being said to me.
The evidence for me is take up, and I have just had a client take up my offer to help him with his structure in doing business. My blog, as young as it is, was what attracted him to me. He could see the value and relevance of my approach.
John I do enjoy the topics that you choose to bring to your blog. I am paying attention and I hope that you keep these up, they are very much what I am looking for too.
Best regards Billy
P.S. France is probably going to be a final destination at some point in my life.
Hi Bill,
Thank you for your kind words, they mean a lot.Great to hear your blog is driving business to you, isn’t awesome to have our posts do our promotional work for us 24/7.
Interesting you are thinking of coming back to this side of the pond.May I ask why?
That would take a while.
But here is a short version.
Always have loved France, that isn’t a common view held by many, and always will.
Considered a move back in the early seventies, and the later part of the nineties.
Life interrupted things and my sweet wife contracted cancer. Survived and we are coming out of a lot of things.
If you would like to talk I would be glad to billy.delaney7 skype.
Hi Bill,
Best wishes to your wife. I really wish her the best. Adding you to Skype now.
The interesting thing about the audience of this conference is – they were all speaking French……….huh?log, and a business
Marcus Sheridan is right, stop trying to be a genius. I just can’t help it at times, please don’t hate me for it.I personally think the brick and mortar guys know the balance sheet part of it and are comfortable because it’s tangible. They would like to tap into social media but are not sure ‘who’ will do it for them; ‘what’ is required’ and ‘how’ do we quantify our results.Throw blogging on top of it and it can become daunting on the surface.In a round about way I do run a business but have carved out some time to actually blog. However, it has been all fluff and personal experiences. I do feel I can have a voice for me, my firm and my industry. However, even I who is fully into this, is still trying to get my arms around what that looks like.Once we can explain how this works and how it works to the benefit of the business owner in a conversational manner, step by step process; it will continue to be a challenge. Also, you can ‘teach’ all day long but if it is not implemented AND used you are just wasting your time.Good post, when you have a solution please let me know.
Hi Bill,
Yes it was all in French, so throwing fancy words in English (by the French conference speakers) didn’t help the audience ‘get it’.
I think you are showing the route and you are a pioneer. Yes you blog about personal stuff but the day you switch to a more strategic business blog how difficult do you think it will be for you?
The WHO will do this is the #1 question. All these guys (there were few women) already have a full schedule and they were obviously wondering when they could find the time, but that is not a real argument.
In the end I think most SM consultants make it sound over-complicated. It boils down to extending what a lot of these business owners do off-line (meeting clients, discussing their needs, going to sales meetings, listening to feedback, etc..) into an online platform.
The tools don’t really matter once you already have a sound marketing plan right?
And it is just a tool, but why wouldn’t you want to maximize the potential it offers and could compliment a marketing plan quite nicely?
Hope you have a great weekend.
The goal for my blog is to be a (mostly) professional and (sometimes) personal representation of who I am. I want my current clients to be confident that my expertise is a perfect match for their projects. And I want to be able to send a potential client to my blog to understand my marketing and writing capabilities.
With small, local businesses that are already up and running and having success, jumping in to social media all at once isn’t the best option (unless they want to work 24/7, of course!). I think these entrepreneurs should start by asking their customers what types of information would help them. They should ask where they spend time online and how they’d like to stay connected to the company. Social media is just a tool, but it offers a great opportunity to grow and improve. Invariably, we still need to find out what our customers need and want, offer a product or service to meet the need/want, and deliver a superior customer experience.
Great post John!
Marianne, you are absolutely right. Social media doesn’t replace sound marketing to start with. It’s only a tool. I just find it funny how some gurus make social media sound very complicated and also like a silver bullet.Facebook and twitter won’t help you if your marketing sucks.
Marianne, you are absolutely right. Social media doesn’t replace sound marketing to start with. It’s only a tool. I just find it funny how some gurus make social media sound very complicated and also like a silver bullet.
Facebook and twitter won’t help you if your marketing sucks.
John you had me at “Stop playing on fear and big words” … I do find it funny how many people think that blogging is a wast of time. Even when I show them the numbers they often have a rebuttal of some sort that seems way to canned even for them.
The thing that I don’t get is why people are to sacred even to try! Why? I mean they are willing to pay $1500.00 for a yellow pages ad that they have NO idea if it works but yet they wont even talk about blogging. I think its more than fear, I think maybe, just maybe they are too cool for school. This is something that @samtaracollier:twitter and I will be looking at and getting answers for.
Thanks for another great blog!
Hi Justin
I don’t think they feel too scared to try, I think they lack proper information and there is also the fear of the unknown. One of the business owners I spoke to spends upwards of Euros5000 a month in FB ads! I almost fell backwards when I heard this. Yet they have no page, no blog, and just use FB as a push media to advertise on. Simply because they understand advertising.
You and Sam have your work cut out for you.Would you say most small business owners in the US are also in the same situation regarding social media?
Yes. I would say that 85% are just like that! Education is something we know will have to deal with with all of our clients. That is why we started Develop Socially, sure we could talk about all the other blog community out there, but why not just build ours then show our clients what we’ve been able to do and show them the value that it brings to what we do.
How did the business owner get to the point of spending $7000 + (USD) a month on FB ads? That is truly amazing! Again we have to educate our clients so that they feel ok with spending $5000 in six months.
Hi Justin
I don’t think they feel too scared to try, I think they lack proper information and there is also the fear of the unknown. Some of the business owners i spoke to spend upwards of Euros5000 a month in FB ads! I almost fell backwards when I heard this. Yet they have no page, no blog, and just use FB as a push media to advertise on. Simply because they understand advertising.
You and Sam have your work cut out for you.
Would you say most small business owners in the US are also in the same situation regarding social media?
{ 4 trackbacks }