You might be asking yourself this question: Why is Social Media not working?
Why am I not getting more sales?
Why am I not making more money?
And if you are asking this question you are not alone. But let me help you see things from a better perspective.
I just got back from a beautiful vacation in Hawaii. I went to the Big Island and I loved it. When I got there I had Social Media on the brain. We left the airport and started driving around.
The airport is right on the coast of the Big Island and as soon as you drive away from the airport the scenery is not what you would expect. As far as you can see the landscape is a blanket of thick dark brown lava rock.
Now as you continue driving, surrounded by miles and miles of brown lava rock, you start to see white rocks in several different places along the road forming words that stand out in the brown lava rock. Many people using these bright white rocks to make graffiti signs, writing anything from names to favorite sports teams.
What is interesting about this is the hundreds and hundreds of different phrases and pictures formed along the drive with these white rocks. Each one having a story of its own. Each one trying desperately to attract the attention of anyone passing by.
And I couldn’t help but thinking how much this is exactly like Social Media.
Right now there are thousands if not millions of businesses that have setup their name in Social Media’s white rock.
They setup a facebook page, a Twitter account, and a Linkedin profile–each one hoping that those passing by will stop and take a look at their account long enough to decide to be a customer.
But the problem is there are thousands of people just like you doing the exact same thing.
Think of it like a billboard. If billboards were free who would have them? Pretty much every company. And if you are a consumer driving down the road which billboards are going to attract your attention. Pretty much none.
So we need to look at Social Media a different way. How can we solve the problem that is innate in all these free marketing tools?
The answer is use them differently.
The majority of businesses right now are using Social Media like a billboard. They set it up and hope someone is going to run into it and become a customer.
Wrong. That won’t work. Too many people are doing that same thing and customers are becoming much more calloused to seeing thousands and thousands of marketers everywhere.
And when they see marketers everywhere they tune them out, and start to see it nowhere.
Your best bet is to use Social Media to your advantage by being a person. And being SOCIAL.
It’s funny that so many people are using Social Media sites, but not using them to be SOCIAL. That’s the whole point!
You need to start chatting. Start talking to the people in your community, start getting involved with the people around you. Network for business.
And do something different. I am extremely surprised by the lack of video being produced by companies. Video is one of the greatest new tools out there today, and it’s a great way to attract attention.
So start using Social Media differently. You can’t win doing what everyone else is doing. Don’t be part of the noise, be a helping hand to individuals. You can’t have a conversation if you are trying to talk to everyone at the same time.
