Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’
The Future Of Business – We’ve All Got The Industrial Age Disease
We’ve All Got The Industrial Age Disease, it’s sad, but it’s true. Back when I was in high school, we were told, when you graduate, you MUST get a full time job. So we took a job at the mill, because it payed better than F. W. Woolworth. Today that’s changed, today people want full-time wages for part-time work. We were told to sit down and behave, to pay attention, and how to think… we made a mistake…we settled for something we new deep down within, wasn’t what we wanted. We did it because we were told to, we did it because we felt safe, we did it because we felt comfortable, and then it became our comfort zone, our sense of normal.
Unlike the Matrix, we believed in something that today is no longer true, we believed the Industrial Age System(s) would look after us to our last breath, just as we have in governmental systems. We justify our place in the world based on those systems, the factory model, the school system, they were designed to educate you in such a way that you would fit into that factory model. We went to school, we went to University, being taught how to fit in, not how to disrupt, not how to find a better way. But another way has been making itself known, and only time will tell if it’s a better way. This new way of business may be a replacement for the Industrial Age, it’s called the connection economy!
Seth Godin speaks of the Connection Economy in his book called, “The Icarus Deception”. Here is an excerpt from the heart of the connection economy:
“I don’t care how many friends you have on FaceBook or how many followers you have on Twitter. Those are not actual friends or truly followers. I care about how much people will miss you if you’re not back here again tomorrow.
Connection involves a complex swap of information, expectation, and culture. It involves opening ourselves to others, creating vulnerable moments that frighten us. It requires humanity and generosity, not the rearranging of digital bits.
The swap means that it’s no longer completely up to us; it’s a partnership, not an announcement. When we give up control over the outcome of our interactions, we allow others to connect with us and with one another.”
The biggest difference today, over the last century, we have access to more resources and information than we have time to consume. The Industrial Age forced us to memorize, to conform, to fit in, today we merely need to know where to get the information, we don’t have to memorize it. We no longer have to conform to an old system, we now have the freedom to learn and create new ways to accomplish what the Industrial System doesn’t want changed. Hence, we don’t have to fit in, we can now choose not to comply, we can do that which we were meant to do, we can stand out. We were meant to connect, to share, to make the world a better place.
This new economy feels weird, it feels scary, it feels unnerving, it’s not for the weak of heart, it does however give us a freedom we’ve not had in the past. It’s not perfect, and that’s a good thing, we finally have a cure for The Industrial Age Disease.
The Future Of Business – The Social Media Lie
Are you caught up in all the hype of what Social Media can do for you and your business? Have you already invested in Tweeting, and updating FaceBook or LinkedIn, only to be disappointed that the results weren’t as promised. Don’t feel too bad, it’s common, and it happens far more often than you think. It’s not much different than the get rich schemes when you think about it. It was the same back in 1994 when all the experts said you had to have a website or you would go out of business if you didn’t build one.
[pullquote]Today, there is something being taught that’s misleading, in my humble opinion anyway. I believe it to be untrue, a lie.[/pullquote] When a Social Media Teacher, Expert or Guru makes the claim, “You can manage your social networks in 20 – 30 minutes a day”, they know not what the say. I know they are trying to appeal to the ” I don’t have time ” excuses, but I can assure you, it takes more than 20 to 30 minutes a day. I’m not saying it’s impossible, OK, I’m saying it’s impossible. I say it because I’ve tried, but the math just doesn’t work!
Social Networks have become so busy, so noisy, the bigger these networks get, the shorter the lifespan of your Update or Tweet gets. Of course you can Tweet & Update 5 – 10 times a day in 20 minutes, but you can’t actually manage your social media presence in just 20 – 30 minutes a day. There is so much more involved, let’s crunch some numbers, I’ll use myself as the example. This may seem overly simplified, but you’ll get what I mean : )
@owengreaves (my Twitter handle)
I follow 9,736
My Followers 20,052
My Tweets 56,635
There was a time back in 2008 when I was getting over 100 followers a day on Twitter, a lot has changed since then, that kind of activity is now considered rare. Unless you’re a rock star like Lady Gaga, a TV star like Ashton Kutcher, or one of the very early adopters that was launched to stardom as lovable and likable from the outset, like Gary Vaynerchuk. He is actually more amusing and entertaining : )
Most of these experts, guru’s and teachers make the statement that you can have an incredible social media presence by Tweeting & Updating just 5 – 10 times a day, and you can manage your social presence in 20 – 30 minutes a day. Maybe, but I doubt it.
If the average lifespan of a Tweet is 20 minutes, which it is today, 5 – 10 Tweets / Updates per day doesn’t give you much reach, almost none. In order to get a serious ROI, you would need to a higher frequency. Being active once every 20 minutes won’t build much, unless it’s entertaining, interesting, useful, and or helpful…but even then you’re reaching for a high profile or return on your activity. Many of these networks behave like Radio & TV today, you need high frequency, just flood the networks and the world will come to you. NOT!
If every person following me (20,052) was online at the same time I was, that would be awesome, but they aren’t…ever! That would imply, that all 20k of them are either in or close to the same time zone I’m in, they are all functioning in the same hours I am, give or take 3 hours either way. The next thing that would have to happen is, they all would have to be paying attention to all my Tweets & Updates within the 20 minute time frame, or lifespan of those messages. They’re not!
At a minimum, to be heard or seen every 20 minutes, you would have to Tweet or Update 3 times an hour. The math there is based on a 24 hour clock, so 3 x 24 = 72 Tweets / Updates per day. Even if we drop that back to an 8 hour work day, you would need to Tweet / Update 24 times per day…7 days per week, that’s the minimum right? Sure, you could do that in 20 – 30 minutes a day, if you automated your tweets / updates. But that’s not being present, you can’t have a social media presence and not be present. How could you respond in a timely manner?
Even if everyone were in the same time zone, everyone was online at exactly the same time I was, and they were watching my every Tweet & Update, they’re not. It’s not realistic or possible.
If I’m going to be honest with myself, those actually listening for me, would most likely be lower than 10%. Out of the 20k followers I have, if I’m seriously lucky, 2000 would be online when I am, and out of that 2000, how many do you think are listening, probably less than 200. Of those 200, how many would actually respond, or read, or do what I ask them to do? Probably 20, now those 20 I might consider to be true fans, if there is conversion of some sort, I would believe that, but what is conversion for you? Another question that needs to be answered.
My point is this, managing your social media presence is NOT how much time you spend Tweeting & Updating, that’s your activity. Managing your social media presence is much, much deeper, it’s monitoring your engagement, your interaction, tracking, and developing a strategy to ensure they keep doing what they are doing, engaging with you and your business. Learning where they are from, city & country, a complete makeup / profiles could be valuable for future business. There are monitoring companies that specialize in analyzing your social media data, measure campaigns, and so on, Radian 6 is popular, and it’s not as simple as 1 + 1, it’s complicated data. But that’s the oil you’re looking for, data is the new oil.
There is a huge misunderstanding on what managing your social media presence is, Tweeting / Updating is not managing. Managing implies you are studying the data, studying what your followers are doing, finding out what they want, spending countless hours in Twitter search looking for opportunities to find new potential clients / customers. You couldn’t possibly do all of that in 20 – 30 minutes a day, well maybe, if you outsourced that work, paid someone to meet with you to help you understand what the data means. But they are few and far between, anyone with credentials rarely work for free, and you do want someone who knows how to read the data.
You don’t plug your business into social media, you plug social media into your business, and that’s a whole different story. The best way to learn that is from Olivier Blanchard, the best way to learn how to measure the ROI in social media is from Olivier Blanchard. In fact, you should invest in his book called, “Social Media ROI – Managing & Measuring Social Media Efforts in your Organization“. He lays it all out for you, and I can promise you this, you’ll find out it takes longer than 20 – 30 minutes a day.
Like today, the future of business still won’t have any easy shortcuts, you must work to get the desired outcomes you’re looking for, that includes building a following, building a community of true fans. Kevin Kelly describes true fans as:
“A True Fan is defined as someone who will purchase anything and everything you produce. They will drive 200 miles to see you sing. They will buy the super deluxe re-issued hi-res box set of your stuff even though they have the low-res version. They have a Google Alert set for your name. They bookmark the eBay page where your out-of-print editions show up. They come to your openings. They have you sign their copies. They buy the t-shirt, and the mug, and the hat. They can’t wait till you issue your next work. They are true fans.”
The only way to get true fans is through long hours of hard work, a plan, a strategy, and a full understanding of what being a social business means. Knowing what to look for, and what to do. Social Media is still at it’s infancy, and there are very few who grasp where all this is taking us.
So let’s get off all the hype, let’s filter this with the right lens, there are no shortcuts, and social media is more than just Updates & Tweets…it’s hard work.
I hope this made a little bit of sense? It probably appears like I’m ranting, I am a little, I’m hoping we will all work together to keep things in perspective and not try to take advantage of those who truly don’t understand. Social Media will play a large part of business in the future, more so in the next 5 – 10 years, but today it is still grossly misunderstood, because we’ve never done it like this before. These networks do play into the Open & Free Business Model, it’s how I run my business, and someday you will to.
Go and find your community, your true 1,000 fans, and serve them in such a way that they become loyal, loyalty has been missing for some time now, we now have a chance to recover the once loyal customer from our past.
So guard yourself from hype, the over promise, how easy it is, guard yourself from the social media lie.
The Future Of Business – The Staple Of The Internet & Business
You’ve heard the saying, “the more things change, the more they stay the same”. It even sounds weird when you say it out loud. But the truth is, that statement is true, no matter how much we try, we always default to what we know. It comes down to one of the “Gravities” of Human Behavior, we just can’t help ourselves.
Maybe you’ve said this before, I don’t ever want to be just like my Mother, or my Father, depending on what gender you happen to be. I’ve said it, and no matter how hard I try, people always tell me I’m just like my Father, that is those who knew my Father. I even find myself saying the same things he said, it’s so annoying! Yep, my kids get that benefit. My Father never used the Internet, not once, he couldn’t spell the word when he was alive. But he knew how to reach people, he knew how to contact them, and he knew how to get their blood to boil, all without the Internet. In his day, the phone, a letter, and he got in your face, those were his tools, his mode of communicating. I wonder how he would do with FaceBook and all the other Social Networks, probably tick a lot of people off with his style. But he probably would use one tool, one that will remain the staple of the Internet, and business, from today to eternity.
I’m not talking about websites and blogs, I’m talking about E-Mail. The Future of Business will continue to rely on E-Mail, it will remain one of the more effective ways to communicate. Although I expect email won’t improve much, it will stay just like it is, it would be nice if we could hear and discern tone of voice, determine body language, but we will continue to use it regardless of it’s flaws. There are other tools that can fill those needs, but email will be the simplest form, and the fastest way to get a message out.
Email systems like Aweber, MailChimp and the like will always have a place on the Internet, and in your business, we won’t be able to function without it. No matter how advanced mobile gets, Social Media, and VOIP systems, we will always default to Email, because we know it, and we trust it more than FaceBook.
No matter how much we try to use the latest technology, we always fall back on Email messaging, it’s our default way of writing a letter these days. Business owners, Internet Marketers, and Bloggers all find ways to capture your email address, why? To send you an email, to send you a new offer, keep you informed, and promote products and services. Collecting Email addresses is big business, and that’s why it will be here till long after I’m gone, it’s the tool of the future, it will continue to be a revenue generator. As long Email list make money, email will survive, it will be the way to get inside your world.
Don’t believe me? Try doing business without email, for just one day. Try not using it for any length of time, you’ll find yourself struggling to communicate, text messaging, Twitter & FaceBook won’t be private enough for you, and you will always default to email as the solution.
Knowing that Email isn’t going away, all business owners should find ways to leverage the communication tool, otherwise, you’re leaving money on the table.
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – The Missing Link (owengreaves.com)
- 9 Ways to Improve the Impact of Your Email – The Works (chrisbrogan.com)
- The Future Of Business – Will Ad Networks Replace Radio, Television & Newspapers? (owengreaves.com)
- The Future Of Business – Flick The Switch! (owengreaves.com)
The Future Of Business – The Missing Link
Recently I was speaking to a group of 35 business owners / entrepreneurs, I asked how many of them had a Blog, the answer was staggering. Only 4 had Blogs, it actually caused my knees to buckle, they chuckled, but there was no other way to describe that I was shocked. The weird thing was, they were hoping to learn more about Social Media! To me Social Media would second or 3rd on my list of things to learn or take care of, a website might be a portal, but a Blog is far better for developing a community around your business.
I rarely teach how to use Social Media, I show you how I use it, there is a difference. Social Networks can no longer be ignored, that’s where the people are, and they want to learn more about you. If you don’t have a place to send them to after you have started building a relationship with them on Twitter and FaceBook, you may have found the missing link.
You need a home base, that should be your Blog, your Blog should be a connector to your business, a vehicle to increase your conversion rates, a GPS for your business if you will. You could just have a Blog for your business, there’s good flexibility that way, WordPress makes your life easy from that perspective.
This Blog is dedicated to teaching you a new to think about business, how business is changing, how you should adopt the many new ways of talking to your customers, and so much more. If you’re not reading this Blog as a resource to help you, you’re probably going to find out to late, the tidal wave will have wiped you out. There is a huge tidal wave of change, a tidal wave of new consumers coming, don’t wait, start learning now.
Of the many things I help you with, check my Work With Me Page.
It could very well be, the missing link you’re looking for in your business, is not Social Media, it’s making sure you have a Blog!
If you need a Blog, you need WordPress, you need web-hosting, make one stop for all three, Billyhost.com
The Future Of Business Seminar – Abbotsford
Today there are millions of GURUS & EXPERTS out there, they tend to set fear into those who don’t understand what’s going on, and if you don’t do what they say, you’ll be out of business soon.
Firstly, it’s not true. Secondly, they don’t fully understand the impact of what they say.
Most business owners hear these GURUS & EXPERTS and still don’t understand one main thing. Why!
The Future Of Business Seminar, Nov 26th in Abbotsford. For information on this seminar, and how to register, just navigate to the following website, you’ll be fore warned and fully armed for the Future Of Business!
Related articles
- The Future Of Business – “Everyone” Is Not Your Customer! (owengreaves.com)
