I speak with many different businesses from £250k upwards to £20 Million turnover, many of whom do not have any idea about Social Media. It is sometimes very difficult for those of us who are 'in the club' so to speak to place ourselves in that position of someone who has not had the time or the desire to 'get involved'.
Of course the world is changing and Networking Off and Online are the two activities that we have to be highly adept at using. Online Networking... using Social Media (and other online strategies) to increase awareness about our company, products and services is a big part of what we will have to adopt but it is in another area that business owners can struggle most with.
Social Media... or being sociable online in a public arena can be a very scary place. Many, especially the younger generation share a huge amount of information freely and in a very natural way online with friends, family and colleagues. This is so alien to the traditional Business owner, who, like myself (yes I learned my stock and trade in the 80's and 90's) has been brought up in a world where you would never discuss your business with a competitor, never give away information that might be increase the enemy's chances against you in a bidding situation.
So how could I possibly start chatting away with random connections when I have no idea where the information might end up or get passed onto... worse still I might get the competition stalking (following) me, directly. And another thing, I don't want people knowing about my private life, I want to keep my business and private lives separate.
There are two things that spring to mind here... these are perfectly rational thoughts if we think of them in terms of Scarcity... there is not enough business, we need to protect what we have, I'm not letting them near my customers... they are my customers...
The flaw in this thinking is... if the proposition is crystal clear, if the product is excellent and the service impeccable.... then the customers will buy it, why wouldn't they? We're not trying to sell things to people who don't want what we have, we are assisting those that need us to 'fall in love with us and buy'... in today's market we have a global opportunity so the market is abundant not scarce... and let us not forget it is the customer who decides where to buy... we do not own them... we will earn their loyalty if we continue to provide them with the best service possible. If we have absolute belief in our products and services then we should not be worried about anyone... and actually just on that point... if we engage with our so called competitors we will find that on some occasions they will have customers they cannot service and will pass onto us and vice versa... so the motto is always 'be nice'...
... now what about the phobia of participation... well this normally arises from a knowledge issue. The first point is that we only need to share that which we want to and nothing more... but the fundamental point of Social Networking stems from the age old adage of 'people buy people first'. It's the person we get to meet, know, like and then trust... not the company... no one engages with a company, it is the people... Social Networking is about the people... when someone likes you... then they will naturally want to know what you do and how they could be an advocate or even use the services for themselves.
Not participating runs the risk of allowing competitors to blot us out, so there is a bit of, well we have to get on board otherwise we'll miss the boat. But... the key here is about how to apply Social Media / Networking to the business... no two businesses are identical and so it is the understanding of the business and what are the goals and ambitions that will provide the answers to deciding what components and tools from the Social Media arsenal should be used.
The world is changing... it is very difficult for traditional business owners to make that huge paradigm shift... so it is not surprising that for many it seems like a fruitless and expensive exercise. I think one of the huge difficulties is indeed measurement, the old measurement techniques of... "I spent this, we did that, and we got this back... which is more than we spent, therefore it worked" cannot be applied in the modern Digital Age...
It is a different world now from the one that has existed since the Industrial Revolution, and the new Digital Age has really only just begun. It will be a real challenge working with the SME population over the coming 10-15 years but one that I personally relish with great enthusiasm!
Chris Ogle is Managing Director of Internet Power Systems Ltd. and is author of his best selling book, In 2 The Clouds. Chris has lived in Watford, England for the majority of his life and is a keen Table Tennis player.
In a career spanning 30 years in the computer industry Chris has worked with 000's of businesses from small Micro companies through to large multinationals such as Laing O'Rourke. With the exposure to such a diverse range of businesses and their operating processes coupled with his technical background Chris was well placed to design and create one of the first completely web based business platforms for SME's.
Drawing on 7 years of providing Cloud computing solutions to the SME marketplace coupled with a detailed understanding of Internet Marketing has culminated in SME7 - 7 Steps to getting the Business that you really want - more Profit, more time and more Choices! Chris's book 'In 2 The Clouds' takes us through these 7 Steps and removes the mystery of escaping the rat race 'no time and no money' to the more desirable 'More money and more time to enjoy it'!.
Business Transition Programme go to http://www.sme7.com.
To find out more about the author go to http://www.ipsx.co.uk/chrisogle_home.htm.
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