Saturday, January 8, 2011

Social Media is NOT as Daunting as it Seems!

I was speaking with a successful entrepreneur who, like most, felt the pinch of the Recession.  As we talked about some event ideas to create traffic, I asked her about her Social Media Marketing Program. Her response was one I have heard time and time again. She said, “Every time I think of it - I get exhausted”. 
Recently, I attended a Marketing and PR luncheon and most of the people there were in services.  As we went around the table and talked about ourselves, many people expressed the fact that their clients were demanding Social Media Services from them and many confessed that they were struggling to deliver it fast enough.
The entrepreneur I mentioned and the professionals at the lunch I attended are not alone. I often get a blank stare or an honest response like the ones above when I ask entrepreneurs, business and marketing professionals about their Social Media. Because I hear this so often and read so many blogs, posted questions, articles, etc. about how stumped a lot of people still are with this topic, I previously wrote a blog explaining why Social Media is one of the top areas to outsource now.  Here’s a link to that blog in case you missed it: http://justaskmary.blogspot.com/2010/12/one-of-top-5-things-you-should.html
The task of building and maintaining Social Media seems (and sometimes is) tedious. It also feels to most entrepreneurs like it is yet another thing they have to do every day and they can’t imagine where they would find the time.  Most entrepreneurs work more hours than two full time jobs already. The thought of learning how to perform Social Media is overwhelming.  In addition, they do not know the tricks of the trade to shorten the hours spent at it. The good news is:  the professional Social Media Marketers do!
Please don’t ignore Social Media Marketing. Please don’t think it will go away. Please don’t think it is a fad. Please don’t think it can wait – it can’t. Technology is changing at lightning speed in our time and changes are occurring daily in the Social Media Marketing area as well. Your business cannot afford to ignore Social Media marketing any longer.
The first thing your customers are doing before they contact you is checking you out on the web. Don’t you want them to find messaging that you have prepared? Don’t you want to communicate messages to those who care enough to follow you on Social Networks like Facebook, Twitter, Digg, etc.? I don’t think you want them to find that one posting on a random site by a cranky customer, do you? Imagine if that was all they found on you?
As a constant learner, builder and problem solver, I still believe the old statement that you don't throw the baby out with the bath water . For this reason, my services have always included  traditional strategies as well as new technology solutions to produce the best results. There are circumstances where one may work better than the other; or one may fit a business model better at a certain stage in its growth. But, in the area of Social Media, it is imperative that if you don’t have it in place already, that you get it in place as fast as you can with competent individuals. Social Media is NOT a DIY project.
After listening to so many business owners express their feelings of being under-equipped to take on Social Media – even though they realize its value, I decided to help. I have pulled together a talented group of Social Media Marketers who are well educated, extremely skilled specialists, amazingly quick and hard working.The program was developed to be intentionally affordable so that everyone can get going in the area of Social Media. Some marketing services even outsource to us so that they can provide this service to their customers in a turn-key fashion.  I don’t want any viable business to be left behind or to fail because they didn’t embrace Social Media soon enough. So, if I can help you in this area, contact me now .
Take the bull by the horns and as you’ve heard before, a good offense is always better than a good defense.
Mary

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