The right mix of these two ingredients is how you make social media work for your business.
People
People are arguably the main ingredient of any business. This includes your customers, employees, vendors, and other partners that help you take care of those customers. Without the right ones, it is tough to sustain a profitable business. The right people are vital to the success of any business, and that naturally extends to the social media marketing of your business.
An Extension of Your Business
When you begin to think of social media as an extension of your business, it becomes easier to get the pieces into place to achieve the results you are seeking. Anyone who has operated a small business for a period of time knows you always get more done with people you agree with in principle. Talented superstars can make great contributions, but they often have a low tolerance for working with a team.
The Right People
While it may be beneficial to be friends with some of the social media celebrities, and thousands of people you hardly know, I will bet money that you will do more for your business if you focus on regular people like yourself that you can actually work with. This is your team.
Business Systems
Your Team
While people are responsible for getting results, business systems help get those results consistently. I love systems, but I learned the hard way that they need to be flexible if they are going to work well for the entire team.
Take an assessment of your most highly valued team members. Are you running too fast or not leading strongly enough for others? If your systems are counterproductive to the efforts of your social media network, you may wish to reconsider your approach.
A Social Media Viewpoint
We are still in uncharted waters with social media, a marketing medium that has turned the business world upside down in many ways. There are many paradoxes associated with this platform. For this reason, I'm going to suggest you consider looking at it from multiple perspectives before trying the next shiny new technology, as many are characterizing the latest 'gotta have (or do)' in social media.
Just as I would take at least two views of a putt I really needed to sink to win a golf match, I like to look at my social media marketing from a viewpoint that is both with the crowd – and without them. It is then much easier to choose the best approach for me.
Here's an example. When Twitter was young and many people thought the whole idea of communicating in short, rapid-fire bursts was bordering on the ridiculous, I was intrigued. I wondered if they were missing something. So I gave it a test drive that proved to be extremely productive. The majority was only looking at it from one angle.
Now is Now
This brings us to today. We are settling into social media. We know what a blog is, and if you read my post from yesterday, you have more than enough reasons to blog. The same goes for the social networks.
The Merge
What's next? It's time to stop looking at social media like an alien, because it's nothing to be afraid of. It's time to get up close and take a practical look at what it really is.
An extension of your business that should be treated like all of the other ingredients.
Thanks to my green industry friend Steve Hoogenakker for the conversation today that inspired this post.
Photo Credit: emeryc
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