Being Successful Without Social Media
We’ve all been in social media for decades, even if the phrase was not coined until recently. If you break it down, it means being social using the internet. If you use email, you are active in social media. Have you been texting on your phone? That’s another way. The only difference is that now we’re able to do it in real time and our reach of who we touch has been expanded by tools such as Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, Digg and Linkedin.
My main issue with social media is all the hype and marketing. Everyone and their brother is telling you how you must use social media or die. Businesses must be on the internet, or become irrelevant. Professional individuals must establish a brand and build a presence on every platform around. You know what? It’s all hogwash–well almost all.
How dare I say this? Because there are millions of people out there living perfectly normal and successful lives with no social media presence. If you are constantly seeing the hype from being on social media, it’s hard to remember that the world runs quite well without it. Yes, there are many people who have used social media to ramp themselves into major successes but there also many who failed in obscurity. Like anything else, social media is a business tool.
Think of it as the conventional wisdom that you must wear black because it is a power and classic color. Otherwise, you won’t be taken seriously. If you live in a building where everyone wears black, it’s hard to realize anything else exists. You can’t believe otherwise until you get out and visit a marketplace and see business being done by people wearing colors of every stripes on the rainbow.
I’ve attended a couple of business conferences this year. Met several hundred successful professionals and business owners. 95% of them are not on any social media platform. What are they on? Emailing or calling people in their personal network just like I do.
I have used the same artist for my personal and business needs for 25 years. I met him by chance on a visit to Disneyland. I enjoyed a chat with him during his break and kept his card. When a need came up, he handled it professionally, on time, and with class. From that first order, I raved about him to my entire network whenever there is a need that matched his skills.
Within the first week, he got multiple orders from my contacts. I had used his work as a going away present for an executive Vice President at one of the largest bank in the country. I chose to involve 50 people in purchasing the gift so it got wide exposure aside from the recipient and his display of the painting at his new company.
This man had been able to support his family, sent his children to college, and about to retire in a couple of years simply through word of mouth and being smart about where he spends his time developing business. And no, he’s not on any social media platform. I lost his number in my database through a few computer crashes and was able to get it by checking the white pages. I’ve already placed an order with him for a project on this site.
By the way, he had never marketed to me in any way (no emails, flyers). He earned my loyalty by being professional and by executing. Are there better artists than him out there? Absolutely, but I trust him to get the job done and not add stress into my life.
As a business or individual considering stepping into the “social media” arena, think about your needs first and what your goals are. Be clear about these because the success is what pays your bills, keep your people employed, and make your dreams come true. Once you identify what you want to accomplish, then research the various social media platform and see if it would be a better choice to spend your time than other traditional methods. Be strategic in your decisions because social media can waste the most important asset that you own, time, and never provide any financial results.
Don’t underestimate the power of basic courtesy, professionalism and getting the job done.
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Very good reminder to not get caught up in the hype. Seems like so much time can be taken in trying to keep up with the lastest and greatest and that can actually detract from what a person is trying to accomplish. Thanks.
Hi Carol,
Thanks for visiting. I happen to think that social media has great tools and potential. That’s why I am on it and testing it. However, it’s such a tiny world and you do get sucked in because of the repeating mantras. It helps that I have a brick and mortar business to keep me grounded. The reality is that when you’re busy running a business and all its complexities, marketing is only a portion of what you do. Closing deals and actually executing the work so you get paid is the core of what keeps a business running.
Thanks Kim and I agree. It’s important to keep the primary focus in mind and use the rest as tools. I am working to put together the distribution strategies for my book and hope to have a high level to interaction with the non profits. If you have a chance I hope you will check out my blog. It may have some benfit to those your serve. Carol
I definitely will. You can check out forums such as on philanthropy.com. The community that participates is very small so you would have opportunities to stand out. I see the same names over and over. You might want to focus on a particular niche within the non profits if you’re looking to sell to them directly. The executive directors don’t go to the general philanthropy forums. They go to their niche conferences. Business is still by word of mouth and they copy each other. We get notified about who steps on our turf immediately by the phone or email grapevine.
Thank you so much Kim and I will check out those resources.
Kim, there is a vast chasm between the online and “real” world. In my opinion, the businesses who are successful have navigated or avoided this chasm. Those who have navigated the chasm and found fertile ground on the opposite side have been able to “farm” it with success because of their foundation in sound business practices.
Those choosing to to avoid the chasm perhaps recognize where their strengths lie and opt-out of diluting those assets in unfamiliar terrain.
One thing that I wish more people would recognize is that successful businesses bring much more to the table than simply “showing up” on the radar. I don’t understand why people ooh and aah over success stories as if they had sprung up overnight like some lottery winner.
Successful businesses did a lot of things right to get where they are. Many times, the public only sees the arrival and not the journey.
Cheers,
Mitch
Hi Mitch,
I think that we all like fairy tales and we never outgrow the need. It’s also easy and tempting to look for a quick shortcut. When you look at someone like Tony Hsieh and his book, people ignored the reality that he discussed. In discussion, people only talked about how much money he made and the cool culture. No one talked about the layoffs and firing that he did of anyone who wasn’t willing to sacrifice for the company.
He was always one day away from complete failure with Zappos because they kept running out of money. He and his crew worked for no money for years and gave their all to keep the company going and it paid off for them. It could easily have gone the other way. Instead of selling Zappos for $1 Billion dollars, it might have been bankruptcy if Amazon had decided to buy his company versus another online retailer. I’m sure that they worked hard to win the deal. Zappos’ story is not an overnight success but that’s all people see because they choose to interpret the story as such.
Marketing is important for businesses because it addresses a need that the customer has. Visibility fills the need that people have for validation when they don’t want to do research.
Hi Kim,
Of course, you’re right about the fairy tales. I didn’t mean to sound harsh, but I was referring more to budding entrepreneurial-types who, like you stated, are enamored of the quick shortcut. They tend to look past the journey and see “overnight” successes around every bestseller and interview in business publications.
I was unaware of the Zappos story – though I was very aware of the “ooh-aaah” factor
. I spent a pleasant few minutes reading about Tony Hsieh.
I like the comment you made to Carol about testing Social Media. That’s the key. We have to distinguish between those aspects of the burgeoning ecosystem that are purely social and those that offer benefits to our businesses.
Cheers,
Mitch
Mitch,
I also thought of the fact that there may be books that addresses the reality but we don’t hear about them because they’re not popular and don’t sell. It’s much more fun to read about an “overnight” success than go slog through the details of what a business owner do on a daily basis to build their business. In business, there’s a lot of things that are boring and not fun that is critical to success.
Kim,
That’s why I love to browse the business section of Barnes and Noble (or wherever I happen to be).
I discovered “The Dream” by Gurbaksh Chahal.
That was a good read. I think it showed the journey quite well. Of course, I don’t know if it is a bestseller, but I never heard of him before I saw his book in the store.
Cheers,
Mitch