Confused by this social media thing? Don’t worry. You are not alone. Perhaps you think there is something there, but you just don’t get it. Maybe your gut is telling you that it is a waste of time. Maybe there is something more sinister going on than just sharing photos and jokes.
Is this for you or your business?
It’s great hooking up with old friends from years past and keeping up with your current friends, after all they call it social media don’t they? They don’t call it business media. So if you take your business seriously, and I’m sure that you do, you need to identify business forums where your offering is looked at for evaluation not as just spam.
It is SPAM.
Just when you thought you had your email humming perfectly, now all of the sudden you are deluged with friend requests and invites to things you are not interested in. By joining all these social outlets you have just pierced your corporate email veil. Now the marketers parade right into your inbox. Actually they are more like multi-level marketers. Annoying isn’t it?
Sure, you can adjust your notification settings if you enjoy micro managing every little thing that comes across your desk. Now is the time to re-evaluate social media. Remember who is pushing this stuff on you, they are pseudo marketers. I call them pseudo because they are hunting for your money and confusing you with a bunch of nonsense. Yes this is the new snake oil of the 21st century.
Don’t Drink It!
It is also the new Koolaid, because everyone is forcing this down your throat. Why do they do this? Because nobody wants to be left out of the group. Notice how the tv and radio news try to validate themselves by mentioning that you can follow them on Twitter and Facebook. Really? You have that much time on your hands. These talking heads are really that interesting? That is the Koolaid I am talking about. It’s a weak ploy to be in the “IN” crowd. Of course everyone is doing it…
We are constantly selling things that have absolutely no value. The time to jump off this train is now before it consumes you to the bone. Be unique. Be anti-social.
Brand Association
Your associations do count. If you feel that you need credibility by twittering and face-booking, all you are doing is jumping on the same bandwagon as everyone else. Where is your uniqueness? What about an association that means something, like a business chamber or charity?
Blog My Brother!
And here is the biggest tragedy of them all, the time and money that is wasted on social media would be much better spent on adding new content to the company blog or web pages. The action is the same, but companies are wasting it on the social media noise box. The best way to use social media is to pull people away from it and bring them closer to your company and brand. Let us not forget that Google is where everyone still goes first for information.
Google should not have included Facebook and Twitter on the search algorithm. All it did was kludge up the search results with more garbage.
Join the revolt and unplug from social. Take back control of your life, your time and your money. Don’t let them fool you. These pseudo marketers are looking for idiots.
