Is Using Social Media a Positive TIME to Your Bottom Line?
So help me, I want to learn all I can about social media. Last night I went to a “Giggle Plus” seminar. The reason I say giggle versus Google is that we heard all about the sizzle, little about the steak.
The presenter did an excellent job on the key points regarding:
- The methods for how to use Google Plus
- The intention for what to expect from connecting on Google Plus
- The results regarding the ease of collecting a huge number of connections
Most everyone in the room got excited when the presenter told us, “With a single click of a button you can receive 5000 followers that are your target market.” Everyone wants that. When asked about converting the huge numbers of connections to dollars, the excitement level was deflated like a pin popping a helium filled balloon. The positive response was minimal as the presenter had little to say about converting followers.
One of the ladies in the room plans to take her career to a level where all these followers make sense. She talked of speaking to hundreds and thousands of people in the future. She wants to write a book to sell on the Internet as well as at her public presentations. A large group of followers in her target market, gathered from a single click, all make dollars and cents for gathering large audiences. In her case Google Plus works.
My concern is the time commitment and the time invested with minimal result for the majority of followers on ALL social media systems. Let me explain my concern.
For those of you who are old enough to remember social media back in the 1990’s, it involved taking a shower, shaving, putting on your best business attire, and going to the local business meeting. Some continue to find this system the best way to build their network. Today the need for the shower has gone by the way of wearing sweat pants and a tee shirt to the computer. (OK, you now know how I am dressed as I write this,) to connect/create with your TRIBE. For me, my drug of choice is LinkedIn. As referrals keep coming to me, I also create referrals by having my first level connections introduce me to prospects, by asking, through LinkedIn’s second level connections.
Back to my concern. I wonder how many micro business owners have bought into the idea that social media will grow their business by simply posting information and gathering names. I believe that many are working a full or part time job, investing their hard earned off time on social media hoping to grow a business. I believe many in the room yesterday left the seminar thinking, “All I now need to do is connect on Google Plus and within three years I’ll be a millionaire.”
Further, I think people are getting turned off by the idea that social media is just that, a way to invest time on building know, like, and trust relationships. A recent statistic I read in an accredited LinkedIn training talks about 87% of all connections are made by introductory type referrals. Few if any pieces of business are being transacted by someone making an initial search on social media to find a product or service offered by a micro business. I have done my own mini survey asking job seekers and micro business owners about using social media for find a job or growing their micro business. The response has been nearly unanimous. There are better resources that deliver measurably better results than social media.
So, here is why I am so hyped up on LinkedIn and now see the advantage of Google Plus. I can now look at your connections (if we are connected.) If you are a person I already have a know, like, and trust relationship with, I can ask you to introduce me to someone I might help. I can find people I value in your network, deliver an offer that provides value sans a cost to them, and build a new valued relationship. That is being proactive rather than waiting for someone to find me on LinkedIn, and it starts the clock on building a know, like, and trust relationship. Down the road they might become a referral partner or client. Thus, by applying proactive energy versus waiting for someone to connect with me, allows me to grow my business or find a job for a person in transition through social media.
Gerry Rose runs INTEGRITY Networking Solutions in Oceanside, CA. He works with people in business who want to attract the right prospects and generate more referrals. More than 10,000 businesses have been presented the INTEGRITY Networking Solutions system in San Diego, Los Angeles, Riverside, and Orange Counties.
Gerry’s stimulating presentation Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals is ideally suited for small business owners, home-based businesses, and independent professionals who want clearer direction and want to attract more prospects, develop dynamic systems, and strengthen their companies’ accountability. Gerry does one on one consulting, conducts a range of keynote speeches from thirty minutes to full-day education workshops. His book series, Unlimited Prospects, Unlimited Referrals, are available on the website, www.integritysd.com.
Gerry has more than 20 years’ experience directing business owners how to grow their businesses. He is a networking dynamo. Those who know him will assure you that he does a great job of bringing people together—which is why he started INTEGRITY.
Involved with networking organizations since 1984, Gerry is a Distinguished Toastmaster, a member of Toastmaster International, and has chaired numerous chambers of commerce and non-profit organizations.
Are you truly committed to attracting the right prospects and generate more referrals? If so then contact INTEGRITY Networking Solutions for availability and information. You can contact Gerry by mail at 1610 Quiet Hills Drive, Oceanside, CA 92056. Direct dial (760) 439-4623; e-mail to gerry@integritysd.com. For more information, go to www.integritysd.com
