Why are you afraid of social networking?

PBN Staff

04/18/2011

You’re a chicken.
Let me correct that. You’re a dumb chicken. You’re out in the middle of the road, pecking for scraps of food, and an 18-wheeler is about to run you over.
Business social media has created the biggest chicken farm in the history of mankind.
But you’re chicken to get involved with, or participate in, what will prove to be the biggest boom to business and sales since the creation of the Internet. The chicken farm is also known as “Corporate America.”
Since a small percentage of salespeople and businesspeople in the country are taking total advantage of business social media, I’m assuming you fall into the chicken category. And I’m not just talking corporations and lawyers here. I’m talking you, the salesperson, are a chicken.
Here are the elements that may be holding you back from participating in Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to build your connections, your reputation, your business and (of course) your sales:
1. You’re technologically challenged. You may feel overwhelmed at the thought of creating your own business Facebook page, your own LinkedIn account, your own Twitter account, and certainly your own YouTube channel. RELAX: Each one of these social media programs has easy-to-follow tutorials that will allow you to get started and establish your base.
2. You don’t know where to begin. Begin by calling your top 25 customers to find out what they consider valuable in their marketplace and in their business, and inform them you’re about to create a value-based business social media presence and you’ll be sending them an email asking them to join you.
3. You don’t know which program to start with. Start with Facebook. Currently the third-largest country in the world, Facebook has now interconnected more than 600 million people, many of whom are your customers and your prospects. You may already have a personal Facebook account. Now start a Facebook “business” page. 4. You don’t know what to say. When you call your customers and find out what they want to hear, what they want to read and what they want to learn about, you’ll know exactly what to say. Business social media is not complex. It’s not a course in calculus or physics. The secret basically revolves around common sense and providing value. Those are the core elements.
5. You don’t understand how it applies to business. Business social media provides a first-ever, open forum where customers can connect with you and share their feelings, and you have an opportunity to respond back. If you don’t see how it applies to business, perhaps you should search your competitors, who are at this moment making some feeble attempt to get involved. Your job is to create a better, more open, more truthful forum on Facebook, on Twitter, and on YouTube.
6. You’re afraid your customers will post something bad. Wake up and smell the Internet. Just because you don’t give customers an opportunity to post bad news, doesn’t mean they’re not going to post it. If you give them an opportunity to post, it will give you an opportunity to respond and fix the problem, or at least address it – thereby giving your other customers assurance that you’re paying attention. This is also a huge opportunity for your business to discover your own weaknesses and make certain they don’t reoccur. I believe a negative post on your business Facebook page is one of the most positive opportunities you could have. 7. You’re afraid the boss will fire you. If you’re posting positive comments about customer interactions and customers themselves are posting their comments about how much they love you, your fears might turn into a raise. Most of the time bosses are afraid of business social media because they are technologically challenged themselves.
8. You’re afraid you will break the rules arbitrarily set by your corporate attorneys. The easiest way to ensure that you stay away from rules is to stay away from your company name. Your business Facebook page should be about the product or the service, not the company.
9. You’re afraid no one will follow you. If you set up a page and use the Field of Dreams strategy, “If you build it they will come,” you are correct, no one will follow you. If you create a game plan as outlined above, post valuable information, and invite your customers to follow you, you’ll have more followers than you can say grace over.
10. You’re afraid to make the personal commitment. Time fears and time commitments are one of the biggest barriers of life, not just business social media. I recommend that you list the hours of a day that you’re awake, maybe 16, maybe 18, whatever it is, and allocate them to the projects you consider most important, saving at least two hours for business social media. One hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. Re-allocate time. Two hours a day to start. Get into the 21st century. •

Jeffrey Gitomer is the author of “Social BOOM!”, “The Little Red Book of Selling” and “The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude.” He can be reached at 704-333-1112 or email to
salesman@gitomer.com

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