Christopher V. Flett

I’m noticing this epidemic of business owners who have chosen to ride Social Media as their main (and only) business development process, rather than build traditional business through networks, creating credibility, and talking to people. About once a week, someone in the social media sphere tells me that I should be doing more on Twitter, Facebook, Linked In, and other social media sites in order to ‘build more business’. The first thing I do when I get this advice is have a look at what they are doing. Some have 4,000 Facebook friends, 20,000 twitter followers, and they get their blog reposted by other blogs like it is going out of style. The one thing they don’t have is….clients. They have these huge networks of people, but are not realizing the benefit from all their efforts online  resulting in gains financially.

I guess maybe this is the Luddite in me, but I’m using Social Media to stay engaged with people i know, not to meet new people. I meet new people in real world situations and then decide if I want them into my social media network. I get many requests for Linked In (up to 10 a day), friend requests on Facebook (maybe 10 a week) and 2-3 twitter followers a day. Nothing to write home about or to brag about. But..I’m on profit model. I run successful and profitable business models by meeting people, looking for fit, engaging them if the fit is there, and doing business. Then we may or may not connect online through social media, although most I do connect with on Linked In.

So am I saying that Social Media is useless? No. What I am saying is it should augment your marketing and business development systems, not replace them. You will make more money with a couple of good face to face meetings, then you will getting 100 new twitter followers. If you are selling a service or a product, you can open up Social Media as a way to have future conversations online, that were started offline. I have yet to meet one non-technology service/product based company that has built their company through Social Media only.  Maybe I haven’t figured it out yet, but truthfully, no one else I know has either. There are some great companies out there doing their thing on Social Media like Magnify and our friend and colleague Norma Maxwell, but they are extensions of business development, not replacements of business development. Their services  lengthen the conversation, not replace the conversation. They shorten the sales cycle,not replace the sales cycle. Social media is an ‘add on’, not a ‘replacement’ at least not yet.

Watching this closely, from a non-technology viewpoint, I don’t believe you can sell online, if you can’t sell offline. You master what you do offline, and then move it online with the right strategy.

Now, off to play with my abacus.

C/