Social media can be your businesses best friend or worst enemy!
I was just talking to a friend tonight about social media, Twitter, Facebook, and blogging for business, and he told me something very interesting.
He said his company is hesitating from joining Twitter and Facebook because they are affraid of competitors seeing their content and gaining an advantage over their pricing, bids, etc…
I quickly replied with this: “it doesn’t matter if you want to join or not because the conversation is ALREADY taking place on the web, with or without you!”
That statement sort of jumped out of my mouth and took me by surprised!
And you know what, it’s 100% true for any business, product, or service.
Just because you, as a business, does not want to join social media sites is really a mute point. The conversation is taking place anyway, and your fears for joining are already moving forward – competitors sharing information, people talking about bids from brokers, etc…
You have to understand the dynamics that are already at work on the web.
People who are in your industry are already engaging on the web with content, information, insider tips, and more.
People are already on the web talking about your business. If you aren’t online adding content about who, what, and why about your business, then you are subject to what others say about you – be it good or bad.
And with the ease of communication with mobile phones, iPhones, etc… your competitors are already actively engaged in sharing content.
So the best thing you, as a business, can do is get involved online.
Create a business blog and start writing content about what you offer, share insider tips, starting documenting unique experiences, and eventually you’ll start to build an audience of people who are anxious to read more about what your business or expertise.
Then create a Twitter and Facebook Fan Page and start adding your blog postings, sharing tips, and adding other useful content.
This cumulative effort over time will pay off in “perceived authority” from people online who are making decisions about who to hire. And if your business has already done the hard work of establishing your business, and you are now the authority, then you’ll have a steady stream of customers coming to you for what you offer.
You have to get involved in the social conversations of the web because, like I said, they are unfolding regardless of whether you want them to or not, and will continue to unfold with or without you!