This is the 18th post in the Start-up Journey series, click here to read the first one.
It has been quite a while since I posted to this series, and I would imagine some of you have forgotten about it. To be honest, I have been waiting for something good to write about, but I decided to write anyway. Last we heard our “hero” was considering crossing the river to the dark side of town, where the “Get Rich Quick” gangs hang out, in an attempt to jump-start his venture… Continue reading
This is the fourth post in this series, click here to read the first one.
Let’s face it, there’s a lot of stuff out there that while cool, never goes anywhere. Cool, usually means someone looks at your stuff, says “cool” and never comes back or uses it. I don’t find that particularly cool. Continue reading
This is the second post in this series, click here to read the first one.
In my career, I have started over 30 businesses… yeah I know, short attention span. In some of these I had partners, in others I went solo. Continue reading
What do the Smithsonian, George S. Patton, JD Power and Ford Motor Company have in common with Social Media Engine? Continue reading
As you know by now if you follow me, I recently joined forces with Phillip Black as a partner in Social Media Engine. As a result, I have participated in many events with Phillip where he describes himself as an “Attraction Marketing Specialist” and a “Guerrilla Marketing Specialist”. I have heard both these terms used throughout my career but have not had the time to actually delve into the “Methodology”. Continue reading
In my business, I seem to get approached by a lot of people with “opportunities”. “Hey we should partner-up on this”, “I want you to write a chapter in my next book” or “We should do some speaking engagements together”. Continue reading
The secret of Social Media is out. I, along with my contemporaries, spent the first part of 2010 explaining what Social Media is to the masses. Then we all spent the second half explaining why business owners needed to embrace it. Oh sure, we got our share of confused looks, but as the year progressed these lessened. Continue reading
If I were to ask if you would prefer me to give you an apple or a doughnut… in three weeks time, most of you would say an apple. However, if I were standing in front of you right now with an apple in one hand and a doughnut in the other, most of you would take the doughnut.
It is one thing to know what is good for us, and to truly believe that we aspire to these things as a “future” goal, but when faced with the immediate choice, most of us do the opposite. And so it is with Social Media for your business <-clumsy segue.
I have yet to meet a business owner who does not agree that their business needs to embrace social media to survive: “Oh yes… I’m definitely going to do that”. But most fail to act and simply continue doing what they have been doing. Just like the majority of the population, the majority of businesses are obese slobs lumbering on to an early death.
We know at our core that the health food nuts, vegans and fitness junkies will outlive us all. Business owners who are on a steady diet of Social Media will outlive their competition, and we know that as well. So why don’t more of them act on the health of their enterprises?
Oh, they know alright, as of this writing I just sold out an event titled “Social Media Business Strategies”. Fifty people signed up in less than four days. They too will be like many people I see at my events; busy taking copious notes, nodding like dashboard dogs, asking insightful questions, and generally “fired up” to get involved. However, which I know is rare for a speaker, I keep track. I make a habit of checking up on my attendees a month or so after my events. Out of some warped need for validation I desperately hope to see someone who has actually taken steps. But just as the salesperson at LA Fitness knows, most people who take the gym tour, will never come back. No matter how convincing they appeared in their plan to actually get in shape.
Fortunately, a small percentage do commit to implementing Social Media into their business plan. It is for these people who I resist the temptation to run my slides upside down just to see if anyone notices. Just as it is no secret that exercise is good for you, the value of Social Media is denied by few, but avoided by most.
So would you like an Apple or a Doughnut?
As most of you know by now, I am making a career of speaking about Social Media. I’ve been bobbing along, progressing at a pace that my friends tell me is amazing but that I feel is snail-like. Well I think I may have entered the cockpit of a rocket ship. Phillip Black’s rocket ship.
As some of you may know, my speaking career has been “sucked” over to Social Media. This was not necessarily my original plan, but hey, give the people what they want right? So now I am speaking all over about Social Media and doing some strategic consulting, etc. Everybody wants to know “What to do”, which is fine and I can give them a lot of ideas on that, but just like anything else, I am even more concerned about the question that is never asked and that is “What not to do”.
