Seldom a day went by over this past two years without someone asking me why I don’t do something. Why don’t I increase my online social community to include tens of thousands of people to broadcast my message to? Why don’t I start up a social network of my own? Why don’t I join a marketing firm to use my social media experience? These questions basically are asking me to be something or someone I am not.
Been There, Done That
It would be simple for me to just write these questions off with saying… Been there, done that…for which I have on the most part. I have gathered the mega thousand followers and have rounded up a ridiculous number of users called Friends. What I found was gathering a crowd of unknown people is not social networking. It is not networking in any form. It is playing a number game which has been proven over and over again not to be a productive method of marketing. What I found effective was to have a small network of people who have a small effective network of people who have a small effective network. I found I did not need a horde of people who just sign up to ride in the wagon with someone who has a lot of people in their community in an effort to build their popularity. So, why would I want to do that again?
Nothing In It For Me
I even have had a number of business and social networks, both online and offline, which were fun but ended up again becoming a place where the What’s In It For Me people wanted to change things to meet their needs. The time and effort to manage the networks to keep them social or focused was just more of a waste of time. Social Networks are best served by a business that has the staff to manage the dark edges of society.
I Am Just Me
Even though it may sometime appear I have traditional marketing experience, I do not. My background is placed square upon my years of battle traditional marketing managers who did not like getting their hands dirty developing marketing campaigns that match a business operations capability. It is from that experience in operations management I today base how marketing works or does not work. My common sense approach to marketing would not qualify me to have much to offer traditional marketing.
So, why don’t I just do my own thing? This question describes where I am now as a consultant, mentor and social media guidance counselor, but since there are many more much better financed entrepreneurs who do the same thing I find maybe it would be best to just offer my services to someone who needs an in house business strategist.
Why am I tell you this..well, it answers another ‘Why Don’t I’ question… Why Don’t I tell people what I am looking for to do to help them solve the problems they have? Out of all of these questions I thought this one was the one that I have not answered that many times before. Hopefully, I don’t make someone uncomfortable for saying this..Let me know how I can help.
I think it is ironic that not only do we share the same last name, we share an interest in business strategy. I am looking to get myself involved in a Masters program in Communication Management – with an emphasis on Strategic and Corporate Communication next year.
As for your article, I agree with your thoughts on having a small effective network versus having a large audience of unknowns. The difference in the two can be compared to standing on the street corner with a megaphone vs. having a small discussion at a cafe with people who share your interests – I personally would much rather be at the cafe than at the street corner.