I am really not sure why there are so many people spending tremendous amounts of time online in the social spaces promoting their business…or thinking they are promoting their business…by posting endless impersonal articles or links to their business’ web-site. This can’t be Fun since the results have to be less than satisfactory to their purpose of being online. What I have found to work best is the more FUN I have with Social Media the better the results.
Wrong Advice Produces Wrong Results
What I have found to be the reason so many business people waste this amount of time is related to someone telling them being unsocial is what they need to be doing if they want to make money online. Usually those people who consult businesses to take a hard sale approach online have lost touch with how social media works and usually are people who don’t have Fun.
It is true in order to be successful online you have to make a presence and you have to provide content to make a presence, but who said it has to be boring crap that people can find on their own thru a quick search of Google? I think you know the answer to that question.
Social Media is NOT a Fad
The biggest mistake many businesses are making is jumping into the social spaces thinking it is filled with dumb-asses who will react to anything someone has to tell them. They will not take the time to learn what social media really is and how to really use it.
There are still many business owners and managers who still look at Social Media as a fad. In a recent survey I completed amongst my off-line contacts over 85% still do not put too much stock in what they have to say to the people in the social space will hit their target consumer.
Broadcast Media is Not Fun Media
Unfortunately, I have to agree with them since they only use the online social spaces as another venue to broadcast their mass media marketing campaigns in hopes someone will read it will buy something. All that work for nothing really can’t be that much Fun to do.
Many people I have asked about how they use social media say they do not see social media as being fun. They see it as a waste of time. This mostly has to do with their feeling the need to have to hard sale someone face-to-face into buying something. To these groups of people, socializing and building trust is not of value to them. So, they don’t have any Fun online. This results in them attempting to take the wind out of the sails of those who understand how fun social media can develop a sale.
So where is the Fun in Social Media?
There is no doubt administering social media for business is work. But nothing says it can’t be fun. The more satisfying the conversation online the more Fun social media becomes. Once interaction between people begins the commerce comes easy since the sale and marketing of something can then can be passed onto the traditional web-site for consumer review. This puts the pressure on developing a web-site that does not hard sale. The FUN in social media is in the interaction with consumers..and remember…everyone online is a consumer.
So how do you make selling something online fun?
First of all you need to want to have fun. If you are one who does not know how to have fun offline you are going to probably find it difficult to have fun online. If that is the case maybe you need to turn over your social media to someone who understands the value of socializing and how presenting a fun personality online can generate interest in a product. There are people who do this and do it well…they are called community managers.
The business that struggles with social media are the ones who should be hiring community managers. However, the challenge is finding a community manager who REALLY know social media. And..someone knowing social media is not one who just has a Twitter account or can create nifty hashtags.
Fun for many people..me included..is making money. There is nothing wrong with that attitude and everyone everywhere should realize that everyone has to make a living. But making a living online does not have to be an In-Your-Face experience like so many of the new comers to the internet are attempting to do.
If You Interact They Will Come
I really enjoy the conversations I have people who contact me about a blog I wrote or a post on G+ I made that interests them…or they had fun with. Those fun conversations have resulted in many of those people hiring me for consulting them on how to be a community manager, or me mentoring them into how to use the social spaces effectively. This interaction with people is the fun result of effective social media for me..for which can work for anyone if they understand social media is not a hard sale game to play in the social spaces.
Having an attitude..Oh, well, if they can’t take me pushing my products they just need to get over it...will not work. In fact, rubbing someone raw with a hard sale, or just posting links and having no interaction with anyone, will generate enough negative social media against the business it for sure will take all of the Fun of being online for that business.
The Fun in social media is in the attitude you have to have.
Let me know how I can help.
