Move forward, even if you are the only one. You will win.
There are five statements Todd and I have heard, direct from the mouths of real people. Real honest-to-God business people.
It goes without saying, but you MUST change your mindset on each…FAST:
“I don’t want my people on LinkedIn. I don’t want competitors to steal them away.”
This is a defeatist attitude in the first place. This is playing “not to lose” instead of “playing to win.” Your people, if they choose, will be active on the social web anyway. And if they are unhappy, they will find new employment on their own. But if you are keeping them off one of the most respected business networking communities on the planet, you will ultimately lose the battle of profiting from digital networking and community.
“My prospects just aren’t on social media.”
Wrong. Maybe not all of them, but enough to matter. You just aren’t looking. You are taking the easy (aka lazy) way so as to not spend time there, and justify it to yourself. There is opportunity there. Go out and find it, and become the leader in that space. And consider this: those that are on the social web will be the early influencers in YOUR market. Might as well be connected and doing business with them.
“I don’t want my people dilly dallying online all day. I want them doing their job.”
If your people are dilly dallying online all day, I have two thoughts: They aren’t just dilly dallying online, but over the water cooler and with the cute lady in sales too. Also, you are a lousy manager, and you should FIRE your employee who is wasting your customer’s time. But human interaction online is how the modern world spreads information, knowledge and ideas. Trust me, but you want to be a part of that conversation…
“You don’t sell on social media.”
Right. Selling is NOT a human thing. Selling does NOT occur between real people. Selling is done by osmosis and just happens naturally in the normal order of things. I am sure you walk into the office and new contracts just magically appear on your desk. Profits await… There is a reason it is known as “social” media. These are human interactions people. Knowledge transfer and sharing of ideas (about how you can help someone) just happens to take place digitally in this case… You might not directly sell a conveyor system on LinkedIn, but you sure as heck might meet the guy who does ultimately buy one…
“This SEO crap is just a bunch of bullshit hocus pocus.”
Well, actually, in this instance, this gentleman was correct. Too many “experts and gurus” are selling hocus pocus, and you should be wary when they promise amazing results in 30 days! But if you think there is nothing to be gained by putting out good content to impact inbound marketing, and implementing sincere keyword strategies to get found by the search engines, then you are missing a CRITICAL opportunity to expose your organization to a brave new world…
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