Last week, I gave a presentation on social media for 15 CEO’s of small businesses down in Faribault, Minn.
Their reactions ranged from engaged to downright resistant, bordering on belligerence. “What’s a blog?” asked one CEO. “Can you Tweet on a blog?”
It occurred to me that “getting” social media is all about having the right attitude. If you’re determined to NOT get it, guess what? You won’t.
Age has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sure, a lot of my contemporaries still do marketing and P.R. the old-fashioned way – writing brochures and sending out press kits in the mail.
The good news for me is that they then ask for my help when their clients ask them to set up a Facebook page, do keyword research and optimize their news releases and website content. I’m just as old as they are, but I have a different attitude: I am totally jazzed by the social media revolution and want to be a part of it.
Conversely, Gen X and Gen Y or the Millennials may be super comfortable with technology, since they’ve been on the web their entire existence.
But while they know how to post their last frat party photos on their Facebook wall, they don’t know how to use Facebook and other social media sites to help businesses get found, connect with customers and increase referral business.
In short, if you want help developing a social media strategy to grow your business, find someone who has both the right attitude and the right stuff.
Their reactions ranged from engaged to downright resistant, bordering on belligerence. “What’s a blog?” asked one CEO. “Can you Tweet on a blog?”
It occurred to me that “getting” social media is all about having the right attitude. If you’re determined to NOT get it, guess what? You won’t.
Age has absolutely nothing to do with it. Sure, a lot of my contemporaries still do marketing and P.R. the old-fashioned way – writing brochures and sending out press kits in the mail.
The good news for me is that they then ask for my help when their clients ask them to set up a Facebook page, do keyword research and optimize their news releases and website content. I’m just as old as they are, but I have a different attitude: I am totally jazzed by the social media revolution and want to be a part of it.
Conversely, Gen X and Gen Y or the Millennials may be super comfortable with technology, since they’ve been on the web their entire existence.
But while they know how to post their last frat party photos on their Facebook wall, they don’t know how to use Facebook and other social media sites to help businesses get found, connect with customers and increase referral business.
In short, if you want help developing a social media strategy to grow your business, find someone who has both the right attitude and the right stuff.
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