The
Debate over Internet Networking Versus Face-to-Face Networking
By
Gerry Rose - Business Consultant and
President of Integrity Networking Solutions
“Are
you on Twitter, LinkedIn, or Facebook?” seems to be the
predominate question today. This statement is as prevalent,
“You are not in business today if you are not on Twitter,
LinkedIn, or Facebook.”
Quoting from a
recent article by Tammy Corbett, “Instead of waiting around for
consumers to come to you, you have to reach out to your target
audience.” Tammy’s article title is ‘Social Media Marketing
Strategies’. The basic premise of the article is “popularity of
social media websites.”
First of all,
let me recognize the value of networking on the Internet – HUGE!
This is especially true for those who are in the business of
using the Internet. Those who are in the business of web
design, Internet consultants, and computer professionals all
need to be interacting with the latest high-speed communication
systems.
Second, most
people are most comfortable networking from the confines of
their computer rather than face to face. It is also more time
efficient over the Internet as more people are “hit” through
social media vehicles.
The question
to ask yourself is, “How much of your time, energy, money, and
creativity are spent with social media communications?” A more
important question to raise is “What is your return on that
investment?” Are you waiting around for consumers to come to
you? I have an Advocate who tells me she is currently getting
clients on her Internet magazine by using social media. These
are clients she has never met, yet she is collecting their
checks. Time well invested! Checks well spent, I am sure!
Others, I
suspect, are spending time with social media as a fun way to
reconnect with old friends. Again a good investment of time
when we are spending time with our fun meters on maximum!
There is a
false sense of purpose around what social media can provide the
entrepreneur. Some believe that when they spend time with the
social media new business will magically appear. In my
exploration of this topic, I was hopeful that there was some
magic formula to create more business. If I am missing
something, please pass the formula on to me. Even though most
of you know me as an out going extravert, there are some days I
would rather do business in my fuzzy slippers.
I want to
encourage those who are investing time, energy, money, and
creativity with social media interaction to be clear on what
result they are looking to generate. At the same time, look for
strategies in business that will give you quick monetary returns
on your investment of time, energy, money, and creativity. Last
I knew we still use one key indicator to judge our successes,
return on investment (as well as deliverables to clients!)
A fundamental
truth when it comes to selling your product or service is
collecting the check. Somewhere in the transaction you need to
be able to ask a question similar to, “Do you want to work with
us?” After confirmation you need to be able to ask for cash,
credit card, check, or other form of payment for exchange of
services/products.
Ultimately,
the disconnect in “social media” is the word ‘social’. When I
am being social I am doing something other than business.
The
inherent questions remain:
-
Is
social media getting you what you want?
-
If
social media is a marketing strategy, what is your plan?
-
Are
you getting the results you want for business through
social media?
