Tag Archives: advice

April 15, 2013 · 10:55 am

Four Misunderstandings About Social Media

As you’ve probably aware if you’ve spent any time here on the screed, I take a great interest in how business folks think about social media.

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

I am one of those people who believe that over time the word “social” will vanish as all media becomes more social and what we classify today as “social” media becomes more mainstream (although I’m not sure how Facebook could become more mainstream when it seems damn near everyone is on it!).  How businesses can use social media is one of the areas in which I advise clients and so I took great interest in an info-graphic I came across the other day entitled “How Small Businesses Are Using Social Media (and why they may be getting it wrong).  If you click through I think you’ll find some good information on it but you’ll also find four terrible misunderstandings.

In the section labelled “Why Small Businesses Are Using Social Media” there are four points.  Each one is, I guess, something that these businesses believe to be true.  Unfortunately, they’re not.  Take point one:  it’s inexpensive.  Sure the tools are free but supporting your business on each platform is not free.  In fact, to do social well and to cover all the potential social bases (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, and Google+ for starters) in an active way that will engage your customers requires planning, writing, and responding.  It all takes time, and as we all know, time is money.

Point two: it’s easy to use.  Another half truth although I’m sure businesses believe it.   The tools are not overly complicated but creating great, engaging content is hard, as you can probably tell from the attempts to do so in this space.

Point three:  their customers use social media.  Yes they do, but as the term “media” indicates  they’re in a lot of places doing so.  The aforementioned “big” guys are just the tip of the iceberg, and new players emerge and grow every day.  Reddit, Vine, and Stumble Upon are just three places where a lot of the customers are but the brands aren’t.  Add to that the fact that to gain any sort of visibility with the majority of your customers on the big guys (Facebook and Twitter in particular) requires you to be a paying customer.  So much for “free.”

Point four:  It doesn’t take a lot of time.  Totally wrong unless you add “to do it badly” to the end of that phrase.  Supporting multiple platforms with engaging content and responding to consumer interactions takes a lot of time – ask any of the brands that do social media well.

That’s my take – what’s yours?

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April 9, 2013 · 9:45 am

The View From The Bench

Great game played by Michigan and Louisville last night in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  It was everything a championship game should be for the most part: great action, close scoring, and some interesting story lines.  I wish that two things had been different   the officiating had been better (both teams got screwed on a number of incorrect calls) and that the Wolverines had won.  However, besides an excellent evening’s entertainment, I got something else out of the game I’d like to share.

Stretching before the 2006 NCAA Men's Division...

 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Two players – Luke Hancock and Spike Albrecht – were the stories of the game in many ways.  When Michigan’s star guard got into early foul trouble, Albrecht came off the bench and scored 17 points before halftime.  For a kid who averaged under 2 points a game, that’s quite a performance.  Hancock went him one better with a performance off the bench that was so good he became the first non-starter to be named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four.  Both players made an excellent business point which is today’s thought.

There are a dozen players on a basketball team and yet only five play at once.  Generally the rotation of players, barring foul trouble or injury, isn’t more than seven.  Still, every person on the bench needs to stay ready.  Every sport has a crew of backup players – those who, for one reason or another, don’t play as much on game day but are integral parts of the team.

It’s the same in business.  Every person on the team needs to understand the game plan and keep their skills sharp even if the plan isn’t for them to be the main players that day.  I wanted “bench” players on my business team who understood that their job went beyond the time when they were front and center.  When you’re out of a game for a spell, your job isn’t to rest.  You have a wider perspective – you can see the entire floor or field.  Help your team with your observations.  For business, this means, for example, reading drafts of presentations carefully and offering suggestions  not sitting around pouting because you’re not the one giving the show.  Who knows – like Albrecht and Hancock, you might get a chance when you least expect it.   Be ready – the chance may not come a second time.

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April 8, 2013 · 11:06 am

Important Isn’t Always First

Suppose you wanted to build a business.  It would be important to have an excellent business plan and hire great people to execute that plan.  Finding great candidates and getting them on board would, therefore, be important too.  But suppose you wrote up your plan and hired those people.  Where would they work?  How would people communicate with them under the auspices of your business?  How would you collect and distribute money?  Before you hired, you’d want to set up the legal entity that is your business, establish a domain name, and set up an email system.  Important isn’t always first.

Business Sign X

(Photo credits: http://www.roadtrafficsigns.com)

Let me give you another example.  Suppose you come up with a great idea – a music player that can hold thousands of songs and can fit in your pocket.  In 1998, the first MP3 players came out, but it wasn’t until 2001 – when the first iPod came out – that they took off as consumer must-haves.  Why was that?  Because the iPod got it right – they married the player up to excellent software and fabulous aesthetics.  In this case, getting it right was more important than being first.  I’d argue, however, that the first thing one should do when designing a new product or service IS to make it great – I’m not a huge fan of the “get something out then pivot” school.  Fast is important to investors in a lot of cases.  First, create something excellent.

Many people fail to recognize that distinction in the heat of battle.  We all have a tendency to prioritize based on what seems important without  thinking as much about what needs to be first.  It is a frustrating process when what seems important is delayed by what needs to come first but that’s how we produce greatness right out of the box.

A final example.  If you were trying to write a book, you’d have to think about things like tone, tense, and even where to start.  Those things come before what’s important – the writing, the plot, the character development, and maybe even the ending.  The mechanical details of a lot of what we try to do might seem boring, but without them there is no foundation for what really is important both in business and in life.

Does that make sense?

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