Ignore Social Media and Guarantee Business Failure

Ignore Social Media and Guarantee Business Failure

Classes in "Business Destruction" are not offered on a college campus. However, you'd think otherwise if you observe the marketing practices of many small businesses today. How are businesses practing self-destruction?You Started Out RightYou, no doubt, started your business to fill a particular need or desire for a certain group of people. Niche marketing is what it's called today - finding a group of hungry consumers who want/need your service or product. The problem that has become apparent of late is that business owners who have been filling those needs and solving those problems for people have become so self-focused that they are arrogantly assuming they have control of the marketplace. Ahh...but they would be wrong in today's market climate. And why is that?It's because of the advent of Web 2.0 and people discovering they could be heard online - primarily via social media. In case you haven't noticed - the customer is now in charge. You'll need an early retirement plan if you persist in conducting your business in a way that serves only yourself and your employees.Is Social Media a Waste of Time?Instead, some of your time had better be spent on determining what will best serve your customer and how best to deliver said product/service, and how to really hear what your customers are saying. In today's world, if a consumer doesn't feel "heard" you can pack it up. People are now accustomed to having their voices heard via Facebook, Twitter, blogging, and forums. What? You're not involved with these media because they're a waste of your time? Think again. You should run, not walk to the nearest source of information to help you get set up with at least the basics of social media involvement.An example of "Business Death by Arrogance"I'll give you an example of how a giant company started out well, got arrogant, lost their focus and they're now in the dust and the weeds. That company is AOL. How many of you can remember years ago when AOL began offering easy dial-up modem service and this great push began to cover the world with their CD's offering "1000 Free Hours." You received these CD's in the mail, they were in your local video stores, at the checkout counters of thousands of retail stores, inside magazines and just about everywhere else on the globe that AOL could think of a way to get them there. I remember these CD's littering the house and I threw away hundreds of them. I felt they were littering the world with their CD's.AOL's success led to their undoing because they became so arrogant they failed to see the forest for the trees. In that success, they became arrogant and they lost sight of their initial mission to provide a good service. Their "interruptive advertising" became so intrusive that other, smarter companies soon out-paced them in the marketplace. Signing up for AOL created yet another problem - I guess they assumed you would want them forever, because it became nearly impossible to unsubscribe from their service. I know people who actually cancelled their credit card to stop the charges. Emails and customer service requests were just ignored.What Happened in 2005?In 2005, the Web 2.0 revolution made it possible for people everywhere to begin to talk about all this, and finally, the same year, among many lawsuits related to this "can't cancel" problem, AOL agreed to pay 1.25 million dollars in damages to the state of NY, and to revise their customer service standards, but the damage was done. AOL had committed suicide due to arrogance and not listening to their customers.What's Your Best Safety Net?So just be aware that a glitzy ad campaign or cool TV ads or great magazine ads alone won't deliver what you need to stay alive in today's market. Your best guarantee to success is to figure out what your customer's expectations are and then get busy satisfying those needs and wants. And then to really stand out among the pack - exceed those expectations.But remember, to really hear your customers, you're missing the boat entirely if you're not plugged into social media. Only a very foolish business owner considers it a waste of time.I'll give you something for free to get you started figuring out how to gain an online presence for your local business. Just go to http://www.businesstrainingteam.com and look on the front page for a download of a detailed report/eBook on Local Business Marketing on the Internet.I wish you the best in your quest to thrive, not just survive!

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