This is a guest post by Logan Zanelli – my favorite branding rockstar.
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Are you trying to build a community for the right reasons?
By now, a huge percentage of entrepreneurs know about blogging, social media, community building, and the importance of Internet marketing.
But not all of them are doing it because it’s the best fit for their business.
Far too many small business owners come to me for consulting and say they want help getting set up with social media accounts, and have no idea why they need them.
Sure, they’ve heard about Twitter. They’ve seen stories of businesses that have thousands of fans on Facebook. They know that blogs and social media are the latest marketing fad.
But they don’t “get it.”
Recently I had a conversation with a company that’s been a client of mine for almost a decade now. The management team at this firm recently decided they wanted to get better results from their website and invest in more Internet marketing so they could compete with larger, national competitors.
Part of what they were requesting from me was guidance and assistance in using social media for marketing their company and its services.
Then things got a bit strange
After my initial call with them, I put together a proposal that outlined the steps they would need to take to develop an effective social media and Internet marketing campaign. These steps included blogging about their industry, investing time in building relationships with social media, keyword research, and several other techniques.
When I presented the proposal to them, I explained that in order for this plan to work, they needed to fully commit to it. I told them they needed to decide on a schedule for writing and posting new content to their blog – and then stick with it regardless of how busy they get. I explained how they needed to invest time and effort into building relationships with their audience on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And I told them they needed to be committed to this long-term, because it would take time to see the results of their work.
And just like dozens of companies I’ve talked to before, they balked.
Their marketing manager called me back to say the management team had met, considered my proposal, and decided they didn’t want to change what they’re doing now.
They didn’t want to put in the work it would take to be successful
Unfortunately, that company was unwilling to invest extra effort into a plan that would make them more successful against much larger competitors, yet still profess to want that very result.
They’re not willing to work for the results they seek.
“Free” doesn’t mean there’s no cost
This particular company had heard all the hype about social media and Internet marketing. They’ve heard the stories and read the articles about local businesses thriving on the results they’ve got with their online efforts. And they know that it doesn’t cost money to set up a Twitter account, blog, Facebook page, or LinkedIn profile.
But they were not willing to accept the cost in time and commitment it would take.
The bottom line…
If you’re trying to build a community, or launch an Internet marketing or social media campaign, ask yourself why.
Why are you doing it?
Is it because you’ve made the commitment to your own success and are ready to work hard for the results you seek?
Or is it just because everyone else is doing it and you think you should too?
Take a closer look and you’ll find everybody wants results, but very few are willing to work for them.
But if you infuse your marketing and community-building efforts with some commitment and determination, and you’ll be amazed at the results you can achieve.
So how ’bout it?
Have you got the guts to make it work?
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Logan Zanelli is the author of “How to Go from Boring to Rockstar in 30 Days,” a course that teaches you how to build a unique style and become the “rockstar” of your niche.
(Header photo: Giving Up by David Robert Wright)
Allies and Enemies
I’ve always been astonished by people who play politics in business. The ones who can talk out of both sides of their mouths. These are people who can simultaneously dole out lavish praise while twisting the knife deeper in your back.
It’s time to put our collective foot down as self-respecting business people. We have the option to remove ourselves from conversations, partnerships, and situations where knife-twisting is aimed at us or our allies – and an obligation to act decisively when that knife-twisting is done in our name.
We all do it from time to time. Somebody burns us, we get to bellyaching, badmouthing… feeling less than our best. Turning a blind eye – or worse, playing into the instinctual, knee-jerk reaction of communal schadenfreude – just isn’t good enough.
It’s high time all of us quit bitchin’, backstabbing, and badmouthing and actually get some meaningful work done.
(Header photo: Backstabber by kptice)