Anonymous Distributor

Social media – wow, what has the world come to? My recollection of social media meant the media was at your social event, covering it. Let’s try to learn a few things about the “new” social media.

Do you have a Facebook account for your business? How about LinkedIn? Twitter? Snapchat? YouTube? Flickr? Digg? StumbleUpon? Reddit? YIKES! Where does it end? In order for us to keep our sanity (and for you to keep reading) we won’t list them all. However, today there are well over 100 social media sites available for anything you can think of.

With all the social media choices out there, what are we supposed to do with them? It all depends on whether or not you intend to grow. If you want to grow in the new age of technology, it might be a good idea to have a Facebook page and possibly a Twitter feed and YouTube channel. Let’s talk about why these three.

You’re probably thinking, “A.D., can’t I just grow my business without all this social stuff?” Yes, but the customers you will attract are getting, wait for it, OLDER. Eventually they will hire their lawn work out. They might even move to a condo, leaving you with a smaller amount of customers and possibly a shingle on your door that reads “OUT OF BUSINESS.”

Whether you believe A.D. or not, Facebook could be where your future begins. With more than 2.2 billion users (per month) you’re sure to find someone that will look at your page (even if it’s a family member). If you want to do it correctly, you’ll need to list your Facebook page on every piece of literature, your invoices, and business cards. Having “Likes” is nice, and, although it won’t make or break your business, it looks good to new visitors.

Facebook has a way you can advertise to the 2.2 billion, or to a specific group. It also has four ways to advertise. They are Facebook, Audience Network, Instagram, and Messenger. With those choices you’re sure to get someone outside your family to advertise. Heck, I remember a mentor of mine saying “If you aren’t the biggest, make everyone think you are!” Not having a Facebook page will not make you appear bigger (don’t worry, A.D. has not sold out to Facebook.) You have to find a mechanism to advertise where your future customers are, and I just think this could be a good spot to start. Did I mention your page is free, but the ad plans are not?

Advertising just to advertise is not good. You still need a reason, where you want to advertise, who you want to reach, and, of course, how much you want to spend. Once you have that figured out, go to Facebook advertising and get started. If you don’t want to spend money, advertise a special on your dealer Facebook page and/or Twitter feed. You can target those two then put up signs in your dealership to see your Facebook- and Twitter-only specials. If you make those two better than in the paper ads you place, you’ll quickly build an audience.

About now you are thinking, “Here you go, A.D., making it sound easy.” Nope, not me; I think it’s just like being a minnow in an ocean of fish. You will get lost in the crowd without goals. If you get on Twitter, you have to tweet at least one time a day (unless you are President of the United States). I found that being discovered on Twitter is not as easy as on Facebook. After all, you start off with friends then build from there.

About now, you might be asking about YouTube and how it can work for your business. Time is against all of us. Think of YouTube as a silent salesperson. Keep in mind that the entire world can find a video on YouTube. But if you create a YouTube channel for your business, they will be watching the videos from your site and not the general population. Setting up a YouTube channel is really easy. You can find endless videos on how to do that by searching the Internet.

With the season almost here, none of this can wait too long. The world and its people are not going backward, they are progressing forward. You can keep up with them with those simple social media sites.

Keep your blades and minds sharp and tweet me at @opemagad or e-mail me at opemagad@gmail.com.