It’s the classic fear. You throw a party, and no one shows up. There you are. All dressed up standing there feeling foolish with food, drinks, conversation starters at the ready. And you’re thinking, what if no one shows up?Welcome to social media in a small town. The biggest question I get is how to use social media to grow your business when you live in a rural area, and your target audience isn’t there. You’ve heard there is a party online, and you hate to be out of the loop, but what if you go and there is no one to talk to?First of all, don’t worry, your guests are on their way, they are just running late. Now is a great time to really prepare. Experiment with the various sites, and create your voice, your story, and really clean the house. When they do arrive, you will be there to greet them, and you’ll be ahead of your competition. Your guests will leave saying it’s the best party they’ve ever been to.
You’ve asked, how can you benefit now and what can you do? (I’ll blog about each these points in future posts)
- Curious? But unsure? Jump into it. Get yourself set up on LinkedIn, Facebook and twitter. Build your network and spend a lot of time “listening”. Spend a few hours on each to learn about the different unique benefits. It won’t take long once you get going.
- Don’t assume your audience isn’t out there. Visitors from out of town are coming to your small town and they are seeking your goods and services. They are tweeting about it and, more than likely, no one is responding to them. Be there.
- Your social media experience is only as good as the network you create. Get in there, develop relationships nationally and internationally in your industry and within your personal interests. You will be amazed at how it can broaden your perspective outside of the vacuum of your community. It will open your world to a wealth of knowledge. Follow people that are smart, learn from them.
Don’t allow yourself to feel overwhelmed. You’ve got time to take small steps. There really isn’t that much to learn other than the technical use of the various sites. The same rules of social etiquette at your cocktail party apply. It’s simply another channel of communication that is inexpensive and time-efficient. That’s right, I said time-efficient. And that, my friends, is the topic of my next post.
Social media enthusiasts, have anything to add? If you’re new to it, what do you think, does this help? I’d like to hear from you.
Lisa — great analogy! Be patient, folks, it takes time to build your social media presence and like any good relationship, you need to nurture and take care of it. And as I like to say … engage,converse and have fun.
Great post Lisa. I agree, people should at least give them a try and see if it’s right for them. I did meet one potential client on Facebook without even trying, even though I try to limit that to just my friends and family. I’ve had good things come out of Twitter and LinkedIn as well, if not for me than for others.
If we wait for everyone to arrive at the door before we open it, we’ll have a lot of people going home without ever coming in to see our beautiful table spread with goodies.
Ettrick Public Library’s facebook page requires about 10 minutes a week to keep up (once an idea strikes me). The fan list is growing slowly, but more local people are joining. The teens who monopolize the computers are my best allies.
Social media may be a fad — but it’s a great tool while it lasts.
Karyn, thanks for the comments. I think business owners will be happy to see that it doesn’t monopolize your time. That seems to be a big concern. my next post will discuss the time commitment (and management) in more depth. The social media tools might be fad, but I believe social media is here to stay!