Why you should be using social media

UPDATE: Since writing this post I got to thinking a lot about the term ’social media.’ So I wrote about it in a post called Defining social media – the wrong term?

When I write about folks using social media what I’m really saying is people need to change their behaviour on the internet. The web is no longer a one-way street. Social media is a totally redundant term. What we should be referring to is the ’social web.’ To embrace ’social media’ is to start using the internet in a different way: interacting with others. Plain and simple.

And so it really does amaze me that folks are still slow to adopt a new way of behaving online which will clearly benefit their business. I’ve changed this post to reflect my new way of thinking.

In the nicest possible way it amazes me that there are some folks still questioning whether or not to embrace the social web.

Inspired by a recent tweet (that’d be ‘comment’ posted on Twitter for those of you who aren’t familiar with the term) from @SeanDonahoe (Can social media help your business?) I felt compelled to write about it.

I worry about the folks still pondering whether or not to dip their toe into the social web. That’s like saying, ‘Can talking to your customers/clients/friends be any good for business?’ Isn’t it obvious?

I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again: if all this socialising on the web is new to you and and you’re not sure how it will help you get over it. Yes, there are umpteen experts floating around the internet trying to preach their rules to you about how to handle ’social media.’ Some of them are brilliant. Some of them are not. Whether you choose to listen to advice from them is your decision but for God’s sake don’t let apprehension stop you from kick-starting a marketing strategy that will enhance both you and your business.

Maybe you’re wary about the hype around sites such as Facebook and Twitter and think they’re just fly-by-night websites destined to fail and without any real value.

You’d be wrong.

We live in a society that constantly changes, yes. But ignoring the social web is a mistake. Again, how can talking about your business or industry with other like-minded people be bad?

Maybe you’re intimidated by the phrase ’social media.’

Don’t be.

It’s just a label. Boiled down it really just refers to the fact that we’re social beings with an inherent desire to communicate with others. But now we do it a lot on the internet. Oh, and some clever people built some websites so we can do it all in one place. And other folks have adapted their websites to allow us to have a conversation with them.

At work today one of my bloggers – Nova Scotia filmmaker Eva Madden – suprised me with a new post. She hasn’t written one in a year.

Her post was inspired by a meeting she had with a couple of LA screenwriters who told her, essentially, to stop thinking and start doing.

That advice doesn’t just apply to screenwriters or ‘creative types.’ It applies to every area of life. And since we’re on the subject, it also applies to how we use the internet.

If you’re reading this post because you too are wondering how social media can help your business, stop thinking and start doing.

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