HANDS-FREE MARKETING : SEPARATION OF CHURCH AND STATE

Whether by email or on a social networking site, I never cease to be amazed at the fact that many people use one identity for all things social and business.

I receive emails from professional associates that contain all sorts of things, from "forward this to 10 people and…" to jokes and who knows what else. While it’s not the content that bothers me, it’s the fact that it’s coming from what should be a professional (ie business) address.

Ditto on networking sites. When someone is "linked" to the entire world of friends and family, there are bound to be "skeletons"…or worse that get dragged out of the proverbial closet …an old friend who posts the photo of you "totally wasted dude" on your Facebook wall. If it’s the same identity you’re using to connect to business associates, do you need that kind of publicity, no matter how well-intentioned?

Hence the title of this article. There’s a time and a place to "be yourself" and to "be your professional self". I do not buy into the argument that "what you see is what you get" or "this is the real me". There are increasing numbers of stories about background checks and job offers being rescinded because of what someone put in a blog, or on MySpace, YouTube or wherever.

Social media sites have a place, as does email. Remember that what you put out there, or what you let others put out there, could come back to bite you. It may feel great to hook up with a friend from 20 years ago, but do you really know them that well now?

Keep your two "selves" separate. You do it in real life, it’s okay to do it online. It’s very hard to undo what’s been done…and with who "owns" information posted on social media sites, the decision may not be yours to make…

If all your friends jumped off the roof, would you?

I’m sure many parents have said to their kids something along the lines of “if all your friends jumped off the roof, would you?” I know I heard that growing more way too many times…I did lots of stupid things.

Posts like this make people me me unpopular. Why? Because I question what seems to be becoming “conventional wisdom”, a lemming-like rush to embrace new media, marketing techniques and anything that gives a glimmer of a chance to strike pay dirt.

Most of the professionals I know are very busy people. Many are small business owners or self-employed. A 40-hour work week is rare. Time is precious and there just isn’t enough of it. All want to succeed, most don’t have a lot to bet on new methods of doing so.

I’m increasingly asked about “new” buzzwords in the marketplace. Words such as “social media” or “twitter”, “facebook”, or one of the myriad of options out there. People are being told “if you’re going to make it, you MUST be using this, that or the other and if you don’t you’re not making the most of new technology and you’re a loser.”

Now, it may not be quite that nasty, but I’ve read enough blog posts that are barely a step away from that. There appears to be a new class of self-appointed “social media” and “marketing” “experts” who have found the magic beans that will grow the beanstalk to untold riches.

Some of these people are the same ones who have been pontificating about the “death” of print media and the absolute need to move online and in elitist little circles such as Twitter. Even on sites such as ActiveRain, there are self-titled “gurus” who people just appear to follow blindly, hanging on every word…and I just don’t get it.

This isn’t, by the way, just a rant from someone who is a frustrated social media or marketing “wannabe”. What I am adverse to is a “one size fits all” approach that “experts” are preaching and the negative impact it’s having on businesses across the board.

Every tool has its place and its uses, I’m the first to admit. But, though you may have a hammer in the toolbox, you may question the wisdom of using it to, say, clean a window.

Every new or recycled marketing tool (and don’t be fooled, when social media is applied to business, that’s what it is) has worked for some and not for others. The same went for print ads, flyers and who know what else. To some, the community and client base will dictate the technology. Email flyers are about as much use as an ashtray on a motorbike if your clients live in an area that doesn’t have Internet access.

I’m not adverse to trying new tools and techniques. I think playing around with things like Twitter, Facebook, Myspace and others is essential, if for no other reason that to determine if it’s going to work for you. I am adverse to the “must be part of this” mentality. Social media, like other forms of marketing takes an investment. It may be time rather than money, but a return on investment needs to be evaluated. Will time be better spent elsewhere?

As a marketing “guy”, and I say that because I don’t want to call myself a consultant, expert or guru, I work with my clients to determine what’s right for them. I say to someone, almost on a daily basis, “do three things well, not ten badly”. Time is as important as money. Invest it wisely.

Just because everyone else is running in one direction doesn’t make it the right direction. I think back to the Poseidon Adventure with Gene Hackman and his little band that went against the flow of opinion and ultimately got out of the ship. What may work for this person, may not work for that one and I wish that more people would realize that and that more marketing “experts” would help their clients decide on the right course of action and not the most popular.

I also have to question a social media application that has it’s own version of the Oscars for the best short message…something seems very wrong to me about this. But then I also read a lot of social media blogs in which they poke fun at people who don’t use SM the “right way” or laugh at those who “think it’s just about blogging.”

But I suppose I’ll continue to believe that old-fashioned “meet and greets” are a good idea, that not all paper marketing is dead, that spam emails of property listings is rude and annoying and that social media has a place and isn’t the be all and end all of marketing.

I don’t think I’ll jump off that roof just yet.