As more and more people sign up for social media sites like Facebook and Twitter, I guess it’s inevitable that many do so without a clue, especially as the sites pertain to business.
What amazes me is the number of people who seem to have forgotten the part about social media being, well, social. As in meeting people you don’t know.
I use Facebook and Twitter to meet new people without the constraints of geography or time zones. When I invite people to be my “friend” or “follower,” I do so based either on personal knowledge of the person, or recognition of a shared interest. For example, we may both be members of an online marketing group (which would lead you to think we are both interested in marketing.) The vast majority of people are fine with this, and do the same to expand their personal circle of “friends.”
But there’s always someone, like the woman at a recent luncheon where I spoke, who ask: “Why do these people I don’t know try to friend me?”
Well, for the same reason that people at the luncheon you don’t know try to introduce themselves to you. Because the goal of the event is networking–which means meeting strangers in a business setting.
If you want to use Facebook just to talk with your extended family or old sorority sisters, that’s fine, but you should make your page private so that it’s an invitation-only site. That’s also a good idea for teens, because it’s true that “friends” aren’t always who they claim to be. (They aren’t in real life, either.)
But going onto Facebook or Twitter and joining business groups and then freaking out when someone you don’t know offers to be your friend or invites you to be their friend–that’s telling me that you have no idea how the whole idea of social media works.
Imagine that you open a store on a busy street. Friends and family drop by to wish you well. All of a sudden, a person you don’t know walks in. He says hello. He offers you a business card and asks for one of yours. He tries to strike up a conversation on a shared interest, one he deduced from looking around your store.
What do you do? Call the police? Scream? Start shouting: “Who are you and why are you talking to me?”
Gee, it might just be that the person wanted to buy what you’re selling. At least, before you went medieval on his butt.
Or imagine going to a networking luncheon (presumably to get more clients) and it all is going well until someone you don’t know walks up and introduces herself. What now? Throw silverware? Call 911? Yikes, a stranger!
As an adult, we presume that you have reasonable methods in place for meeting new people. Common sense says you don’t offer your credit card or Social Security numbers, give them a key to your house, or arrange a blind date with your daughter. But despite the advice your mother gave you when you were in kindergarten, it’s OK for adults to talk to people they don’t know. We call it….business.
Social media is new and many people are confused as to how to use it for business. That’s OK, too. Just ease off on the accusations and paranoia when a stranger says hello. A one-time greeting is not spam and the person is probably not a serial killer. And if you put down the shotgun, the person might just buy what you’re selling, assuming you can get past hello.
If you’re confused or scared by social media, contact me at Gail at DreamSpinnerCommunications.com. I can help you figure out how to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIN and other sites to do more business.
