There are a lot of small businesses still struggling with basic web site deployment. Unfortunately, Robert uses big-company analogies that simply don’t work for small business. Should a small business really be worrying about their Foursquare presence or Twitter mentions when they haven’t even claimed their Google Local listing?
The typical small business would be wasting their resources – and badly – if they all obsessed with social media. Don’t get me wrong – social media can be vital. Its just your hairdresser/fitness/accounting/donut shop entrepreneur probably should be dealing with live customer service rather than updating Facebook.
Small business thrives on loyalty. Rather than becoming social media experts, these companies need to become ‘customer resource’ experts. The fantastic sweep that cleaned our chimney and dryer vents had heard of Twitter – and knew enough to ask for a review and referrals. If you are a small business, ask your biggest fans for help. If I love your business or your service, I’m happy to tweet/blog/face about you. Tap into your fans – have real live conversations, and ask your best customers to look out for you online. A lot of these examples seem to lose sight of the fact that this is a “social” media – make it about your customers and fans.
Read the Article at HuffingtonPost
