I recently had the privilege of hearing Larry Broughton (@LarryBroughton), award-winning entrepreneur, former Army Green Beret, and founder of Broughton Hotels, speak at the Elite SDVOB (Service Disabled Veteran Owned Businesses) Convention in Chicago. The main message of his keynote speech was that if you are not failing, you are not moving towards your potential. Although he was applying his message to business ownership, I believe that it applies to utilizing social media to promote a business as well.
I’ve posted some poorly written and poorly received blogs. I’ve posted and tweeted too much, too little and without a plan. I’ve been inconsistent. I’ve forgotten to be social. Definite failures.
According to Mr. Broughton, like anything else in life that’s new, when you first try it, you will probably make mistakes, get frustrated and want to quit. You will throw up all kinds of objections about why you can’t do it. Remember that all of the social media platforms are tools. That’s all they are. When you learn how to use a tool, you usually need someone to teach you. Or have someone else in the business learn how to use it. Or even outsource it.
When you fail, it means you are doing something. I would rather see someone stumbling around doing something rather than doing nothing because it didn’t work right away. Other small busineses ARE using these tools to get the word out and accomplish their marketing goals. Yours can, too. There’s nothing magical about it.
Consistency and frequency equals visibility. Keep on trying… and failing. 🙂