Websites and Buggy Whips

     I met with a new potential client recently and he said something I have heard all too often.  I asked what I thought was a pretty straight forward question, "How are you using social media to increase your revenues?"
     He flashed a self-satisfied look and replied, "Oh yeah, we have a website!"  It was almost as though we were speaking two different languages and conversing through an interpreter.
     What many people in the business of educating their potential clients on the facets of internet marketing often encounter, is the idea that a mere website presence constitutes, in the minds of many small business owners, the maximum use of social media marketing. 
     We sometimes take it for granted that everyone has heard of Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Tumlbr, Instagram, Youtube, and myriad other channels for promoting products and services.  The sad truth is, many small business owners are too immersed in the day-to-day operations of their businesses to have heard of any of those tools, unless they have teenage children!  And even in that case, they rarely see them as viable advertising channels or invaluable tools to use for interacting with new and existing clients.
     I learned many years ago the importance of a having a visual presentation on hand when meeting new clients in  the process of selling intangibles.  Today, my laptop has replaced the binder I carried years ago as Financial Advisor, selling mutual funds.  My  presentation though, follows the same basic principles that were used years ago.  1) Keep it simple.  2) Show real examples of what can be done.  3) Back it up with numbers.  4) Close with the client asking for more.
     No business owner (large or small) wants to be the last buggy whip manufacturer.  By the time our initial meeting ended, my new client was asking me if  I could suggest a way to get a lot of people to "like" the new Facebook page we had just created for his business!  I told him how we could let more people know about his page when we next met to set up his twitter account.


Roam Business is a Montréal based consulting firm, specializing in social media marketing, and accounting & office software optimization.  www.roambusiness.com
Roy K. Nelson is an owner and the Senior Executive Analyst in the firm