Are You Sabotaging Your Social Media Campaign Chasing Silver Bullets?

My partner and I were doing a radio intervieware doing and go on to the next one. As I said,
discussing working with solo entrepreneurs andYOU are the problem.
small business owners.OK, I get it. Stay focused. But what does that
A comment was made that really resonated withhave to do with social media?
me as to why many seemingly smart peopleActually, it is the same thing. People come to the
don't do well at business in general and especiallySocial Media Dudes all the time with the
so with their internet efforts. In a word, it isexpectation that we can turn their business that
focus. Or more precisely a lack of focus.doesn't have very good sales into juggernauts
Some of it comes as a result of being lured byovernight. It just doesn't work that way. And that
the shiny key syndrome. More often than not, itis especially true when it comes to social media.
is a form of denial in that we don't really want toSo just like the other areas of your life and
focus on the things that need to be done tobusiness that are important to you, you have to
further our businesses successfully.remain focused.
Many people want that "silver bullet" to transformAuthenticity is earned, not granted randomly!
their business!I say this over and over to our clients and to
It would seem that many of us are easilyanyone we market to about using our services to
distracted because we have heard about the nextpromote their business. People want to do
"big thing". Whether it was Google Wave or justbusiness with people they know and trust. So, the
recently Google Buzz, you would think that thequestion is, can I get to know and trust you after
next game changer was finally here and you couldcreating 1 blog post, 2 tweets and getting a
now just sit back and let the business roll in. Toprofile setup on several social networking sites?
be fair, Google is similar to Apple in that when itProbably not. And why should anyone trust you
premieres a new product/feature, it is going toenough to give you their business? They don't
get big play. But as an internet marketer, I can tellknow if that is the authentic you or the synthetic
you that I have seen it happen hundred's of timesyou.
with countless marketers.What is YOUR takeaway from this? Your efforts
It's not that the programs don't all work, it is theare like snow flakes!
people (YOU) who are the problem!Business is done as a result of your engagement
While I am not saying that all internet marketingon the social networking sites everyday. Both the
programs work, a good many of them do. If youSocial Media Dudes and our clients are living proof
follow the directions that are given to you. Youof that. I liken your efforts to snow flakes. One
see, like diets, most people don't stick with themsnow flake falling doesn't have alot of impact. By
long enough to see if they actually do work orstaying focused on your campaign (that means
not. We get back to that focus thingee again. Andengagement in selected sites that will resonate
just like we do with those same diets, we havewith your target customers), soon those snow
this expectation that if you try it for a week, theflakes will cover the ground. And after awhile, you
weight it took you years to put on will suddenlywill see an avalanche of business coming your
fall away. And when it doesn't and you hear aboutway!
the next silver or magic bullet, you drop what you