Don't miss the train on social media. (Photo source: http://www.sxc.hu/photo/1106949)
Have you heard these lines?
“There’s so much noise and clutter out there, it seems as though social media hasn’t really matured enough to be a useful tool.”
“Social media’s fine for some industries, but not ours.”
“I just don’t have time for social media.”
Or perhaps the line is some variation on one these. There are still plenty of professionals out there who don’t think social media is that important. If you’re trying to convince someone who says these kinds of things, here are five arguments to help you.
1. Isn’t networking important to you? I would imagine there are very, very few professionals in any field who would say networking with others in their field isn’t important to them. Explain to them that social media sites are a tool to network online, and that you can network more efficiently and with more people through social media than you can with traditional methods. That doesn’t mean you should completely abandon phone calls, luncheon meetings and industry events, but social media can be a powerful tool for your professional advancement.
2. You can do business over these channels. It probably won’t happen the day you first set up your LinkedIn or Facebook account, but you can do business through these social media sites. Particularly as you expand your network, learn to use the tools skillfully and connect with relevant people, you’ll find yourself using these sites to exchange communications that are directly relevant to your professional life. I don’t hesitate to connect through Twitter, Facebook and other channels to set up meetings, develop new business prospects or deal with speaking opportunities.
3. Weak ties might be as valuable, or more so, than close connections. One of the things that social media newbies often struggle with is the idea of being linked to a lot of people you don’t know well, or don’t know at all. However, some experts believe “weak” ties may actually be as valuable or more valuable in accessing audiences and information (such as job opportunities). Most of my job opportunities over the years have not come from my closest friends and colleagues, but rather from people who I had (at least at the time) rather weak relationships with. Social media allows you to develop many more of these potentially valuable weak ties.
4. More and more people are doing it. I don’t mean to say that people should adopt social media tools just because others are doing it. But what reluctant social media users should understand is that a larger and larger percentage of the population (and probably nearly all subpopulations) are using these tools. That means you have more opportunities to interact online with people who are important to you. It’s probably not a good idea to be in a shrinking minority of people not using these sites.
5. Social media can help you improve and influence your Google search results. Frequently, the first place I go when I’m trying to find information out about someone is Google. A quick Google search can pull up profiles on social media sites, articles you’ve written and blogs you’ve authored. Social media, in other words, can help you influence what people find when they search for you online. If you Google yourself now (yeah, it’s egotistical, but go ahead and try it) and you don’t like the results that come up, or if none of the results have anything to do with you, you can change that with social media.
What about you, gentle reader? What do you say to people when they tell you that social media isn’t important for them? Please leave your thoughts in the comments.
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