Not too long ago, I joined some business acquaintances for lunch, which was a novel experience after 2020. One of them was new to our group, and when introductions came around to me, I explained that I handle social media marketing. Our new acquaintance said that they were just starting to use social media, and had someone showing them how to work with Facebook. Then proceeded to say, “But I don't do Twitter.”

We were all a little curious at this declaration, and someone beat me to the question of, “Why?”

The reply was, “I don't understand tweets, so I don't use it.”

The conversation moved on.

However, it reminded me of the times I have heard similar comments from business acquaintances, and some clients. In terms of personal use that is fair enough, but for businesses they could be cutting themselves off from potential clients. Granted, you don't have to be on every social media site, but there are some that have a wide demographic of users; plus, many have an impact on the search engines. Five examples are: Google, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram.  I will also be the first to acknowledge that for a business owner it can be overwhelming to learn the various social media sites, and then to try to keep up with them. That is where a dedicated social media manager is very useful.

What is my point to all of this? To any business owner, I would say, “Don’t reject outright a social media platform because it looks confusing, or it’s not a personal favorite.”

You never know, it could be a perspective client’s favorite platform.

There is usually a lot of excitement about going on vacation, or even on a business trip, and if the trip goes well, there are new experiences to be discussed. And up to the advent of cell phones you usually had to wait till you got home to tell friends and family about the experience. And to show them your photographs.

Of course, now you can share each moment of a trip in real time with friends and family, and sometimes, thieves and scammers.

The problem is that we are creatures of habit.

We have become to depend on our smartphones for just about everything - from communicating to banking. And we have become accustomed to the gratification of an nearly instant response when we post something. It is just like having your friends there.

Now, however, that can include people you don't really know.

"Keep it secret" is the best advice, and here are some ways to do so:

1. If you are traveling don't announce it on social media, or a blog, and if you need travel advice, ask it privately. And if you can't contain yourself in your excitement please don't put dates and travel details.

2. It is actually advised to have a separate phone specifically for travel, which only has minimal personal data on it. If you cannot do this make sure that your security settings on your banking, and social sites are updated.

3. Try to avoid using public Wi-fi. If you need to a public hotspot look for secured public Wi-Fi that requires a password. This Tales Off Road article offers a excellent overview of pocket Wi-Fi devices, which would help you avoid using public Wi-Fi.

4. Turn off anything to do with location-identification so that it doesn't appear in your posts, and set your Facebook for Timeline Review in case you are tagged in a travel photo.

5. Do not share flight information. This type of information can be used for anything from virtual kidnappings to social engineering that  targets businesses.

6. If it is a family trip make sure to talk to your children about online safety, and make sure the security settings on their phones are updated.

7. Don't post or "check-in" while on the vacation.

8. Save the Sharing till you get home! No matter how excited you are save all of those photos and comments till you arrive home. If that seems overwhelming use a social media scheduler for Twitter.  Facebook no longer allows third-party apps to post to personal pages.

And I am guessing a few are saying, "But I have my privacy and security settings locked down. Only friends can see it."

That goes back to the question of "how well do you know all of your social media friends?" While hopefully this is a very rare case you can read here of a family whose home was burglarized by some of their daughter's Facebook friends.

When traveling pretend like it's the "old days," and save your photographs and fond memories till you come home.

Resources:

Security Intelligence's "Five Tips to Stay Safe on Social Media While Traveling"

Nationwide's "7 Social Media Vacation Safety Tips"

Traveling with Stories' "Social Media Travel Safety Tips."

I will fully admitted that I am still the cobbler with the shoeless children, since I first wrote this blog in 2018. As usual I became busy, and have not paid much attention to my own marketing. This is a rather sad admittance from a social media marketer, particularly since I know that consistency is the key.

Its not that I wasn't aware of how poorly it looked to have my business social media sitting unused. Yet, its hard to worry about my own when I am making sure my clients' marketing is taken care of.

What made me sit back and realize that I needed to make time for my own marketing, and strengthen my strategy, is that I began getting calls from people. And these people were telling me that they were finding me from Facebook and Google searches.

It is time for me to practice what I preach - that now my reputation is laid bare online.

And it's not just a problem for me, but for most businesses that don't have an actual marketing department to monitor their online presence.

I have had many people say, "I get my clients by word of mouth," or "I'm in good networking groups." There is no arguing that knowing someone, or being referred, gives you a stronger bond with the perspective client. This usually is how I come by my clients.

However, this is ignoring those prospective clients who have a problem to solve, and they are searching. So if you don't have a sign on that road they never are going to know you. Or worse yet, get a damaged first impression because you aren't showing off your products or skills well.

Now, when people want to learn about about a business, they have powerful research tools in their phone. If say, they wanted a plumber, they choose from the search the ones that look promising, then they  take a look at the websites, and they also do a quick search of the review sites, such as Google, Yelp, and Facebook. If they find an active Facebook page they will also spend time seeing what is said, and being said, about the business.

I also have had it said to me, "But I Have A Website!"

Websites are important as they provide an anchor for your online presence, and they allow for a fuller description of what you do. However, websites are static. Social media gives a greater feel for what the business is like. So if a prospective client is having to decide between comparable businesses they are more than likely to go to one that is vibrant and active.

 Its definitely time for me to get some shoes on - and keep them on!

Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and Pinterest accounts are not normally high on the list of priorities when you are considering your final wishes. However, social media now effects every part of our lives and businesses, and in a three part series I will look at how it can impact the survivors.

I will grant that as a discussion topic this was far from my thoughts; at least not until I found myself reading a Facebook memorial service for an acquaintance. She and I had only reconnected on social media a few months past, and not soon after I noted a post where she said she was having a minor medical procedure done. Then came a flurry of sympathy posts for her passing, and her sister turned the deceased's Facebook page into a memorial site.

The end result of this was I ended up interviewing the owners of Butler Funeral Home about how the funeral industry was handling social media.

The first thing that Mr. Butler said was that whatever the medium used the human impulse to share news, and to give support, doesn't change. However, that with social media the spread of the news has sped up. He mentioned that this is something that families might want to take into consideration when using social media to announce a passing.

When death happens there is a desperate need to reach out to the living, and in telling of the death to try to deal with the reality. Smart phones, laptops, and tablets make it far easier to reach out to friends and acquaintances, but the speed of communication sometimes out runs more traditional means. Mr. Butler said they have heard of families who heard about a death on Facebook before the official call came.

The speed of interaction can also be a blessing for those directly involved, because it does allow of nearly instantaneous outpouring of sympathy, and help. It is also a way to share out funeral arrangements, and funeral homes are helping with this by linking obituaries to their social media.

The Facebook accounts, and other social media, can also offer a place to share memories, which is particularly helpful for friends and acquaintances that can't be there in person. And if desired that page can be turned into a permanent tribute to the deceased.

I'm going to say up front that I love when a business hires me to handle their social media marketing; not only because of the business itself, but the chance to design a program that works for my client. However, before any business takes a step towards social media as a marketing tool, whether on their own, or letting someone else handle it, there are new developments they need to take into consideration.

Not that long ago a Facebook business page offered a great opportunity for free marketing, and everyone had heard the stories of the pages that became phenomena in their own right. And the common cry was, "You have to have a Facebook page!"

And that was what many businesses did, particularly the smaller ones. Some of those pages are now sad, empty virtual store fronts, but other businesses have dutifully posted to their pages. Maybe not every day, maybe not every week, but they posted.

Unfortunately that faithfulness isn't offering the rewards it once did, and in truth hasn't in a while.

What has been happening is that Facebook has truly become a corporation, and has been decreasing its "organic reach" (how your free posts appear in newsfeeds). And they are doing so again. Rumor has it that the changes is so that businesses will buy Facebook advertising, or buy "likes" to boost a specific post, and there is a strong likelihood that rumor is true.

It has always been true that if you aren't active on Facebook (at least 3 times a week) that your posts would get bumped from newsfeeds by more active pages. This also requires having "sharing" and "liking" occurring. Now this is even more so.

The truth be told, you can't just concentrate on Facebook. All of the social media platforms are intertwined. So to have it worth your while you need steady activity on Twitter, Google +, and Linkedin (at minimum). We won't even get into the power of original content (blogs) or YouTube.

This is where you need to decide whether you can commit to social media.

Small businesses always have had challenges when it comes to marketing. They try very hard to stick to flyers and business cards they can do themselves. Maybe get a free website up. And try to do a bit with Facebook. However there comes a time when you have to go to a printer, or get professionally done business cards, and its the same with social media. You have to ask yourself whether you have the money, or the time, to make it work for you?

Recently I overheard a conversation while I was at a dinner, and during the course of the meal the conversation managed to cover both the uses and liabilities of social media.  The over-dependence on social media in this particular case had caused hard feelings amongst friends.  This "why"was being discussed in length by my table partners.  The lament was that some had been invited to a party, and some hadn’t.

It turned out that their friend had only used Facebook’s “Events” to notify everyone. He had not calculated that some were not daily Facebook users, and if they were, that they didn’t check the notifications.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was a woman who admitted she usually didn’t know where her daughter was. And in order to keep track of the girl her mother would call the girl’s aunt. The reason the woman’s sister was in the “know” was because she kept an eye on Facebook and Twitter, since she had children of her own.

The woman’s excuse was, “I  don't pay much attention to Facebook.”

It all comes down to social media being a communication tool.

And with all tools there are times when it needs to be used in concert with other tools.  When having a party, or a meeting, it needs to be kept in mind that not everyone is going to be checking their social media. Invitations and announcements also need to be put out in either paper form, or email; along with social media reminders.

Yet, on the other hand, social media is a powerful tool. There shouldn’t be a disdain for it just because it’s “just” social media. This holds particularly true for parents. Parents need to stay aware of popular trends in social media, and know how their children are communicating. It has been noted that with a teenager a “tweet” is rarely ever left unread.

This time around I am going to focus on public opinion and communication. Letter writing has always played a huge role in the spread of public opinion, with an example of this being during the heydays of immigration. In A True Picture of Emmigration, by Rebecca Burlend, the author told how her husband listened for news of letters coming from America. Then he would go and hear what was said of conditions in the U.S.. Nor can the power of the coffee and chocolates houses be forgotten - as those gathering places were where politics and popular opinion were vehemently discussed.

Jumping ahead to today, and particularly to the oft-bemoaned fact that everyone has their nose in their smart phones and tablets. And while I will admit that I too bemoan this on occasion it also cannot be ignored. Or, it might be better to say, "It is risky to ignore."

The forums for public opinion have changed, and become lightening fast....

......Pictures of a restraurant dinner on Facebook are usually sent with a comment.....

......Bored people, waiting in line, having nothing better than to Tweet their status......

Basically opinions of businesses and services fly with the speed of thought.

And businesses can only ignore this at their risk.

If you don't "hear" what is being said then you cannot highlight the praise, or show solid customer service, if there was a problem. Nor can a business afford to focus on just one "window" into the thoughts of their customers, because their clients may use a Tweet one day, or a FB post the next. Or they may be on a tablet, and writing a longer review on Google Plus.