Social Media on a Solo Mission

Businesses come in many different forms, and they all address the moving pieces of marketing differently. Large corporations tend to rely on large marketing departments and medium sized businesses either farm it out or work with a smaller marketing department that's frequently also part sales. So what about the solo entrepreneur or the small business who maybe doesn't do a lot of marketing because they are more focused on word of mouth or referral only?

I can't tell you how many solos I've run into recently who have decided that part of their job is to tackle social media. My advice, just like handling PR, is hand that off to a professional. It's not their job to know how to do everything, it's their job to know how to manage based on results. Results are often referred to as ROI, or return on investment. So you sit down with a professional, one who keeps up with the way Google measures analytics, one who understands what sending a newsletter will do for you, what the content calendar is and what to expect from said newsletter, and that not every social media opportunity is necessarily appropriate for your business, and you work out a plan.

It's a full time job for most marketing professionals to keep up with everything, it's even more important to assess what you want from social media before you spend the time and resources on it, and it's certainly not something a jewelry designer should have to keep up with in addition to creating their vision and learning new techniques. For instance, Polyvore is a great social tool for designers, stylists and other professionals in fashion, but not great for someone in the music industry. It's that type of knowledge the solo who decides social media is 'easy' and something the should 'handle on their own' misses out on.

And then there's the time factor. It takes time to manage social media, much less build a lead generation campaign. The same solos I meet who tell me they should be able to manage this on their own, are the same ones whose favorite response to just about everything is 'I'm just so busy'. So yes, I am mystified about the goals and expectations they have, and conversely, I wonder if these are the same people who tell everyone they know that they 'tried social media' and it 'just didn't work for them'.

So my advice, if you are a solo business owner or have less than say, twenty employees, budget for a marketing plan, including social media. Go out and have it professionally done. When you get it, pay the bill, read the plan, and then assign elements of the plan a priority based on what the plan estimates the ROI is, and what you can reasonably do yourself or have a member of your staff do. Keep track of how well you managed to complete the elements of the plan and evaluate at the end of the year. I think you'll be surprised at how much time and dedication it takes, and what the benefits were.