Doing business on social media: Rule No 3

I'm increasingly struck by how the effective use of social media in business resembles gardening!

Gardening, like parenting, is about working diligently and patiently behind the scenes to cultivate something (or someone).  By definition it’s not an overnight process.  So it is with social media.

__________________________________________________

My colleague Steve Phillip at www.linked2success.co.uk has been blogging recently about precisely how we self-effacing Brits should shed our inhibitions and plunge into the social media pool, in order to get new business from it.  Go to https://uk.linkedin.com/in/stevephillip to find his blogs and to follow him on LinkedIn.

During September I’m publishing four blogs explaining my personal golden rules for doing business on social media, learnt via trial and error!  The first two weeks’ blogs were Authenticity, authenticity, and again……authenticity, and Smart giving.

This week…

Rule No 3: Gardening

Gardeners tend and nurture their gardens.  They select the right seeds –some do much better in some soils than others.  They plant where they think the seeds will do best.   They make sure there’s enough sunshine and water.  They prune plants and bushes so they’ll grow stronger next year.  They remove leaves and weeds.  It’s a non-stop job; there’s always something to do.    

Over time some trees, plants and bushes do better than others.  Gardeners experiment.  Sometimes they make mistakes – they try to learn from them.  Gardens constantly change throughout the year, and from year to year.  Even those like me who are not avid gardeners can derive great satisfaction as they observe the fruits of their efforts.

Are you on Facebook?  Do you use it much?  Facebook truly puts the ‘social’ into social media – it’s about socialising, not business.  You keep in touch with family and friends, wherever they are – some close, some far-flung, maybe even overseas.  You share pictures and events, jokes and bits of inspiration.  You reconnect with people.  My presence on Facebook reflects my personality - open, cheeky, enthusiastic, gregarious, fun-loving, concerned for others.  People who know me recognise my behaviour on Facebook, for better or worse!

Facebook has led me to renew relationships after many years with people I wouldn’t otherwise be in touch with.  It has created enormous pleasure and a sense of well-being.  There are those, including some I know personally, who think Facebook is the root of all evil – that has not been my experience.  I’m sorry, but any tool is only as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, ‘clever’ or ‘stupid’, ‘responsible’ or ‘irresponsible’ as the person using it.  What people do on Facebook and other social media is up to them, and is the ultimate manifestation of the old computing adage “Garbage in, garbage out!”

I’ve been on the business social media site LinkedIn for 7 years, Facebook for only 3.  I’m kicking myself because I’ve only just begun to realise that I should be using LinkedIn in some respects more like I use Facebook.  Why?  Because my purpose with both is the same:

To connect in the deepest sense – to meet, strengthen, and sustain relationships with people I have things in common with.

Think about this carefully.  If I was behaving like I do on Facebook, if I was being a ‘gardener’, what would I do differently on LinkedIn?

On LinkedIn I have a tendency sometimes to posture, to be in ‘sales mode’, to do what I imagine in my less rational moments will somehow impress potential customers.  Whoa – wait a minute!

Because I've not been clear about my true purpose on LinkedIn I’ve missed all sorts of opportunities to strengthen and sustain existing relationships, many of them right under my nose.  The age-old truth has suddenly dawned on me - 9 times out of 10, if not more, business comes directly or indirectly via existing relationships. How incredibly stupid then to neglect them!  I've counselled clients on this very point so often - physician, heal thyself!!!

I’m NOT saying it’s wrong to invite new people to connect on LinkedIn that you’d like to do business with.  You need to do that, and it works, though not always.  However, you then need to behave like a gardener.  In other words you’ve planted a seed by connecting with someone new.  Now you need to nurture the seed.  It’s crucial to understand that you cannot control whether or not the seed germinates, and what it turns into.  But you CAN give it what it needs in order to thrive, like any good gardener would.  So you can keep in touch, and you can share content that you think is of interest, like you would on Facebook (don't bother with the family photos though!)  

It’s OK to let people know via social media that you’d like to do business with them, or that you believe you can help them, but do it in a relaxed, conversational style that suits your personality.  Be prepared for them to say no, or ignore it, but don’t think that means the door is closed for ever.  Stay patient.  Events make fools of us all.

With this new clarity I feel liberated.  I’m concentrating for example on finding people I know already in a business context, some of them pretty well, whom I’m not already connected with on LinkedIn, and connecting with them.  I’m focused on building steadily – growing my contacts, thanking people who accept my invitations and sharing content with them, following up with people who view my profile in LinkedIn and on everyone I know who LinkedIn suggests as potential contacts, building followers on Twitter and keeping them by following them back.  I’m writing blogs again after a gap of several months and thanking those who share or comment on them.  I’m sharing articles, quotes or pictures I like with a comment on them – I’m regularly amazed at the number of likes and comments I get.  All of these people are fertile ground to build contacts and relationships with.

So, stop looking for the next sale via social media and concentrate instead on gardening.  Plant the right seeds, nurture your garden, don’t let up, and patiently watch for the green shoots to come through.   I have had some spectacular results via social media – relationships renewed, relationships maintained, great enjoyment, and yes – I’ve had some business from it.  It’s only just occurred to me in writing this post that the entire direction of my business and its likely success over the next few years has arisen indirectly through a personal relationship I renewed only because I joined Facebook (not LinkedIn) 3 years ago.  That person coincidentally knew a business contact I'd lost touch with.  He reintroduced us - I'm now working with that business contact, and in turn he has introduced me to a contact of his who is now our No 1 client.

Keep at it, and be prepared to be pleasantly surprised.  The answers may well lie right under your nose!

__________________________________________________ 

Thanks for reading this.  If you liked it please click on Like and share it.  Constructive comments are welcome, and if you have questions on the subject matter you can connect with me on LinkedIn and send me a message, or else you’ll find my contact details on my LinkedIn profile uk.linkedin.com/in/markashtonresolve.

If you need help to get active doing business on social media, or to do more by improving your skills, I strongly recommend Steve Phillip at www.linked2success.co.uk and his online training packages at www.linked2training.co.uk.

If you need help growing your business, solving tough business problems, or finding and developing the true leaders throughout your business, take a look at www.resolvegetsresults.com and contact us for an informal, no-obligation conversation.  We give hands-on leadership, management, non-executive, coaching, advisory, and fundraising support to different types of business – small or large, start-up, turnaround or mature. We’re passionate about playing a vital role in building enduring great businesses, by applying the tried and tested, swim-against-the-tide principles of the Top 1% most profitable companies. When appropriate we share risk and reward with clients, so we're fully committed to their success.

You’ll find more blogs on leadership and management topics on my LinkedIn profile.