Social Relationships – the Life Raft for Social Business & Technology Evolution

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90% of people have their mobile device within arms reach 100% of the time. Most people admit they have some level of addiction to the devices of today.

The question is what are we addicted to?

Is it…

• The technology?
• Access to information?
• Worry about upcoming or immediate technology changes?
• Fear of missing something or being left out?
• Opportunities to learn and grow?
• Connections with real human beings?
• Communication with our friends, family and colleagues?
• All of the above?

The Only Guarantee in Social Business is Change 

As business leaders it is easy to get addicted to the bits, bytes, metrics, analytics, ROI, technology changes. Many business leaders worry about what will happen if Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were to go “buh bye”.  Why do they worry? Often they worry because they have put all of their eggs in one social network basket.

Putting all of your social business eggs in a social network basket you don't own is high risk. When you do this you are building a dependency to grow and sustain your business in the short and long term based upon technology, infrastructure that you don't own. You can't control where it ends up six months let alone one or two years from now.

Don't Force Fit Your Business Into Facebook

The foundation of your social media and social business strategy should not be Facebook. Your social media strategy should not be to force fit your business into Facebook. You must figure out how you can fit Facebook into your business with a goal of serving your employees, clients, and larger ecosystem.

As I always advise our clients and students… your mission is to quickly understand where your audience is hanging out online and figure out how you can have the most relevant and meaningful conversation with them that helps them meet business and life goals.

“Getting on Facebook” is not a social media or social business strategy. Your business is about serving your clients, partners, stakeholders, and community, period.

The Heartbeat of Social Business is People and Relationships

At the core of all technology is people. At the core of social networks is people. People are the heartbeat of what keeps Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest and every other social network alive. It's people who write the blog posts, send the tweets, post the status updates, share the photos and the list goes on.

Without people, without friendships, without business relationships, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter wouldn't exist.

Do you have an engaged community today? Have you fostered authentic relationships that inspire people to do more than click the like button? Did you know approx 98% of people who like your Facebook page will never visit the actual page again? Just because they “liked” your Facebook page doesn't mean they will jump ship with you when the technology storm comes and they need a life raft.

People are going to jump in the social lift raft where they know the team, the leader, and have nurtured relationships built on trust. They will follow the leaders who have invested in them personally, who have helped them succeed, grow and conquer the big waves and rocks in their business and life.

Chances are good that if you are not investing in the long term value of relationships, and aren't inspiring your audiences with real content, that you may end up one of the last brand or person hanging out on a social network platform when it dies. Why you ask? Because if you only focus on selling yourself, serving your own goals, and not valuing each and every relationship, nobody is going to see value in getting in your raft because you are all about yourself!

Focus on More than Technology, Likes & Follows

Focus on the core foundational elements of you and your business. Don’t focus only on the technology! Focus on the people! Focus on your relationships. Focus on your content. The relationships will be your life raft when the tide changes, the technology morphs and it's time to move to another platform.

If you focus on only the technology then when the technology changes you’ll be left behind by your competitors who have focused on inspiring, connecting, communicating and building real relationships.

When you have a tribe, a community and an audience that cares what you have to say then the platform isn’t the focus. The words and the way you make them feel are what will draw them to you. It’s the relationship that will inspire them to choose your life raft and  join you on whatever the next Facebook may be.

10 Tips To Determine if Your Social Life Raft can Weather the Storm:

1. Are you focusing too much on the technology of social media? Focus on humanizing your brand to connect with the people within your community and larger ecosystem.
2. Do you really know the people within your communities? Who are they? What are their goals? What keeps them up at night? How can you help them solve problems? How can you empower them and help them thrive today and tomorrow?
3. Will your relationships weather a storm of technology change? What if Facebook went away tomorrow? Would you have another way to communicate with your tribe and community? Are your relationships strong enough to carry them with the tides to the next social platform?
4. Are you doing everything possible to deliver your audiences value?
5. Are you providing information, resources, and relationship opportunities that will help empower your community members to roll with the tides? Are you sharing your best stuff? Are you giving them the information they really need or holding back?
6. Are you connecting with people for the right reasons? Or are you focused on only the number of “likes” or Twitter followers? Do you focus more on filling your raft with likes and follows, or are you focused on genuinely helping and connecting with people?
7. Does your audience know and trust you? Pretty simple, would you get in a life raft with someone you didn’t know or trust?
8. Are you building a social community or a social empire all about you? Avoid the social empire and focus on the needs of your community.
9. Are you nurturing relationships through the good and the bad? Disagreements will happen, negative feedback will be communicated. Invest in relationships for the long term no matter how much work they may take. Don't burn bridges, ever.
10. Are you authentic? Are you connecting with people authentically? Are you showing them the real you? Or are you a different person online than offline? You are one person, not two. People will see right thru your fake ways. Get real with yourself and your audience.

“Get Fit Social Business Series”

We are going to help you begin to answer these questions and more in this new series, “Get Fit Social Business.”

Subscribe to the series to be notified of upcoming training, podcasts, videos, Google Hangouts, events and more.

If you simply can't wait and need help now, contact us. We help businesses of all sizes from startups to Fortune 50 organizations integrate social media into the DNA of their business.  We will roll up our sleeves, get in the trenches to dig deep into your audiences, communities, internal infrastructures and more. We help you implement necessary changes, execute training and get real on what it is going to take to truly touch your toes and embrace the journey.