Would You Buy A Used Car From This Man?
Trite but still true, there’s no second chance to make a first impression. Odd that those peddling social network expertise seemingly ignore this and, perhaps, much else besides.
Of late the local business media have been pushing seminars on how to use social networking to increase business, which certainly has to be a good thing. Interestingly enough, the choice of copyrighted promotional image is a bit unfortunate, depicting someone unshaven, disheveled and unkempt, and while they may know a great deal about social networking, whatever that is, it’s not clear that they have every made a sale, much less actually meeting a customer face to face. Someone not interested in their personal appearance is not very likely to be interested in the concerns of others.
There must be more money in talking about how to use social media by those whose appearance suggests they’ve never used it, or if they have were not successful, not making enough to have even a laundered shirt.
It is remarkable how much force these imaginary tides exert on otherwise rational people, who don’t even notice that the poster children for this latest marketing craze literally cannot tie shoelaces or button buttons, judging from photographs, television interviews and even documentaries. Without exception, these sandal-shod, hoody-garbed idols give the impression that they’d fail the Turing test, something anyone in any successful business would recognize pretty quickly.
Or so it would seem. Social media as generally understood is one of a number of marketing channels. Ultimately, business is about people, and relying too much on a technological approach that hides this other trite truth takes away opportunities for some and rewards them to others who know that there’s nothing more online than a face to face exchange.
© Copyright 2011 Chuck Brooks for FutureWare SCG
Tags: first impressions, losing sales, marketing, social media