2015 - The Year That Social Media is Exhausted

According to Mashable 2012 was "the year we exhaust social media." Or should it have been 2013!

Well it doesn't seem to have happened in 2014 so maybe in 2015???

I don't think that social media is dead ("deceased, no more" as in Monty Python) but as Mashable say, we are exhausted. Social/digital Exhaustion could become next year's catch phrase.

People finally realise that connecting or following, being followed (as a numbers game) or liking is meaningless unless there some purpose and some result. (See Twitter is For Losers)

I think the light bulb moment happens when you employ people and they appear to be playing on social media (while you are paying them to do so).

Now I don't deny the benefits of being open, pursuing random connections and so on. I love it. BUT we must not confuse activity (=wheel spin?) with business.

I am not the social media guru (see my ironically titled e-book I am not a Social Media Guru) but we have noticed that many of our clients have become fixated with activity and almost irrelevant vanity metrics when they need to get back to basics... 


So reflecting about the state of play... 

On the one hand, we have the social media zealots grabbing at the next new best thing universal antidote. 

On the other hand, we have the incredibly lazy marketing habits of the old school agencies (see Why Marketing is a load of B******s!) simply spending more in a naive attempt to interrupt and buy people's attention. 


What we do know...

What I do know is that there is:
- just too much noise and it is turning off a lot of people
- just too much "me-too" follower behaviour (buyers and sellers)
- not enough common sense engagement and connection
- a brilliant system (fast, quick, vast, cheap) to reach out and find and explore and share with others.
- tons of opportunity if you can just navigate your way through it all
- not enough time to do it all so a need for clear guidelines, prioritisation and time management!!!

But all of the above is obvious!!!


Or is Social Media just a red herring?

To be honest, I am starting to feel that the problem is actually not so much about Social Media and is more about about THE MESSAGE. Your message. (The channel/platform debate may actually be a red herring.):
- What exactly are you saying that is interesting? 
- Is it compelling? 
- Is it worthy of attention? 
- Is it clear and helping other to understand what you do? 
- And how can you help?

All the talk is about how you communicate and what works . (Maybe that's simpler than dealing with the basic "Why should people bother to buy from you?" question!) 

But if the message is broken (and let's be honest, most are) then you are simply wasting your time.



See 2012 - The Year That Social Media Became Exhausted

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Top Blogs Of 2014

Here are the Top 10 Robert Craven Blogs of 2014 - on LinkedIn


Social Media

• So Much Social Media Nonsense
• Why Your Blogging Strategy Is Probably All Wrong

Service Delivery and Customers

• The Service Delivery Gap You Are Missing
• Lousy Rotten Stinking Customers And Clients

Time/Self Management

• What To Include In Your Not-To-Do List

Growing Businesses

• Why Consulting Firms Are Failing Medium-Sized Businesses
• Directors Do Not Need Silver Bullet Business Advice
• I Am Not An SME, You Patronising ***!

Professional Service Firms

• Why The Professional Service Firm Blocks Its Own Growth
• What Do Event Planners Look For In A Speaker?

Humans Need Not Apply

Humans Need Not Apply is a 2014 short internet documentary film, directed, produced, written, and edited by CGP Grey. 

The film focuses on the future of the integration of automation into economics, as well as the worldwide workforce. Grey released the film online through YouTube.

This video is really thought-provoking about the future of work, Not for future generations but for the younger generation. it asks some tough questions. It is compelling viewing.

Bruce Kasanoff of Forbes commented that the video was "sobering," and "suggests, in a convincing fashion, that many human jobs will disappear over the coming years, because automation will do them faster, better, and cheaper."

Will our jobs disappear?

Great British Entrepreneur's Handbook 2015

Delighted that I am a featured contributor in the brand new Great British Entrepreneur's Handbook 2015 - It is currently available as a print edition (£12.99) or on Kindle (free) from Amazon.

My chapter is entitled "The Changing Needs of Those in the Middle". It seems to have ruffled a few feathers!!! It starts:

The business development needs of small and large businesses seem to be catered for by coaches and big-ticket consultancies respectively. However, the market is failing to satisfy the needs of the directors of medium-sized businesses. 

This is a failure in terms of 

1) not giving clients what they really want and need, and 

2) missing opportunities to deliver consultancy that adds true value to the businesses of clients. 

What’s available to help the growing business is limited and inappropriate for the real needs of the client. Recent surveys and reports confirm that consulting firms and the business support industry as a whole are failing to deliver what growing entrepreneurial businesses really need...

Here is the blurb for the book:

The Great British Entrepreneur's Handbook 2015 shares the secrets of experienced entrepreneurs on everything from how to tell your business' story compellingly to the secrets of growing a business to the next level. With wit and wisdom, the personalities behind some of the leading firms and bestselling business books of today guide budding entrepreneurs through all the highs and lows of what it takes to be a business success.

Check out  the brand new Great British Entrepreneur's Handbook 2015 - It is currently available as a print edition (£12.99) on Kindle (free) from Amazon.

Simon Sinek: Start With Why

I implore that you watch the video above. Then the brief notes below will make sense.

According to Sinek, the fundamental difference between the "Apples" of the world and everyone else is that they start with "why." 

Sinek has developed what he calls the "Golden Circle," 

1. Why - the core belief of the business. It's why the business exists.
2. How - how the business fulfills that core belief.
3. What - what the company does to fulfill that core belief.

Sinek found that most companies do their marketing backwards. They start with their "what" and then move to "how" they do it. 

See more at startwithwhy

Metro recognises our fave brands: Madecasse and Bighams

Always delighted to see our favourite brands in the news.

Yesterday we saw not one but two of our fave businesses side by side in the London Metro.

Well done to the Metro for recognising truly great independently-run businesses. Businesses that I am proud to be associated with.

www.madecasse.com

www.bighams.com 

The Strategy Workout - Get What You Want... out of your business

Robert Craven introduces The Strategy Workout.


"Robert and his colleagues at The Directors' Centre work with ambitious directors of fast-growing businesses who feel that they could be doing even better. 
As a keynote speaker his style is challenging, honest and goading; free of business school hyperbole he makes his audience think. 

In this four minute clip Robert introduces the workshop 'Strategy Workout: Get More of What You Want from Your Business', in which you will create a 3 step, 3 year plan for you and your business that will get results.

"More importantly, the tools actually work to help create 'sustainable business growth'. Businesses are able to measure and deliver on their roadmap... accountability gets built into a simple but effective board room process."

The FT describes him as 'the entrepreneurship guru'. 

He is not full of theoretical rhetoric; he offers practical solutions - tangible business results. 

Robert's books Bright Marketing and Kick-Start Your Business are business best-sellers and have been acted upon by thousands of growing businesses. 

His latest book is Grow Your Service Firm."

www.robert-craven.com

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