In a lot of ways, it’s all in how we present our solution.
This whole social media thing has its ups and downs. It takes a lot of time. It’s mercurial. There are many ways to “do it wrong.” And for business people, it’s still just too murky whether they get something from it. It looks like there’s opportunity to simplify.
Meanwhile, the number of people taking their business online is rising and growing all the time. Sure, there are still many companies who haven’t jumped online (a recent Citibank survey of over 1000 small business owners and entrepreneurs said that only 40% of them had any kind of web presence, period), but it’s growing. So, there’s the demand/need gap.
People need your help. Want to help them? Here’s how I’d do it.
Simplify the Language
People don’t need to hear all the blah-di-blah under the hood, at least not right off. They need for you to speak their language first. If they sell burgers, they need to know that you can get more people to buy burgers. If they are a nonprofit for congenital heart defects, they need to know you can drive screenings or donations or whatever the end offer is.
Simple wins.
It’s in the Packaging
If you go to a business and tell them they need to get on Twitter and get a Facebook page setup, and they need to get plugged into Foursquare or Gowalla, what are they hearing?
“Blah blah new thing new thing blah scary blah new thing cost.”
We could package it so much better:
“I can build a simple system to make it easier for people to buy from you over the web.”
“I can increase your sales via your online channel.”
“I can get you more exposure and track that to sales.”
That’s easy enough, right? In all cases.
Ease Their Mind
When faced with trying something new, people worry about several things: how hard is it? How much time will it take? What’s this going to cost me? Get that all out of the way right up front.
“I can set this up so that you only plug in a few details from time to time. It’ll take only a week for me to set up, and your updates will take only 10-15 minutes tops. My price for this package is $3000, with a ‘call me anytime’ fee of $200 per call after the first 30 days.”
Think about it. Everything is laid out right there. At least all the peace of mind bits are right there. You can throw in a few more bits of proofing, like “I’ve done this 14 times before, and the implementation will be simple,” but don’t add too many more details. Yet.
Let simple be the mantra. Make your contracts brief, small, simple. Make your projects short, finite, and clear. Make your deliverables obvious, simple, and measurable.
Business Will Just ROLL In
Okay, that’s not true. You have to market. It’s all about getting your projects in front of the right buyers, but this is a step in the right direction.
Why complicate it? Do you have a reason I haven’t thought of yet?