Written by: Serena Fordham, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
I have been thinking about this topic for some time – years, in fact.
You see, since I started my first business in 2013, social media has been a massive game-changer, and as I see so many ‘influencers’ and ‘experts’ increase their followers by thousands, this has left me wondering “what’s more important – the numbers or the people?”
Rewind to times in history before the internet was the ‘be-all-and -end-all’ of marketing for business. The way businesses thrived was they made sure they got in front of their target market in the locations where they serviced and then sold the shit out of what they were offering (yes, there is such thing as being in the right place at the right time!)
However, nowadays, I come across business women (and men) all the time who are so confused with how to market and promote their products or services because they are being fed so many conflicting views online.
Social media and the internet are both blessings, as with a touch of a button, we can get ourselves in front of our ideal clients. However, sometimes these are disguised as blessings, but in fact, we are suckers of our time and energy, throwing confusion at us every time we log on.
With the ease of the output on social media, so many small business owners make this platform their number one choice for selling; however, with so much competition, most posting, commenting, and interaction falls on death ears, as our customers are busier and more knowledgeable than ever before.
If I had a pound for every time I have heard ‘social media’ as the answer to the question ‘where do you market your business?’ then I would definitely be a millionaire! Have we all forgotten that there are so many more ways to promote your business offline, which might be more valuable to our specific business?
Yes, social media is free. However, with many platforms changing the rules (a.k.a. their algorithms) all the time, the fate of your business is surely in the hands of Mr. Zuckerberg and his crew, rather than you as the owner. Plus, each time the rules change, as business owners, we have to find answers to how to get ahead again, which takes up our valuable time and energy, meaning we are always playing catch up and never really making any marketing progress.
So, now my frustrations with social media are laid bare, I want to move on and out of this crap about the popularity contest of life.
With the rise of so-called influencers, everyone is calling themselves an ‘expert,’ ‘qualified,’ ‘experienced,’ la-de-dah – but behind these labels, there sometimes seems little depth or evidence to back up claims – and this totally frustrates me.
You see, for me, I call myself a Business Strategist, Growth/Development, and Empowerment Mentor to Female Entrepreneurs because that is what I am! But I always get asked why I don’t call myself a coach – and the reason is that I don’t hold a coaching qualification.
I have a Business Management degree, ten years’ experience in advising, working with, and developing different businesses in various industries, plus multiple awards to back up my knowledge and skills.
So, because I am an honest person and totally transparent with my audience and clients, you can see why it totally pisses me off when I see someone post that they are new to their business with no qualifications or experience for one month. The next month they are an ‘expert’ (because they have had one or two clients!)
And what is all this fakeness about? It’s because social media has made us feel that we need to be popular and the best at what we do to be accepted/to fit in/ to complete with others – and it is a load of rubbish!
The absolute truth is that it is all about popularity and how we are viewed by others, rather than actually delivering value and giving two F’s about each person that we speak to and support with our businesses.
That’s why I wanted to mix things up and be the revolutionary, forward-thinking, independent woman that I am (as I’m a round peg that doesn’t seem to fit in any of the square holes out there!) by creating HER Business Revolution.
Not a big shocker - I actually do give a crap about the women I speak to, and whether they choose to buy from me or not, they are all special, and I really do care about their futures, dreams, and ambitions. Of course, I want to support them (and to do that, I need money to eat too!), but if they don’t want my paid offerings, I’m not about to just cast them aside like they are nothing to me.
Life as a female entrepreneur is hard, and we all need to support each other as much as possible, without the judgment of popularity being the measure of worthiness. Especially as social media makes us feel inferior, the number of followers being the number one judgment on us and our success as businesswomen.
The pressure upon us to be liked and popular on social media also means that we will never actually be able to reach our own personal ‘success goals’ if we are constantly striving to increase our number of followers, likes, and engagement figures, rather than focusing on our true passions and where best to promote these to our potential buyers.
For years I have worried about what people have thought about me on social media. With the recent changes on Facebook, meaning my group numbers decreased significantly overnight, it felt like the right time to out these concerns and rationalize my recent insights into how the online world of social media actually operates.
I want to make it clear that I am not a hater of social media at all. In fact, it allows me to connect with some incredible people from across the globe. However, it all boils down to the fact that if we focus all our efforts on being popular online – with the numbers being our number one measure – then we are not concerned at all about building genuine relationships with the people behind the computer screen.
By acting in this way and putting all our eggs into the basket of social media stardom, surely, we are missing the actual valuable opportunities to make ourselves and our businesses successful?
(These being to reach out to them offline and by really getting to know the people who are interested in what we have to offer the world!)
I hope this has given you some food for thought.
Feel free to visit my website & follow me on Facebook for more tips like this!
Serena Fordham, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Serena is an expert Business Strategist, Growth/Development and Empowerment Mentor to Female Entrepreneurs, and a best-selling Author, Speaker, Entrepreneur, and successful multiple Business Owner. Her main passion is offering business strategies, support, and empowerment to ambitious and high vibe business women both locally and internationally – through HER Business Revolution. She is also known for her organizational skills by owning Glow Virtual Assistants and supporting women and child-related charities (also founding two charitable initiatives – Mums Empowerment Movement and SociaBubble).
