Small Business Strategies: Let Gen Y be your guide in social media

It’s easy for a small business owner to be a little freaked out about social media. We know it’s out there, we are starting to understand that it’s probably here to stay, and we have no idea how to get in the swim of that raging river rushing past. How are you supposed to figure it all out when you’re also busy running your company?

Get a Gen Y employee to show you the territory.  If  you don’t have a Gen Y employee handy, enlist a young relative to help. These Millennial kids grew up with computers and assimilate technology faster than we Boomers can figure out how to microwave popcorn. Social media, for them, is a natural extension of being online and has quickly become a huge part of how they operate in the world.

Don’t be shy about admitting  you need their help.  If you’re over 35 or so, they already assume you don’t know what you’re doing, at least in this area. They’ve grown up programming VCRs for their moms and adjusting ring tones on their dad’s cell phones, so it’s natural to them to assume the role of technological expert.

Be open to the beauties of social media. Instead of  huffing and puffing about it being too complicated, look for ways it can improve your business and your life. Can it help you build stronger relationships with your clients? Provide introductions to potential customers? Reconnect with old friends? (Yes,yes and yes, it can.)

Start small. Don’t try to take on every social network at once. Maybe begin with LinkedIn or Facebook. Have your Gen Y guide help you set up your account, your profile and a few connections, and then sit back and watch for a week or so until you start to get a feel for how other people use that network.

Enjoy learning something new. As adults, we have few opportunities to truly stretch our intellect. I’ve heard more than one social media expert admit that getting up to speed on this stuff provided an intense period of intellectual challenge. But you can quickly learn enough to begin using social networks with confidence, and may even want to explore some social marketing ideas for your company. Before long, you’ll find yourself trying to teach other people how to do it.

Social media can be like doing business in a small town

People prefer to do business with people they know and trust. No advertising that you could do for your company is going to be worth more than having someone recommend you to a friend. The more people in your social network, whether in person or online, the better for your business.

The irony of social networks is the technology that allows us to access millions of people all over the planet can actually make the world seem like a smaller, more neighborly place.

A STROLL DOWN MAIN STREET

Starting my work day with a quick tour of my online social networks puts me in mind of my father strolling down Franklin Street in Chapel Hill, where he has lived since college fifty years or so ago. For many years, he was in the habit of taking a mid-morning break from his architectural practice and walking a block to the drugstore to meet a friend for coffee at the counter in back.

In that single block, he was apt to run into any number of people he knows. To some, he would merely nod his head and keep walking. For others, he’d stop for a handshake, a brief chat, a bit of news about someone or other they both know.

SOCIAL MEDIA LETS YOU BUMP INTO MORE PEOPLE

Social media allows me to have a similar experience, even though I live in a major city that sprawls for miles. For instance, Facebook is an easy place to bump into old friends and keep up with new ones. I love those little postage stamp-sized glimpses of their lives, like knowing that my old high school friend spent last evening having a good workout, a soak in the hot tub and a glass of wine. Or that another friend’s daughter just lost her first tooth. I get to see a few pictures of a friend kayaking last weekend, or of a former employee’s new fiancé. It’s a fine place to take a morning stroll, smiling and nodding or stopping to share a joke or some gossip.

MAKING FRIENDS IS ALWAYS GOOD BUSINESS

A great deal of building a business is about building relationships. You might want to think of social networks like Facebook and Twitter and LinkedIn as your small town main street, where you can bump into neighbors and connect with friends.