People get very passionate on social media. One of the things I try to teach people is “If you want to polarize or tick-off 1/2 your audience… talk politics or religion.” Whether you are talking personal brand or business brand, you stir emotions that will attract or repel people. People sometimes push back by saying “If they don't agree with me, then I don't want to work with them.” If you start adding up all the things that people may not agree with you on, you may end up with a very small potential client base. In certain instances, it's illegal to discriminate.
I just replaced my 8 year old Mac Pro Tower with the new Mac Pro (speaker, trash can, cylinder, or what ever you call it). The old one served me well over the years, but it no longer was software upgradeable or compatible with newer hardware (laptop, iPad, iPhone and more).
The other day, I was thoroughly dumfounded when I posted a picture of my new Mac Pro on my Facebook page, and it polarized like Republican vs Democrat, Protestant vs Catholic. It turned into a Mac vs PC battle. I was simply excited that the computer that was announced in October and I ordered in November, was delivered in June. Then the comments started getting heated between PC and Mac people.
Technology is a personal choice. Not only the platform your choose, but whether you integrate it into your marketing mix. Some people believe that all the is consecutiveness is a distraction, but I view it as a boost for business. I was told at one of my Social Media presentations that “This is a phone and it makes phone calls.” After that presentation (over the course of a few years), this person is now understanding the need for a responsive design website, and writing a blog to boost traffic to his website.
The thing about technology is, it forces us to learn new things. If you are so inclined, it expands your reach. Here are three new things that upgrading form old technology to newer has done for my business:
Text Messaging – With the upgrade to Mac Mavericks software, you can now send and receive text messages via computer (from iDevices via messenger). Expanding the texting world to the desktop saves you from having to jump to your phone to check messages. In the next upgrade (OSX Yosemite) this will expand to all texts – not just iDevices.- Synchronization – Because all devices are now on a level playing field, all data, passwords and content are now universally accessible across all devices and platforms. This helps speed up projects and makes sure that workflow is accessible no matter what device you have at your fingertips.
- Speed – Technology changes fast. Having a solid-state hard drive and 32 gig of ram now makes multitasking faster and easier. The average life of a computer is 3 years before it becomes outdated. You can usually limp along after that, but you don't realize how much older technology can hold you back in productivity and hinder better communications with clients and vendors.
Technology does not necessity make you smarter, but it can help you to be more productive. It does require you to learn some new things and adapt to new ways of keeping communication channels open. The goal is to keep up with your potential audience. If your clients are prone to texting, you need to address that. If they are on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook, being able to monitor all of them at the same time could be the difference between growing your business and going out of business.
What are your technological challenges? Does technology help or hinder your business? I'd love to hear your comments and feedback.
