Something strange happened around 2008. The economy crashed and social media skyrocketed. These two things have an interesting correlation which is leading to a huge gap today.
From where I stand, the people who use social media are generally under 35. Hang with me… I am not under 35 and I use social media. I’m referring to the people that, if you took away their smart phone, they would be incapable of having a conversation for more than 2 minutes with you. The angst of not being able to look at their phone would overwhelm due to FOMO. Not to mention a shorten attention span incapable of asking and answering questions “in real life”. Trust me. I answer phones at our business and lots of people have lost the art of being able to talk on a phone. Something “we” over 35 learned and mastered at age 5 is quickly becoming a challenge. In addition to the elimination of cursive writing, read that again, the schools have stopped teaching handwriting!
OK enough about the inability to communicate. Because those over 35 have an equally disturbing problem, and it’s that we may struggle with things like “FOMO”. FOMO stands for “Fear Of Missing Out”… now, I don’t’ mean you feel like you’re missing out, but you don’t understand the actual language of social media. Start to think of Social Media as if it were a Second Language… you need to study and learn it.
You have the surface level understanding of the platforms, but would rather pick up a phone or jot a quick note. This is why if you’re trying to “bridge the gap” to the under 35 crowd, there’s a disconnect.
Here’s the strange thing that happened around 2008. If you’re over 35, you were actually impacted by the economic crash. You were the one that lost your home, job, retirement account. You actually experienced it. Although only 9 years ago… it’s still real to you! During this same time frame social media was rapidly catching fire. Did you have time to hop on Twitter and tweet “there’s a spider in my bathtub”? No, you were watching the news about the latest bank crash.
At the same time, the under 35 crowd, didn’t lose their life’s wealth and instead went “under ground” and began a different communication style which includes cartoon faces, hashtags, shortcuts. The things you saw on the Jetsons as a child are now reality. Look no further than the smart wrist watch thinnigie… although I’m still waiting for Rosie to vacuum my house.
The thing “old” people are missing is you can knock this out of the park. I gave a presentation yesterday and I’ll be blogging more about it in the upcoming days. But when you position yourself as a subject matter expert based on your honors/awards, life skills, experience and couple this with basic knowledge of social media “language” you (and we all together) can rightfully take back our place in society.
It’s time to catch up.
Begin by blogging today. You don’t have to publish it. Just open Word on your computer and start writing. Focus on your business, pick one product and write 3 paragraphs that will help your prospective customer. They have told you their concerns over the years. Pick one concern and write three paragraphs “arguing” your point. Again, you don’t have to publish it. I just want to get you in the habit of writing.
If you start doing this, and you write twice a week, one month from today you’ll have 8 articles! This will be a great foundation for you as a business owner AND you as a subject matter expert.
I explain in detail what a subject matter expert is on my website at bigfishideas.com
Like the quote says, “Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” M.Robinson Imagine if you had started your blog 5 years ago where you’d be today… now imagine where you can be next week if you start today!
PS: if you love my post… give it a “like”!
Action Steps
1- Get in the habit of writing electronically to begin your pre-blog.
2-Pretend someone is in front of you asking the “most common question” you get about a product or service.
3- Open Word on your computer and answer that question in 2 or 3 paragraphs. Give it a title… and press save.
4-Continue to do this twice a week for a month! When you’re comfortable with your writing you can start to post online!
Subscribe to my blog at BigFishIdeas.com
Listen to Episode #64 of the Two Minute Commute Podcast, audio blog!
