Treat "word of mouse" like "word of mouth"

When I started my business nearly 10 years ago I did an awful lot of networking.  I remember one more experienced business owner advising that I network my socks off so that “even if you’re not there they will still think you were!”

For a time I was dubbed the networking queen and it certainly worked - my name became intertwined with the subject of marketing and I gained great clients, great contacts, great friends and an ongoing opportunity to do presentations and workshops on the subject.

However, I consciously learned which groups worked well for me and which didn’t - and I quickly worked out that all the time I was travelling and chatting I couldn’t be billing.  So there had to be a sense of perspective about the whole exercise – or more correctly – marketing activity

Not everyone worked that out, a networking colleague and I used to refer to one group of business owners as the “mini bus crew”.  Our theory was they actually didn’t have any work to do so used to fill up their time by going from networking event to networking event and getting free tea, coffee, biscuits and sandwiches as added extras!  By the way I’m pretty sure most of those entrepreneurs are no longer trading.

For myself I  have largely committed to one weekly and two monthly groups where I can really engage with the local business communities. And despite the fact that I have to get up at 5.35am every week to go to one of them (yeuch!)  I regard these as an intrinsic and immoveable  part of my business week for all sorts of reasons.

So, if you were to agree with me that you have to get perspective about driving “word of mouth” is it so different to think the same about driving “word of mouse” – or social networking?

I believe that If you’re constantly posting many, many times a day you simply cannot be concentrating on the work that pays the bills.  Oh, by the way, that’s the work your client or employer is paying you to concentrate on…. 

Don’t get me wrong I love blogging and tweeting. I love the fact that you can share and interact – and it can be hugely effective but it’s supposed to be done mindfully not mindlessly.

I recently read a seeringly honest and thought provoking blog post by Craig McBreen which opens

“When I first dipped my feet into the blogging pool in 2011, I was focusing on all the wrong things.

And ignoring the business I spent 17 years building.

Enamored with praise, comment count, and an increasing number of visitors, my dopamine center was in overdrive.

I was ignoring my business, writing with no end in mind, and I figured it would all pay off, somehow.

But I wasn’t even listening to my own advice. You been there? Hankering for that fix?”

I suspect there are a few others like Craig where the penny is about to drop. Marketing is about what your target market wants - not what you want!

Yes, it may be more accessible, less costly and more “cool and exciting” to do social networking rather than direct mail, advertising, newsletters, events, door drops, search engine optimisation and so forth. 

But please try to remember it’s part of the marketing jigsaw NOT the whole box.

Thanks to captainmcdan on Flickr for his hamsterpic

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