I've been reading "Rework" by Jason Fried & David Heinemeier Hansson, founders of 37signals. It's a quick - but good - read on starting a new business, etc.
However, these words really fly off the page:
"Focus on what won't change. A lot of companies focus on the next big thing. They latch on to what's hot and new."
Kind of like social media.
There are some 50,000 local social media "experts" in every town throwing around big words like "brand" and "image" and "analytics" while checking in via Foursquare at Starbucks with 10 others followed by a "Tweet" and a "Follow Friday" and a "Re-Tweet."
Boring - and, frankly, a complete waste of time.
It doesn't matter what you're saying if no one's listening.
Note: Some social media "experts" can't go through a day without giving everyone a traffic update; raindrop count; checking in at every restaurant and bathroom in town, followed by details of everything in between including indigestion, puppy updates and what Johnny did at school today. It's all worthless crap that's adding to the noise that's been generated.
At Purple Trout, we focus on one thing: search engine optimization.
SEO is the practice by which we help our clients earn higher rankings in Google, Bing and other search engines.
We do a little bit of of our own social media (very little) and, while we do help some clients with social media, our work is directly connected with our clients' SEO efforts.
Does social media work? Sometimes, but it's not for every business.
Yes, Facebook's still hot. That's it. You don't need to hire an "expert" to start a Facebook Page.
It's still all about getting found. Don't forget that.
Keep working on your website. Write a Blog. Improve your content. Work on earning inbound links. These elements help earn higher rankings in Google and other search engines.
Your potential customers could care less that you're the mayor of Subway.
Quit chasing your tail with the latest social media gimmick and quit listening to the social media "experts."

