The Six Biggest Small Business Lies – A Countdown: #6

I once heard a story that most of the graffiti of the superstitious sort on the walls of the buildings of Pompeii was the work of small business owners.

If you were to wander into the business section of any bookstore in North America you would be forgiven for thinking you were in the self-help section and someone messed up the signage. Not much there about accounting but a lot about self-care and leaning and pivoting and unicorns like 4 hour work weeks.

What do these business book sections and Pompeii have in common? The frustrating reality that most small business owners, especially at the beginning, feel overwhelmed and at the mercy of forces out of their control. In response they reach for anything that will give them a sense of control and prescience. Charismatic public speakers, the seers of Pompeii, or the business/self-help section of their local bookstore, anything for some meaning in this crazy enterprise.

This is the first article in a count-down of the top 6 deceptive statements I hear over and over again repeated by authors, speakers, and consultants. Caveat Emptor.

6. “Social Media is great free advertising.”

Yeah. No.

That statement is a lie on so many levels:

• Grammatical – social media isn’t singular.
• Existential – social isn’t advertising either; or it shouldn’t be. Advertising is yelling. Do we yell at people at social events? There is nothing social about an ad for skin cream that happens to be on Facebook.
• Value –Social channels are not great ways to promote our businesses, especially at the beginning. All those lies about ‘if you do it right your post will go viral’? Exactly that: lies. We need sales to get a new business off the ground, lots of sales. Have 10,000 followers on your FB page? No? Fuggetaboutit. Lets get out from behind our desks and start selling to real people.
• Unless time is free, social media isn’t free. Effective social campaigns are hugely time-consuming. Ineffective campaigns are just as time consuming. So if we are going to be honest about ROI, there is nothing free about social media marketing.

Social media can be a very effective. Used right, by the right kind of businesses, they do grow relationships and build networks over time. For organizations with the capacity, social channels can be a way to tell your story effectively and richly. But for most new small business owners, I can think of 24 more effective ways to spend your time than on Facebook.

Stay tuned for #5: “You have a marketing problem.”

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Clemens Rettich develops tools to grow small and medium-sized businesses. He has an extensive background in the arts, community, education, and business that helps him craft solutions for his clients that create real growth and real change.