Last week I heard someone imply that Facebook and other social media tools were made for business. That's simply not true. It reveals, however, a mindset of using social media for business that's built on the wrong foundation. If this is your own mindset, let me try try to help you reboot your ideas on social media for business.
First, There Was The Internet
The Internet wasn't built for business. If you think otherwise you need to learn some history. It was built for people to communicate and share information. It was built for research and people flocked to it for connecting with others. Business came along to the Internet quite a bit later.
Knowing the history of the Internet is necessary in light of business because it changes everything about how you approach it. For instance, if you think the Internet was created by and for business, you bring "business thinking" to the Internet. If, however, you realize there are business opportunities with the Internet, you bring "Internet thinking" to your business. This may not seem like a big distinction but it's huge when you're online and it significantly alters your web strategy and implementation.
Then, The Internet Went Social
Social media tools have followed a similar path to the history of the Internet. They were created for communication, connection and sharing information. Blogs, for instance, were just "weblogs" of someone's thoughts. They weren't used for talking with customers. Similarly, Facebook was just an online tool for connecting college students together. Nobody was thinking about Fan pages for their business. It was for connecting with people.
Now What?
So if the Internet in general and social media specifically weren't created for business, are there still business opportunities? Of course. In fact, they're all over the place and I think there are more opportunities for more people which cost less money than ever before. That's the gift that social media is for your business. You just have to remember that none of it was built specifically for your business. That being the case when you introduce business into the social media, you should do so without violating the nature of what the tools were built for. If you keep that in mind in all of your social media ventures, you'll be well ahead of a lot of people who haven't realized this yet.
Here are a couple of interviews I've done with people using social media tools for their business really well. They understand the opportunites and the appropriate mindset necessary to use social media the right way.
Scot Justice, Virtual CFO: Gets 75% of his business from his blog and Twitter.
Ray Carman, Auctioneer using social media during a recession and not missing a beat.