This is a post I did a week ago. Due to several family and personal issues needing my attention, I never published it. So, here it is now!
I did the unthinkable last night. I went to bed without taking off my makeup or washing my face. I believe that is the first time I have done that in well over twenty-five years. When I was a teenager, my mom introduced me to Pond’s cold cream. I will never forget her saying to me, “use a night cream or your skin will get wrinkles.” Well, at the time I was sixteen years old and the thought of even reaching forty was well beyond my grasp. I grew up in the age of slathering baby oil on and laying out in the Midwest sun for hours, soaking up as much sunshine as I could. The more tan we were, the better! Wrinkles? Those were for old people!
So, back to last night. I did not work most of the day because I was observing Rosh Hashanah, as mentioned in my previous blog. The religious gene kicked in for some reason and I felt it was best to relax, reflect, take a nap and stay away from my Mac. Until about 5:00 p.m. I jumped online and read my Facebook posts, email and Tweets. Life was continuing on as usual for many people. I was stopped dead in my tracks when I read a post from someone with whom I network that said, “We now do your Social Media posts for you. Call us!”
Huh? This person happens to be so far from a social media specialist that I had to double-check the name on the post to be sure I wasn’t seeing things. Now, don’t get me wrong, I welcome competition and embrace others who do what I do; social media consulting, mentoring, training, coaching; whatever you want to call it. But for someone to, out of the blue, decide they were going to takeover others’ posts left me in a state of bewilderment.
So, back to my evening. I checked my clients’ scheduled posts, added a few more, and reviewed my emails. In between I squeezed in a quick dinner with my family and got back to work. Before I realized it, the time had flown by and I had to get up early for a networking meeting. Thus, the face did not get washed because I was exhausted. Or, maybe disappointed or dismayed that anyone these days can call themselves a “social media person.”
I work long and hard to attract and keep my clients happy. I have a business plan, a mission statement, documented goals, belong to a Master Mind group, and network myself silly establishing my brand and connecting with my Target Market. When I see a person post in a private group on Facebook casually announcing they now “do Social Media”, I am disappointed.
Maybe I take my job too seriously. I actually consider it a craft; I am not a social media guru, but I do a ton of research and planning to help make my clients look good online and attract more business and referrals. How would you feel if someone in a totally unrelated industry suddenly announced, “I am now a (fill in the blank)?” Please share.
Laurie Hurley is the founder of The Social Networking Navigator and has just launched her Social Networking Made Simple Membership Group. She also washes her face every night (well except for the night referenced in this blog)
Reach out and touch someone” used to be a byline for the phone company. Wow. That was way before social networking was the rage. I remember watching television commercials encouraging people to call their mothers on Sunday. When you think about it, that is a great byline that is timeless. It’s just the manner in which we reach out and touch someone that has changed so drastically. So, I began thinking about how often the people I pay to provide services to me and my family; like my insurance broker, financial advisor, and mortgage broker really pay attention to me.
My financial advisor is great – every ninety days he calls my husband or me with an update about the market and what our money is doing. He makes suggestions, keeping in mind we begin paying for college soon for my oldest daughter in about eighteen months. He is on it and is always in touch. Our mortgage broker is wonderful. We have refinanced our home three times in the past four years because he is so tuned into the interest rates (as every good mortgage broker should be!) Unfortunately, my insurance broker dropped the ball.
Quick case study – every year in February our health insurance policy renews and every year we get the annual phone call from our broker comforting us about the rate increase. This year was different though. I met an insurance broker at a new networking group. Every week he would get up and tell the group how he can save us 30-40% on our premiums. I began thinking about it, and took him up on his offer. He came over and did an analysis of our current policy. Turns out, he was right! Which begs the question, where was our other insurance agent? Why didn’t he do the research and find us a lower premium with the same coverage?