Remember the horror of 911 and then shear joy of watching the firefighter that sang the Star Spangled Banner? It was covered on all networks – we heard it over and over.  It gave us hope. People still traveled to New York City for visits, people dealt with inconvenience related to air travel, we picked ourselves up by the bootstraps and moved on, though we never forgot.

So now we are in an economic slump. This is no 911, for sure. But searching for some GOOD news out there, some hope, some light at the end of the tunnel is human nature in any crisis.

Considering there are so many news stories about Social Media today you gotta wonder, “Is this my silver bullet?”  “Will this solve my business downturn?”  Everybody is jumping on the band wagon. Media professionals are pretending to be experts, when truthfully learning about this is ongoing for everyone.  Even the “experts.” The reason you are hearing about it, is because it is a “Marketing thing” and Marketers talk, and talk and talk – sometimes until it comes true.

Here is a post from Mark Collier that I found after I had written this blog post. He figured this out last August and I am just daring to write about it now!  I am no expert, I like to call myself a “student” as situations and options evolve I am always striving to learn about them.

Social Media and all the “faces” it takes, Facebook, MySpace, Stumble, Digg, Twitter (the list goes on and on), can really feel overwhelming to any business owner.  In addition to the fact that JUST when you think you have it figured out, Google shows up and we need to change something again.

Remember, YOU know YOUR business.  YOU know YOUR business better than ANYONE.  What you need is a solution that works for YOU and YOUR business.

If you feel you need more traffic to your website and that will grow sales, great.  If you need more people to come to your retail store and that will grow sales, great. If your website is getting traffic but people are ditching it on the first page, not so  great. Each business has a unique set of criteria of how they succeed.

What the “experts” need to do for you is “LISTEN.”  LISTEN to what your goals are, LISTEN to your challenges, come up with measurable tasks and help you decide what your strategy is to accomplish these goals. WHICH tools should you use?

Social Media is not a “silver bullet,” nor does it have to feel like “mumbo-jumbo” and just like anything it is a means to an end. While some words spread quickly, other words more slowly, the important thing is to get started and you don’t have to do it alone. Spreading the word is great, but getting people to act, to buy, is most important.

Social Media does not change the fact that you still are the expert about your goals and when we listen we can help you get there.