Are you posting to social media just to show off the events you get to go to, or who you’re getting to hang with?  If so, you may be alienating your followers or potential customers.

Case in point: A large local church uses social media such as Twitter and Facebook quite often to promote the upcoming sermon series, events, volunteer pushes and so forth.  The staff members have done a good job of creating quite a following of people who read and respond to their posts.  However, not much attention is paid to making sure that the posts of these staff members don’t make their followers feel “out of the loop”  The church in mention recently held their annual staff event.  During the event which lasted several days, social media outlets were pouring with posts from staff members talking about all of the people they were getting to rub elbows with and speakers they were getting to listen to.  There was even one post in which the poster mentioned how they were learning how to break down “insider” walls of the church.  This very post received unanswered comments asking where they were, if there was a special speaker at their church that night, if it was an event they could attend and such.  Unfortunately, in a what seemed to be a perpetual 1-upping effect, other staff members followed suit with RTs and Share Posts as if to say “Look at me, I got to be here too”.  This then began the same chain with their followers asking questions and another staffer re-posting.

In an attempt to constantly post new content to their social media outlets (a good practice) these church staffers had given just enough info in their posts to tease their followers as to what they got to participate in that their followers didn’t.

Don’t take me wrong here.  It’s fine to post experiences you’re having at events, on vacations, or things like that.  But be sure that your message doesn’t come across (intended or not)… “look what I get to be a part of that you don’t”.  It may seem that your are caught in the  perpetual 1-upping that many social media posters get wrapped up in.

It makes your followers feel alienated and as if you think you’re on a different level than them.  Always share with your followers as if they are friends or family and you are sending them a post card that reads “I wish you were here”.

There were once three young men who were trying to impress the same young lady.  All three men were very similar in appearance.  Same color hair, eyes, and complexion.  Same height and weight.  In fact, they were all slightly overweight (not much but just enough keep them from being noticed by the young lady).  The young men were overweight because in their attempts to stay as equal competitors, they all began to eat at a fast food restaurant one meal per day.  Suddenly, one of the competing young men had an idea.  “If I was to bring my lunch to work each day, and took the time and money I would normally spend in the restaurant and spent it using a gym membership, I think I’ll have a competitive advantage on my competition and be noticed by the young lady”.

Soon after this idea came it passed.  The young man decided that the change was not worth the risk.  Sure he might stand out from the crowd and appear more attractive than his competition, but he didn’t want to loose his place in the crowd of 3, just in case she would choose one of the 3 chubby guys rather than the opportunity for being the only choice if she decided on a much healthier mate.  The young man lost his competitive advantage and was wasting his time and money one the fast food restaurant all because of this decision to remain in the status-quo and fear of being a newer, better, different version of himself.  He wouldn’t do something else than his competition was already doing.

This story sounds silly but it happens every day.  Earlier this week, I spoke to leaders at a large moving and storage company who’d asked to meet with me regarding help determining their marketing direction.  It seems that they’d realized that their former marketing director had fallen in the rutt of simply buying huge ineffective ads in phone books and newspapers with no followup or tracking so that he may remain blind to the waste he was contributing to while he collected his salary.  So, since he was unable to effectively market their company in today’s market, he was released from his duties.

As I spoke with leaders from this company, the conversation turned to ideas and different ways to take the money they were spending on “double-truck” and full page ads in local phone books all over the country, and use it to market over the web.  At one point, one of the gentlemen in the meeting asked if we really wanted to pull out of the phone books if that’s where their competitors are placing ads.

Here’s how it works.  Quit trying to outshine your competition everywhere they are.  If they buy a billboard… you buy a billboard.  If they buy a TV ad…  you buy a TV ad.  All that does is cause you to continually ride their leftovers.  If the phone book is a waste of money, let your competition waste their money there while you just be glad that their not being more effective than that.  But by all means, don’t help them continue their effortless positioning by following the crowd and maintaining the status-quo.

If 100 customers will turn to ad advertising medium in which you have 49 other competitors, odds are you’ll pull 2 clients from your marketing (all things being equal).  But if only 10 customers turn to a less traditional and less expensive advertising medium in which you only have 1 or 2 competitors, odds are you’ll pull 3-5 clients from your efforts (all things being equal).

Push the envelope with your marketing.  Figure out where your competition is doing wasting time and money and do something else than your competition is already doing.

Most everyone is in some type of vocational sales position.  Whether it be selling widgets over the internet, advertisements in the phone book or newspaper (dying industries by the way), or indirectly selling to shoppers or clients through great customer service that ties them to your company for days to come.

However, some people are directly graded on their ability to produce sales numbers.  It is tempting for those people to begin selling for a sale.  I would like to challenge all sales reps today to ask themselves why they sell the product or service they sell.  Hopefully it has something to do with it being a value to the people purchasing it.  It may improve their joy, health, or provide a basic need, maybe help grow their business.

My accountant, said to me once that he believes he’s here not to just be a bookkeeper, but to help the business owners that come to him so that they may become more successful.  Each time he aides a business owner in making a sound financial decision, he’s helped put food on the tables of the 3, 10 or 50 employees that work for that business.  You see, he looks at what he does as a calling.  He sells his services as a CPA and accountant, but why he sells those services is the key.  He doesn’t sell to make a sale… he sells to help.

What will you do today?  How will you go about your business?  Will you drudge through your day just to get done what needs to get done, or will you sell to help?