We do use time poorly. We like to waste it. I’m not saying in the traditional sense where we are lazy and lying in a hammock drinking lemonade. Nope. That is actually a good use of time. You planned to relax.
I’m saying we waste time every day with our systems and processes. There is so much inefficiency going on that needs to be “reeled in”. OMG, I heard an interview on one of the morning shows. It was a back to school shopping guide with a “savings expert” and I seriously wanted to punch her. She was talking about this “great” app that she had which would help her with back to school shopping. She bought pencils at Store A… then went 4 miles to store B to get 3 bottles of glue, then she went 7 miles to get a scissors at Store C.
Here’s why I was mad.
I lost 2 minutes of my life listening to her non-sense. Frick. She bought 3 things; pencils, glue and scissors. She went to THREE stores. What a freak! No seriously, I still want to punch her. This “savings expert” honestly uses her time to plot out a shopping trip to price compare products and find three stores, on separate ends of town, then spend 30 minutes to go to each store to buy the items, not to mention the gasoline. Who does this? She “saved” $2
Rant over.
But who should we really be mad at?
This “savings expert” did actually save money. She got herself on national TV to promote herself and her website. So the real person we should be mad at is the stupid producers that created a segment of bad advice… otherwise known as Bad Content.
Morning news programs, magazines, radio shows, and newspapers have been creating content for decades. They realize that a 3 hour morning show 5 days a week has a lot of content to fill. A Lot!
“Normal businesses” are just starting to understand this need for content with the advent of social media. That’s why you must start (right now) to think of yourself as a media business. You are a Newspaper, TV Show or a Radio Program… really you are! You are creating audiences and you have a need to talk to them! You must give them GOOD content to keep them interested and engaged. Therefore, you are a media company.
For example, if you put out a Facebook page for your business it must to provide content (posts). If you post consistently you’ll soon realize that you have a “content monster” that needs to be fed. The most important thing is not to feed it junk food! If you are operating on a… “Oh Yeah, I think it’s time to post because I haven’t posted in a while” model… don’t give your audience junk food! It’s very tempting.
Junk Food would be taking your ad from the newspaper, scanning it, and posting on your Facebook Feed. Healthy Food is when you craft a story about the items on sale. For example, I did one this summer when a pallet of aqua water mats arrived. I showed a photo of the huge black plastic sealed pallet with the caption, “I wonder what colors just arrived?” – it was a way to show we had a new product delivery without saying, “hey we have a new product delivery.” This is Healthy Food.
The best way to provide healthy food is to move your “consistency model” to a well thought out monthly plan. Use a calendar and mark special days on it that you know you can provide useful information (content) to your customers.
Remember
Junk food is easier, health eating takes work. Healthy food provides customers with useful information and makes them feel connected to your business. Junk food makes you feel good but does nothing in the long run.
And seriously, “one stop shop” for pencils, glue, and scissors.
Question of the Post:
How many times a month do you create posts for your business?
PS: Make sure to “like” this post… and follow me! (and please do me a favor… if you wnat more great ideas like the one in this post, just fill out this form and I’ll send them to you… start here)
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Action Steps
1- Get a calendar, circle important dates that are relevant to your business, this could be holidays, town festivals, or even “national day of” topics that are a good fit to your business. These is the start of your content machine!
2- Put the calendar on your wall and post on the days that you just circled!
3- Install my free app! (SmallBusinessClubApp.com)
Podcast:
Listen to Episode #178 of the Two Minute Commute audio blog Podcast
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