Wow, what a story!

Isn’t social media cool?  Since I graduated college in 1992, I’ve been involved with two of the biggest fundamental shifts in communications in our history, mobile phones and social media.  I started selling cellular telephones in 1994 for BellSouth Mobility and just left that industry last summer.

I started dabbling in social media since that time and I have uncovered a new found passion. Long story short, six months later, I’ve started my own social media consulting company (I think that’s kind of cool too.  Owning your own business is the American dream right?).

I began to put pen to paper to find out what really jazzed me about social media.  What’s the catch?  In my last blog I talked about a friend of mine who in  2009 asked me if I was on Facebook and I said “no, I’m not 16yrs old”.  Little does he know that I remember that comment to this day.   I want to lay out three reasons why I think social media is cool and why people love it, companies love it and our culture loves it.

I love technology.  I think we all do.  Social media is a new kind of technology.  In a lot of ways it’s a lot like cellular technology back in the day.  You couldn’t see the voice transmissions of a cell call but making a call on Motorola flip phone was just “cool”.  Social media is real time on a speakerphone with the world, where everyone or just a few loved ones can see talk, write, send videos, share pictures, write articles, find jobs, get advice or listen to what their favorite movie star or football player has to say.  Technology is awesome and social media has taken it to a new level.

Our entire existence is based on relationships.  No matter where we are or what we are doing, chances are we are communicating constantly and building relationships.  100 years ago it was around a campfire in the wilderness. 50 years ago it was in a mother’s home over tea and Tupperware.  Today, it’s online, and on our smartphones almost every hour of every day. There are plenty of downsides to social media but that’s for someone else to write about.  I love people, I love building relationships with people and I love to learn from other people.  Social media allows me to do all three all the time and that’s cool.

The best parts of social media are the stories, i.e. your story.  Everyone has a story to tell. I would argue that almost everyone has a compelling story to tell.  If the volume of books, articles and blogs are any indication of how many of us have a story to tell, then it makes complete sense to me why social media has exploded in recent years and will continue to evolve, expand and get even more popular.  Small business owners are finding out social media allows them to listen to their customers “stories” while allowing them to share their own.  That conversation is
taking place everyday on social media and that’s cool.

Stories draw people in. There’s power in story.  Look no further than Hollywood.  (Mark Zuckerberg has a cool story to tell).  Look around, social media success stories are everywhere, especially in business. Many small businesses understand social media and use it quite effectively because they haven’t forgotten how to tell their story, which builds relationships with their customers. It requires you to be transparent and genuine.  That builds trust.  Trust with your customers builds your business.  Whether it’s an idea, a product, or a vision, people buy from who they know, like and trust.

Technology, relationships and story.  That’s the reason social media has exploded.  What’s your story?  Whatever it is, share it and start a conversation.  You will build relationships with others that will inspire, teach, encourage and “wow” you.