Caught Up In The World of Now

Well if you are friends with me on facebook, follow me on twitter, or linked with me on Linkedin, you might have asked the question like many others did this past week. Where is Patrick Finley? Well let me answer that question for you. I was here. No not here on-line but at work, school, church, and many other places just as I always am. I just wanted to take a break from social media.

When this this little break started I intended for it to be just for the weekend. Well the weekend turned into 3 days, 4 days, and so on leading up to a 9 day break. Then I had this great idea for a social media blog. Then yesterday my thoughts on how to approach this blog started to change.

See, I'm a laid back guy. My little twitter (I know, little twitter..haha) bio even says so, "laid back but on top of it." But here of late I've been struggling with something. I've got caught up in the "Now". Wanting things to happen now. Somethings I know I don't want to happen now, but for some reason I've pushed things. Why? Yesterday I really wasn't sure.

So, last night thinking about this I just decided to put my mind on other things. So I picked up my iPhone to catch up on some sermons from Francis Chan. There it was..."Slow Down and Show Grace" was the title to the next sermon. Here are a few of the points

1. Don't be quick to answer
2. Quick to speak, quick to anger
3. Take time to respond with love and grace
4. Slow down...the Lord has things in store for you

I think with all this social media and other conveniences in life, we have come to expect the "now" right now. Personally I tried to rush some things. Was social media the cause? No, personal insecurity and lack of faith was mainly the issue. So, I know I don't have to be quick to act on everything and waiting is ok. Sometimes it might even be a nice little present.

Let's Talk

Ok, let's sit down and have a little chat on this Monday afternoon. I've talked in blog entries in the past about marketing and networking, but today I want you to think about something. What do I want you to think about you may ask? Your Logo!

Think back to when you started your business. How much time, how much effort, and how much money did you spent on your logo? If you think about it, you probably spent a good amount of each of those either drawing up, looking over proposals, and thinking about how you want your business to be represented, correct?

So after you picked your logo out from the 20 or so drawings you did or proposals from an ad agency, you were pumped! You wanted everyone to see it. Let me take a guess that you e-mailed it out to everyone you know, added it into your signature, made sure it was at the top of your website and maybe even did something special on your website revealing your logo. You might have also printed up some flyers, did promo items so you could have your nice, shiny new logo on something to hand out, correct?

Ok, so now let's fast forward to right now. Where is your logo? Let me take a few guesses...outside your building, on your website, and your business cards more than likely. People pass by your location all the time but is it enough exposure, probably not. It's on your website, but are enough people finding your website? Unless your doing some sort of SEO, more than likely people are not finding your website enough. And last but not least, cards. What really happens to your cards once they leave your hands? Wouldn't you like to know.

So where else should your logo be displayed? Are you doing any promotions? Do your employees wear branded shirts or hats? Do your clients have t-shirts with your company name on them to wear during their casual time? Are you handing out client appreciation gifts? Business card magnets, schedule magnets, and calendar magnets? Are you staying in front of your clients or potential client base?

I'm not trying to preach to you, I've done the same mistakes and hopefully I've learned from them. All I'm trying to say is you have put a lot into your business including designing your logo, so be proud and let everyone you know how proud you are of your logo and your business. I bet it pays off in the long run!

What is this?

Over the past few years social media has exploded. I'm not sure if exploded is even the word for it. I have a social media map and it has over 100 different sites. It's really amazing with what's going on in social media. The one problem I see with social media is some people have no idea what it is when they sign up. The biggest questions I hear is what is this, why am I on here, and how do I work this?

Trey Schaefer and I went bass fishing after a long week last Saturday. We talked about this subject as we drove down the road. The main thing is, for different businesses there are different uses for these sites. On Twitter we use it to make new contacts, and also develop new ideas. We use Facebook to stay connected with old friends, mostly. Jason Hill with Provenance Digital, described how a stock broker could use Twitter to mass communicate where his/her clients when there was market news. This could create a large volume of calls instantaneous. Now, he also did point out that would be some educating on how to use the service.

That's where I'm getting to, education. If you sign up for any of these many services, but never educate yourself, you are doing yourself and your business no good. I admit, when I first got on Twitter two months ago, I had no clue what it was nor what it did. I was updating just like Facebook, ie. "Patrick is going to get some ice cream." After educating myself and talk with Trey, we figured it out and got connected with great people.

The best thing you can do to find out more about all these services is read articles, ask people that have a understanding, and most importantly, get involved once you sign up. Just because someone tells you to get on a site does not mean you have to. First, consider the source. Second, ask them why you should get on this site. If they can not tell you why, then they don't know either. Education is the key.