JFK - The Message & the audience
“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man”
Imagine if JFK had made this famous speech on 20th January, 1961 in his back garden over the fence to his next door neighbour instead of in front of millions around the world – What a waste that would have been!
Imagine having the same audience and wasting the opportunity by delivering a short, boring speech and saying nothing of any significance – What a waste that would have been ..
While social media is still pretty much in its infancy I am amazed how many people are struggling with it – yes, they have jumped in there, have decided it is for them and that it warrants some effort but getting it right in most cases just isn’t happening.
I am seeing two quite contrasting and very common things happening in our work with clients and in our social media training.
The Posters
This crew have found the knack of posting on-line, they are pumping out status updates, clever links, uploading fabulous pictures of new stock or from customer events, sharing videos on Youtube that are relevant to their business. The problem often is that they are devoting a lot of time to posting but to a tiny audience – what a waste.
The Collectors
This very different crew are in a race for numbers, busy accepting connections on LinkedIn, accepting followers on Twitter and friends on Facebook but posting very little – “But, I don’t know what to say?” – what a waste.
The Message and the Audience
If you want to start winning with your social media efforts make sure you spend equal amounts of time and effort creating your worthwhile messages as well as creating an audience for these messages. Be patient, over time you will get better at posting, you will build the size of your audience and you will enjoy success with your efforts.
To achieve Social Media magic I will leave the last word to JFK and I will steal some part of that famous speech that is not as well known: “In your hands, my fellow citizens, more than in mine, will rest the final success or failure or our (your!) course”
Greg Canty is a partner of Fuzion
