Small business owners often say they don't want to be bothered with social media because the learning curve is too steep. Here's what I have to say about that. Get over it. When isn't the learning curve steep? Here's an analogy. If you are a homeowner, you can't let your front lawn grow wild. Not only will it look awful, but your neighbors will not like you.
Tall grasses and weeds can also harbor snakes and other potentially dangerous critters. So what do you do? You either hire someone to mow your lawn or you learn how to do it yourself. If you decide to do it yourself, you can't just buy a mower and start mowing. You have to choose between several different brands of lawn mowers. You might visit lawn mower websites and ask friends what lawn mowers they recommend. Some mowers will be perfect for your lawn while others will not. Once you choose a mower, you will need to educate yourself on how to use it to make your lawn look its best.
Should you mow while your lawn it is wet or dry? What height do you set the blade to? How do you charge the mower, or fill it up with gas if it's powered that way? What protective gear should you wear? What's the best way to use your mower to edge your lawn? How do you clean and maintain the mower?
Everything has a learning curve.
Just like everything else, with social media, there's a learning curve. But as in the lawn mowing analogy, once you make up your mind to accomplish your goal of creating a healthy and safe front lawn, the learning curve is not a stumbling block. It's just something you have to deal with in order to achieve your goal of a nice front lawn.
In other words, the satisfaction of having a nice front lawn outweighs the pain of the learning curve. It's the same with social media.
As a small business owner, you probably don't want to buy lots of advertising. You probably also don't want to hire someone to impersonate you at your blog, and on Twitter and other social networks. So what do you do?
You do it yourself!
Everything has a learning curve. Social media is no different. But don't let that stop you from embracing it. It's the one thing that could help you expand your business in ways that were not possible just 24 months ago.
It's your lawn. Mow it.
Come to one of my workshops in Atlanta (save $100 on early bird registration by December 21!), Chicago, San Francisco or New York! Let's tackle the learning curve together!
Question: What personal or business learning curves have you tackled in order to achieve specific goals? Was it worth it?
