Heelblog

There is no time better than right now for individuals and small businesses to make names for themselves.  Unlike some, who for whatever reason believe Social Media is the second coming of…. (insert something really big and important here), those that hustle, plug away, add value to their clients’ businesses, and KEEP IT REAL, are the companies you will see thriving in the next 3, 5 or 10 years down the road.

The Internet is once again opening up boundless opportunities for savvy individuals and companies to move in and get their piece. That said, with a new playground comes more bullies, and all the shyster’s and scam artists are sure to follow. You know, the one who took the money for paving your grandma’s driveway, but never came back to actually do the work!! Clients beware!

Work, by its own definition, is not easy. But no one said it cannot be fun…and no one says that you can’t love what you do. Bonus for you if that is the case, and bonus for us cause we believe we can (and do!) make positive differences in the lives/businesses of our clients while having fun. Don’t get me wrong though, you are not being engaging clients/companies to make friends and drink tea with crumpets at high noon. You are there to make a difference, and at first some clients will not like what you have to say about their current state of affairs – regardless of what it is you claim to specialize in.

By KEEPING IT REAL, you always give it to your clients and partners straight. There is no beating around the bush. After all, you are the expert they’ve sought out to consult, dissect, criticize, and improve their way of doing things right? Obviously, there are polite ways you must employ to convey your findings – and often there might even be one or two things they are doing right so you can go right ahead and deliver a taste of what I like to call the The S*it Sandwich;

When delivering your report or verbal analysis of your findings you

• 1) Find the first thing it is that they are doing right, however small, and compliment the hell out of them for a job well done (this would be the intro, or in this formula, piece of bread #1).
• 2) Proceed to stuff all of the s*it in the middle. Do not provide them with a simple list of what is wrong without ways on how they can fix these things. Be constructive. Throw in a few questions asking why they’ve done things this way or that, maybe a few quick recommendations to leave them wanting more, and then…
• 3) Finish with their most glowing quality or skill, and lather them up with all the soapy goodness of success and how you can build on this, and how it is a fantastic starting point. This would be piece of bread#2 which effectively completes your sandwich.

10 times out of 10 you have a ton a work ahead of you. We always do. The trick is getting the client to appreciate exactly how much work there is and justifying the reason why a fresh outlook needs to be taken. Besides, by having brought you in there is a clear indication that they are not entirely happy with the way things are going.

When encountered by a client who first asks for your help, and then proceeds to argue every little bit of advice you are throwing their way – you my friends have just had a run in with a Mr./Mrs.  Know-It-All. This type of client does not want someone innovative or forward-thinking like you. They want someone to validate their claims. Someone who’ll agree that they MUST get involved with social media now at all costs otherwise their company is surely doomed, even though their website is still living in the 90′s (I love how the 90′s are ”old” now…lol).  Someone who’ll haggle every step of the way on things like time lines and price, but at the same time provide you with zero feedback and poor, limited, and un-edited content and crappy pictures.

Our credo is, if it’s not worth putting on our website as part of our portfolio as something we can be proud of, it’s not worth doing. Everyone has taken on the type of job where the money is more important than the work. Set them up and knock them down. We are not so rich that we can afford to turn down the jobs, but it comes to a point where these things aren’t fun. We are experts and to turn out anything less than an expert result is like slapping ourselves in the face.  Fun is why we are doing this after all. Find something you enjoy to the point where you’re happy to get up at 5am, do your full day, go home do the family thing, and then ”work” ’til 2am cause you love it so much – I guarantee 3 hours of sleep will be enough! And what’s more…the money will come. Bottom line is, think twice about taking on those jobs that only satisfy your bank account. If you don’t believe in your own company mission, and don’t stick to the reasoning behind doing what you do in the first place, there isn’t a need to carry on is there? And you know why? Cause slowly but surely your work will suffer, clients will see it, hear it, and live it. And then all of a sudden your doors are closed.

Clients can sniff out the passion you have for your business. If you are a stand-up, honest, hard-working person/company who delivers on time every time – your persistence will be rewarded. This might sound obvious – but who’s going to tell all the newly minted self-appointed Social Media Experts this? Or better yet, the ones that guarantee you will be first page on Google within 30 days? Really listen to what they are promising. Usually your gut instinct will kick in if anything sounds too good to be true, and when it does, move on to the next one. You’ll by happy you did.

Trust us. The jokers’ house of cards will soon topple. They always do. And if those clients recently spurned by said jokers should seek out your services after living through a nightmare, do them a favor; keep it real. They’ve already been told everything they wanted to hear….and look it where it got them.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 9th, 2009 at 11:11 pm and is filed under General. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.