WHY Social Media? WHY Now? WHY Me?

So, here's a story. Buckle in. It's about Facebook and how it saved a dog's life.

My business partner and I had just come back from a meeting the week before Christmas and as soon as I dropped him off at his house, we realized his dog had escaped. We drove around, stopped off at shelters, and she was nowhere to be found. I encouraged him--okay I made him--post pictures of her on his Facebook account, change his profile picture with her photo, and reminded him to put up multiple daily posts that she was missing.

Two days before Christmas, he got a call. A woman saw his dog at the West Los Angeles Animal Shelter and sent him to the website where a photo was posted of his missing Aussie shepherd. He went to the shelter that morning it was indeed his dog who had somehow (and it's still a mystery) made the journey 30 miles from Long Beach.

Here's how he found her, or more accurately, here's how the person who found her found him: Facebook. The woman who found the dog is friends with a woman on Facebook who is friend's with my business partner. The post was reposted--twice--until it somehow miraculously made its way to the computer screen of the woman who had seen Cheyenne (dog) at the shelter. Did Facebook find the dog? No. Facebook ENABLED the dog to be found.

What on earth does this have to do with business? WHAT does this have to do with networking? You knew I'd get to that, right?

Networking is one method that we use to make order of random circumstances, in a way. The more rooms where we throw ourselves into that are full of people trying to connect with other people to discuss business, the MORE likely we are to get connected to a potential customer. So, now that you've read the story of the dog (which is 1,000% true), I want you all to write this down somewhere: SOCIAL MEDIA IS ONLINE NETWORKING. It's really that simple. It's another way to reach out to people, to make your business visible and to capitalize on the coincidences that can lead to business opportunities.

Let's dial the clock back to the era where the Internet wasn't so ubiquitous. EVERY single business had...wait for it...a yellow pages ad. Everyone. How was anyone going to find you if you weren't in the yellow pages? THEN, the Internet exploded all over the world and the new yellow pages ad? Google. The new storefront? A company's website. But it was all so much more INFORMATIVE. The web told so much more of your company's story to your potential customers! It was so much more interactive and it told YOU with its various metrics and measurable features who was doing what when they came to your site and what they did once they got there.

I'm not saying that social media has usurped the website as the current holy chalice of business marketing in the 21st century. Instead, think of the tool that will bring even MORE people to your website, a tool where people who see you at an event can reach out to you easily, can connect you with other people, can be reminded of your very existence more consistently. Social media is Google on steroids for your business.

If you still do not embrace your social media strategy as a vital tactic in your marketing arsenal, it's time to start. If all else fails, ask some of the people around you for help, get advice of people around you to find out how these completely free tools can help drive people to your business. As is the case with my business partner and his temporarily estranged dog--you NEVER know who's looking.