Lately, a lot of changes have occurred in the business landscape. One such change I firmly believe may be the best is the use of social media. My opinion is also held by many successful entrepreneurs like social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk, who normally refers to social media as the current state of the internet. However, I am appalled by the number of small businesses owners that are not making use of the opportunities that social media presents. Additionally, I feel compelled to mention that in this current business climate, which is marshalled by useful tools like social media, THE SUCCESS OF ENTREPRENEURS/ARTISTS/CREATORS NO LONGER STRICTLY HINGES ON OTHERS. For instance, if you sing, it isn’t absolutely necessary to use a studio to approve your music or a producer to work with you. Instead, all you need is a smartphone to record yourself singing then upload your product to YouTube or Facebook to start building a community around your music. Also, if you are an aspiring writer, you don’t need the permission of a publisher; instead, you could start a blog and populate it with your pieces.
In this day and age, individuals shouldn’t be given the privilege to dictate the direction you take in your life as an aspiring entrepreneur or personality. Instead, let the market determine whether you succeed or not. Therefore, if you are courageous enough to put yourself, your idea, and eventually your product or service out there, the market will reward you if it up to standard and satisfies the needs and wants of the consumer. One of the best examples of this truth is in the movie industry. The Legend of Tarzan received terrible reviews from critics, but it still went on to be a big winner at the Box Office. Consequently, the trend insinuates that it is possible that the influence of critics may not seriously affect the success of a film; instead, the market will determine its success. Therefore, one should be willing to be proactive, ignore the naysayers, and let the market determine if success is possible.
One morning, I was sitting on my couch watching CP24 Breakfast, and Steve Anthony was interviewing a member of LMFAO; I believe it was RedFoo. He said something that stunned me. He was speaking about how hard it was to reach his fans and to get their music out, especially on Facebook. As a Facebook marketer, I was genuinely appalled by his assertion and potentially misleading statements. Admittedly, it’s true that organic reach on Facebook is down, and the company recently changed its algorithm to show more posts from friends and less from businesses forcing us to pay to play. However, looking at the situation logically, any network with over 1 billion active users should be worth your time, so I still believe it is the best platform to reach your desired audience. You just need to figure out how to maximize its capabilities, and the market will reward you. Also, you should utilize Facebook advertising, even if you feel forced into a situation where you have to pay to reach your community. Consider this scenario, would you prefer to pay a monthly rate of $1,000 for television ads with no guarantee you will reach your target audience or pay Facebook as little as $5 dollars a day to reach your potential customers? Personally speaking, I think I’d prefer to pay for ads on Facebook any day.
Moreover, if you have a dream to start a business, don’t worry what anyone says unless that person is part of the target market you’d want to reach. Instead, give your idea a chance and build a community around your business for free or at worst minimal cost using what may be the best thing to happen to entrepreneurs in the modern era, social media. Again I must emphasize that you shouldn’t be afraid to start. However, please be mindful that the market rewards good but by the same token, it kills the inferior. Therefore, you should never offer substandard products with the hope that marketing would be the solution. However, at least give your idea a chance by starting and properly incorporating social media because based on recent business advances, the market significantly influences success.