I Am Just Not That Good!

Ok so I have to confess I can no longer keep up.  Perhaps it is time to quit trying!  I mean really, when does the onslaught of technology to become more known, overcome the time available to find new prospects?

My original introduction to video games included a box you hooked into the TV and a little square ball you smacked around with a paddle trying to get the right kind of english on it.  First computer I ever used was attached to my terminal at college, had a keyboard and a printer with one inch lines on the paper that ran through it.  No monitor, just paper.  It was a big day when I finally got a DOS based computer with an amber monitor.  That was the big time. (yes, I have written a program with punch cards, so please go easy on these fragile old bones)

Progress happens.  Computers, monitors, software have all evolved.  Cell phones no longer require a car wrapped around them to work effectively and to get my name out in the world I simply type right here in this space.  How cool is that?  Some of you who have found me, have done so by simply typing “Prospecting Methods” or “Art of Sales” into you search engine, and voila, there I am.  What was once the domain of geeks and bleeding edge enthusiasts, the weblog or “blog.” is now construed as a necessary tool of intellectual property developers everywhere.  While I adopted this thing relatively early compared to the business community, I have discovered just how far behind the technology curve I am.

Fortunately I have a friend, Steve Groves, who keeps abreast of all this stuff and shares it with me.  Last week he told me how “so last week I am” when I told him I didn’t know what facebook is.  Apparently he has heard the same thing by Robert Scoble when he learned about OrKut.  I started to look into Orkut when I was inspired instead to comment on the overwhelming nature of Social Media.

Here is my concern.  I am a sales professional and a consultant to companies on the most effective use of their dollars to acquire a customer.  I have seen the light on blogs because of my friend Dave Barnhart at Business Blogging Pros  I am amazed by my capacity to be found in many places these days and disappointed when I can’t find my name where I think I should.  AzSalesPros has an island in Second Life where people around the globe are free to gather for cocktails and conversation on sales, and I have been watching all the latest and greatest marketing tools on the Internet, now called Social Media all in an effort to find the most effective way of discovering prospects.  Guess what.  It takes a LOT of time.

What if I invested that time in no more than three marketing methods and stuck with them?  How many more customers could I find if I used older, more traditional methods?  How do I know if the millions of people in Second Life are my customers or am I wasting my time developing a “presence” there?  If Google has a video posting website, as has been made famous by YouTube, where should I put my viral videos to get the most attention?

Well first off, I confess.  I don’t know.  I turn to guys like Steve and Dave who know this stuff far better than I do and trust their judgement.  But there isn’t one of these “new” tools that I don’t put under my personal ROI microscope.  There is only one goal.  Efficient acquisition of customers.

Blogging seems to have it, others do too and I strongly recommend you subscribe to both Dave and Steve’s blogs to find out more.  But before you go off the deep end signing up for the latest and greatest of everything, make sure that for the time and money it will cost you, it will reward you in customers.