The Power of Asking for Help

Asking for help is one of the most powerful things you can do in life in many, many ways.  Once you commit to doing it, you reap rewards in places and ways you could never imagine.

Let's think of this in terms of small business.  Asking for help is a really tough thing, especially for a solopreneur or an owner of a growing business.  The reason you started the business is because you had a great idea, skill or talent and felt completely confident that you would be able to turn it into a revenue-generating, successful entity.  Inherently, the small business owner sees him or herself as a subject matter expert - the best at what they do. 

So how does the person who is supposedly better than anyone else ask someone for help?  That's admitting that you are not, in fact, the best in your field, isn't it?  No.  It's the exact opposite.  It's recognizing that in order to stay the course, or move forward, etc, you need another person to assist you in remaining the best at what you do.

By asking for help, several things can occur:
1. Empowerment.  The sheer recognition that you aren't infallible and need to seek others' advice is often motivation enough to get you 'unstuck' in your situation.
2. Clarity.  Whether the clarity comes immediately after you ask a trusted colleague or friend for help, or it comes when they help you to see the situation as it is, it yields powerful perspective on how you ended up stuck.  From that you can learn from your mistakes - a key to remaining successful.  3. Productivity.  Asking and receiving help can create a 'high' leading to several days and/or weeks of extreme productivity.
4. New revenue sources.  Help often comes in the form of brainstorming.  Brainstorming the problem you are facing can not only help you to overcome it, but it can result in new opportunities for your business that you hadn't seen before.

So, why are we hesitant to ask for help when all of these great, positive outcomes result?

I recently asked for help.  It was extremely hard for me to do - and I did so reluctantly.  Now, I am SO glad that I did as I feel like I can conquer the world!  It was that easy.

A BIG thank you, personally and professionally, goes out to Whitney Hoffman, who guided me through my challenge with the grace of a master sherpa.

Do you need help with something?  Bite the bullet!  Ask!  You WILL move forward if you ask, but by not asking, you can guarantee you'll remain stuck.

Social Media Metrics: Who Cares?

I just finished reading Nate Elliott's latest blog post, Which Social Media Marketing Metrics Really Matter? (And To Whom?)  It's quite a good read, although it's most definitely written for marketers at large companies.  This makes sense since this is the audience that Forrester Research caters to.  But, I think that smaller businesses can learn from the concepts presented here.

I haven't yet met a "CEO" of a small business who is committed to social media (because the two don't always go hand-in-hand) that doesn't closely watch the number of posts put out and fan/follower counts.  In fact, when these numbers don't rise quickly enough, it's the CEO who is usually first on the phone to me.

I think there are a few big take-aways for small businesses here:

1. Social media content generation efforts should be spread around to key employees - each with a different focus.  

• Branding
• Products/Services
• Community engagement (conversing w/the fans & followers)
• Customer Service

And, so on.  Of course, in a small business one person may wear more than one hat when it comes to generating post worthy content...

2. Measurement.  Measuring your results IS an important function of a smart social strategy.  But within that, results need to be set appropriately (Rome wasn't built overnight) and too much is NOT a good thing.

3. Business owners should monitor social media results, but don't watch them like a hawk.  Let your content producers do their thing!  Build on the success they achieve and stay focused on what you do best.

Overall, I think small business owners should read this article to understand how big business handles the measurement of their social media strategy.  Just remember, the chart used is a great resource if it's condensed down to meet the resources of a smaller business.  Meaning, in a small business the community managers might also be the marketing executive and/or the marketing executive might also be the CEO.

Happy reading!

Have questions on what you've read here? Post them in the comments!