Staying on the right side of the Digital Divide

Used to be when people talked about the digital divide, they were referring to the have's having computers and the have-nots...not. Today, the laws of faster-smaller-cheaper have taken care of much of that. Inexpensive cell phone technologies are putting powerful communications tools in the hands of every teen in the country. Legislators are tweeting their followers about the doings at the State of the Union address. Seems like social media has become ubiquitous across our society.

These days I see a different digital divide taking hold -- those that see a great digital tool and use it and those that don't.

I urge you, as a small business owner, in all of your busy-ness, sleeves rolled up, heads down plying your trade, not to get stuck on the wrong side of the digital divide. One: Because it will continue to grow. And two: because mastering digital technologies (specifically social media) has the potential to help you grow you business in the future.

While social media has yet to solidify as a business application, that day is fast approaching. Why? Because a whole generation of consumers is coming into the market with the easy access of social media as their chosen information source. Innovative business owners are already seeing the light and building campaigns on these inexpensive communications channels.

Fortunately, you can too. To get started, all you need to do is take tiny steps each week to start getting comfortable with social media.

For some this will not be easy. If you are much over 45, it is likely that embracing new technologies is something you must work at. These tools were not part of the world you came up in, and as we age, change can be hard.

So, the real purpose of this exercise is not Mastering the Tweet -- it is to embrace change and begin to feel comfortable with the power of the digital pen in your hand. The social media that matters today might not be relevant tomorrow, but you can use today's tools to master the most critical skill of all -- embracing change and seeing social media for what it is: a clever tool for communicating with people that are important to you.

Here are some steps you can take to quick start your learning curve...

• Start a blog and add a personality to your website. Write short articles that help people understand your products, and get the most from them. Build a tool that lets your customers ask questions, and answer them in your blog. (Once you get this started, perhaps a young college intern can help you keep on top of it.)
  
  
• Set up a Facebook account, and invite your friends and family to join you online. You will find it to be a delightful place where you are constantly exposed to curious new things that expand your horizons and make you laugh. Can you think of a way to use facebook to interface with your customers?
  
  
• Join Linked In, and make a practice of linking to the people you meet as you go through your business day, attend business luncheons and network to grow your business. Leverage the tool to be an active resource, connecting people, and giving referrals where they are due.
  
  There are many articles available on the web regarding how to get the most out of Linked In, depending on your objectives. Once you are comfortable with the medium itself, take some time to research what people are saying about how to maximize your experience -- to grow sales, to research partners, to find and research prospective employees, etc.
  
  
• Set up a Twitter account. Again, invite your friends and family to join you, and find some public figures that you find interesting to follow. To get started, make a point of updating your status each day. Try it from your cell phone, or your desktop. It can be liberating to share what is on your mind in 140 characters or less.
  
  What can you do with twitter? I know a man who does real-time market research surveys to take to pulse of his followers on breaking news items. You have to know the tool before you can think about how you might use it. Put your toe in and get used to the water.

Slowly but surely digital communications channels are replacing traditional media -- print, tv, radio. This does not mean that your promotional costs will radically decrease, that your need to market your business has disappeared, or that your need to be smart, strategic, planful about your business is over.

This means that in the future you will be able to be quick, flexible and timely in how you communicate. It means that instead of pre-printing thousands of costly slick glossy brochures for your sales reps to carry you might print one leave behind to help him look legitimate and summarize your key messages, and spend more of your money and efforts building out your website, building a customer community where they can ask questions and learn more about you and your products/services.

What makes these new tools exciting -- and terrifying -- is their two-way nature. That's why the youngest users like them -- they are inclusive media. Everyone has a voice. From the company perspective, public discourse can be scary, because if you have an unhappy customer willing to take their concern public, others might be swayed away from you. But think of it this way -- delighted customers can be pretty contageous too!

With social media, the burden is greater to perfect your product, improve your service. Learn how to handle the rational unhappy customer -- and turn their experience around. And have so many happy customers that the occasional crazy, irrational unhappy customer becomes an outlier.

Most business owners still have a long way to go -- not only on the social media front, but in terms of creating an army of delighted customers. Baby steps are the way to go. Aim for progress, not perfection.

Before you jump into social media with your business, it is wise to get to know the tools as a media consumer. So start today with one baby step.

Tweet me @LindaCarlisle.