Last night, I was hanging out with my son at Science World. He was playing with one of his classmates, and I was hanging with her mom.
Her mom asked me what I do. This is always a tricky thing to tell people. Sometimes when I say “I show people how to use Social Media to market their business or art practice,” I get a blank look. I mean, two years ago, this profession didn’t exist.
“Do you mean, you show people how to use Facebook to sell their stuff?”
My response was: “kind of.”
It seems like more and more these days, we are seeing less people using their website’s URL on their marketing materials. So often we see facebook.com/yourbusiness instead. And while Facebook is excellent for building relationships, let’s not forget why we’re here.
As Kevin O’Leary from the Dragon’s Den so succinctly puts it, we’re here to make money. And until you can sell your stuff directly off of Facebook, Facebook will never replace a good, old-fashioned website.
Here’s the introduction to a recent article called 7 Reasons Why Replacing Your Website with Social Media is Stupid on Hubspot’s blog:
Can a business exist on the web today using just a social media presence and no actual business website? Yes, but it’s a major mistake. The Wall Street Journal recently published an article that profiled small business owners who chose to use social media instead of maintaining a corporate website.
While social media is a powerful tool for marketing and building online reach for a business, it does not fill the shoes of a corporate website. Yes, small businesses should be using social media, but they should do so as part of a complete inbound marketing strategy. If you are currently only using social media and do not have a business website, check out these seven reasons to make a change.