Using Social Media to Change, Reinvent & Flip the Script

Sometimes it’s hard to make big shifts in our businesses – even though those same changes may be well overdue and very, very necessary. Change is not always easy.

We may be worried that people will not appreciate the changes we’re going to make or accept the direction we’re going to take. Whatever the scenario, it can help to be able to dip your toe in the water first, and social media can help you do that.

Let’s say you want to launch a new product – an e-book with accompanying audio. You can, before you put too much work into the idea, write a blog post about the idea and ask your readers to weigh in with their thoughts on the product’s validity, relevancy and proposed price point.

If you don’t want to do that, you can write a blog post about the topic you plan to cover in the e-book and see what the response is. Remember to not just look at the comments you get, but see how many times your blog post is tweeted and retweeted on Twitter and see if people are sharing it on Facebook, too.

Once you see that there’s support for your project, you can get your reader and social media fans and followers to help you complete the project by asking them what kinds of content they’d like to see in your new product and even sharing sample passages with them from your new “baby”.

But suppose the reason you’re making the change isn’t an easy one? Don’t forget, the people who read your blog, listen to your podcast, become fans of your Facebook fan page, follow you on Twitter and watch your videos, are just that – people. They’ve had hardships, too. That’s the thing about social media, you can keep it real and people will love you more.

Provided that you feel comfortable and resonate with doing so, open the kimono a bit. Dare to share. You will find support from people and places you never dreamed and it might be just the support you need to make your next bold move.

And, just in case you get cold feet, think about Stella Osorojos. This writer changed her first name to something that meant something to her spiritually and she blogged about it. Now that’s brave!

Go for it!

Lena L. West is the CEO of Influence Expansion, a company that helps growing companies profit from the power of social media and the Internet. She’ll speak on three panels geared toward small business/entrepreneurs at the 2011 Pennsylvania Conference for Women.