‘Friends’ Without Facebook –DeWese
I want all of you to give me your closest attention. This announcement is really important!
I have quit Facebook! I bet you don't know another person who ever quit Facebook. I'm using this column to say goodbye to all my "friends" on Facebook.
I wanna make this clear. We are still friends! I just no longer want to read about your trips to the grocery store or your grandma's birthday party. I'm no big shot. I just don't have the time to keep up with junior's Little League batting average or his sister's soccer goals.
I'm not saying that you should quit Facebook. If you sell printing, I encourage you to be an avid Facebook participant, as well as a member of all the other social network sites. You need to know as much information as possible about your customers and prospects. You need to show a genuine interest in their Beef Bourguignon and the Book of the Month for their reading clubs.
The key thing to remember here, however, is that your "posts" should contain about 80 percent fewer words than theirs. It's no different than making a sales call. The customer should talk 80 percent of the time and you should talk the remaining 20 percent. Do you really want clients who have "friended" you thinking that you spend a lot of your time on the Internet?
While I'm on the subject of social networking, never agree or disagree with a customer's political posts, or any controversial post, for that matter. If Barry Bonds, Charlie Sheen or Dr. Phil come up, just let your opinions go. Pretend you were disconnected from the Internet that day.
Oh, I just received an e-mail from Facebook. They want me back. They are telling me, "Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life."
Well, anyway, I still want to be your friend; so call me if you want to talk. I never refuse a phone call. Or, shoot me an e-mail or mail me a letter in care of the magazine. I always answer e-mails and letters from readers, and I sure get a lot of 'em. The next thing I write will be a response to a young man who sent me about 400 words.
He needs to relocate a great distance with his wife and children to find a job near his mother-in-law, who is suffering from an incurable disease, and to help with a special-needs sister-in-law. He's been in the industry since age 15—a total of more than 24 years—working various jobs, starting as a pressman and on up to plant manager.
He tells me that he sticks with printing, not out of necessity, but because, "I love it." He enjoys working in an atmosphere where he can help create a culture of winning—where "everyone participates and salespeople feel like royalty, because no one sells more than a happy salesperson."
Do you think I'm going to try to help this guy? You can bet your sweet computer mouse I'm gonna knock myself out to help him.
He needs a job in Florida. Send me an e-mail and I'll put you in touch with him. He sounds like a real winner, with one heck of a great attitude.
Whoops! Here's another e-mail from Facebook. They sure want me back. But I'm too busy to –answer them. I've also got to quit Classmates.com and MySpace.com.
All of this social networking talk has got me interested in the phenomena. I went to Wikipedia and, sure enough, it had loads of information. For example, there are 340 major social networking sites with 110,250,000,000 members. There is not one printing or graphic arts social networking site among the 340 sites. It seems like PIA or NAPL would have started social networking sites. Members would have to be either printers or print buyers.
The Hunt Is Still On
With that said, I've got to get back to tallying the results from my National Scavenger Hunt. I now have 131 participating scavengers, and 98 of them are female. That tells us something.
I'll begin reporting the results in my August Printing Impressions column, which is the halfway mark. If you want to sign on, go back and read my March and April columns. It's not too late; in fact, it's never too late to chase new customers.
I'm not surprised that there are more women participants than men. Us males are far too prideful and full of false machismo to stoop to playing a prospecting game. So you saleswomen, get out there and sell something!
I'm going to have a lot more time to take naps or actually do some work, now that I don't have to visit Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc. PI
—Harris DeWese
About the Author
Harris DeWese is the author of "Now Get Out There and Sell Something" and "The Mañana Man, Books II and III," available at www.piworld.com/bookstore. He is chairman of Compass Capital Partners and also authors the annual "Compass Report." DeWese has completed more than 150 printing company transactions and is viewed as the industry's preeminent deal maker. He can be reached via e-mail at hmdewese@aol.com.
