Senior Entrepreneurship – Social Media Strategies for Seniors (Pt. 3)

Background

Are Seniors a prime mover in the modern march toward entrepreneurship?  Yes, they are.

Will they play an increasingly larger role?  Yes, they will.

Will Social Media play a pivotal role in Senior Entrepreneurship?  Absolutely.

Do Seniors need guidance along the way?  In many cases, yes they do.

Do Seniors have the capacity to learn these new methods?  Of course.

What do we know about this emerging entrepreneurial movement?  Actually, quite a lot.

In March of 2006 and then again in 2010, a pioneering study was conducted by our friends across the Atlantic.  Created by HRH the Prince of Wales, The Prince’s Initiative for Mature Enterprise, (PRIME), was one of the first authoritative studies done that identified the characteristics of this emerging demographic, (age 50 and above).  While there are obvious differences between the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom, the results are still illuminating.

Of those Seniors responding to the PRIME study:

• 43% had started a business
• 30% were still considering it, and
• Only 27% had given up
• Overwhelmingly, the people who contacted PRIME were in their 50′s
• Only 15% were in their 60′s and 70′s

What does the PRIME study indicate, and how can it be translated to Seniors in the United States?

It is safe to say that in general terms Seniors are very similar — in wants and inclinations, at least — in both countries.  While economics, financial circumstances and social entitlements are different, the fire in the belly for entrepreneurship is remarkably similar.

• As has been explained in Part 1 and Part 2 of this series, Senior Entrepreneurship in the U.S.A. is on the rise, as it is in the U.K.
• Many Seniors are perfectly suited to build their own enterprise.
• Appropriate strategies are the linchpin necessary to make this happen.
• And finally, something must be done to encourage entrepreneurship in the 60′s and 70′s.

Social Media Strategies for Seniors

Clearly, a refined series of strategic initiatives must be in place to address some of these issues.  Jericho Technology is working diligently on such initiatives, to be launched very soon.  Here is a glimpse of the core ideas as they apply to Seniors:

1.  It’s simple, but it isn’t easy.  It is widely believed among younger entrepreneurs, that Social Media in business is easy to strategize, execute and manage.  As long as they have the time, of course.  This is partially true, but the fallacy is in the details.  There exists a wide disparity between the personal and business uses of Social Media, a disparity that entrepreneurs are just beginning to understand.

One key notion to be understood is that Social Media for business is simple, but it isn’t easy. It requires hours of work every day, exact planning, discipline and execution.  It requires Social Media business expertise.  And it requires a willingness to learn — both the fundamentals and the requisite changes to make mid-course corrections as they become necessary.  For the Senior Entrepreneur, these requirements are not difficult and can be easily implemented from a home computer.

As a group, Seniors display an inquisitive nature, eager to expand their use of Social Media and to fully understand it.  They are willing to commit the time and effort that is necessary, and their retired lifestyle makes this possible.  These are major advantages for Senior businessmen and women.

2.  Economic realities must be met head-on, but the business and profits can grow exponentially. Experienced entrepreneurs of all ages, understand that economic realities must be addressed without wishful thinking.  This is often difficult for first-time entrepreneurs, however, saddled as they sometimes are with an unproven idea.   Senior entrepreneurs, especially if they are working with a product or service in which they have years of experience, tend to be rational and circumspect.  They face economic realities head-on.

On the other hand, while younger entrepreneurs expect to be wildly successful with Social Media, and are not surprised when success materializes, Senior entrepreneurs tend to view business growth as the norm they once experienced.  Senior entrepreneurs need to recognize that Social Media can make their business grow exponentially. They must plan for, and anticipate how dramatic growth will affect their enterprise.

3.  You must understand your customer and empathize with his needs and wants. One of the most dramatic shifts occasioned by the growth of Social Media is the degree to which sellers must now understand and empathize with the customer. This is not the way business has been conducted in the past.  Traditional marketing logic has suggested that once the target market has been selected, the development effort should turn to concentrating on the product itself.  Make it better, cheaper and more reliable than the competition.

In today’s Social Media world, the buyer takes a much more active and vocal role.  The customers’ opinions — good and bad — are circulated on the web with lightning speed. It is now the role of the entrepreneur to run shot-gun on these Social Media interactions.  For the Senior entrepreneur, this is the area most fraught with danger.

The Senior entrepreneur must be highly trained in this new form of customer interaction, and must truly empathize with the customers’ needs and wants.  Instead of asking, “How can we make this product sell? he must ask “What will solve my customers’ problem, whatever it is?”  In cases such as the Ford Motor company, for example, carrying this new approach to its logical end means developing the product that the customer actually wants, not trying to motivate the customer to buy what you’re selling.  It is working beautifully for Ford, and the Senior entrepreneur must pay attention.

4.  You must have, or acquire, solid Social Media expertise. Business experience alone is not a substitute for complete Social Media knowledge.  If it exists, this Social Media knowledge gap must be filled.  The trick is to do it inexpensively and for the long-term.  This is where Senior entrepreneurs can get into trouble.  There are only four ways to efficiently solve this problem:

4.1.  Make a comprehensive study of Social Media yourself, learning from authoritative websites or individuals. Developing Social Media expertise is essential no matter how your strategy evolves.  Learning is hugely important.  In order to make viable decisions, you must be well-versed in the strategy, tools, techniques and tactics of Social Media.  As a minimum, you must master Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn, and you must be on the watch for new Social Media venues from day-to-day.  As important as this extensive learning is, as an entrepreneur you have more productive ways to invest your time, do you not?

The primary problem with this approach if taken alone, is that this education process can be long and frustrating.  Just finding authoritative resources is a crap-shoot.   In any case, learning in this way will be general in nature, and will not apply to your specific market, customers and products.

4.2.   Hire fully competent employees to perform the Social Media tasks. There are at least three problems associated with this approach, again if taken alone.

First, if you are not fully immersed in Social Media yourself, what chance do you have of gauging the skills of a new employee?  Even large, seasoned companies make this mistake every day.  Second, even if your recruitment effort is successful, you have the added problem of a costly addition to staff.   And finally, you have created what I call the thousand fathers dilemma. As President John F. Kennedy once remarked, “Failure is an orphan … but success has a thousand fathers.” If this new employee is successful in his job he will be highly sought after, and your long-term opportunities will be replaced by endless renegotiations of his salary.   Worse still, he may leave you altogether.  If he is unsuccessful in his job, he will become an albatross around your neck that you will have difficulty replacing.

4.3.   Engage outside consulting companies. Depending upon the company — its fees and boots-on-the-ground experience — this too can be an inefficient and costly problem.  Furthermore, by using this approach exclusively you have relinquished control and guaranteed a long-term expense.  Worse still, if you are not careful, you may end up with a useless pile of flip charts, whitepapers and PowerPoint presentations that lose their value within minutes of being given.

4.4. Develop a strategy that combines the above. The only sensible approach is to combine all of the above — in a customized, market-related strategy — that is built from the ground up to meet your company’s needs. By customizing your approach, you can learn Social Media at a macro level, hire new employees only when necessary, and engage outside consultants initially if needed, without the risk of a long-term financial commitment.  This fourth option is a key deliverable in the Jericho Technology approach to doing business.

5.  You should exploit an exclusive marketing niche, or if none currently exists you should create one. In a recent article, How to Devour the Competition: The ONE Big Idea, I explained this concept in detail.  Essentially, it requires the creative development of a marketing niche that you own.  The competition becomes irrelevant.  A good example is Apple.  With the development of the iPod, iPhone and iPad, Apple carved out a marketing niche in which they were effectively alone.  The competition existed, but in the consumer’s mind Apple was the goto company for innovative devices.  Everything from its product development and advertising to its carefully designed real-world stores, emphasized its exclusive ownership of the marketing niche.  To the extent that Senior entrepreneurs adopt this strategy, their success will be accelerated.

6.  You should empower your customers’ businesses as you empower your own. Traditional marketing has been basically unilateral.  It involved the seller’s products, sales, profit margins and other factors that ignored the customer except as the focal point of the sales.  Social Media, particularly in B2B situations, carries with it an implicit understanding that “engagement” with the customer –  providing solutions to his problems, garnering enhanced success for his business, and establishment of trust between both companies — is a crucial strategy.  Senior entrepreneurs should try to establish mutually beneficial relationships with other Senior entrepreneurs, empower their businesses and by so doing facilitate this strategy.

7.  You should evaluate your current Social Media approaches and adapt as necessary. It is remarkable how few companies routinely evaluate their Social Media approaches in real-time.  This is not an exercise that should be done periodically, or after the marketing cycle concludes.  It must be done continuously.  Social Media interaction makes this form of evaluation much simpler than in traditional marketing efforts.  Whatever metrics are relevant to your company’s success can be tracked on a daily, if not hourly basis.  In traditional marketing it could take months before empirical evidence was available, but in Social Media it is as rapid as watching how quickly your Twitter updates are retweeted.  In a matter of minutes you can gauge your success or failure, and make immediate adaptations.  And of course, with proper preparation and knowledge of tools and techniques, Senior entrepreneurs can do this from their home computers. 

9.  You must make skilled execution all-important. In Social Media, nothing must be left to chance.  Strategy and careful management are important, but if the strategies are not effectively executed the entire effort has been wasted.  In traditional business, there is often a great distance between management decision-making and the execution of the decisions themselves.  This is often a liability.  The Senior entrepreneur is often executing his own decisions, and this is a decided advantage.

10.You must totally engage with all of your audiences. Just as it’s true that you must engage with your customers, often in multiple markets, it is also true that you must engage with all of your audiences:  The influential members of your chosen industry, the press, your employees, investors, stakeholders and fellow entrepreneurs.

11. You must practice effectiveness and efficiency, while amplifying your media messages with emotion and enthusiasm. You must get the right job done (effectiveness), the job done right (efficiency) and you must fill your online communications with emotion and enthusiasm. Senior entrepreneurs can be easily taught effectiveness and efficiency, particularly if they have years of experience.  They are also emotionally attached to their new venture, and enthusiastic by nature.  All that remains is for them to communicate what they are feeling.

 

Beginning on April 25, 2011, a new strategy will form the basis of Jericho Technology’s approach to entrepreneurs of all ages.   This powerful initiative will be particularly useful for entrepreneurs ages 50 to 75.  I refer to it as the E13 Social Media Strategy – The Vanguard Approach.  Upon launch in four days, you can find more information by clicking here.  Existing customers can find complete instructions and resources by clicking here.

Getting in touch with me is very easy

If you are a Senior Entrepreneur wishing to harness the power of Social Media, or you know someone who is, I am very easy to get in touch with and I am eager to help.   Simply call the number below.  During normal business hours, (8 AM – 5 PM Scottsdale, Arizona time), it is my direct line.  Otherwise, just leave a message. If you would prefer to exchange email I would love to here from you. Just email michaelstewart@jerichotechnology.com or click the email badge below. I promise I will get back to you within 24 hours.

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