Can I Have Some Business Please

Good morning. Let me start by saying that young Felix must have had a bad dream or something because he woke up crying at 4.30am and then simply didn't want to go back to sleep. The result is that I'm going to need prescription levels of caffeine to keep awake but if I did take the necessary amount of Red Bull, my chest would actually explode. The best thing I can do is type fast and think little.

This week, I want to return to the subject of social networking. Some time ago on this blog I pointed out what a waste of time Facebook appeared to be to me. More than a year on, my opinion has been ever so slightly modified.

You see, social networking truly is the opiate of the modern masses, and whilst there are still tens of thousands of people who choose to update their status with mindless drivel, there are countless more professional people who put these tools to good use.

Promoting special offers in tweets, changing Facebook status to talk about their latest projects and, of course, blogging, all do wonders at increasing one's ranking in the search engines. It's a darn site cheaper than paying for clicks and there are now even people who tout themselves as Social Media Consultants - a role that would have been laughed out of the office a mere two years ago.

Trouble is, all this blogging seems to invite a very long term view. I write this blog once a week, and I actually post excerpts from this, along with other posts, in a business networking site called eCademy. The immediate result is that people in the business world get a little more insight into how I think and what I might be able to do for them. That's great, and because I enjoy writing too, I keep doing it.

However, I've come to realise that all of these offers, opinions, video feeds, jokes and everything else have come at the expense of my making a very simple request of my readers, and it is this - can I have some business please?

Yep, it's that simple. A lot of sales people come up against this hurdle time and time again. They lay down all of the groundwork, building rapport, presenting excellent products and yet, when it comes to the crunch, they simply don't ask for the business.

Well it strikes me that my blog has gone much the same way. So here's the thing - if you like what I write and you feel that the services that I can offer are relevant to your company, please get in touch so that we can talk about your promotional merchandising needs.

Pretty straightforward, but as I get close to the 100 posts mark, I thought it needed saying.

Have a good week.