The document discusses 12 common fears about using social media for businesses and provides advice to overcome each fear. The fears include lack of control, privacy issues, not reaching the target demographic, users not connecting with the business, failure, wasting too much time without results, criticism of the business or products, security issues, not trusting staff to handle social media, not having enough staff, not having the budget, and not knowing where to start. The document recommends participating in conversations rather than trying to control them, establishing privacy policies, recognizing that all demographics are online now, taking time to build connections with users through a clear strategy, accepting that mistakes may happen and learning from them, being flexible with time and strategy, addressing criticism directly without

1. 12 social media fears overcoming social media fears right now aww yeah!

2. 1 fear number one “ We won't have CONTROL over the conversation.”

3. 1 NEWS FLASH: You don't have CONTROL over the weather either.

4. no rain, no rainbows.

5. 1 fear: lacking control You won't have control , but by avoiding social media, you miss the opportunity to participate in the conversation.

6. 1 fear: lacking control A natural and organic conversation is in high demand today and the era of control is over.

7. 1 fear: lacking control You're being talked about whether you're involved or not , so take this as a chance to get involved in the conversation.

8. 2 fear number two: “ We have to PRIVACY .” worry about

9. 2 NEWS FLASH All companies PRIVACY .” worry about

11. 2 fear: privacy All companies have to deal with privacy issues, but your absence could lead to a lack of trust in you by the consumer.

12. 2 fear: privacy A reported 93% of social media users say they expect companies to have a social media presence and an absence can be a mark against a company.

13. 2 fear: privacy Establish the corporate policy prior to using social media that covers privacy (or retool your non-compete contracts to cover social media use).

14. 3 fear number three “ Well, our DEMOGRAPHIC isn't online.”

15. 3 NEWS FLASH That is just WRONG... unless your demo is a fetus or a carcass.

17. 3 fear: reach All demographics are online now, starting at toddler age up to 100 year olds . All continents are using social media, even Antarctica .

18. 3 fear: reach Facebook alone has over two million users over age 55 and the growth of all of the social networks is massive (we’re talking over 1000% growth in some cases).

19. 4 fear number four “ Our users won't CONNECT with us.”

20. 4 NEWS FLASH Social media users CONNECT with others naturally.

21. friend request accepted

22. 4 fear: connecting It takes grooming & a concise strategy, but you won’t sit alone online unless you set up a profile then stare blankly at the screen.

23. 4 fear: connecting The “ if you build it, they will come ” mentality is not at all true in social media.

24. 4 fear: connecting The benefit to social media is that you can reach new markets and you can bring in new users.

25. 5 fear number five “ What if we FAIL???”

26. 5 NEWS FLASH You're asking the WRONG question.

28. 5 fear: failure Scared of failing? The risk here is not in failure but in failing to try .

29. 5 fear: failure We have already established that consumers expect you to be online and because social media is a relatively young medium, it is still a forgiving space.

30. 5 fear: failure If you make a mistake , just apologize and move on.

31. 5 fear: failure Don’t try to control the situation or pass the buck, take responsibility for a failed experiment and promise your audience that you’re learning from it.

32. 6 fear number six “ We fear spending TOO MUCH TIME without results.”

33. 6 NEWS FLASH Any marketing EFFORT takes time.

35. 6 fear: wasted time Fearing a time investment won’t get you far, think of it as a risk spending too little time as you watch your competitors eat up your market .

36. 6 fear: wasted time Your value proposition in social media is an authentic presence and results vary, so we advise changing your strategy as you go. Flexibility increases your success rate.

37. 7 fear number seven “ What if people CRITICIZE us or our product?”

38. 7 NEWS FLASH If they're going to CRITICIZE they're already doing it.

40. 7 fear: being criticized This is a unique opportunity to overcome objections and publicly create fans & change minds, not by controlling the message but by addressing problems head on without being defensive.

41. 7 fear: being criticized Social media is based upon making genuine connections, so why not use this as an opportunity to be human as you address criticism?

42. 7 fear: being criticized Being silent is the same to some as agreeing, so be proactive .

43. 8 fear number eight “ Is social media SECURE?”

44. 8 NEWS FLASH Social media is as SECURE as your email.

46. 8 fear: security Social media is not secure . Neither is television, radio or the phone. Your data is secured similarly to your email so don't give out your passwords.

47. 8 fear: security The golden rule: don’t publish any comment, picture or article online that you wouldn’t show the world on television, over the radio or in a newspaper.

48. 9 fear number nine “ What if I don't TRUST MY STAFF to handle our social media?”

49. 9 NEWS FLASH Then you should FIRE your entire staff.

51. 9 fear: staff ability If you trust your staff to sell your service in person or over the phone, social media is no different- it’s just a different communication tool. We call this accountability .

52. 9 fear: staff ability Properly train your staff, keep everyone educated and as mentioned before, you will need to remain flexible .

53. 10 fear number ten “ What if I don't have ENOUGH STAFF to handle our social media?”

54. 10 NEWS FLASH Every business starts WITH ONE PERSON and this is no different.

56. 10 fear: commitment Then just start small . As a business owner, sign up for Twitter and be yourself for a while.

57. 10 fear: commitment You don’t have to constantly sell, you can simply make people want to contact you or your company by giving them an informal peek behind the scenes.

58. 10 fear: commitment As you find time to engage and it becomes easier, grow your efforts.

59. 11 fear number eleven “ We don't have the BUDGET for social media.”

60. 11 NEWS FLASH Yes you do. It's called A MARKETING budget.

62. 11 fear: cost Social media is 68% of marketers’ priority in 2009 and being in the remaining 32% poses a risk of being beaten to connect with the consumer.

63. 11 fear: cost If you don’t have dollars to invest, at least invest the time to make social media a priority .

64. 12 fear number twelve “ I have no idea where TO START.”

65. 12 NEWS FLASH When Edison invented THE LIGHTBULB, neither did he.

67. 12 fear: where to start An education is the first place. If you're lost , you should consider hiring a new media consultant even if just to establish where to begin.

68. 12 fear: where to start Depending on company size, it may be starting a blog. Others may need a presence on Facebook or Twitter while others have consumers still focused on forums.

69. 12 fear: where to start Exploring social networks and listening is the ultimate starting point- never dive in head-first without knowing how deep the pool is.

70. Wow, you made it to slide 70! You MUST have needed some hand holding to overcome your fears! 12 social media fears & overcoming them now

71. Guess what ? We're always here to help! We consult, speak & write about social media every day ! 12 social media fears & overcoming them now

72. WE WANT TO TALK TO YOU! blog : nmlab.com/blog email : austinlabs(at)gmail.com twitter : @newmedialab 12 social media fears we like talking. a lot.