Are you Out of Touch?

A friend of mine has been very successful in the advertising world and he doesn't own a computer.

He could if he wanted to, but in his current line of work, he doesn't need one. Why? He has a secretary who takes care of all his emails for him. (No, she's not an administrative assistant, he prefers "secretary".)

He is an exception. The only thing that he does that I would urge you to follow is his work ethic. Each morning he reviews the to-do list that he wrote the night before with a pencil and a notepad and goes to work.

Yet, as I write this on my laptop, there are 5 others around me in this coffee shop on their laptops and they are all doing something that is keeping them connected. Perhaps they are on Facebook. Maybe they are on LinkedIn. They have most likely heard about Twitter even though they don't understand it yet. Most use Google I bet to find stuff. And everyone has email so it seems. Even my friend without a computer has an email address.

There is a problem or an opportunity for you right now depending on how you answer the following questions:

Does your business have a website?

Has it been redesigned in the past 3 years?

Is the website optimized so Google will find it easily?

Do you have any Google Alerts set up for your company? Your staff? Your competitors? Do you read them?

Do you know what happened to Domino's this month? Or does #AmazonFail mean anything to you?

The last 2 questions are related to Twitter and YouTube and the speed of communications these days. Businesses used to be able to control the spread of bad news and rumors, but not anymore. With the rise of the so-called Social media, news spreads faster than a California wildfire. And it can be just as destructive too, unless...

Unless you step up to the plate and join the growing world of instant world wide communication and at the very least start monitoring what is going on, followed by a policy and procedures on how to handle and manage bad news as well as good news, you will be limited in your growth.

It's available to you now. And it's not going away. Will you stay "Out of Touch"? Or will you embrace the future now as it unfolds all around you.

Your comments, and questions are always welcome.