Here’s the thing. This has happened before, and will happen again and again. Evolution kills whoever won’t adapt. Period.

I had this conversation with so many business owners like 5 or 7 years ago. I could tolerate ignorance back then. Even raw stupid answers like “I know my customers. They are not online!”.

But today, things are pretty clear. You can even join the party, or watch your little company die a slow painful death. And I would be sorry for you, back then. I would hold your hand and give you some “Well, you could’t see that coming” kind of crap. But today ? I’m happy to throw the last shovelful of dirt over your company’s dusty corpse. Because now you have no excuse.

Today things are clear as water coming from river “Social”. The game won’t change. The game HAS already changed. And if you just hearing about it, you are already behind. Way behind.

And you know what? Some of your competition is already in. All in.

But let me give you something you can use. Something tangible you can apply to your business today.

Here are a couple of rules for you to follow.

1. Every company is a media company. So start thinking and acting like one.
2. Speak digital and be everywhere. Provide value.
3. Don’t try to do it yourself. Get people who know their shit to do it for you.

Let me explain.

Conventional advertising is already dead. People just don’t watch, don’t read, don’t react to conventional advertising anymore. There are brain-automations in place, that just ignore those messages.

On TV, everyone is skipping advertising breaks. And if they don’t skip them, they grab their phones to tweet, dm or reply to comment while your 50K adv is on the air. Nobody is watching you heavily paid tv ads. 
And have you noticed? TV air-time is getting cheaper and cheaper. There is a reason behind that.

On radio, well… if your target audience is white males aged 60+ and your product is a local jazz concert that is happening tonight.. go for it. For other demographics good luck explaining what “radio” is.

Print? You can always buy a full page adv on page 94 for … $600.. and pray for people to go there and give a fuck. Don’t know why you would do that though.

People don’t respond to advertising as we know it. 
Stop being romantic about it.

They are sick of it and their brains are wired to ignore everything of that type. They can smell your “natural written” article or your paid interview. They just can.

And then there is the web.

Have you heard the news? Banners are dead.

Here are some new words for your dictionary.

1. Engagement
2. Social
3. Caring

So, get your passwords back from your 19 years old nephew who “manages” you facebook and instagram profiles. Just because you know shit about social media and internet marketing, that doesn’t mean your smartphone addicted nephew does. It’s not about posting on facebook, it’s not about twitting, it’s not about swiping right.

It’s not a technical challenge. 
It’s strategy. It’s feeling. It’s testing all the time new stuff. It’s living and breathing tech and social dust every single day.

It’s about knowing why and what the hell you are doing. Also, it’s about really caring about your customers and providing value in every form, in every platform in every chance you get. It’s about adopting to things that change online daily. It’s about following the trends but acting differently as well. It’s a science. Yes. A science.

It’s about planning for the long term while acting today. It’s about building your online presence, your online legacy. Because everything that goes online, stays forever.

So, don’t be cheap. Invest on those things. This is super important. Get people who know their shit and let them do what they know best on your business. Speaking digital is not a side hustle any more. It’s a core thing. No matter your industry, no matter your location, no matter your product or service, online is where everyone is. It’s where all the attention lives. Do you want to be elsewhere ?

Having a website or a facebook page is NOT enough in 2018. Everybody does that. You need to do more. You need to be different. You need to be smart.

Did you see what #amazon did to Barnes & Noble? Do you see what #netflix is doing to Hollywood? This is real shit. And is coming to your industry tomorrow.

So, you want to be ready. Prepared. Armed. You need to have adopted before it’s really late.

Start growing your digital efforts today. Get a person or a team that can handle those things for you or grow a team inside your company. Doesn’t matter. Just get people who know the craft, follow the trends and will adjust your company’s strategy on the fly while having a long term vision about it.

Things are moving lighting-speed fast people. You need too.

You’ve been warned.