So what's next? How can we change and prepare for the future instead of stewing in our own juice all the time?
Yes, social media and LinkedIn is getting more boring for 4-5 years, and super boring since late 2018, because of all these generic posts big companies from DACH area create and copy from each other, but also from newbies on LinkedIn.
Team pics with high-fives, funny offices with playground and unboxing my new Mac on the 1st business day has become common if you want to be an innovative company, and people like it or they don't like it and don't see it, because they are just creating content all the time, without watching..., hm ?!
So, let me take a look back to 2012, where I started being more active on LinkedIn, yes I was before more on Xing and Facebook from 2003 - 2011, I believe the content was better or more international, the nowadays, maybe it was not so generic here, because it was a business platform for international people, who really worked globally. Now it is just for 50%, while it is 50% for the DACH people and an Instagram community, who wants to make business too.
Yes, it was nice to get ca. 25 k contacts here during the last 7 years and grew 17 k followers on #LinkedIn, but so what? It helped me to be trendy, but for business maybe just for 50% in sales, because I could find easier my sales targets before I gave them a phone call.
In recruiting I have to confess, that I did a lot of research here, even with several premium accounts, but the best candidates came from own network and classical direct search by phone or via a recommendation by not interested targets. I never placed a retainer project and position just by #LinkedIn, it just helped me to show the clients a track record of my work.
Ok, #LinkedIn is great to search and filter international contacts that matter and call them after that to arrange a meeting, and maybe its also good for self-marketing, as I do for my #BREADHUNTER #Blog and #company, but that's all and I believe it will now come down as #Xing is coming down for DACH region(because all DACH people discover now LinkedIn). So why coming down?
Because people will be getting bored with all the content here and the return on investment is low for your business but good to show off. I think social media was a nice playground for us in the last 10 years, but I am not sure about its real impact or return on investment we got. Maybe in the short term, but not sustainable. Trends are always like a pendulum and now I believe we have the turning point before it goes to the other direction. Maybe not the generic crowd, but the thinkers and creative people feel like me. This is what I have learned from recent talks during the last 6 months.
So what's next?
After 4 weeks of detox from social media and even Linkedin(ok I had some few automated posts and comments), it feels good and I met more people or called more friends by my #Punkt-Phone . I think for some it's now the renaissance of a new kind of business area, going back to #madmen style and personal, strong, global networks.
While the crowd has even more fun here, we change our business habits to be more effective, selective and sustainable regarding our contacts and friends we do business with.
In the end, it's just hard work, that makes us happy, not the dopamine-kick from posting and liking things on social media. To discover this, you need to be creative without social media and just do it, after a social media and device detox.
- Shut down your smartphone for at least 1 week, and you will see, how addictive you are.
- Try to check your emails just 3-4 times per day, as well as your social media accounts e.g. #linkedin
- Kill WhatsApp and al messenger apps and just use your phone and email. - yes, your friends will not like it, but if they are gone by this change, they might not be your friends... ;-)
- Take a notebook or e-Ink tablet and use the first 15 minutes in the morning to write down your plans, goals, and ideas.
I think in times with a lot of work and social media overkill, it feels good to kill social media and focus. Who is always available belongs to the staff. ;-)
Build your own business and life around you and do not let built it by the others for you, otherwise, you will be a glassy robot.
So, my conclusion is, that we can slow down to hit the right targets like a sniper. We are not hamsters in a wheel, we are human beings, who think, feel and can make fast turnarounds if needed, but let the hamsters run, if they want, it's a chance for you to be different and hit the goal like a blind ZEN archer.
Thoughts from Vienna by BEADHUNTER