5 Myths About “Old School” Business Practices: Busted

Speaking with a plethora of people on a daily basis, I deal with several generational gaps, but none as prevalent as the gap that exists between stubborn old school business aficionados and the up and comers of the post millennial generation. Make no mistake, changing technology trends are evolving the business landscape at a rate nothing short of fast and furious. Fact is, old school business folks (and practices) are wilting on the vine, headed toward utter extinction, but these old school disciplines still refuse to admit what the generational gap is already proving: technology, and those who learn it are taking over industries in droves. Because savvy owners know that in order to maintain success, they have to market to the next generation, very differently than they did over the past 20 (or so) years. As I dissect these five old school business busting myths, ask yourself where you fit in.

Old School Myth #1: There is nothing more powerful than a phone call

Phone calls are rapidly falling out of style. For productive, forward focused young professionals, few things bother them more than chit chatting on the phone with one client for hours on end, when they could be servicing multiple clients at one time using state of the art tech tools.

Fact: The only reason millennials still pick up the phone is to cow tow to an older generation who refuses to get with the program. Text messaging and social media in boxing tools are the primary weapons of choice for the younger set, as they are more efficient and effective. Truth is, few people will pick up the phone unless they know who is on the other end of it anymore.

Old School Myth #2: You have to be in front of someone for them to like you

Face time can still be relevant, but in the wake of tools like Skype, YouTube, Google Hangouts and webinars, you can accomplish the same “let me get in front of someone” mentality on a far broader scale than sitting down and having a cup of coffee with one person at a time. Video marketing is the new “let me get in front of a potential client”, and is proven to be faster and more efficient than personal one on one attention.

Fact: The only reason savvy millennials still sit down for coffee is to work on their laptop, update their social media, spend time with friends and coworkers and (most importantly) to bow down to old school business partners. And we can’t wait for those days to be over and done -- quite frankly.

Old School Myth #3: Social media doesn’t work

It isn’t the tool that doesn’t work, it’s the user. When you look at mega bloggers and vloggers like Michelle Phan, Pewtie Pie (yes, I know, but still….) or even Shane Dawson, they rose to fame and riches using vlogs, blogs and YouTube. If your social media tools aren’t working for you, it’s because your strategy stinks.

Fact: The largest corporations in the world have acknowledged that having a stellar social media presence is worth its weight in gold, and are even creating executive-level positions for CMO’s – Content Marketing Officers. If your competition knows it works, but you still won’t jump on the bandwagon, that’s just too bad.

Old School Myth #4: Mailouts still generate business

Post cards and mail outs account for less than a one percent rate of return. This generation will check their snail mail (maybe) once per week and stand over their trash can, throwing every bit of junk mail out, separating their bills – which most of them get online anyway, making snail mail nearly obsolete. Truth is, if you want to have something that is effective in this pixelated advertising arena, you need to focus on getting information to clients, and putting that information on the web first, because that is where their search starts– and yes, a stellar and active social media footprint is a big part of that.

Fun fact: It is more cost effective to have content, photos and video that consumers can easily find nowadays than it is to spend a few hundred dollars on post cards.

Old School Myth #5: Business cards will never go out of style

How many stacks upon stacks of business cards do you have that you have never used? How many of those professionals have you forgotten about completely since your hand shake and how-de-do? When you are looking for a product or service what do you typically do first? You Google it, you Google referrals and you post on social media asking for referrals, but you rarely go through a stack of cards. Business cards will never go out of style? They almost have already.

Fact: In the wake of a content marketing era, blogs and vlogs are the new business card equivalent. Producing high level, educational content is what attracts clients, not the same tired marketing they have seen a million times before.

Click here to download a shareable infographic of this content.

Shauna Zamarripa is a content marketing expert and CEO of Valkeryie Consulting, helping businesses learn how to monetize (yes, make money) off of their content marketing. For more, you can follow her on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest.

Originally published on Linked In Pulse

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About Unknown

Shauna Zamarripa is a content marketing expert and author of "How to Make Big Money Blogging in 90 Days or Less".