I know I talk a lot about how to make social media work for you and how it can help you grow your business. And I do this because I not only believe it, but I've seen it work over and over again. But there are still a lot of people who complain that it doesn't work for them and that it's a waste of their time.

If social media isn't working for you, it's not social media, it's you.

Yes, you are the problem.

Harsh? Maybe.

I recently read this article about a woman who complained that social media wasn't working for her business. Even with the help of a professional social media consultant, she still saw no real improvement or validation. You could feel bad for her and say at least she tried. And it's probably time for her to focus elsewhere.

Or you could realize that she is her own obstacle to her success.

The social media professional provided her with tips and suggestions for improvement. After almost two months, she hadn't implemented most of them. Her repeated excuse was that her Facebook audience wasn't her target audience. And on top of it, most of the social link buttons on her website didn't actually link to her social media profiles.

Seriously?

Listen to me right now. If you do not have social media buttons on your website to connect with your audience, you need to stop reading this and go talk to your web designer. If you don't have a web designer, you need to install a social media widget. When you've done that, you can come back and finish reading.

If people are on your website and reading your material - they are your target audience!

Why on Earth wouldn't you want to provide them an easy means to find you on social media? Social media buttons on your website are the easiest way to get your targeted audience onto your social media sites.

If your target audience is not on your Facebook (or other) page, you're doing it wrong! Having all your friends and family like your page isn't going to bring you new business. You need to get potential customers and existing customers onto your pages.

So let me ask you this, who runs your business? You? How did you grow you business? I'm pretty sure you didn't do it sitting on your butt complaining about how you had no customers. Social media is the same thing. You are not going to grow you audience by sitting around complaining about it. You need to get yourself out there and network, connect, sell, promote, share, and peddle the crap out of your social media sites.

Oh, I'm sorry. You're right. You don't have time for that.

Too bad! If you want social media to work for you, you need to work for it.

If you can't do it, or like the lady in the article "didn't go to school for this," then you need to find someone who can help you. Stop making stupid excuses. Because that's all you're doing - making excuses.

I realize that not everyone is going to love social media like I do. That's totally ok. But you need to respect the value of social media to grow your business. And if you can't love it and commit to it, you need to find someone who will.

Hire someone part-time or find a consultant/agency who can manage your pages for you.

The article I mentioned is frustrating because the woman featured is someone who could genuinely benefit from social media marketing. But she's so disillusioned that she's essentially given up on it. And for that reason she won't succeed with social media marketing. But her competition will.

So if social media isn't working for you, stop, look in the mirror, and ask yourself why it isn't working. Are you making excuses and setting yourself up for failure?

If you would like to learn how to use social media more effectively, I provide training to educate you and your staff on how to use social media. Feel free to contact me to discuss how we can make social media marketing work for you.