Last night I traveled 2 hours down the NY State Thruway to give a presentation at the Dunham Public Library on using social media to market a business. I had no idea what to expect or if anyone would show up and I was also afraid that I wouldn’t give people much value for their time. 

As it turns out 10 people showed up and they were great. In preparing for this I decided to try a couple unconventional things:

1. No Powerpoint slides – I used to love PowerPoint but over the years I’ve seen it abused so badly I can’t take it any more. I really wanted people to interact with me and not be staring at a screen.
2. I prepared ‘chunks’ of material, but decided that I would simply ask people what they wanted to know. This way I could change things on the fly and make my presentation highly targeted.

It worked really well as I made it a point to interact early and often with people. I asked why they were there and what they knew. At points I asked what they thought about things and if they would use it. 

Several times I used something specific that someone said and explained how I would do it or why I would avoid it. 

The night took some unexpected turns, but everyone seemed to be engaged, even though they also seemed to be overwhelmed at times. From the beginning I told them that learning all this in an hour is like trying to paddle a canoe up Niagara Falls, but if they stick with it things get easier quickly. 

Out of the 10 people there I would guess 1 or 2 might try to get into social media or set up a website, which I supposed is normal.  There were several people looking to sell products on the internet and I tried to help them understand how the internet offers them a level playing field with anyone on the planet, big or small. 

I’ve become so rabid about the internet and seeing it as my salvation from the cubicle lifestyle that I found it frustrating to see people coming up with excuses to keep going to farmers markets and local events. Of course that’s their choice and I respect that, but the opportunities that the internet offers us today is unprecedented!  I pity past generations who’s only choice was to open a store and advertise in the newspaper. 

So it was a great night and I once again overcame my introverted nature and delivered value to people. Hopefully I helped at least one of them in some way. It’s funny how easy it is for me to talk about things that fire me up and get my passion ignited. I could have talked all night and as it ended up we were thrown out of the place because the night guy wanted to go home. 

So I’ll take one little victory and move on!