Why is this? Why did we feel that our granpa was the person we could go to? Was it because we felt they offered a safer sanctuary from stuff that we didn’t want to share with our parents? Or was it because they were older than anyone we knew, so they must be wise?

Whatever the reason, one thing that can’t be denied is that older people have a wealth of experience behind them for many things. So why aren’t we using it?

I read a report the other day that said CMO’s are disappointed at the calibre of business students coming through their doors. They wanted someone who could hit the ground running, and this just wasn’t happening.

Of course it’s not going to happen. Students are only as good as the teaching, and this is suffering because of cuts in public funding to schools and universities (even dedicated business ones). So it’s a Catch 22 situation: no funding = less teaching = less knowledge.

At the same time, there are a host of older business people who are being cast aside from an age point of view. Many businesses are taking the approach that younger employees are the future as technology and business practices change, thanks to social media.

While this might be true to a certain degree, it’s not as clear-cut as these businesses think. Older people are getting more involved with social media, as anyone who attends the AgeOp chats on Twitter can attest to. And they still have an immense amount of experience built up over years of being in business.

So here’s an idea.

Reverse Mentoring = Simple Economics

Younger people know social media but don’t have business experience. Older people have that business experience but don’t necessarily have the social media knowledge. Isn’t there a simple correlation here?

Businesses can sponsor retired or semi-retired professionals to talk to business students and offer their years of knowledge and experience. This gives the students access to untold amounts of knowledge and skill-sets that they’d otherwise miss out on. It should also help appease the CMO’s who’re complaining about student knowledge.

On the flip side, the younger students coming through can help the older business professionals understand and adapt to social media quicker. This can either help them in their current jobs, or use it to combine with their retired or semi-retired status. Everyone wins.

It can’t be as simple as that. Can it?

photo credit: Alexandra Groza

Reverse Mentoring originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

If you’re a business owner, do you have a social media presence yet? Set up your Twitter account, added a shiny new company blog and joined Facebook? How about a Squidoo page or a Ning community? Networking on LinkedIn? Got them all on your checklist? No?

GOOD.

Despite what you might hear, you don’t need a presence on every single social media network or community.

Contrary to popular belief, social media is not the be all and end all to your business worries. It’s not the one-fit-catches-all solution that will bring you endless streams of revenue and profit.

It is a powerful medium to spread your message and engage with your customers – but your customers need to be there first, old and new.

It is a hugely cost-effective medium when compared to traditional promotional and marketing spend, but you need to invest a lot of time to make it work. Time can be just as expensive a commodity as a media campaign.

Ask yourself who your core audience is. Are they the early adopters that would use social media much like boxers would use mouth pieces? Do they fall within the key users of the mediums you’re looking at? If not, why waste time in that arena? Why try and spread a message to people with closed ears? Even the most silver-tongued persuader will have a hard time if he can’t speak sign language.

By all means, open your business up to the strengths and opportunities that social media can offer. But open up the right doors – make sure your business is the key that fits.

Your business survives because your customers say yes. But sometimes it’s good to say no too. No?

It’s Good to Say No originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.

I came across the video Social Media in Plain English by a company called Common Craft. They have a host of similar videos for different themes – the key connecting factor is the simplicity in which they explain their topics.

I think Social Media in Plain English is one of the most apt titles I’ve ever come across.

What do you think?

Social Media in Plain English originally appeared on Danny Brown | Social Media Marketing Blog - The Human Side of Media and the Social Side of Marketing under a Creative Commons license.