You Can’t Outsource Authenticity

It’s a conversation I’ve had far too often; small businesses get overwhelmed by the responsibility of maintaining an online presence. They start to look for ways to outsource it. 

They ask:

• Can I hire someone to post on Facebook and Twitter for us?
• Can I hire someone to ghostwrite my blog?
• What if we have an intern manage all our social media?

There’s a statistic we throw out fairly often, because it’s true and compelling:

Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors

The reason this happens is NOT because a blog is merely updated regularly — that’s important to be sure — but because the REAL, personal story of the people behind the business is what people connect with; not someone who is managing the account for the summer.

I get it if you need help. I completely understand feeling overwhelmed and like you need another member of your team to manage the production and posting of content on behalf of your business. It’s FINE to appoint someone to that role . . . but make sure it’s someone who is really part of the team. Someone who can really represent you in the public and social space and who others will happily see as representative of you and your business.

If it’s you, then it’s you. Suck it up and find someone to do some other piece of your business that’s it’s not essential you touch with your own two hands. But don’t try to have a surrogate social media manager. It just doesn’t work.