Change is the only constant in life. And regardless of the role we play, we must continually change in response to—or anticipation of—demands, needs, and trends. At the very least, we need to carefully consider what works or doesn’t work for us.
Esteemed colleague Robbie Kellman Baxter recently posted about the need for marketing executives to stay current with technology. She introduced her post with a vignette about a friend’s mother who sported a beehive, mini-dress, and kitten heels when the rest of the world had moved on to bell bottoms and shags. This lady stuck to her definition of the classics and turned into a relic.
Most of my readers, I suspect, are not marketing executives, yet we all need to understand the impact technology has on our lives. The example I provide is a bit closer to home than strange-looking hairdos and couture that’s unwearable for those of us over 40.
Behind the times
A few days ago, the phone rang, and I picked it up out of pure curiosity. (Hey, talking on the phone already sounds pretty low tech, but bear with me.) On the other end was a massage therapist I had seen years ago. He was personally contacting former clients—which earns my respect—to let them know about his new promotional pricing. Being on the busy side, I said, “Hey, great. Let me check that out on your website.” Long silence. “Well,” he said, with a note of pride, “I’m kinda old fashioned. I don’t have one.”
Dragging yourself into the present
Argh. Just about every small business owner I know has a website. I’m not talking about anything radical here. Just a simple site with a home page, an “about us” page, some work samples if they apply, and maybe pricing. A blog would be good, too. Yes, it costs money to find a decent designer and—I hope—a good copywriter, but you gotta spend money to make money. Or maybe you want to do a Facebook page instead. The point here is to make judicious use of the technology available to you so that you’re not stumping along in your kitten heels when everyone else is in Nikes.
(By the way, I love kitten heels!)
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