For those of us who have geeked out for years: We don’t realise how lucky we are to be at the vanguard of technology.

I say lucky; you could feel cursed – it’s something only you can decide. I remember the spongy touch of the keyboard on my Spectrum 16k. I remember the thrill of getting a ‘real’ computer when picking up my Atari ST from the Earl’s Court Computer Show back in 1988. These were incredible moments that confirmed I would be nerd forever. Some people are chained to these immobile flickering hunks of metal in silos at work and detest them with a loathsome heart best reserved for the Devil and Hitler. But they’re still geeks.

In any case, the one thing us techies forget is that we’re years ahead in thinking of many small businesses who are simply struggling to stay afloat. They have no time to fight their corner on Twitter or figure out a way to convert their HTML to FBML and start canvassing customers to Like them on Facebook.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this. And I’m starting to think that, au contraire, they may actually be doing something that we’ve overlooked in favour of staring at screens looking for answers.

When you focus on the business, rather than the technologies that could assist you, you know what’s going on. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube won’t tell you have to run your business – but they might ruin you if you obsess over them as The Next Big Thing.

Any business, of any size, needs to focus on what counts. The customer. First you need to identify them, then you need to please them. Then you look to social media to build, grow and innovate your profile and brand equity.

Our job at Word And Mouth is to offer ways to think differently and better about business; to spot opportunities for growth.

We sometimes forget that crushing it with social media is actually the next but one step on the road to development incredible customer relationships.

First every business hasto reassess their portfolio and its validity in today’s marketplace.

I have this client right now who just hasn’t made a dent on the interwebs. At all. Yet here’s the light brigade yammering on about geosearching Twitter. It’s another world to this guy.

So we start with the fundamentals. Go back to basics.

When 2000 came around I think governments had a duty to create ministers of business success. Give every enterprise a 101 session to reboot their strategies and focus on how to get maximum value out, and put maximum impact in, to give them the best chance of success.

But now here we are 10 years in and many are still in 1999 mode.

Every business wants to know how to best promote their ability to solve problems. They want to get the best revenues, the most loyal customers. That’s the fundamental of every venture.

It’s about making connections. Networking. Studying case studies. But even more important than that: understanding how your business aligns with the changing nature of the consumer.

So here’s how you begin:

1. Talk to your customer. Find out why they use you rather than your competition. Understand your value proposition. What is the number one reason you exist – in the eyes of your client? Reach out to them using any means necessary. By all means if you’re already operating the social media sphere, use this. There’s no cheaper, better way to outreach; apart from face to face, at your premises or theirs. Choose your strategy.
2. From this information you can find where your challenges and obstacles are. Take a step back, get some business support  – look inside and figure out how you can objectively solve these issues. Make connections. Join a Mastermind Group. Talk out your challenges with other business owners. It could change your life, as it changed mine.
3. Reassess and repurpose your core proposition – then repackage your communications.

Repurpose, then repackage. Think about this: Communications is everything to the modern day entrepreneur. Yet so many forget about it until it’s too late. The press release hits the trash; the special offers are overlooked and the competition gets first dibs.

I work with small businesses to identify opportunities for growth using communications. It’s about making the right connections and saying the right things. Then you can level the playing field with social media. Then it’s time to, as Gary Vay-ner-chuk would say – crush it. But focus on the basics first.

Only when you’ve overcome the basics do you sight social media. The trouble is, everyone thinks social media comes first, success, second. We have to refocus, people. Get the business working properly, then address the technology.

Clear?