Let’s be honest we live in a world both dominated and liberated by social media. I absolutely get it and have nothing but open-mouthed respect for the many dedicated and well-practiced social media garners out there BUT the past few years has taught me a valuable lesson. Never underestimate the power and sincerity of proper real life conversations and recommendations.
When I started ‘My Finance Friend’ I felt equal measures of bamboozlement and pure dread that my future success lay in the hands of my social media creativity, tech know-how and online prowess. I had 100% faith in my experience, knowledge and skills but sadly I’d lost faith in people’s ability to trust anything other than those who didn’t constantly spew a flurry of posts, instas, tweets, blogs all singing about their wares with the accompanying flashing jazz hands of tech wizardry. With hindsight I can confirm (thankfully) that my sleepless nights, cold sweats of shame of my lesser abilities to plug myself relentlessly on social media have not been my downfall. Don’t get me wrong I’ve dabbled and tried with some posts here and there with varying degrees of success.
More important to me is the fact that this week I have reached a whopping 146 heartfelt customer reviews, making me one of the most recommended mortgage brokers in the UK. This is not likes, shares or comments on a witty advert or post but customers who’ve felt genuinely compelled to tell their friends and family about how it’s felt to work with me to buy their first home, move house, re-mortgage or protect their loved ones with life and critical illness.
This is what gives me a buzz, and whilst I can’t deny the validation of lots of likes and comments it is great, hearing about the difference I’ve made is just more ‘my thing’. You may call me a dinosaur and I am NOT saying that social media doesn’t matter – quite the opposite as you’re probably reading this on a social channel right now. I’m just thankful that having a popular online account has not completely replaced thoughtful word of mouth. Likes and comments are important and a sign of times but without doubt quite different to proper old fashioned word-of-mouth recommendations. For that I’m grateful and I hope it continues to grow my business.
