A Tale of Two Conversations

Over the past few months, I’ve had two separate conversations about social media strategy. On the surface, they sounded similar. Both were business owners. Both wanted help with social media. Both wanted growth. But the conversations could not have been more different.

In the first meeting, the question was simple. “Can you help with my social media?” Of course I can. But I asked a follow up question that matters more than most people think. “What’s your budget?”

The answer gave me pause.

There’s nothing wrong with starting small. For some strategies, it works. But for what this person wanted, targeting multiple customer segments, building consistent visibility, separating service lines, it wasn’t realistic. Social media that actually moves the needle isn’t just posting. It is time, strategy, content creation, editing, testing, adjusting, community engagement, and paid amplification. The people who are truly strong in that space treat it like a job. Sometimes a full time job.

So I gently said something that is not always easy to say. I don’t think this will give you the outcome you’re hoping for.

I suggested a different approach. A mix of targeted search ads and more focused paid campaigns that would stretch the investment further and produce measurable results. It wasn’t what they wanted to hear. They chose a different path. And that’s okay.

A few months later, I found myself in a similar conversation with a different potential client. The topic was the same, but the posture was not. This time, the business owner already had something built. There was consistency. Personality. Video. Stories. Engagement. You could tell time had been invested. He did not need someone to “do social media.” He needed someone to help amplify what he was already doing well.

That conversation sounded different. Instead of asking someone to post for him, he wanted to know how to scale what was already working. My role would not be to replace the organic effort. It would be to support it, refine it, put paid strategy behind it, and layer in search targeting.

Two conversations.

Two different levels of readiness.

Two different outcomes.

There is a temptation in business to say yes to every dollar, especially when someone is willing to spend it. But I have learned that saying yes to the wrong structure does not help anyone. Sometimes the most honest thing you can say is, “This probably won’t work the way you think it will.”

That is not arrogance.

It is stewardship.

Of their money.

Of your reputation.

Of the results that follow.

Not every business is ready for every strategy. And not every strategy fits every season. The goal is not to win the conversation. It is to align the plan with reality.