The Digital Mindset

The first thing I did when I left Ecademy’s Digital Mindset workshop today was send my first meaningful tweet in a very long time and within half an hour I received an email message which led to me writing this piece. Such is the reality of the digital age that we’re in that I can send a random tweet out into the universe and receive a response from a total stranger, who so happens to have been sitting behind me at the very same workshop!

I can think of no better illustration for the content of what was covered today than this real-life scenario. Whether we like it or not (and there is a lot to like about it) the way we communicate has dramatically changed over the last ten years or so and digital is the future. What Penny Thomas spoke about today wasn’t just buzzwords and good marketing, it actually made sense. I have a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook, YouTube presence for one of my businesses; I’m on Linked In, have dabbled in Ecademy and much more, but yet I think like most people, I never actually understood why social media was so important or how it can be fully relevant to business – until now.

The internet has opened up a whole new world of business and with it its own way of doing things. This new way of ‘digital business’ is about serving as opposed to selling, building friendships and relationships as opposed to grooming prospects and clients; it’s about being ‘open, random and supportive’ instead of ‘closed, selective and controlling’. My mindset has changed, the penny has dropped – becoming a digital business is about putting other people first! It’s about becoming extremely social online but with the pure motive of adding value to others. And what’s great about it is that as you do this, you’ll find yourself in the wonderful position of being ‘known, liked and followed’, which will naturally lead to sales if that is your goal. I was a digital convert by default before but now I’m a convert in heart and mind also. To adapt a well-known ad slogan, the future is bright…but only for those who embrace a digital mindset and do so now.