Dear Potential Client. I've been here. Waiting for you. For so long. On social media. But you never turned up. Where are you?

This is the short story of an independent professional who was told everyone is online.

Thousands of hours later he realised they aren’t.

I get social media. Or as I like to call it: social business. I get the model.

It’s totally collapsed the old cost of starting or running a business.

This was music to my ears when I launched my independence.

Three years on and after thousands of hours dedicated to my digital strategy, here’s what I’ve learnt.

These observations have not brought about the end of my digital strategy. Three years is nothing in the life of a business, digital presence or otherwise.

But like any good strategy it’s important to review the landscape and know what you’re dealing with.

For that is what makes your strategy even better.

So here’s what I know to be true about the business of social business:

• People are not online as much as we are led to believe.
• The term ‘social media’ killed its adoption by businesses.
• Businesses do not consider social business as real work.
• The true value of social business is reduced operating costs.
• Social business upgrades the disciplines that should already exist in businesses but don’t and so is poorly understood.
• Social business and old habits don’t mix.
• Social business does not mean out with the old and in with the new.
• Light entertainment is not social business.
• Someone’s social business strategy just poached 5 of your key customers while you were reading this.
• Someone’s social business strategy just poached 5 of your key employees while you were reading this.
• Social business has become the excuse of choice rather than the opportunity of choice.
• People are still not convinced about blogs.
• Most businesses have forgotten they have a web site.
• People think LinkedIn is Facebook.

I’ll keep waiting for the others to arrive.

Sick of waiting?  Tell us about your experiences with social business by clicking in the work comment below.

We look forward to hearing peoples' thoughts.