Dealing With The Social Media “Distraction” Factor – Who’s Minding the Store?

Inside Le Tron Studios...

The Ghosts MUST Go Up…

“Incroyable!” exclaimed Madame Le Tron. “Just what have I been thinking?”  She continued to review the items in her shop.

“No one, in their right mind, is going to go into a shop that has nine items for sale, with any notion of making a purchase.”

Down the long, dark hallway with the creaking, old floorboards, things seemed even more glum.

‘Beep, buzz, buzzer,’ thought the recyletron, Managing Mike ‘ C’est impossible! We have been working on the goal of increasing inventory for the past month and a half, and not one item has been added to our shop!’

‘When was it that we began in earnest to work toward our goal of 100 Items For Sale?  A month, perhaps a month and a half?’ pondered Madame Le Tron. ‘I have been spending way too much time managing social media and not enough time managing the store,’ she thought.

Back in the studio, down the hall --

“Bizz-bizz-bizz, buzz-buzz-buzz, beep! This requires some investigation,” determined Mike, wheeling round with his wrench-like arms waving in the air.

“This requires some investigation,” stated Madame rising from her computer screen, as she headed toward the office door.

Down the hall, the studio door flew open as Managing Mike trumpeted, “GISELLE….”

From the office doorway, “GISELLE…,” came loud and clear with overtones of Madame’s very French accent.

‘What now?’ thought Giselle, as she closed her biology book, a subject on which she would be tested the very next morning.

“Tout de suite,” called Madame.

“Right now,” echoed the robot.

‘”Really?” Giselle said under her breath, as she prepared to descend the stairs.

“I’m studying!” she called.

“It’s not working!” stated Madame.

“I am simply confused,” added Mike.

“What’s not working?” asked Giselle.

“What are you studying?” queried Madame.

“Confused…,” restated Mike.

“Our shop,” answered Madame.

“Biology,” answered Giselle

Smoke began to rise from the recyletron’s box-like frame as ‘VERY CONFUSED’ flashed across the computer screen embedded in his chest.

Giselle reached out her right hand and pushed Managing Mike’s reset button.  The robot began to shut down, as Giselle and Madame took their places in front of the computer screen.

“What’s not working, Madame?”

“Our shop, Giselle.  It is nearing the end of the first quarter, and I feel as though we are no closer to making more sales than when the year began.”

“Let’s check our road map and see where we are,” suggested Giselle. “We have our brand, Le Tron ~ “Toys With A Twist!” consistently appearing in all we do: shop, website, Facebook, Blog -- and gaining recognition, I might add.”

“Qui,” agreed Madame Le Tron.

“Speaking of our Blog, we have seen some solid movement there, with over 400 page views in a very short time. Now, we just have to figure out how to turn our page viewers into followers and investigate Google Ad Sense to see if we can generate a bit of income.”

“It’s always something,” murmured Madame Le Tron.

“Finding our ‘Niche Market’ is on-going and we are planning to explore Pinterest, as well as attend that Mystic Fair on Saturday, qui?”

 A soft ‘whirr’ could be heard as Managing Mike came back on-line.

“So that leaves inventory,” concluded Giselle.

“Which is non-existent,” added Madame.  “We have only eight items for sale in our shop, and I know I have processed orders for a line of ghosts and fairies. I don’t know, Giselle.  With only eight items in the shop, perhaps we should put the shop on ‘Vacation’ until we have more inventory.”

“Where did you get that idea, Madame?”

“It’s been a running thread on Linked-in this past week, and I thought perhaps….”

“No, Madame. I do not think that is in our best interest.  With all we have done with social media, we need to keep our shop open so that, when people search it, there is something there!  No, Madame, our problem is lack of inventory.”

“Exactly!” interjected Managing Mike amidst a flurry of buzzers, bells, and whistles, signifying that the robot was back on-line. “Thus, ladies, let me reiterate my confusion in the fact that, in the last month and a half, all of the staff has been a buzz with creation.   In fact, the reports indicate that several ghosts were completed, but not one item had been placed in the shop.”  ‘CONFUSION, WARNING, WARNING, CONFUSION!’ printed across the robot’s screen.

Madame held up her black-gloved hand. “Let us not go there again, Mike. Let us go instead to the studio and try to figure out just what is happening!”

Madame Le Tron, Giselle, and Mike proceeded down the long, dark hallway with the creaking, old floorboards and entered Le Tron Studios.

The staff of recyletrons seemed fast at work.

“Hey!” pointed out Giselle. “When it comes to problems with ghosts, Ghoulish Gordon is the man to ask!”

“You mean ‘robot’,” winked Madame Le Tron.

“Ghoulish Gordon, front and center!” commanded Managing Mike.

Gordon wheeled forward.

“Ghoulish, we are in search of the ghostly inventory that has been reported as complete, but has yet to be placed in our shop.”

Ghoulish Gordon raised a wrench-like arm in the air.

“I am afraid I do not understand your meaning.  Why are you pointing up?” asked Mike.

Gordon continued his stance.

“ I think he means ‘Up’,” offered Madame.

“Je comprend, Madame, but, ‘Up’?”  the confused robot replied.

“QUI!” shouted Giselle happily. “I get it! Look up! Ghosts go up!”

“Mais qui! Regardez!”  rejoined Madame Le Tron, pointing to the ceiling above.

Over their heads hung a series of magnificently up-cycled toys looking very much like ghostly, if not  heavenly, bodies afloat in mid-air.

“Je comprend! Tres magnifique!” Giselle whispered in amazement.  “These ghosts must go up! On-line that is!”

“Increasing what we offer for sale in our shop,” smiled Madame Le Tron. “After all, is it not a ‘BIOLOGICAL FACT’ that Ghosts go up, Giselle?”

“But of course, Madame, if you say so,” giggled Giselle. “ And I’ll let you know the minute I come across it in my studies, to which I now return!”

“Very well. Bon chance, Mon Cherie!”

“Merci, Madame!”

“Merci, Giselle!”

And, "Merci!"  to each and every one of you for your continuing support! See you next Friday at 3pm!

Au Revoir,

Madame

Note:  Many things can become a distraction, and many Blogs have been written about the same.  We at Le Tron were quite taken aback when we reviewed our shop’s listings in earnest this week, only to find we had eight items for sale. It really made our other efforts pale.

Once we talked it through, we realized that we have been doing a very good job of building our social media presence, but to what end if we really have nothing for sale?

The balancing act never ends.

How do you keep up with it all?  We’d love to add your tips to our Blog, and so please post below!