Tough love - technology

In today's Do This One Thing blog I'd like to encourage you get over any fear of technology you might have. And stop procrastinating!!

“I’m rubbish with technology”

I hear this from tourism business owners every day. Even from the ones who seem petty good with technology!

If you’ve ever said or thought you’re rubbish with technology, it’s time for some tough love.

You’ll thank me for it later. Actually, not even much later if you read and act on this. Within minutes you could be doing something you think you can’t do.

Let me start by telling you about my mum. Stay with me – it’s relevant. She’s 83. She didn’t learn computer programming at school. She's been retired for decades. She’s brilliant at gardening, sewing and cooking. But technology isn’t her natural habitat. She used to say she was rubbish at technology.

Over the last two years, she’s made a website for the Women’s Institute, is on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Instagram. She often tells me about something she’s found on YouTube. No one taught her any of these things. I helped her a little but not much. The main thing that happened was she realised a) she could stalk her grand-daughters (everyone needs a reason to do something!) and b) I pointed out that all this 'technology' was built to help people to just get started. No one needs a degree in IT to use it. 

My mum went from ‘can’t do it’ to ‘it’s easier than I thought’ within hours. You can too!

How? Why?

I’ll get to that in a moment. Here’s the tough love:

You can’t be bad at something you haven’t really tried.

‘I’m rubbish at...’ is often more about procrastinating than actually trying something and finding you can't do it. 

It often really means ‘I don’t want to do that’. Or 'I'm scared I'll be rubbish at it'. How will you know until you're tried?

Or ‘I’m not interested in doing that and I can’t see the point’.

You're missing out

Every day millions of people who’re ‘rubbish at technology’ create websites using easy-to-use tools like Wix and Squarespace. They create brilliant posters, presentations, leaflets and designs for free using Canva. They send out mailings to thousands of people using tools like Mailerlite and Mailchimp. They reach new markets and build loyalty through social media channels.

Every single one of these technology tools was built with one purpose: to get as many people as possible using them.

They’re designed to be really easy to use, taking the user step-by-step through a simple process to become initial users. If you need to know more, there are endless free online tutorials.

None of this technology is hard to use. It’s designed for absolute beginners.

At the point when my mother realised she could stay in touch with her family and stalk her grand-daughters to see what they’re doing, she stopped thinking about the ‘technology’ and just got started using these incredibly powerful free tools. She didn't need any help. She just decided to do it. 

You might have other things you’d rather do. But if you’re running a tourism business right now, technology is your friend, not your enemy. It can save you time, help you reach more people and save money.

We all have things we put off doing. That’s natural. But sometimes we need a bit of a push to think again, to decide the time is right to get to grips with something we think we don’t want to do.

If you’re still telling yourself ‘I’m rubbish at technology’ why not choose one of the tools I’ve mentioned in this article and just give yourself 20 minutes to get started and see how far you get? Let me know how you get on.