Kill stuff that isn't working (or, why we're not on Facebook anymore).

Yep, we took down our Facebook page today. Here's why.

When we established our social media presence, we did what all businesses do: set up profiles on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Put otherwise, we followed "best practices."

But then—and this is the important part—we watched what happened.

We learned that LinkedIn is where our content tends to go pretty far. People are in work mode.

We learned that Twitter is where we interact with smart people who love brevity. It's a small community, but the quality is high.

And we learned that Facebook is probably a great place for consumer brands and some B2B companies—but it is definitely not where you go to learn about innovations in corporate compliance training. Our Facebook fans were mainly our moms. 

So, we took down our Facebook page. (Sorry, moms.)

Because it doesn't make sense to do something just for the sake of doing it. Time and energy are limited resources.

So while we’re known to share a cat video here and there, Broadcat is no longer on Facebook. We’re focused on connecting with the E&C community on LinkedIn, Twitter, and our blog. 

If you visit our blog for funny cat videos—fear not, that’s not going to stop any time soon. In fact, here's one on Facebook:

What's your Facebook page?

That is, what did you start doing because of "best practices," but isn't really working for you?

Think about how you started your program. It's likely that you either built to "best practices" or inherited a program. Either way, you've probably been so busy ever since that you haven’t changed much about that program.

You’re not alone.

Think about your long-standing initiatives. Maybe it’s your quarterly newsletter, three-year training plan, or your E&C council.

Why are you doing them? Are you measuring their effectiveness? Are you doing them because someone else said that this is what you do in an E&C program?

Look at what you’re doing, big and small. If it doesn’t have a purpose or add value to your organization, stop doing it or change it so it does.

You’ll smile a little more and make everyone else’s life a bit better too.

That's because stopping a project that doesn't work isn't failing; it's thinking like a businessperson who values her resources.

It shows that you’re purposeful, efficient, and not a compliance sheep. You’re doing what your organization really needs—and that's what makes you an effective E&C professional.