I get asked lots of questions about tools, tactics and networks these days. People want to know what to join, what path to take, what new thing is going be hot.

The answer I find myself giving is almost always the same. The way you make decisions about such things is to ask yourself this question –  Is it good for my customer?

If you can use any tool or make any decision with your customer in mind, you probably can’t go wrong.

In the early days of Twitter people wanted me to prove to them why they should get involved in such nonsense. I showed them how to build a list of their best customers and listen and respond to what their customers were saying only and all of a sudden it made sense.

With any new tool or tactic, if you can find a way to first use it to benefit your communication, relationship building, service or outreach with your customers, you’ll eventually find a way to use it in general.

People often rush to the next new thing so they won’t get left behind, but time simply doesn’t allow most businesses to get deeply into every new social network, no matter how much hype it’s drawing. And ever when you do jump in, jump in and master ways to use it for your customers first before you simply start mimicking how others are using it.

When you have this focus it’s never too early or too late to start using some new tool or tactic.

Stay customer focused, analyze the benefits of every tool or tactic with that focus, and you’ll rarely be led astray.