If you’re taken with the increasingly popular social media trends and spend any time at all on Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook; you could be feeling a little overwhelmed by the multitude of ideas.  I know I am.

As business owners we can’t ignore popular trends, but I wonder if the constant learning, re-learning and worrying if we are doing the right thing at the right time is healthy for the growth and ultimate survival of our companies.

I’ve been giving this topic a great deal of thought and I’m slightly concerned that we, as entrepreneurs, may be abandoning the tried and true principles that truly do benefit a business by chasing the ever elusive next great idea.  Are the messages of some of the most brilliant minds in business; Peter Drucker and Michael Gerber for example, being overshadowed and drowned out by all of the social shouting going on around us?

I’ve come to the conclusion that sticking with what I know works and keeping my eye on emerging trends and ideas that may benefit our business is good for growth.  Ultimately, testing some of these ideas and then tweeking the principles that we know to be effective might just be the best solution.  In other words, I’m not getting sidetracked by whomever happens to be shouting the loudest and my business won’t be sidelined in the meantime.