Get social on Social Media
** Skip ahead to update to post below
One of the things I’m currently working on is social media strategies for Fearless Mommies. I have to admit, I’m a little rusty at this… I’ve been a java software developer for about 8 yrs and previously to that a web developer for probably another 8, so I am not new to technology. However the one thing that is certain about technology is that it changes, rapidly… if you don’t keep up with what’s new, it doesn’t take long to fall behind with the latest and greatest. Most of those years in technology, the extent of my social media was using facebook.
Hey, I found my husband on-line on a dating site! And before that when I was going through a divorce, I was a host and moderator at an iVillage message board to help others coping with change, and I was on chat groups hosting and creating help bots on groups that were all about having fun… so being social online isn’t new to me and I am very comfortable online.
Fast forward to the present moment, now I’m in this place where I’m doing another big change to my life, I’ve decided to be my own boss. Creating an entrepreneurial business for myself and family, so I have more control over when and how I work. This journey has been exciting and I love where it’s taken me in terms of my personal growth and also the freedom to be here for the kids when they need me. But getting started has meant I needed to get back ‘social’ on social networking.
Here’s a few tips on how to be ‘social’ online:
- Be Open to Possibilities
If you want more followers, likes, +1’s on your social media platforms, you basically need to be open to making connections with people you’ve never met in person and quite possibly never will unless they are in your local circles. You never know who might just be that connection that may lead you to huge expansion of your business or even just your mind and approach to life. - Be Kind and Friendly
My rule of thumb is… If you follow/+1 me, I’ll follow/+1 you (unless you have nothing to follow or your message really scares the freak out of me). Following someone that followed you is just downright polite and courteous. Unless you started social media and you were already an influencer, in that case, you probably lost track of all those people following you anyway. When you reach a status where people gravitate to you like bees on honey, then you have that option to remove those you really didn’t want to follow but you should still always be kind and friendly. Even saying thank you online says something about who you are. - Be Active
The rolling twitter account gathers no moss… or however that saying goes! Be active, retweet, share, follow, like, pin, comment etc… repeat then repeat again. Which leads to the next point… - Schedule Your Activity
Make sure you schedule out time every day or week to stay active on your social media accounts. This isn’t as overwhelming as you think if you schedule in some time and get familar with some of the scheduling tools out there. Even a few strategic minutes in your day on social media for each platform will keep increasing your traffic. - Be Smart
Be smart on how you are using your time on social media or else it will eat your time up alive. You need to have a strategy on what you are trying to do while being ‘social’. Being social just to be social is useless in my book. The end goal is always about an opportunity from making this connection or sharing this information. “How can I help you? How can you help me?” Those two questions come as a package deal, if you can’t answer them, then why are you putting time into your posts? Of course, it becomes very social and you could meet some amazing people with this process and maybe even form partnerships or collaborations, but it’s the way to weed out the duds from the dudes/dudettes. - Don’t be THAT Dud
If someone comes in through your business office, would you pounce on them and say “Buy this!” “Sign this!” “Do this!”? So why the heck would your twitter account be filled up with endless streams of the same crap of selling or telling people what to do? Who’s the authentic person behind the scene that others want to get to know? Don’t be pushy or desperate, being desperate smells bad. Or on the other hand, don’t be a life sucking troll either, it’s bad enough that you are wasting your own time then you have to drag everyone around you down too. Don’t be the hopeless dud, the one that doesn’t do the research but wants the answer on a platter or better yet done for them. Advice to the troll.. go do some research on your own first before asking questions, people will talk to you more if you have an idea what you are talking about. - Research Each Platform
Takes time but it’ll be well worth your time if you get familiar with each social media platform. It doesn’t have to be a daunting task if you learn one platform at a time. When you’ve put some time into your own research and still need help… enlist someone that already has a level of success to be your coach. Trust me when I say hiring a coach will save you way more time and money to do your work more effectively.
First things first… get a social media strategy in place. Do you have one? What are some tips you have for being ‘social’ on social media? Please comment in the section below.
** Update from this post
When it comes to starting a business, pick your battles. Choose where you need to focus your time. My focus these days are with creating products and services for my clients and not as much around social media. I’m sure there will be a time when I’ll utilize social media again but the time is not now for me.
Make sure your ducks are in a row. If using social media is taking up too much of your time to servicing your clients with value, then now is not the time to use it.
If you’re using social media, limit and schedule your time.
Lucia
Not perfect… just awakened and giving life my best shot #fearlessmommies
— Lucia Griesbach (@fearlessmommies) November 30, 2013
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