Overcome The Overwhelm In Social Media
October 5th, 2011 by Diane Conklin under Marketing, Social Media, Uncategorized. No Comments.
Deciding which platforms you want to use on social media can very easily seem overwhelming. The list of possibilities out there of different places you can participate in social media are numerous, and could be as long as your arm if you started to make a list of all of them – especially when you start adding in all the niche topics and possibilities within your industry.
A platform really refers to the different social media sources you can be posting on. For example, Facebook is a platform, so is Twitter, and so on. So, it can be overwhelming thinking about all you have to do in your business and how can you add social media. And, then add the choice of which platforms are the best to be on for your particular situation can seem a bit daunting.
There are hundreds of platforms out there, but you only need to make use of a few to have a great marketing tool that will continually feed your business. Social media should be fun! Social media is about getting to know people, and letting them getting to know you as well. It’s like having conversations and this is a just another way to connect.
Social media is today’s front porch. In earlier times, neighbors and friends would sit on the front porch of their houses, with a glass of ice tea, and talk about the neighbors, or the kids, or what was going on at city hall, or whatever. They also talked about worldly things and happenings that were affecting their lives.
Now we converse with people through social media instead of on the front porch.
So, start to have fun with social media, and know that it’s perfectly ok to start slowly.
There are really 3 platforms you want to concentrate on, and for the majority of us, those are the only 3 we really need to be concerned about. You want to be on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. If you are a business or professional person you really want to be on LinkedIn because there is a lot of business for you there…if you use the right strategies and put in just a little bit of time.
You should also have your own YouTube channel (which now makes the big 3 platforms, 4). The advantage of YouTube is you can record video and it feels more like you are talking to people, they can see your face, and feel like they are getting to know you more.
Start with those 3 or 4, and don’t worry about all the other ones out there. Start with these and get these down so you are actually making money with social media.
If you are a business person, social media is just a different media.
You should be making money with social media, measuring your results, and know why you are using this particular media, which means you start with the end in mind and have a strategy – just like you do with all the rest of your marketing.
If you feel like you want to add platforms, you certainly can, but it’s best to start with these 4, move forward at a pace that feels right to you and then add more platforms as you get more and more comfortable with social media, and as you are making money with the ones you are currently using. Once you have mastered the money making strategies for social media, you can use them across all the platforms to continue to have success.
