I am going to be completely honest here – the title of this post is full of hype (and we both know it). The real secret to social media is that there is no secret, and somehow I’ve only just discovered that fact!
Social Media Is Not About…
There are quite a few things I’ve tried, and quite a few things that I’ve come to realize social media is not about…
- Sponsored tweets,
- Automatic replies,
- 100% automated tweets,
- Posting links all the time,
- Never posting links to other people’s stuff,
- Following thousands of random people in the hopes that you’ll get more followers,
- Never responding to others,
- Always making it about you.
What Is Social Media About?
Social media is about one thing: relationships! Not sales, relationships. That’s not to say that social media can’t help us make sales. But relationships generally come before sales.
I know this because it’s worked on me. I’ve found people who genuinely interact on social media, who take the time to get into conversations with others, who thank people when they retweet their links and so on. I’ve found them, I liked what I saw, and I ended up buying from them. Not because they forced me to, but because they gave a clear example of what they’re about and I liked it enough to pay for more of it.
My Social Media Strategy
Have you guessed it yet? I don’t have any social media strategy beyond sharing good content from others, getting into conversations, and making sure things aren’t 100% automated.
I do have a few systems in place to make it easier for myself, however:
- I use HootSuite (the free plan) to manage most of my social media accounts in one place.
- I use Buffer (the free plan) to schedule automatic tweets to go out twice a day (I add interesting blog posts I find to my buffer stream).
- I log in a few times a day to actually connect with people – but I limit my time and don’t keep it open while I’m working.
Until a couple of weeks ago, I’d let everything get dormant. My Facebook pages were just churning out links/ email broadcasts, and my Twitter account was just re-posting old content over and over. If this is all you want to do with social media, because you don’t have the time to actually connect, then I think you may as well close your accounts.
I decided to get active again and I’ve finally seen the light. Relationships are so important in business! And it doesn’t take that long to have a conversation with someone!
Love social media, don’t have time for it? Share your thoughts in the comments! And, if you want to connect, you can find me on Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter.
The photo in this post is of the sunset over the mountains in Vang Vieng, Laos. The town has become a crazy party town where people go tubing down the river, stopping off at bars along the way. But we stayed outside of the party area in a beautiful but still cheap resort where we watched this sunset every single night!
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I love Twitter. It is so fun when you actually use it right! I do use the Tweet Old Post plugin to tweet out an old post each day, but other than that I get on there and share cool articles I read, retweet neat things, and engage my audience.
Social media is SOCIAL and you need to treat it that way or your tweets are going to get ignored. The people who take the time to respond and talk to me are the ones I love to see tweets from. For instance, I ALWAYS click when you, Tiffany Dow, or Lisa Stoops post a link because I you guys actually get on there to engage people and talk to them.
Amanda Thomas recently posted…Review of Guide to Cashing in on Shiny New Object Syndrome – Part 3 (The 10 Steps)
Amanda – It makes so much sense, I don’t know why it took me such a long time to realise it. I am glad you see I engage with people because before a couple of weeks ago, all I was doing was sending out links! You’re right, Twitter is really fun!
I’m on Facebook, Twitter, and Google+. But I get overwhelmed quickly so I have chosen to master one at a time. Right now I am focusing on Twitter because I seem to get better reaction for some reason. I also find a lot of great blogs/people to connect with.
I am still learning about how to effectively use Twitter. But in the past I was mass following everybody but have really scaled that back and only follow people who I find interesting. Numbers don’t matter either – it’s the quality of conversation and ultimately the relationship that matters.
I use the free version of Hootsuite for everything (you can use to schedule tweets for free too). It makes things sooo much easier.
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Lisa – Yes I am quickly overwhelmed too! I am still learning with Facebook – I don’t use my personal account for anything other than personal friends/ family and I can’t interact as well just using a page, so we’ll see about that!
Yes! Unfollowing people helps so much too! I was following way too many. And thanks for mentioning about the tweet scheduling in HootSuite, forgot about that!
Guilty as charged! I’ve been very lapse recently in getting Social and letting Tweet Old Posts do the work whilst having that niggly feeling it’s not right to rely on it. Sure enough, my visitors have decreased – and I don’t blame them! You get out what you put in and I’ve got Hootsuite open on another tab to remind me to Get Social! Thanks for the kick up the derriere
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Julie – Yeah I was just using Tweet Old Post too. I think it’s a great plugin, but mixed in with other interactions. Hope to see you on Twitter soon
Ok, this is a great post because I know I need to be better at this! I am still trying to figure out Twitter, but after hearing how great it is working out for others I think I am going to put in the effort to try and start connecting more with people on there.
Bridget Sielicki recently posted…Juicing PLR
Bridget – It is worth the effort if you have the time, I think. It’s still early days for my new Twitter efforts but I am already connecting with new people. I will keep watching the traffic stats.
Good strategy. I tend to have it on all day more or less (tweetdeck) and don’t do any automation. I do RT a lot of stuff from fellow bloggers and not sure if my followers like that or not!
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Forest – Yeah sometimes I guess tweeting too many links etc could get annoying. But as long as they’re good I think it’s good to share!
When I first started in IM, I was SEO all the way. Social media wasn’t something I paid much attention to. I didn’t think it was that big a deal, but boy was I wrong!
Out of all the platforms I use Twitter is, without a doubt, my absolute favorite and the one that I focus most of my attention on.
However, when I first started using Twitter I did all the wrong things – namely tweeted my own stuff, like 100% of the time. I’ve learned it’s actually more interesting tweeting about other people’s stuff. I get a real buzz out of doing that and out of making interesting discoveries on Twitter.
I need to do much more with Twitter. I’m going to be checking out Hootsuite and Buffer (thanks for the links Ruth), so I’ll get a little automation going. Only a little mind, I enjoy real time interaction with others far too much.
~ Mena
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Mena – You know what, I have almost given up on SEO now lol! For me it’s all about email lists, affiliates and, mostly, relationships. Yeah I agree that real time interaction is the way to go, but Buffer helps me share good links when I find them
Ruth, this is one of the best posts I’ve ever seen you write. I was like “Yes and Amen” all the way through. While I use Twitter for blog posts and Google Plus because I feel I should (only happens once in a while
), the one I use the most is Facebook. FB is where I hang out with family and long time friends going back to grade school. Also, I’ve picked up followers for my mystery books reviews, etc. But, the big thing is the family/friends.
I agree that we need to build friendships and I do have a few that have developed over time, especially those who are involved in elder care and caregiving, but have not spent a lot of time getting to know people for who they are – and I think that’s wrong of me. Thanks for the nudge to get back into the Social Media realm for the online relationships we can build.
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Edie – Really glad you liked it! If you’re only using G+ because you feel you should, I say don’t worry about it. I think it’s important to focus on what we have the time for. Although I think with G+ it’s less active so you can get away with posting less.
I love this Ruth!
I said to my husband recently that when my business grows there are things I’d like to delegate but building relationships isn’t one of them. I love getting to know people – though I’ve been slow to be active on social media, just too much on my plate.
Now that summer is here, getting to know some of the people I’m connected to on various social media sites is a top priority!
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Tiffiney – Agreed, that’s one thing that we need to work on ourselves. I understand about having too much on your plate! It can be hard to fit social media in. And, when you do, it can lead to wasting time. It’s hard to find a balance! I am trying to limit my time so the benefits outweigh the negatives.
Hi Ruth. You know how I feel about this social media thing and relationships, but as we have discussed, I’m going to try and do a better job of connecting with people using social media and building relationships.
Twitter and LinkedIn are my two favorites. In my estimation Facebook is a waste of time. I’m also trying to learn how I can use Pinterest in marketing information products.
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Ron – I like Facebook for connecting with friends and family while I’m away, and am now starting to use it for business, but it’s not for everyone and I definitely don’t think you *have* to use it. Also, social media can be a huge time waster. But if you can use it for a few minutes a day it’s still a good way to build relationships.