There’s a lot of talk about the joys of social networking – there are the dedicated enthusiasts who claim it makes them lots of money (or at least generates leads) and then there are the people who only see it as time bandit with little return.
Both groups are right – it’s all in how you use social media and what you expect it to do. The first step is to work out what you want from it and then go to work. These are some tips that will help you get more from your social media activity:
It’s like any other business tool; it only works to promote your business when used properly! If you only react then don’t expect much.
Complete your profile, no content = not interesting. Invest time in being a real person if you want to be taken seriously.
No picture? What are you hiding? You need to look friendly and approachable. The stats say that people don’t stay on profiles without an image of the profile owner – a proper image, not a picture of your dog, your children, a group photo or one of you many years ago!
Get involved, get in conversations, join groups, take action, help others. Join groups where your target audience or people who serve your target audience hang out. Whilst it’s nice to be with your peers to swap experiences, if you want people to rate you as a potential supplier you need to be visible and talking knowledgeably about your subject.
Share your knowledge, add value, answer questions, help people and they’ll talk about you and recommend you. The more you help others, the more people will remember you as someone who delivers good stuff!
Assign a time slot and be aware of the distraction factor. Know what you want to achieve. This is the biggest downfall for most people – they get side-tracked. Treat it as a networking meeting and aim to achieve something each time you sit in front of your computer to do social networking. That might be connecting with three more people, finding a group that you like and can really get involved with, updating your profile, connecting to a new network – the list is endless!
Quite simply it’s a case of deciding what you want to achieve, choosing what you do to achieve it and then assigning time to carry those activities out. It’s not rocket science, but it does work if you work at it
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