5 Tips to Improve Your Social Media Experience

As more and more businesses gravitate to the high reach-low investment medium of social media, there are far too many jumping in with both feet that really don’t have any business even dabbling their toes in it.

MLMers, real estate agents posting “another hot listing” or endless Facebook fan pages of nothing but listings, get-rich-quick gurus, and newbies that expect instant results after 2 Tweets about how great their product or service is: none of these have any place in social networking, and all will have a negative experience using it.

Lisa May Huby, of Realty Sites PLUS recently penned five tips on how to improve your social media experience.

1.) Stop and strategize before you do anything;

2.) Understand the networking element;

3.) Position yourself as an expert and engage;

4.) Be consistent;

5.) Evolve.

To learn more about these tips, continue reading...

You want a good – no, great – experience? As in, a ‘pretty-darn-good-results-for-not-a-whole-lotta-time-invested’ type experience? Follow these tips:

1. Stop whatever social media stuff it is you’re doing RIGHT NOW. Just stop everything. Halt. Arrêt. Now, think of what you want to get out of your efforts. Better yet, write it down. The list should be point-form, one goal per line, a singular idea. If you’ve got the word “and” in one of the goals, that’s two ideas. Separate them. Next, review your list and remove the unicorns and rainbows. That includes any idea that makes you gaze wistfully into the distance, like the ‘generate X leads’ goals, ‘get X followers’, connections goals, and so on. Hopefully what you’re left with is real, measurable, and attainable.
2. Social networking is about just that – networking. And it works great when it complements your other marketing efforts. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it until people finally get it: social media is a tool. A tactic. Something you use in conjunction with something else. Your teeth are tools with which you chew food and begin the digestive process. Social media is the tool with which you share bite-sized bits of information to help begin the lead generation process.
3. Stop being part of the “hey, look at me!” crowd, mindlessly echoing others’ thoughts and ideas to try and position yourself as an ‘expert’, and really engage with people. Stand out. Be selective with whom you engage. Don’t choose only the people that might be able to promote whatever it is you’re selling. Go on, be different from the millions of online minions fighting for attention.
4. Be consistent with your engagement. Whether it’s once a day or once a week, be consistent and reliable.
5. Evolve. Figure out how to move social media to the next level. As Lisa Barone of Outspoken Media says, “We have to grow up because not only does the same old crap not work anymore, but now it (and you) is just annoying.” (Incidentally, it’s just a coincidence that my post has 5 tips and hers has 5 tips. Really. Besides, they’re different tips.)

I always advise clients that you’ll discover what works best for you, and that’s absolutely true if you put some thought and planning behind it. Social media doesn’t and probably never will work for everyone in every business. If you’ve taken the plunge and are trying to use it for your business, help make it a more enjoyable (and hopefully profitable) experience for everyone.

It’s your web, keep it beautiful.

• The Three Barreled Marketing Gun
• 7 Social Media Tips!
• Getting Past Loan Modifications