Keeping up with Social Media

It’s rare to meet a person that isn’t on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon or Flickr, just to name a few. I have an account with each of these sites, some for personal use, others for professional use.

There are tons of articles online supporting proper and consistent use of social media sites as a great way to advertise yourself or your business. On the counterpart, there are also just as many that describe social media as a fruitless waste of time and effort.

Personally, I agree with both sides of the argument. Social media can help just about any type of business, provided it’s used properly. Here’s a few things to keep in mind.

1. Keep business and pleasure separate.

While you and your friends spend hours laughing at the drunken photos from last weekend, I doubt this is going to impress a potential client. Use proper privacy and filtering settings to make sure these things stay between you and your friends. Remember… Google never forgets.

2. Everybody hates spam… the ham and the other kind.

Yes, talk about your business enthusiastically, but don’t overdo it. One well-written message sent to all members of your Facebook group will do just fine so there’s no need to send out 5 per day. You’ll get on people’s nerves and they’ll remove themselves from your future communications.

3. Be sure you are getting a good ROI, the investment being your time.

If you’re devoting 5 hours of your day to social media and seeing little to no results, maybe it’s time to re-evaluate. Research, test, re-evaluate! Learn about what your doing. Put the things you’ve learned in action. See what works and what doesn’t and create a social media marketing plan. This is how you will get the most out of your time.

4. Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.

Advertising methods are endless! Be creative and use a variety of approaches. The more areas you cover, the more people you will reach… the more business you can generate. Even if you experience great results with social media marketing, be sure to implement other techniques as well.