You probably have the same questions about social media as everyone else, like:
“When is it the right time to post?”
“How often or how long do I need to be online?”
“Why would I even bother with Social Media? Will it really work for my business?”
A vital part of successful Social Networking is knowing how often to promote your business and engage and connect with your audience online, because when and how you talk with them through Social Media is key to really connecting with your peeps and creating the sense of community you, and they, are looking for.
Think of it like this, Social Media is a bit like the radio in that you only hear what is on when you are tuned in.
You can’t expect to post a couple of times a day and reach your audience. They aren’t always there waiting for you to say something. On the other hand, you also don’t want to be broadcasting constantly or you will be spamming people when they are there. You have to find the balance.
On my Facebook page I share a lot of what others are putting out there and provide information that can help you improve your business. You should be doing the same for your community.
Ask yourself these four questions and use what you find to create your content plan:
- How many people do you want to talk to each day?
- How many conversations do you want to participate in so people know who you are?
- How many times do you want to tweet or post links to your content?
- What types of messages from others do you want to retweet or share with your peeps?
Ideally you may want to post content to either drive traffic to your website or to build your list a couple of times a day—not much more.
The rest of the time you should be connecting and engaging with other people. You want to ask questions and find out what’s important to the people that you are connecting with.
Think of being online as just like being at a networking function. You wouldn’t march up to someone at an event and say “Hi – I sell Widgets, do you need any?!”, so don’t do it online.
At an event, you make small talk and learn about other people. You focus on getting them to know, like and trust you because you know that is how to get them to buy from you. Do the same with Social Media.
In an ideal situation, you want to find ways to be helpful to other people. You want to encourage them, to connect them with other people or services and generally get acquainted. Think about how great it feels for you when someone helps you. This community that you build will be much more receptive to helping you spread the word about your products and services if you do the same for them.
This part is really all about reciprocity.
Are you using Social Media to help others build their business as you build yours? Share a link below to content you have either created or found recently that you feel others need to see.
