There are so many social media services out there – some that are just plain fun, some to watch over your kids, some to stay connected to old friends or colleagues and some that are industry specific. If you try to join and participate in all of them, you will never have true social media optimization and you will annoy friends and family members with your obsession.
Social Media Optimization
- You’ve heard it all before, but it’s true that the first step to social media optimization is to analyze your goals, your likes and your industry. In real estate, it makes sense to be on ActiveRain. If you are a restaurant owner, Yelp may be more important. If you are a chiropractor, naturopath or acupuncturist, creating word of mouth via Twitter may be your best bet. Figuring out these specifics is something I can help with.
- Next grab ALL of your usernames. Yes, even though we are only picking and choosing certain networks, grab your username as many places as possible to protect your online identity. Use UserNameCheck.com to see the most popular sites and search them quickly. You may want to bookmark this page since grabbing your usernames may take a while.
- Now, starting with the sites from step 1, fill out your profiles. This is different for each site, but coming soon, I will have detailed instructions showing you how to get going on the most popular sites. Eventually, you’ll want to complete profiles on every site, but for now, just stick with the ones we’ll be using. Each profile should be almost identical, using great keywords you want to be identified with. Again, let me know if you need help.
- Find people you know. It’s always easier to talk to someone you know than a complete stranger. Most of the social media sites will allow you to import contact lists from GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo! or Outlook. USE THESE TOOLS CAREFULLY! At some point, every single one of these social media sites will ask if you want to invite people who aren’t on the site. This is considered by many to be SPAM! So just use the tools to connect with your contacts that are already on the network, then selectively invite people in a personal way.
- Go listen. Too many people getting into small business online marketing sign up and immediately want to see business flowing in or start spamming their message out. You need to establish relationships and trust first. So go listen and figure out the tone of the network before you engage.
- Have fun. They’re called social networks because they are supposed to be social. Business will come, but you have to build your presence first through careful social media optimization.
If you are just getting started with social media, this can be something of a lengthy process just getting setup and started. If you are already established, social media optimization is necessary from time to time in order to weed out networks that aren’t helping and are just competing for time.
Again, if you need help with your small business online marketing and social media optimization, let me know.
Conversation Prism Courtesy of Brian Solis
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