Social Media – A Cyber-World Tornado

A TORNADO IN CYBER-WORLD!  SOCIAL MEDIA FOR NEWBIES, BLOGGERS AND MORE – A HOW TO GUIDE… Or something like that…

The Client: A New Blogger

The Goal: To Gain Readership And/Or Clients For A Product You Offer.

The Question: How to I manage and optimize my social media efforts?

My Initial Thought… hmm, typical question coming from a newbie.

My Second Thought… A great question!

My Third Thought… No matter how well versed in Social Media, we all ask ourselves that question… and not just as newbies.

My Answer: First of all, breathe… and I genuinely mean that!  Being new to the social media scene can be overwhelming.  On the flip side, even people who are well versed in social media get overwhelmed.

Think of social media as a cyber-world tornado!  It can suck you in, spit you out and whoa… If you happen to be one of the lucky ones, you will survive it!

Let’s break down social media with a few bullet points, shall we?

• There are too many options to choose from.
• We are fortunate to have so many options to choose from.

The wonderful ever-changing world of social media can throw anyone for a loop.  Fortunately, if you follow a few important steps, the tornado may spare you.  Unfortunately, although spared this time around, if you allow it to confuse and consume you the next time it changes course, you may not survive.  In order for you to avoid the tornado, you “MUST” stay grounded and see past the amount of times it changes course.

This brings me to step one, which is to HAVE A VISION.

What is it you are trying to convey or sell?  Write it down and don’t forget it.  The vision you have is similar to the pipe that leads deep into the earth you hold on to while the cyber-world tornado is trying to suck you in.

Next, KNOW YOUR CUSTOMERS/CLIENTS.  Who is your target audience?  What is their age group?  Where in cyberspace do they socialize?

If you know your customers/clients, you can move on to the next step which is doing your research.  You will need to find out where your audience is hanging out.  The age group you want to target is important as well.  For example, if you are trying to teach teens about anti-bullying and how they can protect themselves on-line, pushing posts you write to a site like Newswire probably won’t get you the readership you want.  Facebook, however, might be your best option… Just a thought.

JOIN “LIKE” GROUPS ON-LINE.  LinkedIn is a great place to join various groups.  There are many other websites that target specific interests.  Get to know the ones that feature topics like yours and have a following.  If you are selling something specific, frequent websites that people are interested in buying or learning about what you sell.  When I began blogging, I joined multiple websites for Mom bloggers.  Along with those, I decided to join some social websites where I could interact with other mothers.  You really do have to be social if you want to excel in social media.

MAKE A PLAN!  You do not need to be online all day to succeed.  Start by dedicating time each day to various tasks.  If you have a blog, decide how many posts (at minimum) you want to write each week.  Dedicate specific times each day to actively engage in social media.  Read what other people in your field are writing each day and contribute by commenting or adding value somehow.  The key is to engage.  Sitting on the sidelines will not get you noticed.  Remember, social media means NOTHING if you do not socialize.  It’s just like the physical world… If people cannot see you, they will never know you exist no matter how wonderful you are!

To be continued… (It’s late… I’m tired… running out of fuel… and quite honestly, things are looking a little blurred on my computer as I am  typing).  Until next time… GO SOCIALIZE!