5 Top Tips for Surviving and Thriving in Online Social Networks.
Though I was there at the beginning, its taken me a long while to accept Facebook and Twitter into my life. I think I spent so many years building websites and online communities for other businesses, that the last thing I wanted to do in my down-time was to pick up tools.
For me, social networking just seemed like another task. And yes, it still is. But something has changed.
Perhaps its just time… Because I haven’t been involved in the day-to-day of web production for some years, and can play at the edges devising strategy and content, I’ve built myself a buffer.
Perhaps its because access has improved – I can now hop on and off for short moments using my iPhone instead of powering up the desktop computer and feeling hard-wired to my desk.
Or perhaps it because I’ve taken the time to figure out a system that works for me. So my online chat-spaces are nothing too important. They’re simply a small part of my varied days; just another way – often easier – to connect, to learn and to share.
If you’re wishing for a work-life balance in social networks, perhaps my five hard-learned tips can help you too.
1. Have a solid plan.
Like any worthwhile thing in life, social networking must have a clear raison d’entre for being part of your routine. Otherwise you are just wasting your time.
This plan doesn’t have to be anything fancy. For example, A) “A quicker way to reach heaps of people” is plenty good enough.
As you can see, that plan differs mightily from B) “a place to muse about the oddity of my days”
Both simple plans. Yet very clear. And each will dictate a radically different approach to how you use social media; and also which channels you use.
2. Know your audience
Following from above, we can start to clarify our plan – so it talks to the people we’re hoping to reach.
Plan A) is obviously searching for volume readers. But here’s a secret: unless you give your readers something they want, they’ll switch off pretty rapidly. Have a fairly clear idea about the types of things your readers are interested in. Otherwise you’re playing a stab-in-the-dark game of reader’s Russian Roulette. And doing that would be a huge waste of your time.
So. Figure out who it is you’re talking to.
Is it your friends? Your family? Your distant relatives and their third-cousins-once-removed that live in Timbuktu? Or just those that live within a 2 mile radius?
Are they clients? If so, of what business? If you’re using social media as a tool to win more work, then be aware of what image you are projecting and what topics you cover, so they can get a good sense of your personality (yes, the real one – though dressed in business attire) and what knowledge and/or passion you bring to the table.
PS: don’t make it all about work either. Or become a brag-fest. Both miss the point of social media and are massively annoying. If it feels ‘too much about me’ then go with your gut. It probably is.
3. Write Accordingly
If you’ve done the first steps right, these next two steps becomes a WHOLE LOT EASIER! So if you haven’t quite figured out Steps 1 and 2, go back and do them. I’ll see you back down here when you’re done.
When it comes to writing, even the most vociferous of us can get stuck sometimes. This is when it really helps to have a plan.
If you have created a clear roadmap, a definate purpose for being on the social networking bandwagon, you are going to be a hell of a lot more interesting to others.
Rather than posting inane comments about the weather (Last week’s Red Dust storm a clear exception), your blueprint will help guide your posts/words and conversations online.
Please don’t get me wrong. The last thing anyone wants from social media is manufactured, corporate speak. So don’t lose yourself. And don’t lose your voice.
But don’t let it babble like a blithering idiot either. We’re all too busy for that.
Instead if you have a clear goal, wrapped up in a clear sense of self, your natural thoughts will tend to inform and entertain on subjects you have a passion for. And that will lead to a natural set of loyal readers.
You can also cultivate more of them… with the next step.
4. Connect Accordingly
Obviously we hope that your fabulous writing will inspire anyone nearby to hang onto your every word with baited breath. But in case that doesn’t happen, follow these steps.
- Accept anyone that fits the defined readers you’re aiming for.
- But don’t stop there. Get active.
- Invite anyone you know who is interested in what you’re doing to join the chat-fest.
- Ask them to invite their friends.
- Scope new readers by following other bloggers who write in your space.
- Join their conversations.
- Look at their networking friends and invite active participants back to your conversations.
- Find emptier spaces where your voice won’t be completely crowded out.
- Become vocal in these and build a loyal following.
Finally… you’ll be ready to graduate
Step 5: Make it Real
Take your conversations offline, to clubs and functions and events where you can deepen the connections you’ve been forming in virtual reality. If they survive in the real world, you know you’ve really started something worthwhile.
The real allure of online connections is that they’ll ultimately lead somewhere. To more fun, more success and more real life happiness. That is the elusive rainbow we are all chasing. Enjoy the journey.
And if you have any more excellent tips for social networking survival, please add them to our comments.
Let’s get this conversation started,
Charlotte
