The mistake we are focusing on today is not creating a “follow” plan.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because there are too many to keep neat. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You think you should follow everybody (or nobody).
We get so excited when we get a new follower or connection request. It is even more special when it is someone we think is “better” than us. They have more followers than you; they are more accomplished than you; they are more well-known than you… you get the idea.

Your first reaction is to immediately be flattered and then accept the request. Is that what is best for your business? Are they a potential client? Could they be a referral partner? Do they provide unique insight into the challenges you are facing? Answer the “What is in it for me?” question before clicking accept or follow.

Kim Kardashian has 58 million Twitter followers. She follows 135. Would I be excited if she made me number 136? Yes! I would be jumping up and down, telling everyone I know and wondering how she found my account. But, would I follow her back? I am not even remotely interested in what she posts, so what is in it for me?

In this case I would follow her back to encourage her to keep me on her follow list. I am pretty certain many people are curious enough about her to check who she follows and I would very likely gain more exposure for my business that way. But what if she were following thousands of people; would I follow her then? I would not. I am not interested enough in what she tweets and I do not think we would have a potential business relationship so there is no benefit to me.

When you get a request to connect with someone who has thousands of friends do you think they are interested in you as a person/business or more interested in increasing their numbers? Answer that question before you click accept/follow.

Along with the people who will follow anybody are the people who will follow no one. “I am an expert. You should listen to me, but you have nothing of value to contribute to me.” That may not be what they are thinking yet it is frequently how it comes across. You have to be willing to give to receive.

Take a few minutes to define who you really want to connect with on social media then review your connections to remove the ones that do not fit your current goals. Next, create a plan to reach out to the people who are right for your business. Do this any time you are planning changes for your business to realign with your new goals.

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne

It is time to find your voice. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today. 

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 6
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 7
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 8
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 9
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 10

The mistake we are focusing on today is thinking a “like” is validation.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 15 posts (maybe more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You focus too much on your numbers.
“Did I hear you right, Susanne? You tell me ALL the time that I need to track my numbers.” Of course you do. On the first of every month I put the number of social media followers, email subscribers, website visitors and video views I have on a spreadsheet. Every time I notice new followers throughout the month, I do a happy dance.

More followers are wonderful and we all want them, but I am not any more important if I have 3,000 followers than if I have 30. One of my videos has 15,000 views, another one has three (one of those is me). As excited as I am that a few of my videos are getting my name out there and my follower numbers are growing, I understand that I still need to work to connect with those followers.

Trust me; it is hard to connect deeply on social media. I find my blog and my opening notes in my newsletters to be the easiest places for people to get to see my personality. The biggest reason for that is I am usually trying to teach when I write them and I love to help people learn. I start writing to teach and I find it hard to stop so you learn more about me while I am explaining a thought. 

I can not write a blog for a tweet, I am thousands of characters too long for that. I can, however, tweet a link to my posts (or videos or newsletters) so my followers get a chance to check them out and take me for a test drive. Some people will not like my style and they will unfollow me. That is okay. Thank you for playing with me. I will only be sad a little when you click unsubscribe and I will not retaliate by unfriending you.

Track your numbers, be happy if they grow and concerned if they do not. Always keep in mind; your numbers do not define you. We all start with one Facebook fan, one Twitter follower, one subscriber, one video view and that one is usually us. 50 followers you genuinely connect with are better than 5,000 that never read your posts.

Repost any materials that show your personality on a regular basis to winnow out the people you are not meant to serve. I rotate through my blogs and videos for my LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter posts. When I reach the end of my list, I start at the top again.

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne

P.S. I will not hold it against you that you have more followers than me.

It is time to find your voice. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today.

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 6
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 7
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 8
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 9

The mistake we are focusing on today is not realizing everyone has a different social media schedule.

On this series of posts I am identifying social media mistakes business owners make and I am offering a recommended fix. I am not going to link to each of the previous posts here at the top because I know there will be at least 15 posts (maybe more) and that will get very messy very quickly. Scroll to the bottom to check other posts.

Mistake - You think everyone is checking their accounts as much (or as little) as you are.
I have friends that are logged in to Facebook many hours every day. I have been known to go weeks without logging in. (I am working on logging in more often). I log in to Twitter almost every day and many of my friends rarely log in. Are you seeing a pattern?

Social media is rarely a main focus of the day for any business person and if they do use it a lot, they generally focus on one platform. If you are a solo-professional you need to occasionally unplug from it all just to stay sane. Try to keep that sanity in mind when trying to do business via social media.

I logged in to Facebook Saturday afternoon. I did not log in again until late Tuesday. Of course someone messaged me on Sunday morning about doing some work for them. It will be interesting to see if they are still interested three days later.

When you reach out to someone via social media be respective of their time if you can. If you need them right this minute, pick up the phone or send them an email. Do not message them and then complain that they have not responded within an hour.

On the flip side, if you hope to respond quickly to business inquiries, you may need to log in daily even if you are not fond of a particular platform. (like me and Facebook)

Create a system for logging in to all of your social media platforms at least once a week. Monday, Wednesday, Friday would be better and Monday through Friday would be best.

To make logging in to Facebook easier (and more often) for me, I do not read my newsfeed. I check my messages, notifications, client pages and groups and get back out quickly.

Experiment to find that balance between being available and disconnecting to focus on other areas of your business.

Come back again next time. I will have another mistake; and another solution.

Until next time...

Have a great day,
Susanne


Quit doing what you "should"; do what works for you. Learn how you can effectively integrate a social media campaign into your marketing plan. Sign up for Stop the Social Media Madness online training today.

Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 1
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 2
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 3
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 4
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 5
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 6
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 7
Biggest Social Media Mistakes Business Owners Make - Part 8