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 social media is free.
“But, Susanne. It IS free. That is why I spend so much time on it.”
You just hit the nail on the head. At the very least, you are spending time. You may even be spending your money for someone else’s time. Your time costs money.
“I am only on social media 10 minutes a day.” Really? How come every couple of days when I log in to Facebook and read my feed, you have liked or commented on most of the posts from our mutual friends and your time stamps are telling a different story? We may plan to get in and out of our social media accounts quickly. Unfortunately the real world steps in and that 10 minutes turns into two hours.
“I am just spending extra time on social media when I am slow.” If you are slow, you need to generate revenue. Money can be made directly from social media. Unless you are SPENDING money on ads revenue is not likely to materialize exactly when you need it.
How do you stay active on social media and still maintain focus for your business? Make a schedule and stick to it. Set a timer if necessary. I do not even read my personal timeline when I log in to Facebook. I check my business and personal messages and notifications, and I check my groups. Every morning I read the tweets on my very small “read” list from the day before and I do not worry about what is posted today. I have money to make.
When you have that slow hour, day, week; get on the phone and call people. Make cold calls. Call those leads from that pile of business cards you have stashed. Call clients and let them know about your new products or sales.
Social media is a great tool that can generate income. However, if you are spending hours a day on social media because you think it is cheap advertising and your business is not making money, you need to cut back your social media and focus on tasks that will make the cash register ring.
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