The points we’ve covered so far in our previous posts may seem pretty labor-intensive. They’re not. It’s knowing how to network effectively that creates a strong presence and following — not the precise number of minutes or hours you spend on social networks. Â If you missed our past two posts which led up to this post, click here to read the first post and here to read the second post.
Social Interaction
A habitual five minutes a day of acknowledging or making comment responses and hitting your “Like” button is more likely to increase your visibility and trust factor than all the educated articles in the world. Yet many people engage in social networking only on a “hit-and-miss” basis — or avoid it altogether.
Whether you’re a “hit-and-miss” poster or a socio-webophobe, it all boils down to the same sin: Procrastination.
Common Causes
The nine most common causes of social networking procrastination are:
- Anxiety
- Fear of addiction
- Dislike of social networking
- The belief it’s a “waste of time”
- Disorganization
- Distraction
- Reactivity
- Lack of proactivity and planning
- Laziness
Whatever the cause, you need to tackle that issue right now. (Remember, we’re not talking becoming a social media guru here: We’re only talking about a few minutes a day with two or more of the “Big Four” networks.
Offline Business
Think about it. If you were running an offline business, would you put up a website, and then sit in your office waiting for the world to discover you? Or would you be out and about, drumming up business.
Even offline, your best business leads often come from word-of-mouth recommendations, and the fact that people “know” you. If they’ve met you helping out at the annual Sally Sue Run, they’re able to put a face to your name, when they discover it while looking for local web designers. People want the personal touch, and that’s even more true on social networks.
So ignoring them is like sitting at home, never, ever volunteering, taking a booth at a craft fair, offering to give a talk to your local Chamber of Commerce, attending networking breakfasts, carrying your business cards around with you or whipping out your elevator speech. Doesn’t make sense, does it? Perhaps in the movies large clients might drop out of the sky . . . but that’s not usually how it works.
Social Networking
When you realize that social networking replaces all this legwork when you run an online business, procrastination is not an option!
Start by spending five minutes a day commenting on posts you like, sharing highly relevant content with selected followers or simply clicking “tweet,” “Share” or “Like.” Make it the same time, every day — and don’t miss it for at least three months! NASA experiments show that the human brain will actually create a neural pathway for the new behavior . . . but it takes a good couple of months for these pathways to “grow,” if you walk there every day.
Once you’ve created the habit, you will have plenty of time to hone your social networking skills.
But start today!
Do you suffer from social media procrastination? Â If so, do you recognize any of the common causes listed above? Â Leave us a comment below, we would love to hear from you. Â Come back next week, when we discuss the two deadly hidden social media pitfalls.
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