My Love/Hate Relationship with Social Media
My relationship with social media can be described as a love/hate. Because a lot of my affiliate partners have grown from my relationships that were built on via social media, I definitely see and experience the advantages of having social media as an integral part of my business.
Social Media can be addicting. I didn’t realize how much I loved it until I took a 6 week course, about 4 years ago. I was scared of Facebook and LinkedIn…just forget it! It was super confusing to me and I just couldn’t and wouldn’t try to figure it out. Because, after all, who had time for all that stuff?
That was the beginning of my love/hate relationship with social media and I find myself concentrating even more on managing my time on social media. Of course, there are lots of tools that can help with this process. However, it all still takes time and there is only so much time available every day.
Managing your social media is a process that takes time to develop. I think that it all starts with you knowing your audience. Where do they “hang out”? Where do they spend their time on social media? Are they Facebook junkies? Then you probably need to have a Facebook presence.
If your business is more B2B focused, then of course, you want to be on Linke
dIn. This is where I have built my relationships with affiliate partners and have developed a residual income.
Just a few weeks ago I attended the NAPO Conference (National Association of Professional Organizers) in Phoenix. Obviously, there would be a ton of Professional Organizers at the Conference, and also a lot of Vendors that I needed (and wanted) to develop a relationship with. Obviously, there were a lot of more experienced Organizers that had much more knowledge and experience than me. And, my minimum goal was to meet them, even if it was just for a handshake and hello. My ultimate goal was to be able to spend some one to one time with several and just soak up their experience and expertise. .
I knew that in order for any of this to happen, I needed to market myself and make others want to meet with me! So, I used social media, specifically LinkedIn, to market myself to them. As the manager of the LinkedIn group, Home and Office Organizing, I encouraged them to engage with me by asking the simple question, “Are you attending the NAPO Conference? If so, let’s meet in Phoenix”.
The results of my efforts were amazing. It was just like meeting an old friend again. People walked up to me and hugged me, shook hands and just said hello. This is what I love the most about social media, you never know when and how you may meet a person. When worked properly, you can definitely develop a relationship (that can lead to business) even if you never meet face to face. Smiles, hugs and the shaking of hands is definitely an awesome feeling.
Don’t discount your social media engagement. Manage time wisely and “be seen”. Learn to love your addiction, within reason, of course.
What is your relationship with social media? Share your stories!
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