Stop the Madness and Find Your Social Network Focus!

March 29, 2011

I read an article today about finding your social network focus written by Amanda Hackwith and it truly rang a bell with me.

Over and over again, we hear about how important it is to be involved AND active in social networks, especially the top ones like Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.

As Amanda so eloquently put it, we are told to “get your tweets twittered, your face booked, and your tumble tumbled!”

Well, guess what? It doesn’t have to be overwhelming and you don’t have to bust your butt doing everything! It boils down to these 3 things.

1. Where Are Your Followers, Readers, Audience?

What sense does it make to show up and talk to people who won’t, don’t, and just outright refuse to listen to you??? None! Your new mantra should be “Where my audience lives, so shall I visit.” This goes back to my urging you to find your ideal client or source of business. If they are mostly on Twitter, why waste time on Facebook? Don’t know where they hang out most? Ask them! Surveys and polls are the best way to ask people who you’ve worked with before where they spend their time. Afterwards, your task is easy: just show up where they are!

2. What Do You Have to Say?

Yes, the content you want to share helps you define what you need to say when you choose your social networks. Think about it: on Facebook, people are usually more lax, more casual while LinkedIn users are more professional and caters to business aspects. Likewise, we all know that Twitter is best for those short, quick bursts of text while YouTube is the King of video and getting face (or screen) time. So once you find your audience on a particular platform(s), tailor your content accordingly.

3. How Much Time Do You Have?

If you’re anything like me, you don’t have time to spend being social all day long. I wish I could as I love doing it. But you have to know that interacting with people, sharing content, listening, and engaging in meaningful conversations takes time! This is another reason why finding the right social network(s) for you is so important. So if you decide that Twitter is where you need to be and you only have 10 minutes a day, one strategy could be to say hello to new followers, tweet your latest post, respond to messages/mentions, and just keep an eye on the latest tweets regarding topics in your industry (using a saved search you setup already). So it doesn’t have to be time consuming unless you make it.

Final Tips to Finding Your Social Network Focus

Start With Your Why
Focus
Provide Great Value
Reach Out to Your Audience
and, lastly but definitely not least, Stay Consistent!

Note: This is not to say you have to pick one and only one social network. Besides, there are loads of tools you can use to share your content across social networks. However, find your social rhythm and the network (or what I like to call homebase) that suits you best and start there.

Overall, there is no need to jump on the bandwagon just because people are telling you to. Stop the madness!

Your turn…

What social networks do you focus on? How did you find your rhythm? Please share and weigh in family!

About Kesha Brown

Kesha is the Creative Director and Principal Web Designer at her company XD Web Solutions who specializes in helping small businesses and organizations maximize their online presence. Go ahead and follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.

17 Comments to “Stop the Madness and Find Your Social Network Focus!”

May 22, 2011 at 7:54 am
Josh says:

Joining in social networking sites can help in one’s online activity, online business. The only problem issue is how active a person will be just to get a positive result from it so being active is a must. Anyway, doing regular posting/updating is needed so other people will have a clue.
Josh recently posted..Wisdom Teeth – General Overview

[Reply]
April 16, 2011 at 11:08 pm
Stella | List Building
Twitter: stellaanokam
says:

Kesha, you touched on very important productivity and brand positioning essentials for a blogger. I quite agree with you – what’s the use of following (the crowd) amiss? Not every social media platform is a hanging place for every kind of market (prospect types) – for instance, Facebook is not the ideal network for ‘serious’ markets like HR, Consulting, Academia etc – LinkedIn is perfect for those.

Some profession (and markets) perceive Facebook as very unserious and so if you are blogging for business in that kind of niche, you’ve got no business (and listeners too) on Facebook. Point is, as you said, Kesha – find where your own ideal customers / clients hang out and be there, if you want to be heard.

Once again – great poits, all of them. I enjoyed reading, as always.
Stella | List Building recently posted..9 Effective Ways to Increase Targeted Traffic to Your Blog or Website

[Reply]
April 3, 2011 at 8:48 pm
Heather C Stephens says:

Hi Kesha!

Good points to remember for social media! I agree that we need to focus on where our audience is and focus on staying consistent. I do automate a lot of twitter since I can tweet old posts and retweet others easily. I focus more on relationships on facebook. I do have a presence on other social media accounts, but in all honesty I’m focused on facebook and twitter mostly.

Great post!
Heather
Heather C Stephens recently posted..March to Our Success

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
April 4th, 2011 at 12:39 pm
Hey Heather, you’ve found your audience and know where to focus your time! I can see why you use FB and Twitter more often based on what you do and as long as it’s working for you, you’re doing well!

BTW: I just started using the tweet old posts plugin myself…It’s so cool!

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April 1, 2011 at 12:41 am
Rowena Bolo
Twitter: rowenabolo
says:

Hi Kesha,

You are to me, a social media queen! I never had a doubt in my mind that if you could be social all day long, you’ll do it….With your energy, there’s always spare to share with anyone you come in ‘social’ with hehe…

Thanks for reminding me this – “It doesn’t have to be time consuming unless you make it.” Now, I remember having posted probably a dozen times in several places that I’ll be working on being more active in twitter, and guess what, I improved just a little. I don’t wanna miss you at your homebase so I better act fast.

Keep writing easy to understand, yet powerful (if we take action) tips.

- Rowena
Rowena Bolo recently posted..Do You Picture Yourself Passing The “Marshmallow Test”

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March 30, 2011 at 6:57 pm
Jon
Twitter: Jonathan_Alford
says:

Hey Kesha!

I’m a fan of focus. As you mentioned, we don’t have to jump on the bandwagon or latest craze just to keep up. If we aim to excel at one or two platforms, chances are, we’ll find our groove there and drive quality traffic while making great connections.

Time is precious – can’t spend it spraying your efforts all over the place. Focus!

Thanks,

Jon
Jon recently posted..Promote Your Business or Cause- Let’s Hear YOUR Story

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 30th, 2011 at 7:36 pm
LOL @ your comment “spraying your efforts all over the place!” Made me think of my old cat who for some reason got confused that her litter box was the living room and was “spraying all over the place”

I know, random thought, but that’s what it made me think of!

As you know, Jon, we learn from our mistakes, er shall I say experiences, because when I first started in this social media deal, I signed up for every service I saw and couldn’t keep up. This left me with a confused, overwhelmed, frustrated, failure based feeling – until I realized I didn’t have to keep doing it. I found the top sources I like to engage and where my audience responds and now I’m smooth sailing!

Thank you much for adding your feedback!

[Reply]
March 30, 2011 at 11:52 am
Adrienne
Twitter: asuperaffiliate
says:

Hey Kesha,

Great post and one I just wrote about as well on my main blog. I have found that by socializing with others, that not only has brought me more traffic to my site but more sales as well. Why? Because of the connection I am making with others.

But you are SO right. You need to find out where your audience is and then start connecting by sharing other’s content and starting conversations. Social networking can be time consuming but schedule your time and stick with it. It will definitely benefit you in the long run.

Love this topic, love love love it! Thanks for sharing this post and I’ll definitely be spreading the word.

Adrienne

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 30th, 2011 at 4:09 pm
@Adrienne, you said it right – connecting with others…in the end, that’s what it is all about anyway!

I looked at my google analytics metrics today and was surprised that more people are coming from Facebook now. Guess I need to re-look at how I’m engaging on Facebook too! Metrics like this can help us understand too where our audience is!

Thank you as always for your value added comments!

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March 30, 2011 at 4:19 am
Jane | Find All Answers
Twitter: janesheeba
says:

Hi Kesha,

Social networking is time consuming in the beginning but as we set things up and find out our strategy, we really can put up a time table and work on it.

As you say, we really need to figure out where our audience are and concentrate our business there.

Cheers,
Jane.
Jane | Find All Answers recently posted..Dramatically Increase Subscriptions Without Lifting A Finger- Literally

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 30th, 2011 at 10:16 am
@Jane, thanks for your feedback! I know how hard it is, especially for beginners, to really get in a groove (and even for myself sometimes depending on what I have going on) but that time table really helps in getting folks into gear

Talk to you soon!

[Reply]
March 29, 2011 at 9:52 pm
The Cubicle Chick
Twitter: TheCubicleChick
says:

Again, you have some really good tips here. I need to get that book
The Cubicle Chick recently posted..Would you ever have cosmetic plastic surgery

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 29th, 2011 at 9:55 pm
Ha yep! LOL

Thanks deary…anytime I can help The Cubicle Chick, I’m good

[Reply]
March 29, 2011 at 9:21 pm
Samantha Bangayan
Twitter: samanthaluy
says:

This is a really valuable post, Kesha. I’ve definitely struggled with balancing social media with work, but there’s something to be said about a focused and targeted approach. I also really like the idea about setting aside time for social media, so it doesn’t take over the rest of my day!

I have my Twitter connected to my Facebook, so all my posts head over to FB just in case I can catch someone’s eye there, but I guess Twitter has become my “homebase.” =)

Thanks for these thorough tips! =) Looking forward to reading more!
Samantha Bangayan recently posted..The Sea of Nonconformity- A Poet and Capoeirista in Huancayo

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 29th, 2011 at 9:45 pm
Hey Samantha, glad you found it helpful. Yes, it is a struggle sometimes and a balancing act! However, as you’ve done, automation comes in handy big time so that’s a good strategy to have your tweets replicated on Facebook.

I’ve found that those two audiences are distinct and you never know who else you may reach over there.

I’m with you…twitter is my homebase I’ll be connecting with you there too!

TTYL

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March 29, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Janet @ The Natural Networker
Twitter: janetcallaway
says:

Kesha, aloha. You are so right. People spend so much time hopping from network to network that they don’t do any of them well. As you said, they need to focus on interacting with/getting to know and getting their message out to their target market.

What I have found to be helpful in building relationships is to maintain lists. While probably all platforms are set up to do this, I know the “biggies” definitely are. When someone new follows, friends or connects, I put them in a list of “New-Last 2 weeks.” That way I can make sure I exchange tweets, posts, etc. with them to get to know them a bit as well as watch what type of info they send.”

Kesha, what people need to remember is that the online world is no different from the offlien world. We want to be treated with respect. We need to follow the Golden Rule and treat others as we would like to be treated.

If people follow your advice, they will find themselves becoming more productive and less overwhelmed. Great post, Kesha.

Have a terrific day. Aloha. Janet
Janet @ The Natural Networker recently posted..Seduce Your Lizard Brain by Janet Callaway The Natural Networker

[Reply]
Kesha
Twitter: xdwebsolutions
Reply:
March 29th, 2011 at 6:00 pm
@Janet, I love your comments…always value-added!

I’m glad you mentioned lists. I don’t know what I’d do without lists. That’s how I manage my time on Twitter and without them I’d be lost!

Also, you can create groups and export your LinkedIn contacts as well.

Thank you always for your feedback!

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