1 Key Fact about Social Media Success

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Social media is stupid!  Social media is essential!  Social media is a waste of time!  Social media can really be a powerful tool!

Have you ever felt and thought ANY of these?  All of them?

Using your time on social media can be really productive...or it can be a time drain, depending upon your approach.

I know that I have felt ALL of these things about social media--sometimes within the SAME DAY.

Which one is true?  Probably ALL of them...Depending upon your approach, social media can be a waste of time, or it can be a productive use of your time.



REMEMBER: Social media allows you to network without ever leaving your home or office.

You can attend a lot of networking events, and at THOSE EVENTS you can waste your time OR be productive.

Social media is no different this way.

However, since it takes less effort to utilize social media than it does to attend different networking events, it is easy to waste a lot of unproductive time.

I've learned that it IS important to budget time for networking: both at events and on social media.

See Also: My Twitter Marketing Method

The biggest key to success?

BUDGET YOUR TIME ON SOCIAL MEDIA

1. Plan to spend a certain amount of time on social media.
2. BEGIN TO DO IT
3. Stick to that plan--both in STARTING that time and ENDING your time.

Honestly, the two most difficult times--for me--on social media is...
1. Starting to do it
2. Stopping

It becomes addictive, because so many things come at you so quickly.  So many people respond to you; it's difficult to manage.

Here is what I've learned during the past few weeks.  Plan on spending time on social media, knowing exactly what you want to do on it.  Then be strict with yourself about when to stop.  Otherwise, you will look at the clock, and it will be a LOT LATER than you expected it to be.

I find that the more I go over my "budgeted time," the less productive I am on it, but you need to spend SOME time.  Just like in "real life," if you don't find ways to meet people, people won't find you, and that's just BAD BUSINESS.

Just know when you're no longer doing business, and stop pretending that you are.

Lesson Learned: Budgeted Time on Social Media = Productivity on Social Media

(Alternate Lesson: Non-budgeted time almost always means Non-productive time, especially on social media.)

Don't go under or over your budget!  At least make a budget to check yourself.  (We'll NEVER be perfect here.)

So is social media a waste of time, or is it productive for you?

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