Dec 04

Signs You’re Over Socializing

Social Media 19 Comments »

Social media can be addicting, but most of us figure it’s just part of doing business . . . but is it? Is there such thing as too much social media?

You really have to think about why you are doing social networking in the first place. Chances are it was originally to promote your business and make contacts that could help you out down the road. This is a very valid reason to join social networks and it is a great reason to spend time on this each day. That doesn’t mean, however, that you should spend all your time on Twitter and Facebook.

How do you know if you’re overdoing the social networks? Here are some signs that you might be over socialized.

  • You can’t go more than an hour without tweeting something.
  • You check your Facebook or LinkedIn page more than 2x a day.
  • Your status updates are always up to date.
  • Tweeting on vacation doesn’t phase you.
  • You’ve told your family to hold on, you’re busy on Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn or another social media network. (mea colpa on this one)
  • You don’t watch the news anymore because you get all the latest within seconds through networking.

If three or more of these signs sound familiar to you, chances are you’re overdoing it just a bit. Why is that a bad thing? Because while a little social media is great for business, you still have to actually work on your business and if social media is taking time away from your work and family, you’re missing the point.

What can you do about this? The best thing to do is review your goals for social networking and set time limits. If you know that you only have 20 minutes twice a day, for example, you’ll be far more focused in what you’re saying to the online community and that can only be good for your business.

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Dec 02

The Real Cost of Social Media

Small Business 23 Comments »
The cost of social media

The cost of social media

Everyone says that social media is free and if you just take a quick look, it certainly seems to be. After all, you don’t need to pay anything to sign up for most social network sites and you can enjoy unlimited hours of interconnection for nothing. That doesn’t mean it’s actually free, though. In fact, social media does cost something, your time.

As they say, time is money and when it comes to promoting your business, that really is true! The time you put into social media is a cost and for every minute you spend working on networking, you aren’t working on something else in your business. While the benefits of networking online can be huge, it does take time to see those result and in the meantime, you aren’t being paid for those hours of working on connecting with worthwhile people.

There are, of course, monetary costs, as well, particularly if you have hired someone to take on some of the networking duties for you. Keep in mind that even big companies set aside thousands of dollars for their social networking budgets. You might not need that much, but it is something to keep in mind when planning your marketing budget.

It’s important to understand this ahead of time even before you start your social media strategy, because you’ll need to be consistent with social media, even when it seems that there aren’t many results. It can take months to see the benefits and during that time, you will need to stay on top of things, spending time each day to respond to messages and communicate with other business owners, potential clients, and gurus in the niche you’re interested in. Once you’re prepared to do this, you should be good to go.

Social media isn’t free. You will be paying with your time, even if you do everything yourself. When you’re on Twitter or LinkedIn, you aren’t working on client assignments, so that means you aren’t pulling in money, usually. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be interested in social media or that you should consider dropping it. It merely means that you should be aware of the cost when planning your networking campaign. Make sure you take into consideration how much time will be lost from other areas of your business while you are working on social media.

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