Babe Ruth knew how to hit a baseball. But he also missed quite a few as well. Like baseball, social media requires that you find your sweet spot to hit it well & a lot.
I refer in my training a lot of baseball when I talk about social media. Every one I train is different. They all have their strengths and weaknesses. They all have to step up to the plate and swing when it comes to social media.
There are a few things that are a must when you do social media. But for the most part, how we operate social media depends a lot on our personality. That’s what I mean when I talk about the “Sweet spot”. How we go about social media will be different from the other person. We just need to make sure that we are hitting the social media baseball and getting the success we want.
We can’t be @unmarketing, @ChrisVoss, @TerryCrosby or @MariSmith. They have their own way of social media that works for them. They have gone up to bat quite a few times and they have developed their own swing. They know what works for them. They know their sweet spot for social media.
Finding your sweet spot requires that you try lots of things and try them often. You are not going to get good at hitting a baseball if only a few attempts. And you are not going to get good at social media with a small effort that is random at best.
So here’s some advice on finding your sweet spot on social media:
- Don’t spread yourself all over the place. Stick to Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. There’s lots out there. You might even just start with one of the big three; say Facebook.
- Be on social media throughout the day so that others can see you there. Make sure you don’t post too much on Facebook, or people will hide you from their news feed. Twitter is good to send lots out.
- Be yourself. You’re not Scott Stratten and you never will be. Be yourself and others will respect you for that.
- When someone comments your way, comment back. Social media is about engagement and conversation.
- Don’t broadcast all one way. This turns people off. It’s a two way street.
- Watch your social media for responses from others. Are they sharing your stuff and talking about you?
- Make sure you share other people’s stuff and give them credit for it. This builds community.
- Don’t expect big numbers right away. It takes time to build momentum.
- Find a niche that you can speak to. General is OK; build you will never stand out if you sound like everyone else.
There’s a lot more I could tell you, but you are going to have to figure some things out by yourself to produce a great swing. Don’t be afraid to step up to the plate and swing.
You will never get good at social media unless you do it. There will be misses. So what. Babe missed a few as well. But when you connect the the social media baseball, I’ll bet you knock it right out of the park. SO have a good one and get swinging.
