How Many, How Often, How Come? One thing that I always hear when it comes to social networking sites is how much time should I spend on this? People get caught up with the fact that there are technically hundreds of social networking sites out there and simply do not know where to begin, much less how to begin.
How Come? Let's kick off with how come you should be on social networks in the first place.
Well for starters social networking is the future and present of the Internet.
Everything revolves around social media and is is the most efficient way to market anything today.
Also, social media has brought us into this world of "new school" marketing methods or simply put, marketing with Web 2.
0 sites.
Compared to old school marketing - which revolved around very faceless and impersonal direct business pitches - new school marketing is all about generating leads by forming personal relationships.
If this sounds foreign to you then I suggest you view my video breakdown on "New School vs.
Old School Marketing" located at the bottom of this post.
How Many? There are literally over a hundred of different types of social networking sites out there, many more known than others.
But just because there are over a hundred or even a dozen social networking sites that you know of in existence, doesn't mean you should be spending time on all of them.
Trying to be a part of every site out there can actually be counter productive.
Let's re visit the main goals of social networking.
#1)Establish yourself as a leader: You want to become known as someone who provides value to others.
There's no point in being a jackass in social media.
When you provide value, people come back to you as a resource and this is exactly what we want to happen.
#2)Become popular: This isn't a joke, you want as many people as you can to know your name and face.
The more exposure you get the more money you will earn - this is a proven formula with social networking.
No matter what type of business you are in and no matter what type of sales funnel you are working - the more exposure you get the more money you will see.
#3)Form relationships: Form real relationships, I am talking about mutually benefiting relationships with like minded people who share similar goals.
This is why you want to be constantly reaching out to everyone because you never know who you may team up with to start the next Google with.
One thing to realize about these three goals is that it takes considerable time and effort to accomplish them.
It isn't a hell of a lot of work by any means - you just need to develop a routine of effective sessions that you bust out periodically.
Since it is going to take some persistence and dedication to become well known as someone who provides value and ultimately form relationships you don't want to overload your plate.
Do not go out and sign up for every single social networking site you can as you simply won't be able to be active on all of them.
You will see more reward from establishing a good reputation on a handful of sites rather than mingling on 20 different ones.
There is no money in the gray area, you don't want to just blend into the background.
I highly recommend sticking to a few social networking sites, personally I am on 3 - Twitter, YouTube and BetterNetworker (Facebook is my personal site and not really for business).
Now this is just my preference and yours may be different.
Do not be afraid to try something new and sign up for new sites - just don't feel obliged to be a part of a ton of sites thinking it will help.
How Often? As often as you can.
No need to overload your plate again but spend as much time as you can when you first come on new social networking sites.
As you progress you will develop your own routine.
Some people make an effort to spend 30 minutes a day with social networking while others come on whenever they can.
Be aware that it is inevitable that you will burn yourself out.
Everyone does this and everyone experiences a burn out.
Basically when you have had enough of all this and feel discouraged, this is natural.
What's important is to come back after your burn out and develop or alter your routine to prevent yourself from being over loaded.
Have goals, be efficient and keep your chin up...
Number one rule on social networking sites is to be yourself.
Not everyone is going to agree with you and because of this not everyone is going to like you either.
Do not worry, the last thing you want to do is alter or compromise your actions in order to try and please everyone - this is a rookie mistake.
Be controversial! There is no such thing as bad publicity/attention.
There is no money in the gray area! Be yourself, be positive (no one likes a jackass), have goals and keep an open mind.
How Come? Let's kick off with how come you should be on social networks in the first place.
Well for starters social networking is the future and present of the Internet.
Everything revolves around social media and is is the most efficient way to market anything today.
Also, social media has brought us into this world of "new school" marketing methods or simply put, marketing with Web 2.
0 sites.
Compared to old school marketing - which revolved around very faceless and impersonal direct business pitches - new school marketing is all about generating leads by forming personal relationships.
If this sounds foreign to you then I suggest you view my video breakdown on "New School vs.
Old School Marketing" located at the bottom of this post.
How Many? There are literally over a hundred of different types of social networking sites out there, many more known than others.
But just because there are over a hundred or even a dozen social networking sites that you know of in existence, doesn't mean you should be spending time on all of them.
Trying to be a part of every site out there can actually be counter productive.
Let's re visit the main goals of social networking.
#1)Establish yourself as a leader: You want to become known as someone who provides value to others.
There's no point in being a jackass in social media.
When you provide value, people come back to you as a resource and this is exactly what we want to happen.
#2)Become popular: This isn't a joke, you want as many people as you can to know your name and face.
The more exposure you get the more money you will earn - this is a proven formula with social networking.
No matter what type of business you are in and no matter what type of sales funnel you are working - the more exposure you get the more money you will see.
#3)Form relationships: Form real relationships, I am talking about mutually benefiting relationships with like minded people who share similar goals.
This is why you want to be constantly reaching out to everyone because you never know who you may team up with to start the next Google with.
One thing to realize about these three goals is that it takes considerable time and effort to accomplish them.
It isn't a hell of a lot of work by any means - you just need to develop a routine of effective sessions that you bust out periodically.
Since it is going to take some persistence and dedication to become well known as someone who provides value and ultimately form relationships you don't want to overload your plate.
Do not go out and sign up for every single social networking site you can as you simply won't be able to be active on all of them.
You will see more reward from establishing a good reputation on a handful of sites rather than mingling on 20 different ones.
There is no money in the gray area, you don't want to just blend into the background.
I highly recommend sticking to a few social networking sites, personally I am on 3 - Twitter, YouTube and BetterNetworker (Facebook is my personal site and not really for business).
Now this is just my preference and yours may be different.
Do not be afraid to try something new and sign up for new sites - just don't feel obliged to be a part of a ton of sites thinking it will help.
How Often? As often as you can.
No need to overload your plate again but spend as much time as you can when you first come on new social networking sites.
As you progress you will develop your own routine.
Some people make an effort to spend 30 minutes a day with social networking while others come on whenever they can.
Be aware that it is inevitable that you will burn yourself out.
Everyone does this and everyone experiences a burn out.
Basically when you have had enough of all this and feel discouraged, this is natural.
What's important is to come back after your burn out and develop or alter your routine to prevent yourself from being over loaded.
Have goals, be efficient and keep your chin up...
Number one rule on social networking sites is to be yourself.
Not everyone is going to agree with you and because of this not everyone is going to like you either.
Do not worry, the last thing you want to do is alter or compromise your actions in order to try and please everyone - this is a rookie mistake.
Be controversial! There is no such thing as bad publicity/attention.
There is no money in the gray area! Be yourself, be positive (no one likes a jackass), have goals and keep an open mind.
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