Social media presents a powerful way to do the following:
- Grow an audience like never before
- Spread your message like never before
- Procrastinate like never before
- Insult people like never before
I think that out of all of the opportunities we have been presented with to take charge, never has there been an opportunity with such beneficial and disastrous consequences wrapped into one. The key way to tap into the power of social media and get the first two results is by knowing what to do, and then implementing that knowledge. There is really no other way to around it. These are the five ways you can tap into the power of social media:
#1: Identify The Best Social Network For You
Not all social networks are created equal. Each social network has a different set of functions and rules for success. On YouTube, you need to create high-value YouTube videos while on Twitter, you need to provide valuable content and follow targeted users who are likely to follow back. For those two social networks, that’s success in a nutshell.
Many people create multiple social media accounts and split their time amongst those accounts. This is one of the most common but also one of the biggest mistakes people make. If you split up your time amongst different social media accounts and try to master them all at the same time, you would have to read countless articles and turn yourself into a workhorse (never mind the fact that at the end of the day, your social media accounts need to promote people to revenue generating websites such as an optimized blog and landing page). The solution is to choose one (yes, just one) social network and master it. Once you master one social network, you can move on to mastering another social network. If you have multiple social media accounts (I’m sure you do), then there is no reason to delete any of them. Just be inactive on them for a while and focus most of your time on one of them.
#2: Do Research
No matter how much you know about one social network, you can still learn more about that social network. To this day, I continue to learn more about Twitter, and my quest for learning more about Twitter won’t stop for a very long time (if it ever stops at all). In order to learn more about a social network, you need to do research on that social network. You need to learn what it takes to be successful on that social network (which alone has dozens of smaller components), how you can use social media to boost your productivity, and more. When I do research, I type in a phrase into Google such as, “How To Get More StumbleUpon Followers” (I am intrigued by StumbleUpon and want to learn more about it), and then I read a bunch of the articles that come up. I took this approach to obtain my knowledge about Twitter, and I continue with that approach to this day.
#3: Implement
The only research that adds up to any value is the research that you implement. Chances are ideas that rival Facebook and Google have already been thought of, but those ideas don’t get implemented, so the research and time put into those ideas do not matter. You may know what you do, but knowing and doing are two different things. Once you have the knowledge, you need to apply it. Find time in your day to experiment with new ideas, tinker with old ones, and track the results. Knowing which methods have the biggest impact on your social media audience will present you with the knowledge you need to move forward.
#4: Interact
One of the few rules that applies to every social network is that interacting with your audience is a great way to build connections and get more blog traffic in the process (assuming that you promote your blog on social media). The word social is in “social media” for a reason.
Not only does interacting with your followers make it possible for you to build more connections, but you can share valuable insights with each other. Some of the insights your followers share may inspire your future blog posts. Other followers may ask questions that you use in your information products. Social media allows you to interact with these followers so you can build connections, provide insights, and answer their questions. It’s a win-win for both of you (you get more ideas and your followers get their questions answered).
[tweetthis twitter_handles=”@MarcGuberti” url=”http://bit.ly/17Eb6mk”]Interacting with your social media followers is a win-win![/tweetthis]
#5: Keep At It
The best way to grow your social media audience is to keep at it and learn new techniques along the way (don’t forget to implement). It takes a long time for you to grow a large social media audience. It is important to note that when I reached 100,000 Twitter followers in 993 days, I was not consistently gaining 101 followers every day.
On the day I got my 100,000th Twitter, I mathematically gained an average of 101 followers every day, but on most of those days, I was getting anywhere from 0-5 Twitter followers. Then, I went on to gain 10-20 followers every day until I made my way to gaining over 500 Twitter followers every day. You get to reach the colossal milestones by sticking with the social network you choose (but only stick with a social network if you have a passion for it. Don’t choose to grow on a social network that you despise).
In Conclusion
It would be impossible to cover all of the knowledge you need to know in one blog post. These five methods provide the basic surface needed to take your social media achievement to the next level. Always strive to learn more about what you are trying to master as well as what you have already mastered. Knowledge is power.
Which of these tips was your favorite? Do you have another method for tapping into the power of social media? Please share your thoughts and advice below.
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