BREAKING NEWS: Social Media Is More Than You Think It Is

Yes, social media is about sharing ideas.  Yes, social media is about networking.  Yes, social media is about branding. And yes, social media is about telling your friends/followers what you are doing.  But it really is so much more than that.

 My definition of social media: it is what you make it.

If you want it to be about telling people what you are doing or where you are going that is fine (but these people are missing something powerful).  If you want to recycle (retweet) articles or comments from others, excellent.  If you want to strive to be a “trust agent” and produce your own unique content and build a stronger friend/follower base and provide insight on your own particular niche, awesome!  If you want to take conversations offline and connect with others then you are really utilizing social media in a powerful way.

 

 There is still resistance to social media either from spouses, significant others, your employer because they don’t fully understand why you are doing it and what is the impact.

 

 Social media is not going to provide an immediate ROI, it is a tool where you need to build trust with your friends/followers as you engage with them on any number of countless topics.  If you want to use it more for your business or professional growth, you still need to keep a “human” factor alive in your communication.

 

We can smell the bots out there and many choose not to follow them, yet some still do.  As the saying goes, to each their own.

 

My first recommendation or action plan to everyone who is struggling on how they want to create either a business or personal social media strategy: make a plan.  Understand what you want to accomplish and how will you utilize any number of social media tools to achieve that goal.  This is not an overnight process and takes effort, time and consistency.  Above all, be yourself.

 

But whatever you think it is, it really is so much more because it is something different to each of us and used uniquely just the same.  Remember that your audience is everyone so do it your way… but be respectful.