Automating Your Social Media

Okay. You’re now on Google+, Facebook, Twitter. You’ve even signed up for LinkedIn, Xing, Hyves and created a Facebook page. Now what?

Having many social media accounts is like having twirling plates suspended on the end of sticks. You’re going to focus on many things, but not all the plates are going to stay in the air. There will be days where you will feel like you are in complete control and the world is in your hands. Then there will be many more days when you feel like you have been spun, cooked and served on a platter.

So where’s the balance to all this? How does one keep their sanity? What are the big boys doing that you can replicate on a larger scale?

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Creating the Balance

Either something manages you, or controls you – or you have to decide to handle it or control it. Social media is no different. The first thing to remember, you don’t need to communicate with the 6+ BILLION people on this planet! You only need a few hundred, and you’re not going to get them overnight – NOR should you be paying for a service to bring them to you.

None of us is like Noah so we can’t limit them to 2 of each. Pay for gaining followers, and you’ll end up with more people interested in what they want and not what you have to offer.

Building a following is like having a garden – everything will take time, patience, focus, care, maintenance. And in the end will be rewarding. And like the garden, it shouldn’t consume all your time and energy.

Keeping Your Sanity

First things first – what is it you’re providing? Or Selling? What type of person do you want to communicate? With what kind of person do you want to converse?

The last question is the most important – the social media is that, socialising. Otherwise, you will be like the person who arrives at a party and stands in the corner all night. Some will reach out to you, some will even coach you – but that is the long road to a conversation.

You may even want different accounts for different conversations – you don’t want to talk politics in a music conversation. But you still want to limit what conversation you want – otherwise, you have only added another spinning plate to your media.

All the social media have a search mechanism – seek out those with the same topic you want to discuss, and start small. Remember the 80/20 rule – having 20 to 50 in the first week is more than plenty as only 4 to 10 of these new contacts will converse with you in the coming weeks. IF that doesn’t feel like much, then visualise 4 to 10 people around you – how are you going to keep their attention?

Some will stop by for a conversation and leave, others will knock on your door and run, while yet a few will be your cheerleader.

Recreating the ‘Big Boys’ Network

Those cheerleaders are your influencers – not for you, but for bringing other followers to you. They will bring other conversations to you. Seek out more influencers (remember, this will take time) to keep your different conversations going.

As your conversations grow, you will need automation to aid in the discussion. Without that, you will wish you could get back in the corner again. Use automation to broadcast what you have going on

Examples:

• New articles published on your blog or as a guest post
• You have a poem or a new song you like
• A life event has occurred – the birth of a child, a promotion at work, you have gone solo and are looking for clients
• You want to meet new people with a specific interest

There are both free and paid services available that will feed your social media accounts on a basis you choose. Some more prominent platforms are HootSuite and SocialOomph.

And like your garden, be sure you start small – it will grow as you feed it.

But remember to keep your conversation going – otherwise, you become a journalist and not a conversationalist.

By-line

Garrett is an entrepreneur in the HRIS industry – for 20 years, he consulted on large, complex implementations throughout the USA.

He now lives in Brazil and owns www.thehrisworld.com a publishing company that focuses on cloud computing, ERP systems, HRIS systems, HR technology, project management and social media. Feel free to contact him by email or converse with him through Twitter.