Welcome to episode 315 of Hit the Mic with The Stacey Harris.
This episode is for those of you who feel like you just can’t figure out where to get started. For those of you who are struggling along with social media, this is also worth giving a listen to because sometimes the struggle stems from a lack of foundation in our social media. I really want to talk about the three things you need to know, you have to know and you have to execute on when it comes to getting started with your social media because again, a lot of the struggles I see clients having, a lot of the struggles I see with our members at Hit the Mic Backstage, it really stems from not having those foundations in place. From not having these things figured out.
Number one, I think this applies to literally everything and not just social media. That could just be me raising my hand on that one. Stop trying to do all the things. You don’t need to be on every single network. You don’t need to be doing social media 24 hours a day. You do not need to be glued to your phone when you’re supposed to be at your kids soccer practice. Raising my hand on that one. You don’t need to be obsessed with staying connected and staying in touch in all of the places all of the time. It’s just not true. It’s just not the way it is. I want you to very first, very foremost let go of that. Get yourself off the hook for that one because it’s not serving you, it’s not serving your goals and it is not serving your community which is generally the excuse we use to keep doing that.
It’s not really a value place and so I want you to let go of that. Again, you don’t need to be in all of the networks. You need to be in a couple of places. You need to be in the right places at the right time not everywhere all of the time. I’ve talked about this in other episodes but it’s worth re-mentioning here two primary networks. Yes, two. Not one, two and that’s because when you’re on only one network you’re putting all your eggs in that basket. If they make a major change or that they are down, you’re going to feel that. However, if you have another network to lean on, you have a little bit of a security blanket there should something happen.
The best examples of this are in the last probably a year and a half, we’ve seen some major changes in organic reach on Facebook. The people who are most hurt by that are the people who only use Facebook. Especially those people who only had Facebook and didn’t even legit have their own website set up. Those of you who are really feeling it but it really is the people who get hurt by those kind of changes are the people who are relying all on one network. A more recent example is a few weeks ago we saw major, major DNS attack that impacted a lot of our favorite websites like Twitter and Pinterest and Freshbooks and a lot. New York Times, a lot of major sites were down as a part of it.
If those were your only networks you had no place to go. Having two primary networks is really helpful but also, again, it’s two. It’s not all of them. It’s two. That’s manageable. That’s doable. I also like to have two secondary networks in addition to those primary networks. If you just want to have one secondary network that’s fine but these are the networks to support what happens in your primary networks.
They are really nice to have because if something shifts in a site or a community or in your business you can move those secondary networks into the primary position if you need to instead of going I have to start all over now. You literally don’t ever want to do that. Right? Nobody wants to start all over. It’s hard enough to start the first time so that’s why I like to have those secondary networks. With those secondary networks, they are not going to be in the same amount of attention as the primary networks are on a day to day basis. Also if you’re just getting started, don’t worry about those yet.
Figure out your two primary networks first. Get consistent there. Get established there. Build your habits, your strategies, your techniques, your tactics, your tools. Get really good in that space first then add secondary networks. Don’t try to do it all at one time. Again, we’re skipping right pass to try to do all the things. Okay, just fast forward. No need to do all the things.
It doesn’t serve you and it doesn’t serve your community. If it doesn’t serve you and it doesn’t serve your community what the hell is the point of doing it? There’s no point in exhausting yourself, in beating yourself up, in putting yourself through that if it doesn’t serve anyone, you or your community so let it go guys. Let it go, frozen style. Is there anyone else who can’t say let it go without thinking of that song now? It might just be me. Back on track.
Number two, I want you to remember your who and your why. You know, I’ve wrapped up the first point in saying if it doesn’t serve you and it doesn’t serve your community then what the hell is the point? Sometimes when we chase this idea of having to do all of the things or having to be in all of the places, we get away from our who and we get away from our why.
It’s easy to end up down the road that doesn’t serve our community because we’ve forgotten what it is we’re doing. We can sometimes get caught up in the really well-executed marketing of experts who tell us we have to do X, Y, Z. There are a lot of people in my social media camaraderie who try and execute that way, who try to market that way. I’m a big proponent of not doing that. I’m not a fan of the do or die kind of marketing. What I am a fan of is the you do you kind of marketing and it’s really easiest to execute that kind of marketing when you really stay connected to who you’re talking to and what it is you want to tell them. This not only helps you build a strategy and provide value to the right people and provide the right kind of value, it really helps you stay in the room when it comes to social media.
It really helps you stay consistent in putting value out there and getting your audience what they need from you and helping you give them consistent, reliable value and knowing they are going to hear from you and knowing that you’re not going to have to stress out about it. Stay connected with who you’re talking to and why you’re doing it. It’s really is the foundation of a strong strategy.
Speaking of strategy, that’s the third thing. If you’re getting started and you’re not sure what to do, take a step back and build a plan. It doesn’t have to be a huge plan. It doesn’t have to be the plan you use forever but having an outline of where you spend time, what kind of places you share from, the breakdown of the kinds of content that happens, how often you want to post per day.
It really does make a difference in taking action because you spend less time wondering what to say and more time saying stuff. Honestly, saying stuffs getting going, getting moving, that’s what’s going to help you build a better social media environment for the future. That’s what’s going to help you know what kind of post connect because you can look at your insights. It’s going to help you know what kind of problems your audience are having because they are going to leave you comments and questions and engage with you. It’s really hard for you to learn when you’re not doing. Build a bit of a plan, make some educated guesses and start executing. Don’t let analysis paralysis ruin any forward movement for you.
Don’t let wondering and thinking and deciding and all of those things stop you from doing because when you start doing, you’re going to have a whole lot more information to analyze. You’re going to have a whole lot more information to work with and you’re going to be able to make an actual difference for your community. Start moving.
All right. To recap our three things. Number one, skip over trying to do all the things. Okay, don’t do all the things. Remember those two primary networks, that’s where I want you to start. Number two, remember who, remember the why. If you stay connected with those things it gets a lot easier to consistently provide value. Number three, build a plan even if it’s a small plan. Even if that plan is definitely going to change which I promise it is. Starting somewhere is better than starting nowhere or worst, not starting at all.
Okay. Get moving, get going. If you really, really need feedback and support and help which I’m sure you do or you wouldn’t be listening this far of the episode, come join us Backstage. It’s one of the best investments you can make getting started with social media because we have trainings on all of the major networks as well as strategy as well as things like foundations and understanding your insights plus partnered with all of that, you get to connect directly with me. You get to ask me questions. You get to get my eyes on your profiles. You get to get my expertise and feedback on your strategy on what you’re doing. It really is the place to be to start executing, continue executing or get better at executing when it comes to social media. All right. I will see you Backstage and I’ll see you on Tuesday.
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