When Steve and I started researching social media, WOW were we ever overwhelmed. It’s funny to think about now but when we first looked at Twitter, it was a little like looking at a foreign language. With all the @ this and # that and the fact that we were only seeing one side of a conversation, it just seemed crazy and quite frankly, useless.

There is no doubt in my mind that there are still many that feel just as we did. We talk to small business owners all the time that feel it is just a time suck. That there is no value to social media at all. Believe me, we understand these thoughts. We felt the same way not all that long ago.

When you first start with Twitter (or any other platform for that matter) is takes time to figure out what’s going on. Then it takes even more time to build your list of followers. It took us a while just to figure out how to get followers. How about you?

We realized that if someone follows you, it’s kind of like saying hello. If someone were to say hello to you in person, you would say hello back, right? So, the same applies in social media. If someone says hello to you (follows you), it’s important that you say hello back by following them. There are some that you probably will not want to follow back but we’ll talk about those in another post.

Another reason to follow back is that unless you do, you do not see anything they are talking about. It’s important that you see what they have to say and, from time to time, talk with them. Try not to only tweet about your business. Remember – it’s social media so, try to be social.

Follow other businesses in your area and retweet some of their stuff to your followers and hopefully they will do the same for you. By doing this, each of you has spread the word about the others business to each others followers. Doing just this extends your reach by the number of followers the other business has. You’re also doing a good thing by helping out a fellow small business owner which is part of what social media is about.

I guess I have strayed a little off topic here. Sorry! I do that sometimes. My point is that we have since learned just how powerful social media can be. The thing is that you really do need to have a game plan (a blueprint) so you know where you are heading with it. Without a game plan it’s easy to get distracted and allows you to wander around too much. Once you have a game plan, you are able to get on your chosen platforms, do what needs to be done and then leave it for a while. The game plan makes social media much easier and much more time efficient allowing you to get back to business.

Are there specific topics you would like us to talk about? If so, please feel free to leave a comment below or email us at Karen@organicbusinessstrategies.com.

Also, if you are interested in us helping you by developing a blueprint for you, visit our services page called “Personalized Social Media Blueprint” for more information.

Photo credit: hardaway

When first starting with social media, it definitely feels like you are talking to yourself doesn’t it. The truth of the matter is, you are. That’s ok though. It takes time to develop a following and to convince your following to participate in the conversation.

The question then is “how do you change it?”

First, you should make sure that your customers know where you are. Make sure that you include your addresses (Twitter, Facebook, website, etc.) on business cards, advertisements and any promotional material.

Give your customers a reason to follow you on the social media platforms you choose to use. Let them know, for example, you will be making unadvertised special offers from time to time for Twitter followers or Facebook fans. Maybe you will want to have some sort of competition with a prize for the winner. The type of offer is, of course, up to you but whatever it is, you must follow through.

The next thing you will want to do is follow some of the local businesses in your area. Following businesses whose customer demographic is similar to yours would be very helpful but any local business will help. Engage the businesses you are following in conversation. On Twitter, for example, retweet some of their tweets and reply to some of their tweets. Be sure to use the @username to insure that they see your question or comment. If they reply to you, they will use the @yourusername. When doing this, all of their followers will see that they responded to you. This brings attention to you and hopefully a few new followers. (Just remember to pay it forward when someone else that’s new starts their social media program.)

Don’t be discouraged by the fact that you have to talk to yourself in the beginning or that after a month or so you only have 50 followers. It takes time to build your followers and fans. If you use the strategies we’ve talked about here and stick with it, I can assure you it will be well worth your efforts.

Photo: sasheemeeeeyum