Everyone loves social media. That is not the issue. There is really one huge issue that keeps individuals from using social media and that is time. Time can be an ugly thing if you are not productive with the tools and time given to you. How are you productive and manage your time effectively? I use the four-touch point model.
Step 1: Use the 4-Points Model
When using social media you should keep in mind the 4-points model. There are 4 points social media applications should touch in regards to your daily life: Business, Local Business Networking, Social, and Information. Choose four main networks where you spend the most of your time.
I use LinkedIn for business applications, Smaller Indiana for local business networking, Facebook for social application, and Twitter for information. LinkedIn can be described as my connection Rolodex. Facebook is to keep me updated on my friends and acquaintances from college and high school. Twitter is a wonderful information aggregation tool where you can follow influential people and the information they share. Smaller Indiana is a great place to connect to local professionals and share ideas on how to make Indiana a better place.
Step 2: Commit Yourself
You get what you put in. How many times have we heard that? When using social media commit to a set amount of time a week to using your applications. You will find yourself spending to much time on your applications if you fail to designate a certain amount during the week.
I try to designate an hour of each day to information sharing (writing blogs, commenting on blogs, perusing my Google Reader) and an hour a day to using my other networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, and Smaller Indiana).
Step 3: Be Authentic
I get numerous e-newsletter in my inbox everyday, most of them vary from mundane to outright boring. When posting on your social media applications, try to add some authenticity and personality to the information you are sharing. When I am reading blogs and posts on social applications the last thing I want to read is an impersonal e-newsletter. I want to know that the keystrokes behind the information is an actual person. Be personal. Be Authentic.
There are the three steps I use to get the most out of Social Media. Cheers!
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Finally an article that is simple and straight to the point(s)! Great advice!
Nice post, I really like the 4 point approach, it helps to put this beast called social media into an approachable framework.
Great advice! Thanks for the informative post!
Great advice. The four point model makes a lotta sense. Thanks.
Does make sense, but you do have to invest significant time up front, learning to effectively use the technology. No getting around that.
Great article, I live your 4 point model. I was using three of the, never really thought of a local social networking platform.
Nice, concise post Kyle. Efficient use of the tools can be quite challenging both from a personal standpoint as well as when you're managing social marketing campaigns for your own company or clients. Finding that unique balance of time commitment and sticking to it can certainly help to keep focused since we all know it's impossible to always stay on top of everything going on with the Social Web.
Great post although I do believe that some tools can be used for more than 1 category, twitter can be used to find local connections also. As Facebook can be used for business and personal, but at the end of the day it all boils down to how the user chooses to use the network.
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