Tag Archives: Addiction

Social Media Marketing – How to Schedule Your Time

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So, you have decided to jump in and start building your business online! You have opted-in to numerous expert’s newsletters, joined as many social media sites as possible, started your blog, and made a few connections. Now what?

Well, that is a very good question that I would like to answer for you. Are you ready?

SET A SCHEDULE!!

Did you think I was going to tell you something else? Setting a schedule for your business is the same as knowing what time you have to arrive at work, what your daily tasks are while there, and most importantly, what time you get off. Why should working from home be any different?

First, start by setting your hours. What time and days are you going to open your business? This is essential in planning your daily income producing activities (IPA). Look at your schedule and see what family commitments are planned, what days you do not want to work, and begin to build your schedule from there. How many hours should you be working? If you are considering this a full-time career, start with 20-30 hours per week. For part-time, try up to 10 hours a week or work on the weekends.

Next, since you have decided to become a social butterfly, I would highly recommend that you set a time limit on this. You can become easily distracted by the other discussions and get sidetracked with your purpose. The goal in this step is to get your message out, interact with a few people, develop relationships, and build your business. It is okay if you go over time if you are performing these tasks, but do not just sit there watching other posts, playing games, and watching silly unrelated videos.

How do you plan your social media time? If you are a beginner, select one site for social marketing, one site for content marketing, and one site for advertising. Intermediate and Advanced Marketers can do two or three of each if you have the time. Once you have selected your primary sites, decide on a weekly goal. How many contacts do you want to have? How many posts are you going to make? How many articles are you going to write? Your answer to those questions will help guide you in making a schedule.

Last, but definitely not least, is self-development. Please, please do not neglect your mind and your body. Continue learning about your industry. There are so many changes in social media, pay-per click, and even technology that it is almost impossible not to stay informed. Also, remember to take care of your body. Take at least 30 minutes a day to exercise to keep yourself in good shape. What is the point of making all the money if you are unable to enjoy it??

Those are three easy steps to jump start your business online. Remember, setting a schedule for your business, your interactions, and yourself are all major parts in being successful in any business online or offline.

Social Media Are Not Just For Giddy Teenagers!

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You may have heard about Myspace, the News Corp.-owned social networking powerhouse. Or Facebook, the rapidly growing network which is presently independent but might one day be owned by Google, Yahoo!, NBC, Tribune Co., or any other media company which recognizes the site’s massive potential for consumer leverage.

In a sense, marketing on the internet uses high technology to advance a very low-tech agenda. Like any offline marketing campaign from years ago, generating business demand online still boils down to an objective understanding of your product or service’s utility. You still need an informed and unbiased view of your target market. Effective and efficient use of the marketing mix (price, product, placement, promotion) is as important today as it was decades ago. None of this has changed.

But the dawn of the internet introduced a new variable: a breadth of consumer touch points previously unfathomable to most marketers. Social media are among the most promising channels; according to Nielsen/NetRatings, the top ten social networking sites grew 47% in 2006.

Now a company has a variety of ways to appear in front of its audience. Take Jalima Coffee as an example. This manufacturer of organic Mexican coffee differentiates itself from competitors with a strong prosocial mission, and hired Clicksharp Marketing to inject this brand image into new channels. One of the co-owners used LinkedIn to introduce the business community to her background in non-profit and international development. The company posted a video on YouTube documenting the manufacturing process and sharing a unique slice of culture with its viewers. Jalima’s Myspace profile is linked to over 500 friends: mainly coffee lovers and advocates of sustainable agriculture. Whenever the company’s marketing department chooses, they have an immediate channel with which to communicate news and events, product introductions, or just to say hello.

Moral of the story – forget what you may have heard about the typical user of any of these sites. Their convergence is taking place rapidly and ubiquitously. The sooner you join the network, the sooner you can forge meaningful connections with the stakeholders that are key to your business!

For more, I highly recommend reading Michelle MacPhearson’s Social Media Marketing Guide.