7 Stupid Social Media Mistakes – Are you making them?
There is a variety of problems with social media. I have identified the 7 mistakes that really make you look like a rookie that just learned about the Internet thingy. Don’t worry if you are making some of these mistakes, you are not alone.
- Trying to participate in too many tools
If you are siging up and building a profile on every new thing that comes out, you better be a writer for Mashable. No one can keep up with all the new things. Find some you like and do a good job in them.
- Expect that just setting up an account will yield results
Guess what – you have to do more than just set up an account to get results. If I had a dollar for every person that has told me they set up a LinkedIn account and nothing happened, I’d be rich.
- Not using the tools to connect with people
Nearly every site makes it possible to connect with other people (I think that is why they call is SOCIAL media). If you are not connecting, no one is finding you.
- Giving up after a short time
Social media is about making and sustaining connections. The only way you can grow your influence is long term. Stop crying – if you do not like the fact that it takes time, don’t do it at all.
- Promoting yourself without providing value
The fact that you signed up for an account does not give you the right to promote yourself constantly. And it is a sure way to get people to run in the other direction.
- Not using the tools to link to other resources
Similar to not connection to people, if you only link to your website or blog and never bookmark or link to other interesting resources, you will never gain the respect of your audience. Nor should you.
- Not intentionally building a target network
Don’t pick the biggest network or the one that your kid brother said you should use. Find out where your current customers go and your target audience hangs out online. Intentionally build value and influence in the right communities, even if they are smaller.
If you are a business person trying to get into this social media thing, I fully expect that you have made all of these mistakes. I promise you that if you get these things turned around, your popularity and influence will rise online, as will your pocketbook eventually.
Lead Generation Resources
You, sir, speak the complete absolute truth. If people took the time to learn and understand how to utilize social media, we would all be rich.
These are absolutely true! I have to say I can’t argue more..^^ for me, everything is right especially #5…^^
TANKS for the informative article…I am new and you jusr verified what my friend was telling me last weeek.
TANKS for the help.
This is an official invitation to come see me some time…
Southern smiles and world peace,
Sharon
~The Baby Boomer Queen~
BabyBoomerAdvisorClub.com
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All are good points – I have to say that I think bullet number 1 is an issue for a lot of people. You don’t get “good” exposure by simply signing up for lots of tool – you get “meaningless” exposure, if anything.
I agree Aaron. It is tempting to try out new things if you like this stuff, but it is too much work to use them effectively. You just cannot do a lot of them. That is truly a waste of time.
Point 1 cannot be repeated often enough. I see it happen so many times.
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Social media marketing can be completely overwhelming. It demands a lot of attention, and it’s easy to make mistakes. The trick with social media, I’ve found, is to be implicit. It’s a mistake to go “too far,” or to promote yourself too directly.
Yeah, you’re right, this are the commonly mistakes we’ve committed when it comes to social networking thing. But I don’t agree also with the #5, which is not giving value to yourself. I guess though we made those mistakes we still give value to ourselves!
Thanks martin. Actually, #5 you are right that you can promote yourself if you are saying something of value. What I had in mind is more the spammy kind of affiliate link stuff that is clearly aimed to just make a buck.
Hi Ron,
Thanks for a great post. That’s a fantastic but brief list. #1… yes, have experienced that. Just a lot of overwhelm.
Gotta say though… saw myself in #2
yep, that was me… and reading it now just made me laugh…at me.
I’ve been on the receiving end of #5, and I really have to say that is annoying. Even if the message, service, etc is of value… the bombardment really just dilutes its potential and effectiveness. Too much of a good thing… not so good after all!
Thanks for the food for thought, and the laugh too.
Sam
Thanks everyone
This whole thing can be summed up simply. You want people to be exposed to your brand (probably your name) repeatedly along with quality information.
The repeated visibility and association will make them investigate you at some point.
So you have to hit the same audience multiple times with stuff that appeals to them – then you will be building a powerful audience that can yield results.
The other option is to just do lots of things to help lock up more seach engine slots – that is fine, but it is not going to make people respond to you – it will just help you reach a few more strangers.
Your list made a lot of sense to me, so I’m wondering what you think about outsourcing the profile updates to a third party, like a virtual assistant.
Is that a no-no? Or a good leveraging idea? I’m finding more marketing assistants who are offering these services, so I was curious about your opinion. ?
Jeannette
http://www.goodvibeblog.com
PS – thanks for #1 tip on the list so I can release any lingering guilt for not keeping up with all the new requests to join new sites!
Ron, I think I just answered my own question when I stumbled on your Virtual Buzz Assistant info!! Very cool stuff … I’m looking more into it now …
Jeannette
http://www.goodvibecoach.com
Hi Jeannette,
Thanks for joining the network – http://virutalbuzzassistant.com
As long as the assistant is not “posing” as the owner, I think it is not only a good idea, but required. The busy, succesful people are going to be able to build a bigger network online faster, but they are too busy and successful to spend time doing it.
I believe that a Virtual Buzz Assistant is required.
[...] 7 stupid social media mistakes [...]
[...] Ron McDaniel put it even more bluntly in his blog post 7 Stupid Social Media Mistakes – Are you making them? Social media is about making and sustaining connections. The only way you can grow your influence [...]
[...] success stories, there are certainly some horror stories as well. Like this and this. We all make mistakes, but don’t let that stop you from getting in the [...]