Making Social Media Work for You

The key to using social networking properly for your business is to develop a strategy that will allow you to get your message out and interact with your connections effectively.  One thing that is an absolute necessity is time management.  Sometimes while engaging in social media, time can pass very quickly.  Don’t spend countless hours wasting time.  This is not how you will build your client list!

Be honest with yourself.  Exactly how much time per day do you have to spend on networking?  Once that has been determined, plan a time schedule that will allow you to stay on track. An example could be:

• Monday – Friday: Single facebook/Twitter post at 9 am, Noon and 4 pm (allow 5 minutes)
• Tuesdays and Thursdays: Respond directly to messages and comments at 8 am and 2 pm (allow 15 minutes)
• Mondays and Wednesdays: Follow up with “retweets/reposts” and thank people who “retweeted/reposted” for you (allow 15 minutes)
• Fridays: Post video and article links about massage therapy for your followers (allow 15 minutes)

Again, this is just an example. Trial and error will be necessary at the beginning to see if you, in fact, can accomplish all you need to in the allotted time frame. There are time saving applications/tools/programs that allow you to link some of your social media needs.  Utilize your search engine using the keywords “time saving social media tools” to get some ideas.

Remember that making relationships takes time. It isn’t necessarily important to have high follower numbers. It is more important to have a network that is full of people that engage with you, your information about massage therapy, and your business.

By developing a time management strategy, you not only become more effective at using social networking venues, you’ll also get the added benefit of alerting your followers to look specifically for your post.

Enjoy the rest of your day, everyone!

Jayne

A percentage of people I speak with about social media keep telling me that it is a trend that will soon burn itself out and because it is a trend they aren’t going to invest the time and energy to develop anything.

Okay, I understand that facebook may become obsolete and that Twitter could be replaced by something that insists on even less characters to get your point across, but I think it is extremely foolish for anyone at this point to believe that social media is a trend that will simply disappear.

Think about it. Social media, in and of itself, is about building relationships with people.  Since the beginning of time, people have been building relationships with each other. This new technology of ours has just made it easier to develop relationships with people who may have been out of reach before. We have had many types of social media (instant messaging, chatrooms, bulletin boards) for quite some time now.  The thing is, we didn’t call it social media initially so some people don’t connect these things together and recognize that this “trend” although evolving continues to get stronger and more mainstream. Recognizing that will add opportunities for your business to continue to grow. Begin to look at these options as additional marketing tools that will allow you to reach a bigger audience.

It is important to understand though, that setting up accounts with facebook, Twitter and Blogger isn’t what social media is.  You need to develop a strategy that will allow you to build relationships with people.  Just like any relationship, this will take time and effort. Once the relationship is solidified and you are recognized as someone who cares about them as a professional massage therapist, you will begin to reap the rewards.

Have a wonderful day, everyone.

Jayne