It’s no secret that social media can be one of the best ways to generate new business leads, especially for small business owners. I’m living proof of that; at Jester Creative, many of our clients have come from connections we’ve made through blogging, and via social networks like Twitter and LinkedIN. I am a huge proponent of small business owners participating in social networks, and I encourage it whenever I can.

Leveraging social media in small business is a very effective approach, but it’s not without its challenges. Lots of entrepreneurs jump into social media wholeheartedly – setting up blogs, Twitter accounts, Facebook pages and more. Soon, they realize that, while starting these accounts is free, the work it takes to maintain them by regularly providing relevant, timely, compelling content can be pretty overwhelming. It’s a challenge to strike a balance between running a business and maintaining an active presence online.

I’ve been travelling the social road for about 5 years now, and I can tell you with certainty that it’s changed my business and my career for the better. I have some suggestions for how you can manage your online time in a more effective way.

Don’t be a lurker.

Here’s a hard truth. If you really want to make a go of leveraging social media for your small business, you can’t just spend 10 minutes a day checking your Twitter feed and be done with it. It takes work, and a good chunk of work at that. There’s a big difference between simply “spending time” on social media and being an active participant in the community.

I know a lot of businesspeople that consider themselves “lurkers” in the social space. They “Like” the Facebook pages of their prospects but never comment. They follow plenty of people on Twitter, but they rarely post themselves. They subscribe to all sorts of industry blogs but don’t contribute their expertise to the conversation by writing their own posts or commenting on others’.

This is the online equivalent of showing up to a networking event and hanging around at the bar complaining to your co-worker that you find it hard to meet new people.

If you’re going to make a go of this, you have to start talking. You have to introduce yourself to people. You have to contribute to the conversations that are going on. This takes more time than just lurking. It takes thought, and effort, and guts to reach out your hand and say hello. But I promise you, 99.9% of the people in the online world (at least the ones who are worth your time) are friendly. In fact, they are here for the same reason you are – to get to know people. To talk. To share.

So start using your online time more wisely. Don’t lurk. Participate. You’ll find that your online experience will immediately become richer, and you’ll reap far more rewards, because people will actually get to know you, and perhaps, want to do business with you too.

It’s about integration.

Self employed people like us don’t subscribe to the 9 to 5, Monday to Friday world. We work when there’s work to do. We put in the hours. So why is it that I hear about so many people who try to fit their online presence into the mold of the workaday world? Twitter doesn’t stop at 5pm (in fact, it often just gets going around that time). People comment on blogs 24 hours a day.

I’m not saying you need to be on social media 24/7. But in my experience, it’s the people for whom social channels are part of their every day lives who have gained the most from them.

I carry my smart phone everywhere I go. When I feel inclined to post something to Facebook, Twitter, my blog, or someone else’s blog, I post it. It might be 7am on a Tuesday or 9pm on a Saturday. I check in on my accounts on a regular basis – when I’m in line at the grocery store, when I’m in between tasks at work, or when the commercials come on TV. If it seems like I’m “always on” it’s because in some ways, I am.

You need to stop looking at your online world as something entirely separate from your offline world. It’s all integrated now. It’s all your real life. If you want to make a go of this, I mean really make a go of it, then you need to look at social media tools as a way to stay connected often. And that means you need to be connected. You need to integrate it into your life.

Yes, we all need to shut down once in a while, not just from technology but from everything. I encourage that as a healthy way to stay balanced in all aspects of your life. But if you look at social media as “only work” then you’re missing out on the opportunity to participate on a truly human level. And given the choice, I’d rather do business with a human being than a lurker that posts once a day at 4pm when his computer timer tells him to.

And in the end…

You need to ask yourself what you want to get out of your online presence. You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to make the commitment required to spend the time it takes, to stop lurking and start getting involved. You need to ask yourself if you’re willing to take some steps to integrate your online life into your offline life a little more.

Then you need to just try.

Thanks to @katgordon for the inspiration for this post. I’m not sure if it’s what she wanted to hear, but it’s what I believe to be true. Hope it helps!

[photo by borabora]

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If there’s one word I hear more than anything else when talking with people about social media, it’s “overwhelmed”. Too many different tools, too little time to learn everything. Where do I focus? Start a blog? Engage on Twitter? Set up a Facebook page? Make a video?

And while you’re busy setting up your Facebook page, building an editorial calendar for your blog, and scouring Twitter for interesting

people to follow, the gurus are now telling you that Google + is the next big thing for businesses, so if you’re not there, you’re missing out on more huge opportunities. Then shiny new sites like Pinterest come along to distract us even further. Eventually it all turns into a giant lumpy mess, and we long for it to be 1994 again, when things were so much simpler.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

It’s not about the tools.
As much as people would like you to believe it’s about the tools, it’s not. The most kick-ass Facebook page in the world will not do you any good if your audience isn’t on Facebook. If you’re not a strong writer, then writing 500 words a day is not only going to be a struggle, it’s probably going to end up sucking and you’ll be disappointed with the results (as will your prospects and customers).

Social media is not about spreading yourself around to as many tools as possible. Spray and pray marketing doesn’t work out here. Why? Because social media about talking to actual people. And smart business owners who figure out where to find the people they want to talk to, and then go there and talk to them, are the ones that are going to kick butt in this brave new world.

Back up the speeding locomotive.
Seriously, slow down. Take a breath. Turn off your Twitter notifications (go on, it won’t kill you). Close all the windows on your desktop except one blank document. Now write down what you really want for your business. Don’t say “500 fans on Facebook” either. What do you want…for your BUSINESS?

Now, chances are, whatever you want for your business is going to mean you’ll have to, at some point, connect with some other people. Who are those people? Write them all down. Come up with names and characteristics if you have to. Draw a cartoon of them if you want. Make a stick figure – it doesn’t matter. Just figure out who they are.

Now you know who you want to talk to. Open a web browser, and type www.google.com/alerts. Start doing some searches on the characteristics you just wrote down for your target people. Follow the steps to create alerts for those search terms.

Go and look at the results of your alerts every day for one week. Do not judge what you see. Just be curious. Click links, read, explore, bookmark things, and make notes. By the end of the week, something magical will happen. You’ll have found the people you’re looking for.

Social media and “real life” are more similar than you think.
You see, finding and getting involved with your audience online is like joining any kind of group. Let’s say you decide to join a hobby group for model train enthusiasts. The first time you show up at a meeting, you walk in and you don’t know anyone. You feel like a bit of an outsider, and everyone, though friendly, are all carrying on in a very familiar way. You don’t always understand every nuance of what’s going on, but you slowly get adjusted to your new surroundings. You spend a lot of time just listening at first, getting to know the personalities of the various players in the room. Eventually, you understand the context and dynamic of the group, so you are able to share things that are relevant. People start to respond to that, and finally, you’re in. A few months go by and you can’t imagine your life without these people.

Think of your foray into the online world in similar terms. At first, you are an outsider, but that’s okay. We were all outsiders once. But as you listen, you become more and more familiar with the dynamic of the conversations you’re interested in. Eventually, you are able to join in, because all your listening has given you something relevant to contribute. You are able to add value, and others will welcome that with open arms. Finally, you’re in.

Do it your way.
Your experience with social media is going to be different from mine. That’s okay, and that’s the beauty of it. We are talking to different people, for different reasons. What matters, what will make you successful in this world, is finding your place, fitting in, and learning, and being helpful, and making a valuable contribution. Do it your way, on your terms, and don’t listen to those who try to tell you that you have to be on any given tool on any given day.

Social media is a choose your own adventure journey. What path will you choose?

[photo by nickwheeleroz]

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Let’s face it. There’s a lot of fluff content out there. And if you’re relatively new to social media and online marketing, it can be a real challenge to filter through all the junk to find the really good stuff. I’ve been kicking around the social media universe for 5 years now (read: I’m an old timer!), and boy oh boy I’ve seen my share of junky blogs. You know the kind, the ones that just regurgitate all the same garbage day in and day out, or just repeat what all the so-called “gurus” say, trying to make it sound original. Ugh.

That’s why I’ve put together this (very short) list. These are four blogs that I turn to regularly because they are consistently great. The articles are exceptionally written, well thought out and full of substance. If you don’t put anything else into your Google Reader, put these four blogs, and you’ll be well on your way to getting a handle on this crazy online world.

Six Pixels of Separation
http://www.twistimage.com/blog/
This is my go-to blog for deep-thinking. Mitch Joel is one of the pre-eminient thinkers in the world on the topic of online marketing. The author of a great book by the same name, Mitch’s style is accessible, but meaty. He writes pretty well every day (which inspires me to try and do the same) and not only that, but he has a terrific weekly podcast to go along with all this great written content. This blog is chock full of great articles, amazing insights and excellent conversations in the comments. It is required reading for all my students and if you have any interest in learning more about what this fundamental shift in communications called social media really means, it’s required reading for you too. Oh, and by the way – Mitch is Canadian, and that’s yet another reason to love him!

The Next Web
http://www.thenextweb.com
This site is like my social media newspaper. It covers way more than just social media, but I tend to focus mostly on the social media sections. It’s blessed with a team of great writers and I find that TNW really cuts to the chase. This isn’t a site full of cheesy “Top Five Ways” lists. It’s the latest news on trends, tools, issues and practical advice. Prepare to skim on this site – there’s a LOT of content. But the cool thing is, you can customize your subscription feed for the site to only grab the sections you want to see, and you can even break it down by region.

Social Media Explorer
http://www.socialmediaexplorer.com
I can’t say enough good things about SME, and it just keeps getting better. I’ve watched Jason Falls’ Social Media Explorer evolve over the past few years into an amazing source for learning and insights from a fantastic team of some of the top social media writers in the business. The amount of free advice being dolled out on this site is incredible. The articles are quick reads, super bookmarkable, and they don’t pull any punches – this is tell it like it is social media, and is also required reading!

Awaken Your Superhero
http://www.christopherspenn.com
Christopher S. Penn holds a special place in my heart as exactly the 2nd person I ever met who knew anything about social media. Since then, his amazing blog has been a true source of education and inspiration for me on an almost daily basis. Awaken Your Superhero is part social media, part personal productivity and part spiritual enlightenment. It’s a winning combination and I guarantee every trip you make to Chris’ blog will result in you knowing a bit more about not only social media, but life, too.

Those are my must-read blogs, I highly recommend subscribing to them, consuming them, and getting involved in the great conversations happening there. You’ll learn a tonne and your eyes will be opened to many new things.

What’s on your social media reading list?

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Google + is all the rage. Or is it?

These days, I’m spending the majority of my time helping people learn about social media. I’m not teaching them how to tweet (they pretty much figure that out for themselves), but I’m teaching them how to more effectively use social media as a part of their overall marketing and communications strategy. I’m talking to individuals, small business owners, comms teams in corporations and public servants. Most of the people I’m teaching are coming in with many years of previous experience at marketing and communications. They are taking courses because their jobs are changing, and they need to learn about this fundamental shift in how people connect, communicate and share information and how it impacts the way they work.

It’s not about the tools. Until it is.

Many of the people I am working with are NOT early adopters. They certainly aren’t super duper early adopters like me, and many of my colleagues and friends (whom I affectionately refer to as “Social Media Geeks”.)

Non-early adopters are the vast majority of people. Social Media Geeks are not.

And because of this, the vast majority are coming to my classes because they want to learn the more mainstream tools…blogging, podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, and video. Google + has barely entered their lexicon at this point.

Yes, the early adopters and “experts” will tell us that Google + already has 50 million users. Yes, they tell us that it handles privacy and filtering and search SO much better than Facebook. They will tell us we’d better hurry up and get on board because we don’t want to miss the steam train that is Google +.

I call shenanigans.

The truth is, there are 750 million more people on Facebook than Google +. There are 150 million more people on Twitter than Google +. It’s true, some of my students’ audiences may be hanging out on Google +. But MOST of their audiences are still on those other tools, and they are there in a big, big way.

And even with all the features and benefits and potential of Google + as a platform, it’s not there yet. It’s not mainstream. It’s not where the vast majority of the non-early adopter community are focused.

You want my advice? Spend your time with the platforms and tools that already have some best practices. Spend your time where people have already run some successful campaigns. Build a body of amazing content on your home base (your web site or blog) and then find your audience on the outpost tools (Twitter, Facebook, YouTube) and find ways to link those two.

Don’t forget about Google + though, because it does have potential to be a contender in time. Do take the time now to explore the platform. Set up a profile, and do a bunch of searches, and find people having interesting conversations and get involved. At this point, it’s a great listening and learning tool. It’s just not quite yet the business communication powerhouse some would have you believe.

What it comes down to is this – if you shift gears away from the platforms that the VAST MAJORITY of people are still  using to focus your efforts on the new shiny thing that is Google +, then you run the risk of missing out on the opportunities that the tried, tested and true platforms still offer.

Discuss.

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A lot of people ask me how I find the time to keep up on social media, technology news and all the rest. It would seem, for many people, that there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all.

I agree, it’s a challenge. We’ve got so much information bombarding us on a daily basis, that there’s barely enough time to process it all, let alone actually absorb it. The reality is, these days we are truly living in the Information Age. Gone are the days when information arrived on our doorstep with the morning or evening paper. Now, information is all around us, and it can be pretty overwhelming.

A few years ago, I did one thing that helped me immensely. I gave up reading the news.

Now, before you go getting yourself all out of sorts, (I can hear people saying, “But you NEED to know what’s going on in the world!”) let me explain.

I used to read the newspaper every single morning. Like many of you, it would arrive on my doorstep. I’d collect it, and sit down with my breakfast, as the latest headlines glared at me from the front page. And what was it, mostly? Murder. Economic woes. Poverty. War. I would grow tired of the negative headlines in the newspaper and turn on the TV news instead. That was often worse!

Not exactly the most positive way to start off the day, eh?

Then the social web came along, and with it, the ability for me to subscribe to things I wanted to read about. This was a life-altering moment for me, when I realized that no longer did I have to just consume the headlines that were forced upon me. I could consume the information I wanted to consume, in a customized, relevant way.

Now, this doesn’t mean I am sticking my head in the sand when it comes to the events of the day. Quite the contrary. I’m still well versed on the economy. I follow politics, and the situtation in the Middle East. But I only consume this type of information when I want to consume it, and on the schedule I choose. I go to sources that are not sensationalist, but provide only the facts.

Nowadays, my morning coffee is made up of insightful blog posts and news articles, and conversations with friends via things like Twitter and Facebook. I am not bombarded by negative, sensationalized stories of doom and gloom, because the Web allows me to choose and filter, so I can have the experience I want to have.

Want to re-shape your experience of news? Have a more positive start and end to the day, and have more time to keep up on what is happening in your industry or the areas you are passionate about?

Stop consuming what is thrown at you. Start consuming what you want to consume.

photo credit: Kevin Dooley

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