Day 16 - Social Media Myths & What You Really Need to Know
Branding16
Welcome to Day #16 of the 31 Days to Better Branding series! To learn more about this series, click here and find links to the other days so you'll be able to follow along or catch up if you happen to miss anything. I am by no means an expert but after hearing a lot of the same questions, I figured others could benefit from a few lessons in branding. Hopefully it will give you a place to begin or even just a few tips to improve your business and bring you more clients. Feel free to add in your thoughts and what has worked for you in the comments!
There are three major myths that can literally be paralyzing when it comes to using social media with your business. If you believe these myths you aren't able to move forward, produce content, or think creatively. The fear and insecurity associated with them can choke the life right out of your networking. Instead of enjoying the connections and relationships you're making, social media becomes a chore or a standard you can't hope to live up to. So I'm going to lay it all out there so you can put those fears to rest...
Myth #1:
I must be captivating at all times
No one is able to be "on" all the time. There are days when you don't have the most exciting news or the most entertaining story. There are going to be times when your content is just mediocre. And that is OKAY. Even my most favorite blogs (who are total experts in their field) have a post here and there that I skim over. But I stick with them because I know that something awesome is coming. So don't let your fear of being boring or mediocre stop you from starting. Make your goals manageable - if you're planning on posting 4-5 times a week, spend some extra time on making just 1 of those posts really good. Don't let perfection keep you from doing anything a all.
Myth #2:
My content must be constant
I'm going to use the blog analogy again but this applies to Facebook, Twitter, and other forms of social media as well - you don't have to post everyday. You don't have to post every week even. It doesn't matter how often you post as long as you post regularly. Of course you don't want it to look like you closed up shop and haven't been around in weeks:) But so often creatives will kill themselves trying to post or update constantly until it's overwhelming (sometimes even to their followers) and then it gets to be too much. It becomes a chore rather than a joy and then gets abandoned altogether. When getting started go easy on yourself. Remember the point is to connect and relate - not to check something off the list.
Myth #3:
I must keep up with the competition
Since everything is so connected in social media, we can easily spend all day checking out the competition. How often do they share links? What kind of content to they publish? What kind of giveaways do they do? But the more important question is why are we measuring ourselves by what someone else is doing? The world already has your competitor so if you're copying and analyzing what they are doing, you're not bringing anything useful or new to the table. Try to mentally high-five your competition for what they are doing right and then also high-five yourself for the stuff you're doing right. Instead of worrying that you're "getting behind" because "so and so" has more followers than you, just create. Create, create, create. The more you dream up, get inspired, and share ideas, the more your community will grow. I promise it is much less stressful and way more fun this way.
I hope debunking these big myths has been an encouragement to you!
Today's homework: Think about which of these myths you've been believing and toss it out. Then cut yourself some slack and ask yourself "How can I make this more fun?"
