As overwhelming as this process may seem, there are some tricks that you can use to make ita little more manageable. Start by going back and working through Monetizing Social Media – Part 2 of 9: Taking a Step Back and Monetizing Social Media Part 3 of 9 – Branding and the Importance of Content. Once that is complete you are ready to dive in and set up your first social media profile.

I would highly recommend starting with one social media site, select the site based on your answers to the questions in Post 2. Once you have the site selected I would recommend that you take the time to develop a daily/weekly/monthly action plan. It is easy to get caught up chasing squirrels on these sites, good way to avoid that is to log on with a defined purpose and focus on getting that task done, don’t let yourself get distracted. The following elements are good tactics to include in your action plan as these will help you stay focused on tasks that will ultimately help you monetize your social media:

  1. Update your profile
    1. As you update the profile your network gets notified. This is a good way to stay top of mind
  2. Build followers/make connections
    1. This will be an ever ongoing task. Always look for ways to further expand your sphere.
  3. Update your status
    1. As with updating your profile every time you do this your network is notified. Focus on updating your status with content of value that supports your brand positioning. Your network should look forward to receiving your status updates.
  4. Engage your followers:
    1. Comment on their posts
    2. Ask questions
    3. Answer questions
    4. Post links
    5. Respond to comments and questions
  5. Create and post engaging content
    1. Always add value. Think about questions your clients have asked or those that you think they have and answer them. That is a great way to ensure that your content is of value. Your sent email folder is a goldmine of content. Usually you will be able to simply cut and paste. Just make sure that the content you are posting is not only of value but supports your brand positioning.
  6. Join other networks
    1. And once you are comfortable on one network and have build a strong following look to expand to the next. As you do that you can look to leverage the network you have already built to populate the new network.

I hope you have found this series useful, if you have any question or comments please feel free to post them in the comments section of the related blog posts or email me directly at bsage@suttonbayview.com.