Most businesses understand that they need at least some kind of social media presence nowadays. But what about those who are too deeply entrenched in Facebook status updates and tweets? Or those that can’t keep up with LinkedIn invites and Tumblr reblogs? What about entrepreneurs who are finding it harder and harder to manage all of their social media profiles and run a business at the same time?
It’s easy to get overloaded with social media, but if you feel like you’re drowning, it might be time to start simplifying your routine and finding ways to cut back on your time spent without sacrificing your level of community engagement.
1. Pick a Management Tool
Balancing all of your social media accounts sometimes comes down to switching back and forth between different applications and websites. This can waste your time, especially if you have to manually go to the Facebook and Twitter websites to see if you’ve received any comments or mentions. To combat this, download a social media management tool like HootSuite or TweetDeck. These applications allow you to monitor and use all of your social media profiles from one convenient interface. Of course, the constant messages popping up on your desktop to inform you that you’ve received a new comment or mention can be distracting. To save time, turn off these notifications.
2. Focus Your Efforts
While the primary thing you should be doing on social media sites is being social, don’t let this distract you from your overall goal: to interact with customers and market your business. Your first priority should always be to relay a specific message to your target market. Don’t try to speak to everybody, everywhere. Speak only to those that would be interested in purchasing your product or service. Seriously, generic status updates and tweets are the bane of businesses. Be specific and you’ll be interesting.
Also, avoid checking social media sites over and over again each day. Set aside a specific time to check them and post updates. Schedule them if you have to. Just don’t cut away from your business tasks every five minutes to check comments on Facebook. That’s a super productivity killer.
3. Use What Works
If you have no need to use Tumblr or Pinterest for your business, don’t. There’s no law saying you have to use every social media site out there. Instead, only use the sites that work for your company and that are easy to manage. You should be getting more out of your social media efforts than what you’re putting in. If that’s not the case, it may be time to reevaluate your approach or ditch that specific site.
4. Take a Break
If you still feel up to your ears in social media, it may be time to take a break. We have a tendency of being connected to our networks too often, in both our personal and business lives. To cut down on the noise, set aside 30 minutes a day to shut off your phone and close your browser. Take some time for yourself to think uncluttered thoughts. It can do wonders for your productivity once you switch your connections back on.
Adam Toren is an Award Winning Author, Serial Entrepreneur and Investor. He Co-Founded YoungEntrepreneur.com along with his brother Matthew. Adam is co-author of the newly released book: Small Business, Big Vision: “Lessons on How to Dominate Your Market from Self-Made Entrepreneurs Who Did it Right” and also co-author of Kidpreneurs.
