At long last we have reached that prophetic (if not hyped up) year of 2012 so many of us have been awaiting. According to many futurists, this year will mark the beginning of unparalleled expansion of awareness and global consciousness. And based upon the explosion of social media over the past few years — and most especially its evolution in 2011 — we do indeed seem to be ever-increasingly expanding our potential for awareness of our world. How many of our grandparents could possibly have imagined being “friends” with people from every corner of the planet, or having possibly tens of thousands of “followers” who know your name, what you do, and what you stand for?
But with our expanded capacity for connecting with others, we also find ourselves with an information overload. Sometimes there is just too much coming at us all at once, and we can get overwhelmed. We’ve all tried different ways to organise both our incoming and outgoing data. When it comes to organising our social media, integration and automation seemed like “the” solution, but we find ourselves yet again in an information overload situation. There are just so many different options on the market that we often find ourselves asking, “Isn’t there one RIGHT way of delivering and filtering through my social media information?”
In my work, I help business owners (primarily authors and holistic professionals) set up their social media integration and automation, and train them how to use it. But the induction process into the world of Twitter, Facebook and the like can often shake up many emotions and challenge many beliefs. Some people who are new to social media might have a pre-conceived idea that automation takes the “social” out of social media, and therefore eschew the convenience automation has to offer. These people end up working harder rather than smarter, and risk burning out on social media before they reap the rewards. Others, who don’t really like the idea of social media at all, but see it as a “necessary evil”, want to automate everything and don’t want to bother connecting with their audience. As a result, these kinds of people frequently become convinced that the lack of response they are receiving from their audience means, “Twitter (or whatever) is simply a waste of time!”
Yes, I’ve heard it all before.
Regardless of whether you recognise yourself as being similar to one of these two personality types, or you are already an enthusiastic social media devotee, let me assure you, social media can have a massive impact upon the success of your business. My own business was utterly built upon it! But in order to make it work “smart” for you, and to ensure you receive all the benefits it has to offer, you need to understand that BOTH automation AND interpersonal connection are EQUALLY important to running an efficient and effective social media platform because:
Automation is needed to deliver your content.
Interaction is needed to build relationships.
Learning the balance between these two can be a steep learning curve for many of my new clients. As demonstrated in the previous examples, those that depend upon one and fail to implement the other tend not to reap the results they seek.
But what makes the learning curve even more challenging is that to stay on top of things, you need to get used to changing your strategies all the time. This is because the social network platforms themselves (i.e., Twitter, Facebook, etc) are always in a state of evolution, and the plethora of third-party applications available to support these platforms are also always in a state of continual change.
The plain truth about social media:
Sometimes clients come to me expecting to learn the definitive system for social media. And while I tend to do things in a systematic way for myself, the truth is: there is NO magic “one size fits all” way to “do” social media. Your situation is not the same as mine. Your business is not the same. Your communication style is not the same. Your audience is not the same. Sure, there will be many similarities, but if ANYONE out their claims to be a guru, and tells you they have “the” one-stop solution for your needs, you’d be pretty safe to bet it’s a scam. Don’t spend your money on such claims (I’ve lost more than a few quid on such false promises back when I was a newbie).
But the fact that there are so many variables is not the only reason why there is no end-all magic bullet for social media. It is also because all the social media tools out there are all continuously changing, sometimes for the better, sometimes not. And as they change they create a butterfly effect upon each other. So you really have resign yourself to the fact that social media is a fluid system, and that there will be a continual process of learning involved. Even a Rubic Cube is easier to figure out, because the cube is a stable system that doesn’t change.
But the good news is, the more you know, the easier it is to adapt to this ever-flowing sea of change. For that reason, I thought it would be a good idea to write an eBook, going through some of the currently most popular social media tools for distributing your content:
Buy Kindle edition on Amazon US/Canada for only $2.99
Buy Kindle edition on Amazon UK for only £1.98
In Social Media on Autopilot: Nice, Necessary or Nightmare? [Kindle edition], I bring you 5 details product reviews intended for business owners on five of today’s most popular social media applications: Ping, TweetDeck, Twaitter, HootSuite and Tweet Adder. Each product is evaluated on virtually every feature it offers, and ranked in terms of its usefulness, reliability, automation capabilities, interaction capability and mobility.
Accessible reading even for the “newbie”, this report and help you find out how the pros use Twitter, Facebook and other social networks without selling their souls or spending every waking hour at their computer. At the end of this report, you will also find some useful bonus materials covering options for integrating your media, and some ideas for using social media apps on your mobile phone.
I have helped dozens of authors and online business owners reach the top of their field through social media. Nearly all my learning has come the “hard way” by spending countless hours at my desk, trying to find products and figure out what was best. For a mere $2.99, this detailed report (at 15,770 words, it would have been about 50 pages if I had printed it in paperback format) you save yourself months of research and trial and error.
There are even a few free gifts for you at the back of the eBook.
I hope you find this booklet useful. If you do, please do come back and leave a comment below (or better yet, post it on Amazon!). Also, if you have any suggestions for eBooks you would like me to write, please let me know that too in the comments below. That would be REALLY helpful to me!
And do please subscribe to the Spirit Authors blog for more info and insight into the world of writing, publishing and book promotions.
Enjoy going on autopilot!
Lynn Serafinn, MAED, CPCC is a certified, award-winning coach and teacher, marketer, social media expert, radio host, speaker and bestselling author. Her eclectic approach to marketing incorporates her vast professional experience in the music industry and the educational sector along with more than two decades of study and practice of the spirituality of India. In her work as a promotional manager she has produced a long list of bestselling mind-body-spirit authors. She is also the creator of
Spirit Authors, which offers training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. Passionate about re-establishing our connection with the Earth, she supports the work of the Transition Town network in her hometown of Bedford, England.
Lynn’s other books:
International #1 Bestseller in Business Ethics, Marketing and Communication (Dec 2011)
Spirituality Bestseller (2009):
The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self (2009)
To contact Lynn for coaching, campaign management or media appearances, please fill in the form at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.
Posted 1 month ago at 14:53. Add a comment
Angry Twitter Bird sketch by Aaron Riddle. www.acriddle.com
Book promotion coach and social media expert Lynn Serafinn shares her 5 most disliked behaviours on Twitter.
This week I felt I had to express myself. I love Twitter. I love what Twitter has done for my business. I love the people I have met through Twitter over the past year.
But I have been grumbling a bit this past week. My Twitter following has increased a lot over the past month, and there are a few things I’ve noticed in the way some Tweeple (fortunately a minority) behave on Twitter that really puts me off.
So let me vent just a bit… and let me know if these “Twitter Turn-Offs” ring true for you as well.
Turn-Off Number 1: True Twit
True Twit is a service that allows you to see if the people who want to follow you are “real” people and not “bots”. I HATE it. This is really sending an a-social message to your followers. I’ve made a vow not to bother with people who use True Twit anymore. I’ve got almost 11,000 followers on my main account (nearly 20,000 if you count all 4 accounts I have), and am following over 11,000. I’m tired of having to verify I am a real person. Hello?!
Another reason why I hate it so much is that half of the people who are sending me these True Twit requests are because I auto-followed them in the first place! In other words, I gladly allowed them the “privilege” of following me, but they are asking me permission to follow them. It’s really twisted.
My policy on Twitter is an open door. I would much prefer to weed out the spammers by hand rather than put off new networking friends by making them “work” to follow my tweets.
Turn-Off Number 2: Protected Tweets
Geez zowie, how I hate it when people protect their tweets. From whom? What are they talking about? Are they really using Twitter for sensitive, personal communication?
Basically when I see someone with protected tweets, it sends the following 2 messages:
1) They don’t really WANT me to follow them and
2) They don’t trust people very much.
Neither of these messages is very welcoming.
Whenever I go to http://justunfollow.com to see who isn’t following me, the first people I unfollow are the ones with protected tweets.
Turn-Off Number 3: Not following back
People are not OBLIGATED to follow you back on Twitter. However, when I have been following someone for a long time, and even had different @ conversations with them, and they don’t follow back, that’s a turn off.
Again, I prefer to have my account on auto-follow (I use http://socialoomph.com for that) to give the courtesy of following people back who follow me. I think it sends an open message of trust and willingness to connect.
Disconnecting from an unwanted connection on Twitter is far easier than re-establishing rapport with someone who has disconnected from you due to your aloofness towards them. Be open. Be reciprocal. Be trusting.
The only Tweeple who have a valid “excuse” for not following back are
1) application bots, e.g., @ListNotify
2) info portals, e.g., @Mashable
3) large companies that do not represent the thoughts of one particular person, or
4) Twitter accounts that were set up to send news to fans about celebrities who never (or hardly ever) use the Twitter account themselves.
Turn-Off Number 4: One-Way Tweeting
Ok, I use Twitter for business—a LOT. And I tweet about my business—a LOT. However, I also RT others’ tweets and engage in 2-way conversation—a LOT. I look at people’s profiles and try to address them by first name as much as possible. I recommend them on Follow Fridays. I share the things they post that I think others would like to know about. I meet and make new networking partners, clients and friends on Twitter.
I hate, hate, hate it when someone (unless they are in one of the 4 categories mentioned above) only ever tweets about their business (sometimes the same thing over and over) and never interacts with other people. It tells me they are only there to “get” and not to connect. It’s such a turn-off.
Ugh!
Turn-Off Number 5: Playing the ‘Celebrity Card’
All right, now this one sometimes goes hand in hand with some of the others. In other words, the kinds of people who do some of the above things also frequently ‘play the celebrity card.’
What do I mean by ‘playing the celebrity card’? I mean when people have like 1000 followers and follow less than 10% of these back. Come on! Do you think 1000 followers makes you in SUCH demand that you can actually turn your back on 900 of them and send the message that they are not worthy of your attention? Do you think they will stay following you?
When I go to weed out my non-followers, these are the ones that go next, after the protected tweets.
If you are NOT a ‘legitimate’ celebrity (or, frankly, even if you are), the most inviting Twitter ratio of followers to following is ALWAYS as close as you can get to 1:1. By legitimate celebrity I mean someone whom millions of people want to follow, not because of your tweets, but because of who you are outside of Twitter. You know. Like Oprah. BTW, Oprah has almost 5 million followers, follows only 20 people (all of whom are industry people) but has sent out fewer than 200 tweets. Clearly Oprah does not use Twitter as a business building tool (she doesn’t need to!), but rather as a connection point for people who want to know about what’s happening behind the scenes.
If you are in a similar position with your fans, you can play the ‘celebrity card’ too. But if you are using Twitter to grow your business, don’t play the celebrity card or you will lose your audience fast.
TIP: Ok, so if you are concerned how you can possibly FOLLOW the tweets of all the people who are following you, the answer is: “You don’t have to.” There is an easy solution to the information overload you might experience from following thousands of people on Twitter:
- Make yourself a private Twitter list of your “VIPs” so you can make sure you are catching the updates of your best friends, colleagues, inspirational leader, movers/shakers or whomever else you wish to follow closely.
- Then, create a column for this list in TweetDeck so you can be sure to catch the tweets of your VIPs.
- Then, just scan the “All Followers” column for new people and interesting tweets. Maybe someone new will catch your eye. It’s the easiest way to build your network without going into Twitter overwhelm.
Bonus Turn-Off: SPAMMERS
I almost didn’t bother to mention this because it’s sort of a ‘given’. Spamming isn’t merely a turn-off. It’s grounds for getting you banned from Twitter. DO NOT ever @ someone unless you are engaged in a conversation with them. Sending an @ or a DM message to someone on Twitter (apart from a welcome DM) directing them to click a link is spam. End of subject. I have no tolerance for spammers and feel no guilt whatsoever for reporting them. If I know you, that’s different. If we’re friends, you can send me all the links you want.
Some dead giveways that someone is a spammer:
1) Their profile pic us usually either the Twitter default pic or a picture of some unknown sexy girl
2) All their tweets are the same
3) They have no followers
4) They @ everyone the same message and it always contains a link. Do yourself a favour and DON’T click these links no matter how tempting they may be. Very often they are phishing for your Twitter password.
So what do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Do you have others to add to the list?
Let’s connect! Here are my Twitter IDs:
- @LynnSerafinn - tweeting about everything I do, business or otherwise
- @SpiritAuthors – tweeting about writing, self-publishing, book promotion, especially for mind-body-spirit authors
- @7GracesMarketng - tweeting about healing our fragmented society by changing the way we do business, and info about my upcoming book, talks, etc., “The 7 Graces of Marketing”
- @GardenOfTheSoul - tweeting about my radio show and book of the same name
- @TeknochikUK - tweeting about cool techie innovations that help you develop your social media platform.
And, if you want to see some “positive” tips about using Twitter, subscribe to my Spirit Authors blog. I’ll be posting my article “My Top 5 Twitter Apps” there very soon.
While you’re there, check out my Spirit Authors course “100 Days to Build Your Online Promotional Platform” (Module 2).
About Lynn Serafinn
Lynn Serafinn is transformation coach, bestselling author, radio host and promotional manager for a long list of #1 selling mind-body-spirit authors. She is the author of the bestseller The Garden of the Soul: lessons from four flowers that unearth the Self as well as the upcoming book The 7 Graces of Marketing: how to heal humanity and the planet by changing the way we sell (http://the7GracesOfMarketing.com )
Her membership site Spirit Authors (http://spiritauthors.com) offers training, coaching, business-building and inspiration for mind-body-spirit authors, whether established or aspiring. Contact Lynn about YOUR book project at at http://spiritauthors.com/contact.
Sign up for Lynn’s bi-monthly newsletter Creative Spirit (fill in form BELOW) packed with inspirational articles, online networking tips, broadcast guide to her radio show, and news about upcoming spiritual author book releases.
Throughout the year, Lynn also hosts large-scale telesummits with world-class speakers on a range of mind-body-spirit topics. Your subscription to Creative Spirit will ensure you’ll be the first to know how to attend these free events.
Posted 1 year, 1 month ago at 23:42. 13 comments
At long last we have reached that prophetic (if not hyped up) year of 2012 so many of us have been awaiting. According to many futurists, this year will mark the beginning of unparalleled expansion of awareness and global consciousness. And based upon the explosion of social media over the past few years — and most especially its evolution in 2011 — we do indeed seem to be ever-increasingly expanding our potential for awareness of our world. How many of our grandparents could possibly have imagined being “friends” with people from every corner of the planet, or having possibly tens of thousands of “followers” who know your name, what you do, and what you stand for?
