For those of you who have put to practice all of the ideas and tips that I have shared in the last twenty eight days, I'd like to talk about one more important issue before our finale - evaluating and adjusting your practices to meet your needs.
The reason that I wrote the "30 Days of Branding" series is because it was just what I was looking for when I first started. I wanted someone to break social media and branding down into digestible chunks so I could learn slowly enough to absorb. Unfortunately, I didn't find such a program so I had to figure out what I know through trial-and-error.
Regardless of how you learn, it's essential to put some sort of evaluation plan into place. Of course, it doesn't need to be too formal, but I would suggest that you take time to think critically about what you are doing and how it effective it is. Keeping in mind that the goal of social media is to cultivate and maintain relationships, are you able to do that? Are you on so many social networks you don't know how to keep up? Do you find that there isn't an established community in your industry on Twitter? Realistically, how much time are you spending on maintaining these networks? Think about these questions regularly - I suggest once a month. Remember, there's no harm in trying something and realizing it doesn't work for you.
Finally, you may find that you need to adjust your plan. Perhaps you are finding a lot of opportunities on your networks, but you are spending way too much time trying to keep up. Here are my suggestions on how to fit social networking into your busy life:
- Don't forget that the point of social networking is to share who you are (your brand) with others. Therefore, if you are reading articles for a blog, post the blog and then tweet all the articles that were relevant. This way, you have more information to share and it's all related to who you are and what you're doing. You don't have to search out new content all the time. Most likely, you're already working with a lot of content in your professional life.
- Set a schedule for yourself. While this might seem overly structured, this is a good way to get started. When I began, I told myself I was going to send 5 valuable tweets every day, even if it was the last thing I did before heading to bed. I stuck to that plan and now I'm a regular tweeter. I don't have to schedule it anymore.
- Challenge yourself. Two months ago, I would have told you I didn't have time to blog and that felt very true. But, since then, I created this "30 Days of Branding" series and I've blogged for twenty nine days straight now. It's only because of the goals I set to focus on blogging this month.
I've found that social networking fits into your life quite well if you take your time, evaluate as you go along and adjust to fit your needs and schedule. Don't feel like you have to have your hands in so many baskets. It's okay to start slow and build up. Besides, that's the only way it will be long lasting for you. Yepp, I'm going to say it - Slow and steady wins the race.
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Tags: 30 Days of Branding, Personal Branding, Social Media/Technology
