How Much Time You Invest in Social Media Does Not Matter
Wanting to know how much time to give LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, blogging (etc) per day is a natural desire. But having that answer won’t make social media produce better results. That’s why many of us are putting down “hour a day” books and picking up a new habit: asking a different question. That is: “How can I get clear on what social media’s purpose is for my business—and how I can best use it to achieve that specific goal?” Why ask this question? Because doing so will help you decide how much time to invest occurs naturally, painlessly, and obviously. Use time and pressure to create results to your advantage. Ask a better question.
You’re not alone in worrying about time. Many of today’s social media gurus are working day-and-night to make sure you needlessly worry about it. They want you to believe in a “social media revolution” rather than discovering how to evolve your habits and business. So far, sex and fear sells books and consulting.
But now you know the truth and can choose a different path—away from reacting to social media and toward evolving your business (each day of your life) in harmony with it.
Here’s another way of looking at it. Think about how you feel when you ask “how much time is this going to take?” You’re reacting, defensive. The presumption behind the question is that LinkedIn, Facebook, blogging, or whatever is somehow “different.” But what if social media could be a better way to achieve a particular set of goals you have—rather than being “so different” and such a pain? It can be if you so choose.
Social media is not rocket science. The more you think it is the more you’ll believe time investment is what makes the difference. It does not. As Peter Drucker said, “Efficiency is doing things right; effectiveness is doing the right things.”
This false, paradigm-shifting revolution amounts to experts telling us, “the rules have changed, your goals must change.” And this is why we often find ourselves chasing re-tweets, friends, and followers rather than leads, sales, and subscribers.
For instance, you can make social media produce leads and sales by changing the question. Stop asking “how much time…?” and start asking “how can I determine what Facebook’s/blogging’s/YouTube purpose is for me/my business and how I can best use it to achieve this goal?” Trust that “how much time is likely required?” will come in time.
- LinkedIn (to find and qualify people within a target company based on current position & experience background, increasing the relevancy of my approach via monitoring comments/discussions in groups)
- JigSaw.com (to secure actual contact information)
- Confession: Google (to get around LinkedIn’s “paywall” (sorry, LinkedIn!)
- Twitter (to increase my relevancy, again based on what’s current to the prospect)
I put as much time into using social media platforms as I need to achieve my goal. Simple! Empowering. Liberating!
Jeff Molander is a self-published author of Off the Hook Marketing: How to Make Social Media Sell for You and adjunct faculty at Loyola University Business School. He blogs at www.offthehookblog.com and can be reached at jeff@jeffmolander.com.