Social Media Archives -

Organizing Your Social Media So You Can Have a Better Life

April 23, 2020 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

Everyone says you need to know your why before you feel motivated. The reason you want to organize your social media is so you’ll have more time. Hence, you can use that time to have a better life. There are lots of different ways to organize your social media. Here are some suggestions.

Block out Your Time

I like to check Twitter first thing in the morning. So I group all my Twitter accounts together and do it that way. If you have some task that you can group together, you could do the same thing. Using a block of time, whether it’s 15 minutes or three hours, will make you more efficient. For instance, you could schedule a week’s worth of Facebook posts all at once. See how long that takes and put it right on your calendar. You might like Time Management for the Tired and Frazzled.

Have Daily Topics

If you struggle with what to post, you could always have a daily topic prepared. Think of five things you would like to post and then attach that to a day of the week. There are already people who post certain things on particular days, and you can use already-existing daily topics, such as #MotivationalMonday or #ThrowbackThursday. I’ve always liked #ThankfulThursday myself. You may be able to create on particular to your business.

Outline Several Ideas for Your Blog Posts

While you’re writing an article for your blog, try to think of future topics for yourself. It’s good to always have five at least five. That way, you won’t have an excuse when you’re writing and run out of steam. Just jump to the next topic and continue there for the alloted time. You might also like How to Come up With a Year’s Worth of Blog Content.

Connect the Dots

You don’t have to share the same things across all your social media platforms. If you do, you might want to reshare that content using a different image, a different quote, and at a different time. For example, create something on Twitter with a hashtag that you then share on Facebook without a hashtag and using a different image. Put that same content on LinkedIn, but write a bit more. Experiment and have fun with it!

What Will You Do with Your Extra Time?

Why, focus on your hobby, of course!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: blogging, organizing, Social Media, time blocking, time management, writing

How to MacGyver Your Social Media

April 16, 2020 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

During the past few weeks I’ve heard the word MacGyver used several times. Before Covid19, I’d rarely heard the term used, and never as a verb. If you look up MacGyver on Wikipedia, you find this: “With skills that are only limited by his creativity, Mac saves the day using paper clips instead of pistols, birthday candles instead of bombs, and gum instead of guns. And those sound exactly like the types of skills we need right now, as we’re all making do with whatever we have around the house. As far as social media, clients don’t want to appear tone-deaf, so they’re asking to limit salesy posts. For social media managers, it’s more work, and it’s also a creative challenge. We’re using the virtual version of paper clips, birthday candles, and chewing gum for content creation.

Pivot to Sensitivity and Away from the Hard Sell

Right now, nobody wants to hear about diamond rings and cruises (especially not cruises!). They’re in a kind of survival space, where they want to hear about things that will help them survive in the long term. And as the crisis wears on, we’re moving up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. The first week, everyone was dazed and bought all the toilet paper and bleach. The second week, all the frozen vegetables and eggs were gone. By the third week, the stores had replenished some of their supplies. By now, in the fourth week, we’re seeing more products on the store shelves. By the way, you might like Maslow’s Unbelievably Strange Hierarchy of Social Media Needs.

Using Virtual Duct Tape

For those of us scrambling to create good content or social media posts, we feel like we’re stapling and taping stuff together in the hopes that the content will be good. None of us was prepared for Covid19. What do we do now? For me, going back into the archive of content and reusing those posts that are soothing and calming works well. Now that we’ve been in lockdown for a month, this is starting to feel more normal. And while we’d like to go back to the way it was before, that will never happen. Perhaps it’s a good thing that it won’t, since we’re more focused than ever on helping each other. Wouldn’t that be a good thing to continue?

Photo by Lenny K Photography

Improvization and Inspiration

Since it seems that MacGuyver’s main strength is to improvize, many of us probably feel in alignment with him right now. Whether we’re looking in the frig trying to figure out what to make with three eggs and some pickles or avoiding a trip to the store, we need to be inventive. I’ve seen some wonderful examples of creativity lately. For example, people in my neighborhood have stocked our Little Free Library with canned food, toilet paper, and hand sanitizer. Kids have been making inspirational drawings in chalk. Adult makers have been sharing patterns for masks, personal protective equipment, and 3D-printed widget to help doctors. People have been cooperating, for the most part, and helping each other. If that’s part of the “new normal,” then I’m all in.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: MacGyver, Social Media

When You Should Be Serious About Social Media Automation

December 19, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Some people get really riled about those who automate their social media. People seem to either love or hate automation, with no gray area at all. So the question is should you automate? And if you do, how much should you automate? Also, who and when and…the list of questions goes on and on. Here are some times and people who should be serious about social media automation. By the way, you might enjoy this article: How to automate your social media without looking like a jack*.

If You Have a Small Business

Small business owners can’t be online 24/7. They have a business to run, after all. While checking in doesn’t take very long, it can disrupt your attention for that five minutes you’re checking Twitter. And often, you forget why you’re there and off you go down the rabbit hole. An hour later, you’ve lost three customers and forgotten about a conference call you were supposed to attend. It’s important to be there, but also important not to get distracted.

If You Want Your Business to Grow

As outlined in The Complete Guide to Social Media for Small Business, “the number of social users willing to buy from you skyrockets if you use social media not just for publishing, but for actually engaging with your social media audience.” 57.5% of people are more likely to buy from a brand they follow on social media. That’s a huge number. Gone are the days when businesses could get away with not being on social media.

If You Have Any Kind of Business

Everyone is busy, and everyone has multiple things to check off their to-do list. Larger companies need automation, too. There are some larger companies that can afford to have someone manning their social media all day long, but chances are even they have other duties. When I talk to people at medium-sized companies, their duties often include many non-social media responsibilities, too.

If Your Time Is Valuable

Some people enjoy hanging out on social media all day long. Are you one of them, though? If not, you may want to consider automating and outsourcing your social media. Most of us have other things to do. Although if you don’t want to be on social media at all, you might consider hiring someone. Speaking of which, here’s an article for you: For Better Social Media Results, Focus on Engagement.

Which Camp Do You Fall Into?

Are you someone who is against automation? Where do you stand? For myself, I think a combination of automation and engagement is really important. Use automation to post when you can’t be online, but don’t forget to also engage with your audience.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: automation, Social Media, social media engagement

How to Use Gratitude to Empower Your Social Media Campaign

October 31, 2019 By Carol Stephen 4 Comments

Photo by MR photography.

Thanksgiving is undoubtedly my favorite holiday. Being surrounded by friends and family, eating and drinking and giving thanks. Who can argue with turkey and gravy and friendship? Nobody, that’s who! How does gratitude tie in with your social media campaign? Read on to see!

Gratitude Marketing

Gratitude marketing can boost your customers, followers, and just plain feels good. Every time you thank someone for sharing something of yours, buying your product, or simply being supportive, that’s gratitude. Done regularly, gratitude marketing attracts other like-minded people. There have even been studies done about the effectiveness of gratitude marketing. See Duct Tape Marketing’s The Power of Gratitude in Marketing, for instance. And I like the idea of a hand-written card or note. Hardly anyone sends hand-written notes anymore.

Social Media and Gratitude

As part of your social media campaign, I highly recommend thanking people for sharing, for retweets, and for following you and your pages. After all, they have a choice not to. You probably have die-hard fans who like what you do no matter what. These are the people you need to thank regularly. And beyond thanking them, how about giving them a little or a big gift every once in a while? By the way, you might like How to Develop and Unlock a Tremendous Gratitude Muscle, by moi. You could start with ten things you’re grateful for in your business, and take it from there.

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

This month has been a little tough. It’s important, in my opinion, to be grateful even during hard times. We haven’t had power or WiFi for a few days during October, so working is harder. I’m writing these words from a friend’s house, and it’s easy to fall into the habit of feeling sorry for myself or feeling angry. But I’m grateful that we still have a gas stove for cooking, a good heater, and a car to go shopping. And although it’s inconvenient, I’m hopeful that we can figure something out going into the future. And if you want more reasons to be grateful, check out 31 Benefits of Gratitude: The Ultimate Guide. There are some surprising reasons, including that people will like you more if you’re grateful.

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Most friends, family, and coworkers have been extremely kind during this tough time of no power and no WiFi, and very understanding. People have offered places to work, and said not to worry about their social media. And for that I’m very grateful. Of course, there are people who will take advantage of a bad situation, but they seem to be in the minority. The main reason I choose to believe people are good is that believing the opposite can make you crazy. That is, you might be paranoid thinking that bad people are out to get you or steal from you. Looking over your shoulder all the time is no way to live.

Gratitude Strategy

Do you have a gratitude strategy? There are many reasons you need one. And they’re all outlined in this post: Gratitude Strategy: How to Develop One and Why You Need One. So since tomorrow is November, how about starting or restarting a gratitude practice?

Thank You

If I haven’t said it lately, thank you to all the readers of my blog! Especially those who’ve stuck with me through thick and thin. You are very much appreciated.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: business and gratitude, gratitude, gratitude strategy, Social Media, social media and gratitude

Why Pinterest Isn’t Social Media–and Why It is

August 16, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

Pinterest is often seen as a social media site, and yet it’s a very different animal, too. You can “repin” articles, videos, and ideas from others, yet it’s difficult to have a conversation on Pinterest. If conversations are what makes a social media platform, then Pinterest isn’t one.

Pinterest Is a Search Engine

The folks at Pinterest often say that Pinterest is a search engine. And it’s true. You can discover a lot of things you didn’t know you were looking for on Pinterest. Like a favorite retail outlet, you can browse to your heart’s content. You may go into Pinterest not knowing exactly why you came, but there you are looking for that elusive something-or-other. You can use Pinterest to curate your own content, or the content of anything you may find.

Why Pinterest Isn’t Social

Sure, you may see your friends pinning stuff on Pinterest, but it isn’t easy. And it’s easier still to avoid all human contact entirely. Something that us introverts sometimes crave. It’s not like Instagram, where you may have long threads of conversations going back and forth. And it’s not like Facebook or Twitter either, where you can easily connect with people and see who’s online. In fact, in the article Pinterest isn’t a social network. That’s what makes it so great, Pinterest CEO Ben Silbermann says “Pinterest is more of ‘a catalog that’s hand-picked’ for users.”

But Then Again, No

If I want to see what my friends are pinning, I can go and look at their boards. I can follow them and repin their pins. I understand why Pinterest wants to distance itself from the other social media platforms with all their privacy issues. And you can see the pins from the people you follow, in the order they pinned them, too. And like Facebook, you can pin your own images from your camera roll. (Isn’t that why you joined Facebook to begin with?) And your pins and boards define who you are, which makes it a lot like Twitter.

Pinterest is Great for Business

Are you using Pinterest for business yet? You definitely should be, and there are tons of reasons why that’s so. For one thing, pins have staying power. Your pinned article lasts 550 days on Pinterest versus 5 hours on Facebook and about 17 minutes on Twitter. That’s a huge difference, and as a business, your time is money. Hootsuite has a good article on How to Use Pinterest for Business that you might like. And by the way, if you think that only women use Pinterest–40% of new users are men. If you have a fantastic startup and are trying to be discovered and heard above all the noise online, then Pinterest is where you should be.

Join Me on Pinterest

If you are interested in Pinterest, and would like to learn more, come on by! Pinterest is a fun place. Who knows what you might find there!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Pinterest, Pinterest as search engine, Pinterest as social media, Pinterest is not social media, Social Media

What Happens When a Twitter Zero Becomes a Twitter Hero?

July 18, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

What Happens When a Twitter Zero Becomes a Twitter Hero?

It’s amazing to me that so many people still find Twitter so mysterious. Twitter might have a slightly longer learning curve than other social media platforms, but it’s still the friendliest social media platform, in my opinion. Are you ready to go from Twitter Zero to Twitter Hero? Here are some ideas for you.

Photo by DVIDSHUB

Stop Sending DMs

Unless you’re just saying hello (and not in an automated way), just stop it. Don’t tell us how we’re “free to follow you on LinkedIn.” Don’t tell us about the thingamabob you’re selling. And please, please, please don’t send a video of your product. Because if you do, you’re surely a zero. Instead, read some of our tweets. See what we’re talking about and what interests us. Then jump into the conversation. You know: engage with us. This will help you become more of a Twitter Hero. By the way, if you’re completely lost on the topic of social media engagement, you might the book I co-wrote with Eric Lofholm: 21 Ways to Total Social Media Engagement: That Will Make You Look Like a Pro.

Don’t Blast Us with Your Content

We literally just met you. And if we have thousands of followers, we really won’t see your stuff above all the noise. If you want to get our attention, you could retweet something of ours, and add a comment, too! Now that would take you from zero to hero quickly. Blasting someone with and telling us to buy something is beyond rude. It doesn’t work, and makes people angry. And it’s a good way to get unfollowed. You don’t want to come off as spammy–that’s one of the reasons you’re not gaining followers, according to 10 Reasons Why You’re Not Gaining Social Media Followers and how to Fix it.

We Don’t Care That You’re Three Followers Short of 2,000

We really don’t. You’re the only one that does. Keep that kind of stuff on the down low. Have your fancy cupcake and champagne offline, at home, and share it with someone who cares. That is, unless you’re giving away a brand new car (the new Tesla, for instance) when you reach your 2,000th follower. In that case, we really do care! Don’t know how to engage? Read this: How to Engage Social Media: Twitter .

Change up the Stuff You Tweet

Don’t tweet the same tweet 10,000 times in a row. Nobody likes that. Instead, give us some variety. And make sure your images are good quality, too. There are tons of places to find free images if you’re not artistic. Personally, I really like Pixabay. Just make sure the images you choose are ok for commercial use.

Ask Questions of the Seasoned Professionals

If you’re really, really new on Twitter. just ask others what to do. We’re really a pretty friendly crowd. Find the people who are engaging and do some of what they do. You’ll see how awesome Twitter is.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Social Media, Twitter, Twitter hero, Twitter zero

For Better Social Media Results, Focus on Engagement

January 10, 2019 By Carol Stephen Leave a Comment

For Better Social Media Results, Focus on Engagement

If there’s one thing that most social media managers agree upon, it’s that engagement should be a very high priority for all your social media. People focus on follower count, which for many people is an almost useless metric. That’s not to say that you shouldn’t have some followers, because without any followers you’re pretty much just singing to yourself in the shower. By the way, did you know that I wrote a book with Eric Lofholm on Social Media Engagement that you can find on Amazon?

What Is Engagement?

Everyone says you should have more engagement, but what is engagement on social media exactly? Engagement is the fine art of online conversation. Talking to others. If you’re just yourself on social media, then you’re talking as yourself. If you’re posting on behalf of a brand, then engagement means talking in your brand’s voice. SproutSocial has a fine article on why you should care about social media engagement. Look carefully at their pie chart, which shows that customers now want to use social media to connect with brands.

What Does Engagement Look Like?

Engagement looks like a conversation. So if you’re posting on Facebook, it should look like people are commenting on your posts, and then you’re commenting back. You’re listening and then answering. Back and forth, back and forth. Like that. At first, engagement may feel a little awkward if you’re not used to it. But after a while, you may notice that conversations follow a certain pattern. There’s the greeting, then maybe a question or two or thirty, and then another greeting. It will get easier, I promise.

How to Get Past the Awkward Stage?

Just like any other new skill, getting past the awkward stage can happen pretty quickly if you just keep at it. I’ve found that “Hello” works pretty well, though. Also: “Hi!” Or if you’re a cat, “Hai!” And here’s where the art of small talk kicks in. If you’ve ever been to a cocktail party and had to talk to someone, it’s the same thing. You’re going to feel awkward. The good news is, most everyone feels awkward. If, after these excellent suggestions, you still don’t feel up to a conversation, you might want to read How to Deal with Awkward Online Conversations.

How Do I Get More Engagement?

At first, you may need to make a lot of comments on other people’s posts. Keep track of who writes back or shares your posts, too! Some people will never comment back or share your posts, however. That might be ok if what you’re posting of theirs adds value to your audience. And some huge accounts may never reply to you. Just keep at it. And notice those accounts with lots of engagement already–you may learn some tips and tricks simply from watching what other people do!

My Secret: a 3 x 5 Card

One thing that helps me is a simple 3″ x 5″ card. At the beginning of each month, whatever I can fit on this card becomes my little cheat sheet. Remember in High School Chemistry, when you were allowed to have anything you could fit onto a 3″ x 5″ card as a cheat sheet for tests? No? Well, that’s what got me through organic chemistry. And, it turns out to be very helpful for social media management, too!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: Engagement, how to engage on social media, Social Media, social media results, social media results with engagement

This is What Happens When You Use Murmuration to Affect Your Social Media

January 3, 2019 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

This is What Happens When You Use Murmuration to Affect Your Social Media

I’ve been thinking a lot about murmurations lately. Sort of obsessing over murmurations, actually. Partly because of global warming, to be honest. Where I live there have been terrible fires that have wiped entire towns off the map. There doesn’t seem to be any safe place anymore. And I got to thinking what if we all changed direction by taking a cue from nature? And what if we used social media to make that change? By the way, here’s my previous post about using social media for positive change, in case you missed it.

Birds Do it

You can see the kind of rabbit hole this sort of thinking might lead to. But seriously, starlings change direction like one intelligent entity. And they change direction for the good of the entire school or herd or whatever you call a bunch of the animals. If you’ve never seen a murmuration, go to this website and watch the video there, because it’s a beautiful thing. Why couldn’t people do it, too?

Safety in Numbers

“There is safety in numbers, so the individual starlings do not scatter but rather are able to move as an intelligent cloud, feinting away from a diving raptor, thousands of birds changing direction almost simultaneously.” writes Jami Heimbuch in the article above on murmuration. But one bird only affects its seven closest neighbors. That sounds like what we often do in our individual families and friends: take care of those closest to us.

Photo by Phil Manker

Fish Do it

When small fish, such as sardines or anchovies, swim in a way to avoid predators, it’s called a “bait ball.” They do it to protect the school. They have other defensive measures as well, such as reflective surfaces which make it difficult for predators to single out individual fish. Bait balls look a lot like a murmuration, except under water.

Photo by Hope4asu

Why Not People, Too?

In a way, people need protective measures, too. We largely need to protect ourselves from our own stupidity. The way we use up our natural resources, the way we’re driving climate change through dumb political decisions, all these things and many others require a different way of thinking. We need a murmuration, driven by social media, so that we can change direction in a positive way. We may be able to pivot away from drama, but can we make larger changes?

What Do You Think?

Over the course of the last year, I’ve been hearing lots of people making changes. I hope that the changes are happening quickly enough. Can we change direction and avoid some of what is happening? Can it happen quickly enough?

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: fish and bait balls, murmuration, Social Media, starlings and murmurations

Why the 80/20 Rule Works for Your Social Media

August 16, 2018 By Carol Stephen 8 Comments

Among social media manager, there is a rule and it’s called the 80/20 rule. That means you share 80% of the content of others (while trying to stay relevant to your audience) and 20% of your own content. You’ve all heard the saying that you should be generous first, probably. If you’ve never heard of the 80/20 rule, here’s an article about it from Social Media Today.

Nobody Wants a Hard Sales Pitch

Back in the olden days, people were more accustomed to a hard sell. But now, most marketers cater to a person’s lifestyle. So if you’re selling pricey watches, for example, you might also want to figure out what else that watch wearer might be interested in. Italian vacations? Leather briefcases? Fancy shoes? And then talk about those things 80% of the time. Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook, also talks about sharing educational, entertaining, high-quality content before landing that “right hook.”

The Point is to Be Generous

The numbers don’t have to be exact. You could share three posts about something other than yourself before landing that right hook. The point is to give something first and be generous. If you haven’t read it before, you might like Social Media: Quick and Easy Ways to Pay it Forward. I’m a big believer in giving first and having some social currency in the bank before asking for a withdrawal.

Ways to Share

If you don’t know how to share, here are some ideas:

Give someone encouragement
Repost something that restores your faith in humanity
Ask about someone else’s health or a recent accomplishment
Introduce two people who might have something in common
Tell others to follow someone you like!

Why Use the 80/20 Rule?

Let’s see. First of all, people will see you as generous, which means they’ll be more likely to want to connect with you. Secondly, you’ll probably make more friends, and you can never have too many friends in my opinion. Third, you’ll have more loose affiliations, which if you’ve ever read about those, you know that’s the way to more gainful employment!

How Do You Use the 80/20 Rule (if at all)?

Do you believe in the 80/20 rule? Or do you do something different on social media? Let me know! I’d like to hear! And thank you.

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: 80/20 rule and social media, generosity, sharing good news, Social Media

At the Intersection of Social Media and Gratitude

August 9, 2018 By Carol Stephen 2 Comments

At the Intersection of Social Media and Gratitude

I’ve been thinking about gratitude more lately. Partly that’s because there’s so much negativity in the world right now, and especially in politics. Facebook, in particular, has been very negative, with depressing stories being shared more than ever.

Social Media Affects Your Mental Health

There are numerous articles and studies about how social media affects your mental health, including this one from Forbes: 6 Ways Social Media Affects Our Mental Health. The article’s author Alice G. Walton states “Rather than enhancing well-being, as frequent interactions with supportive ‘offline’ social networks powerfully do, the current findings demonstrate that interacting with Facebook may predict the opposite result for young adults—it may undermine it.”

One Person Can Make a Difference

Do you believe that? Because I do. If there’s too much negativity out there, why not counter it with something positive. As you’re tooling around your social media sites, why not leave a few kind, considerate thoughts for someone else?

Say Thank You–It’s Not That Tough!

Seriously, thank the people who’ve helped you. Maybe you can’t always retweet them or post something of theirs, but say thank you if it’s at all feasible. If you’re a big brand, occasionally issue a blanket thank you for everyone’s sharing an article. Or have a customer appreciation day. If you’re a non-profit, you can thank people publically, give shoutouts to those who helped the most, thank volunteers and donors, etc.

Gratitude Has Many Benefits

There have been many studies about the benefits of gratitude. As you might see in this article The 31 Benefits of Gratitude, the benefits can be emotional, and can affect your personality, career, or social life. And gratitude can affect your happiness, too. Have you read my previous post about having a gratitude strategy? You might like it.

What’s Your Gratitude Strategy?

Do you have one? Why or why not? Leave me a comment–I’d be very grateful if you did!

Filed Under: Blog Tagged With: gratitude, Social Media

Block out Your Time

Have Daily Topics

Outline Several Ideas for Your Blog Posts

Connect the Dots

What Will You Do with Your Extra Time?

Pivot to Sensitivity and Away from the Hard Sell

Using Virtual Duct Tape

Improvization and Inspiration

If You Have a Small Business

If You Want Your Business to Grow

If You Have Any Kind of Business

If Your Time Is Valuable

Which Camp Do You Fall Into?

Gratitude Marketing

Social Media and Gratitude

Be Grateful During the Tough Times

Choose to Believe that People Are Good

Gratitude Strategy

Thank You

Pinterest Is a Search Engine

Why Pinterest Isn’t Social

But Then Again, No

Pinterest is Great for Business

Join Me on Pinterest

Stop Sending DMs

Don’t Blast Us with Your Content

We Don’t Care That You’re Three Followers Short of 2,000

Change up the Stuff You Tweet

Ask Questions of the Seasoned Professionals

For Better Social Media Results, Focus on Engagement

What Is Engagement?

What Does Engagement Look Like?

How to Get Past the Awkward Stage?

How Do I Get More Engagement?

My Secret: a 3 x 5 Card

This is What Happens When You Use Murmuration to Affect Your Social Media

Birds Do it

Safety in Numbers

Fish Do it

Why Not People, Too?

What Do You Think?

Nobody Wants a Hard Sales Pitch

The Point is to Be Generous

Ways to Share

Why Use the 80/20 Rule?

How Do You Use the 80/20 Rule (if at all)?

Social Media Affects Your Mental Health

One Person Can Make a Difference

Say Thank You–It’s Not That Tough!

Gratitude Has Many Benefits

What’s Your Gratitude Strategy?

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