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You Don’t Know Everything – and That’s Okay

When I really started taking social media seriously, I quickly realized that I didn’t know everything there is to know. And there’s a lot to know. I took steps to learn as much as I could about how it all worked, and eventually, others started asking me for help.

From that grew my social media management business, and now I work with a fantastic group of clients. They trust me. I take away their pain. I give them back their time. I follow through. I am consistent. I know things so they don’t have to.

But I don’t know everything. When a client asks something that I don’t know, I say so. I then work diligently to figure out the answer for them. I appreciate these learning opportunities sparked by my clients, and they appreciate my honesty and transparency.

Honesty and transparency are key. If you consistently employ this philosophy, you’ll find people are understanding, even empathetic, because they trust you to follow through. They often become your biggest fan and supporter.

You don’t know everything – and that’s okay.

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Why You Must Unfollow on Twitter

 

So there you are on Twitter gleefully following everyone you can find who may be remotely related toTwitter-Bird-256 your expertise, your book genre, your hobby, and maybe your city. You do this with every confidence that these people will follow you back, if not immediately, at least by next week. Right?

 

No, dear reader, not right. There are those you already know will not follow you back like Oprah, the Dalai Lama, and NBC. That’s okay. We all follow those types of accounts on Twitter for a variety of reasons.

 

I’m talking about everybody else. It just seems like common courtesy for authors to follow authors and readers of thrillers to follow thriller writers. You are, of course, tweeting regularly (right?), retweeting every day (correct?), curating interesting information (aren’t you?), and not talking about yourself too much (can I get an amen). If you are doing all of these things, then you’re doing it right and those accounts don’t know what they’re missing.

 

Here’s what happens over time. You end up following many more accounts than follow you, a situation  viewed negatively by Twitter. Soon Twitter caps how many new people you can follow stating that your account needs more of its own followers. What’s a Twitter user to do?

 

Unfollow, my friend. Kick ‘em to the curb. Get rid of the accounts that don’t reciprocate or don’t offer high-value information. This lessens the clutter in your Twitter feed, and the Twitter gods like you better because there is less discrepancy between your “following” and “followers” numbers.

 

Make it easy on yourself and use an automated program that unfollows for you. A note of warning: Twitter doesn’t like it if you unfollow too many people at the same time, so don’t go crazy.

 

I recommend ManageFlitter. This site creates a report with useful information such as “not following you” or “inactive” and more. You simply click on the account you want to unfollow, and they take care of it. Also, do a Google search on unfollowing Twitter accounts to find other sites offering similar services.

 

And hey, I’ll follow you back. Follow me @SocMediaMelody and Tweet me so I know it’s you. We can have some Twitter fun.

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Help Your Social Media Manager Help You

 

What are you investing in to skyrocket your success this year?

If you’ve decided to invest in your own social media manager, you must respect and protect that investment as you would any other kind.

  1. Be available. Your social media person is not you. Questions and issues arise that can only be addressed by you, so watch for emails asking for a response to something. The sooner you answer, the better for your online reputation.
  2. Create new content. Your manager strives to keep your content fresh and appealing and is a master at repackaging the same information. However, your fans (and your manager) love new information. A great way to do this is to keep your blog active, giving your followers and your manager something fresh to work with.
  3. Provide third party content. One aspect of your manager’s job is to spread the love on social media by finding and sharing relevant content created by others. If you see information that fits perfectly with your brand, personality, or vision, share it with your manager.
  4. Value their time. Your social media person works hard to provide you a high degree of personal service, which takes time. No doubt you’ve felt the pressure of time as an author or business owner. It’s at a premium for you, and it’s at a premium for them. Help out by gathering your thoughts into one email, making note of answers to questions you’ve already asked, honoring appointment times, etc.
  5. Be pleasant. Your manager is, after all, a regular person who responds to positivity just like any other. If you are grouchy, delay that call. Review that email for tone. Go on vacation. Take a nap.

Your social media manager wants you to succeed. Help them help you succeed and get all you can out of your investment.