Taking a Sabbatical from Social Media ? Why it's a Bad Idea - Birds ...

Last week I let out a bit of a rant on social media sabbaticals. You might not have found it funny? you just might have seen yourself in the characters ? maybe you?ve had your own social media sabbatical.

You might have asked yourself, ?Why is Yolanda so mean and angry about social media sabbaticals??

Well to be fair it?s not just social media sabbaticals?

But today I?m just going to talk about social media sabbaticals.

I see these happening all over the Internet. Sabbaticals from a website, from email, from twitter, etc. Here?s why I think it?s ridiculous? because most of the people taking these sabbaticals are online business owners. If you are primarily an online business then you get your customers from online sources.

If you go off-line how are you going to communicate with your customers? How are you going to get new customers? How are you going to engage? If you plan to spend the month going local that?s great but there?s still no reason to ignore your primary source of marketing leverage.

If you are taking a sabbatical because you just ?don?t have the time? well I?m here to tell you this ? get out of business now. If you don?t spend time marketing your business you won?t have a business. The reality is that most of what you should be doing in your business is talking about your business, engaging with potential customers and reaching out to existing customers. Businesses don?t operate in a bubble. If they did we?d never see another television ad for BMW? ever again.

Repetition works, getting your name and face out there works, that?s why it?s done.

If you feel like using social media is too overwhelming then you need to step back and assess.

Here are some questions you should be asking:

• Why isn?t it working for me?
• Why does it feel overwhelming?
• Why does it take so much time?

And be specific and honest.

If you get ?stuck? sitting on Facebook then the problem isn?t Facebook. If you keep checking your RSS feed reader the problem isn?t the feed reader. If you stay on Twitter too long? it?s you not the media.

Now, how do you fix it?

Step one is to figure out the problem through assessment as we covered above.

Step two is to create a process for dealing with issues that come up in your assessment. For instance, if you are spending ?too much time? using social media then, for business purposes, you?re doing it wrong. The right way includes:

• Carving out specific times that you will use the media and stick to those times.
• Setting specific amounts of time to engage with the media. This could be getting on Twitter for 10 minutes two times a day. Or checking Facebook at lunch only.
• Using apps to help you share faster. Buffer is the best thing out there for me. I read something share-worthy and I can instantly add it to Buffer and Buffer does the rest. PostRocket is another great share platform for Facebook.
• Have a system and stick with it. My system involves doing my social media work first thing. As soon as I get to my desk I skim my email. During the evening before while scanning blogs on my iPad I send anything share-worthy to my email so in the morning I can quickly open the links and add them to Buffer, I?m done in less than 10 minutes. I try to share 3-5 items using that method. Then I spend 10 minutes skimming my ?favorites? feed in Tweetdeck, anything shareable I add to Buffer. Then I move to Facebook. I skim down the newsfeed and quickly ?like? things. Share-worthy stuff gets added to Buffer. Then I head over to PostRocket and add something for the day. I generally share only one item on my Facebook page per day. In about 30 minutes I?m done. Then when I have or need a quick 10-minute break during the day, like during lunch, I skim Twitter and Facebook, do some engaging and move on.

The key here is all about how you think about social media. Sure you can spend all day on it but why? If it?s for your business, who has that kind of time? If it?s just because you are avoiding work? then put systems in place to prevent that practice.

There are countless online timers and apps that block sites. If that?s what it?s going to take then do it.

The reality is that willpower is easily enhanced through deliberate practice. First, figure out why you are using the social media platforms you are using. Eliminate the ones that don?t make sense and keep the ones that do.

Beyond that practice makes perfect. Denial by using a sabbatical corrects nothing. When you come back to it you are exactly where you left it. And if you?ve taken more than a week off? you are going to be working twice as hard to re-engage your audience. If that audience is comprised of customers? you?re definitely going to need to step it up to keep them coming back for more.

Ignoring your customers, and that?s what you are doing when you ignore your sources of customer communication, is a recipe for disaster.

Growing your business means taking constant action towards marketing your business. You?ve got to talk to your people.

And that?s why I don?t like social media sabbaticals? but that?s just me.

Source: http://www.birdsontheblog.co.uk/taking-a-sabbatical-from-social-media-why-its-a-bad-idea/

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