I found this question on Quora and I think it would be interesting to share my viewpoint on this. Now, before we even go into detail, ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have a loyal following on social media (even 10 people is considered okay)?
- Do you constantly share things on social media?
- Does your friends or connections reach out to you for help on social media from time to time?
In most cases, you will have a “yes” for at least one of the question above. And it makes all the sense.
Social media is a part of our lives now and there is nothing much we can do to change the fact. I know a whole lot of people who check on their social media accounts the first thing they wake up.
And hey, that is normal and welcome to the 21st century!
I hope this post is able to make you think more out of the box on what you can do with your ‘social media power’.
Help your business
I don’t see many people doing this because they believe there must be a work-life balance. Okay, let’s put that aside and think about this. The business world is competitive and challenging. No one is going to tell you what you should do using your (personal) social media accounts.
What I mean is this –> You should consider using your social media account to promote your business from time to time.
And then, you might be saying that you have the corporate company account which you are using tools like HootSuite and AgoraPulse to schedule posts. Let’s be realistic, that isn’t enough!
Using your personal social media accounts to promote your business is alright if you do it correctly. Do not promote it non-stop as it will be a nuisance for many.
Time your strategy and you will be able to reap the benefits.
Can you help out others?
I have over 50,000 followers on various social media platforms and from time to time, I do get requests to promote their products. In most cases, I don’t mind doing a favor for them (if the product is legit) because that is the very least that I could do.
Social media is meant to be fun and when you have the ‘power’ to do so, why don’t grab that opportunity and help others?
Tweeting a post relating to your NGO (non-profit) could do a lot more good for them than you can ever imagine. And hey, what’s the cost to you?
Okay, maybe a little of your time and some effort in typing (if you are really that calculative).
Networking like a professional
Having a lot of followers on social media is always fun because it gives you authority. In this case, you may want to consider using the authority to network with other like-minded people. You see, it is always easier to create connections when you have a healthy following.
Compared to a person who has a limited of followers, having a bigger number of following is always your ‘social media power’ and can go a long way if you have the right strategy in place.
- How to network like a professional?
- Sending them a private message (not the copy paste thingy)
- Tell them that you came across this profile because you have some friends in common
- State clearly why you want to connect with them (please be down to Earth)
- Once they accepted your connection, start a conversation
- Wish them on their birthdays
- And respond to their posts from time to time
Networking is not a one off thing. It takes a long time just to connect and resonates with them. Therefore, it is always critical for you to go beyond the norms if you want to be successful in networking.
Even if you are in an industry that doesn’t require networking (I doubt so), creating a good repo with others is always a great thing. You have no idea when you would need a favor from them and when you have connections, it is easier for you in the future!
Promote your other works
Having a large audience on your social media accounts can be used to promote your other works. As marketers and entrepreneurs, you probably have more than one job and getting more exposure is always a good thing. After all, who doesn’t want free exposure, right?
So, one of the tricks I use is to promote my Quora profile:
See the boxes in red. Every time I publish an answer on Quora, I will share the answer on my social media accounts. Of course, it is important to understand that you do not need to share every answer you publish on Quora, but answers (or questions) that people will feel intrigued to click and read.
This is also how I managed to achieve over 67,200 views in this month alone.
As Quora rules do not allow you to promote a product directly, it certainly doesn’t mean that you cannot find a way around that. In this case, answering questions with passion could drive a lot of readers and followers in a very short time period (and pretty much no cost at all, except for your time).
Quora is just one sample — and you can even promote your products, online courses or books through your social media accounts and generate traffic to them.
Summary
I hope you find this article useful and something out of the norms. Most of us have at least a few hundreds of followers on various social media platforms. So, why are you not leveraging them?
People follow you on social media because you are of a certain value to them. Therefore, share some of these content over social media and watch the traffic boom from it. Plus, don’t forget that using social media is a great way to increase the audience and they could even go viral!
Just make sure that you do not spam your followers with unrelated matters to avoid unfollows or complaints.
SOURCE: http://hotinsocialmedia.com
