I’m not a social media expert, guru or ninja, but I have observed a few things which are common to people who are not paying attention when they join a social network (Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin etc. . .). Missing these items gives the impression you do not know what you are doing and do not care enough to find out. These things are simple to correct and are the starting point for anyone involved in social media:
1. Have a profile picture. People without a profile picture are automatically discounted (rightly or wrongly) as someone who doesn’t understand the basics of the service. Plus, it makes it easier for someone to know you and become comfortable with you if they can what you look like. Get a picture.
2. Know where your posts are going. There are many ways to push your posts on one social network (Linkedin, for example) automatically to another network (such as Twitter). There is nothing wrong with this conceptually but you need to be aware of where your posts are ending up. Are you sending posts from one network, completely out of context, to another network? This can be a bit annoying. Know and control the syndication of your content.
3. Respond when people talk to you. This is a fundamental principal of being decent in life: when someone talks to you, you talk back to them. To do otherwise, is to risk being considered rude. For the most part, the same rules apply in social media – when someone asks you question (with an @ message on Twitter for instance) or comments on a posts (on your Facebook wall for example) respond to them. Let them know you are alive and appreciate their interests. (FYI – you can adjust your basic settings on most networks to send you notifications when someone is speaking to you directly).
4. Fill out your bio. It’s your virtual resume but its even more important than that. It is all people know about you when they first find you. Fill in the details about what you do, where you live, what you like so people will understand you and see you as human.
5. Link to where you want people to go. So simple, far to often ignored: put a link to your website in your profile. Make it as easy as possible for people to visit your “online home” and learn about you. If it to hard to find someone’s site, sometimes people just quick trying.
What are some other basic things that everyone should be doing when they get started in social media?
Good information.
Thanks I appreciate it! These are somethings I have come across in working with all kinds of different social media sites that are relatively easy to do but might have a large positive effect.