More and more, social networking is being used to stay in touch with family, friends, colleagues and to boost business. But I barely have time to live my own life, much less to read what everyone else is doing. How do you manage organizing your social networking identity? To answer these kinds of questions, I talked with Jonathon Narvey, founder of Mind Meld PR. He helps organizations get their message out through social media.
Linda Chu (LC): How is social media good for business when people are updating their status about what they just had for lunch?
Jonathon Narvey (JN): Filtering the information is the key to making it useful. You select the RSS feeds, Twitter profiles, and Facebook friends that you want to follow. If someone is always tweeting about their lunch, the solution is simple – you would never follow that person in the first place. It’s the same idea when you watch TV in that you choose the channel you want to watch. Except with social media, you can get far more targeted information from scanning relevant status updates online for 10 minutes than from any TV show.
LC: Which tools do you use?
JN: I manage several blogs to establish a presence in my chosen fields and build connections with others. I also guest blog on other websites. I use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter. These are the big sites. All of my social networks include both personal and professional connections. Often, there’s overlap, as colleagues become friends.
LC: But which tools are better for business?
JN: All of them can be used for business. For instance, anyone can have a Facebook fan page for their business. LinkedIn is handy for building professional connections and finding professional associations. And Twitter is a convenient tool for finding influencers, connecting with them, and broadcasting your message.
LC: Maintaining all those networks is a lot of work. How do you manage your time?
JN: Especially for those using social networks for business, the amount of time you use them will depend largely on how you want to use them. For passive connection-list building, a few minutes a day is probably all you need. If you’re using social networks for marketing campaigns, keep a strict schedule.
Social networks often include tools that automate functions, reducing the amount of time you need to spend maintaining them. For instance, you can set up your blog RSS feed (a summary of your most recent posts) to automatically post to social media sites whenever you publish.
LC: How do I declutter my social networking profiles?
JN: It’s a challenge because social media interfaces change interfaces frequently. Most of them let you customize your profiles. You can select the applications you want and get rid of the rest. For instance, I organize my Facebook profile to show very minimal contact information. But I do post links to my business and some articles I wrote. I keep it minimal to make an easier scanning experience for myself and others.
Social networking, just like email, can get out of control and consume what little time you have. Set your priorities and make social networking a part of your marketing plan, just as you would a face-to-face meeting or networking event.
For more information on organizing your social networking identity, contact Linda Chu at Out of Chaos or Jonathon Narvey, founder of Mind Meld PR.
