2011 Social Media New Year’s Resolutions

1. Stop complaining about social media.  Social media professionals don’t like constantly being met with turned up lips and grunts.  It’s not going away.  Social networks are kind of like in-laws – embrace them and deal with it.
2. Reassess why you’re using social media in the first place.  What were your goals?  Did you have any to begin with?  What networks are your target market using?  Why are they using them?  How can you interact with them?
3. Have one conversation each week with an absolute stranger on one of your social networks.  It’s social networking, remember?  They’re supposed to be strangers, and then you’re supposed to get to know them, and then you’re not strangers anymore.
4. Experiment with a social network other than The Big 3 (Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.)  FourSquare, Gowalla, Ning, DiggIt, Reddit, Tumblr, Orkut, StumbleUpon, Xing, Squidoo, the list goes on.  If you didn’t recognize any of the names listed there, maybe it’s time you did a little research.
5. Read at least three blog posts a week.  For some, you’re way beyond that, but for many, the very definition of “blog” is pretty hazy.  I’ll give you a starting place.  The American Express Open Forum (openforum.com) has loads of blogs from industry-leading experts, all geared towards small businesses.  Start there, strike out.
6. Reward your friends/followers/fans.  Offer social media-exclusive promotions, sales, and products.  Who says promotions are only for BtoC companies and retail?
7. Give away content for free.  And don’t complain about it.  Remember the adage, “You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar”?  Well, you catch more clients with free introductions than with sales pitches.
8. Commit to discovering one new feature on your mobile phone a week.  If you don’t have a smart phone, then commit to discovering one new feature a week on your computer.  “How do I do this” you ask?  Google “tips for using...” or “best kept secrets of...” or “little used features of...”
9. Experiment with video.  Not that way.  But there has to be something you can do on camera that is worth watching.  Give a two minute book review.  Discuss an important topic.  Interview a colleague.  And don’t worry about having the tech know-how.  You can know edit videos within YouTube (very easily), and you can use a $20 web cam or your home video camera.  No one is expecting Oprah, just make it interesting!
10. When in doubt, Google it.  Ok, so this isn’t social media-related per se, but the answer to the vast majority of life’s questions are available on the Internet, and Google is the best way to find them.  So before you call your son/daughter/husband/neighbor/over-worked-and-under-paid-marketing-consultant to ask what that error message in Outlook means, Google will more than likely have a few thousand answers for you.

Tags: blogging | facebook | google | linkedin | social media | twitter