Trying To Do Too Much

I recently met with a businessman who wanted to talk about using social media. To be honest, he’d reached his breaking point and told me that he was about to stop blogging and posting on social media. He wasn’t seeing any results and he was getting more and more stressed about “keeping up” with posting on a regular basis.

He was trying to write a blog post once a week, as well as posting numerous times a day on his Facebook Page, Twitter, LinkedIn and even Google+ accounts. He really did look like he was about to tear his hair out!

I asked about his comment regarding results, asking what he was expecting: new followers, new customers, comments, purchases, and so on. He gave me a bit of a blank look and said he really didn’t know. He did have more interaction on Facebook than anywhere else and felt he was developing a good following. He used LinkedIn on a regular basis – especially before meeting a new customer or potential customer. Twitter baffled him, as did Google+. And, he’d spend hours throughout his week writing a blog post and no one would comment or even share the content on their social media sites.

In short, he felt he was wasting his time…and I agreed! I told him that he needed to take a break and rethink his strategy.

Were his posts in line with his other marketing messages? Was he posting something that was relevant…or was he posting simply to post? Were his posts informative or simply sales-oriented? When he did get any type of interaction, had he examined what he had posted to determine why?

I suggested that he focus on blogging – creating good, relevant content that engaged his readers…and that he not blog every week. Once every two weeks would be enough. He could always do more once he got the hang of it. I advised that he set time on his weekly schedule when he’d shut his door, turn off his phone and email, eliminate all outside interruptions and focus on writing. At first, he might need an hour or more, but hopefully, when he learned to focus, he could shorten that timeframe.

The cool thing about blogging is that it gives a good foundation for using social media, as you can use it as the basis for several posts throughout the week. This is a great concept that I discussed with Erik Wolf on my program on Mile Hi Radio.

Next, I suggested that for now, he focus on using just one social media site and since he thought he was getting good interactions on Facebook, that was the one he should use – and just post once a day. He was stunned. All of the “social media gurus” he’d talked to in the past said he had to be “everywhere” and post multiple times a day. I pointed out that when he thinks it’s a chore to post, it comes across in his posts – and who wants to read that!

I hope that I talked him off the ledge and that he will still use social media. My primary point was that he needed to focus on what was working – and eliminate (at least temporarily) what wasn’t.

What advice would you have given him? Post your comments below!