Social Media Tools Are Not The Boss Of Me

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..... anymore.

A few weeks ago I embarked on a social media nip and tuck to frame up my social media efforts. My goals are to deepen and strengthen my connections, collaborate on a professional project and write beyond the blog

A work in progress, I am reevaluating how I am using the tools and checking out some new ones. Touching on the very basics, here is what I've done so far in no particular order other than the length of the bullet:

  • Test drove out Nutshell Mail 
  • Created my first Google doc
  • Set aside time to write each morning
  • Updated my contact form on the blog
  • Reduced my RSS feeds to just over 100
  • Set LinkedIn to weekly vs. daily updates 
  • Unsubscribed from many retail mailing lists
  • Deleted memberships in 2 online HR communities
  • Routed some mail to a gmail account to check it out
  • Decreased the email notifications from Facebook - a lot. 
  • Reviewed current LinkedIn groups, added some and left others

Up next is setting aside time to actually read my Google Reader items and not scan them on the fly, reviewing professional email newsletter subscriptions with an eye on reduction, reviewing my Linked In profile, updating my blog roll, dusting off my Google Voice number and checking out Google calendar.

It's a start. It's part of the grand plan. And it's all good. 

How about you? Do you have basic strategies that work best for you? Tell me about them in the comments below. 

Photo credit iStock Photo

My Social Media Nip and Tuck

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When I talk to people who are not active with social media, about social media, and we get past the lack of time issues, the first question I am asked is, "what should I use?" I say that I blog and use Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. When asked if they work for me, I answered, "yes."

Then I read Framing Your Social Media Efforts by Chris Brogan. Chris writes for business marketing but he got me thinking about how I use social media as an individual. Not the nuts and bolts of logging in, updating, or posting regularly (or not) but looking at, as Chris says, how well I am "tying them all together. "

A Look In the Mirror

I am an experienced-based kind of girl. If I haven't done it, felt it, and learned from it, I can't talk about it. Table talk topics, Toastmasters impromptu speeches, and off the cuff comebacks are not me. I need time to process and I am so much better on the replay. So, while I love the lens Chris offers, I can't have this conversation with budding social media-ites without first taking a look at my own practices.

My social media use has developed over the past 12-15 months without a long term plan and I am convinced that the tools I am using and the way I am using them is not the right combination to get me to where I want to go. Now, as I am looking into the new year and making plans, it's time to put randomness aside and frame up my social media efforts.

My goals are to deepen and strengthen my connections, collaborate on a professional project and write beyond the blog. So, in addition to reevaluating how I am using the tools I am now, I am going to check out some new ones to see if they'd round out the mix.

A Work In Progress

It's a start. It's part of the grand plan. And it's all good. In the spirit of building connections, collaboration and writing, I'll update my progress here. How about you? Do you have strategies that work best for you? Tell me about them.