10 Mistakes Business Owners Make with Social Media

You don’t need to be on the phone and hire a receptionist for your business anymore. Social media networks have changed the way to promote and do our business. It is not only free to sign up; there are millions of people hanging out in Facebook and Twitter, two of the most popular social media networks.

So why is it that some business owners make it big and some are struggling with the usage of social media? Here are 10 mistakes we should avoid when using social media:

1. Inconsistent. Can you imagine opening your store for a day and closing the next? If there is no consistency, your clients may not trust you to deliver the product or service they need. You need to post a minimum of at least 3 to 4 times a day.

2. No Facebook Fan Page or too many pages. As business owners, we need to have a business page to connect with followers and ideal clients. It is a big mistake for not using a fan page or having too many pages. Some people have a page for their eBooks, one page for product and another page for general business news. Have only one Facebook Fan Page and connect with your client consistently.

3. Don’t be a slimy salesman. Your followers want to know ‘what your product is going to do for them?’ They don’t want to know how good they are for you and your offerings. It’s about how we can serve our followers.

4. Not specific or strategic. We have specific times to post and tweet for peak exposure and engagement.

5. You are trying to be somebody you are not. Be you, unique and not be somebody else you are trying to copy on social media.

6. Not connecting or building relationship. Social media is about being social, connecting and building relationship with your followers. It is not a one-way communication.

7. No link to your blog. It will be a great mistake if you are having a great relationship and not linking your social media networks to your blog. As we have said before, all roads lead to your blog (the hub of your online business). Blog regularly and have links at least once a day that lead followers to your blog, free offers or products/services.

8. Not sharing, liking or retweeting. If a follower shares, comments or retweets your content, we need to practice the golden rule of thanking them and retweeting or share their content as well.

9. No profile picture or consistency in all social media platforms. Our followers want to see our picture and not the picture of our pet or a baby picture.  Same graphics and profile picture in all platforms show that you mean business and you are professional. They want to connect with you and see the same you all over the platforms.

10. Too raw and presenting dirty laundry. Have nothing over the top, whiny and negative. People are not interested in your dirty laundry. You are a business owner.

Building a business and social media connections takes time. It is not a sprint but a marathon.

For more information on how to build your social media platforms, please send your questions to our contact page or for live help go to our Facebook Page and post your question.