Morpho Designs

Stretching Social Media

Dominique’s Social Media Model, Overloaded

It seems as if we are all shouting into the wind of a million simultaneous whispers.

As the novelty wears off of each social media network that I’ve joined, I wonder why I bother.

I do understand that there is a lot of work involved in getting the most out of social networking.

But, what does it really mean to be getting the most out of social networking?

My online time is divided between my personal blog here and my business pursuits on other websites. I am not particularly diligent about promoting my business websites on my blog. I feel that I need to reach out to certain business owners who are my target market. Because I don’t want to blatantly pitch to them, I also feel that I need to get to know them better on the social networks like Twitter, which I recently embraced.

Yet, business networks like LinkedIn are more like résumés and gatekeepers, stifling the natural flow of conversation that is the hallmark of social networks.

Rather than simmer in a confusing soup of misconceptions, I decided to ask my friend, Laura, to share her thoughts with me. She recently started a business networking website that attempts to combine the best of both networking types. Her thoughts crystallized the mental pictures clouding my thinking:

If you are looking for business, social media networks usually aren’t where to find it, because people on those sites are looking for something different than what you are offering. So business networking sites work better than social media sites.

They work on the same principles, but one focuses on business purposes, while the other will waste your time if you are hoping for business from it. The only exception to this is if your target market happens to be in the social arena - most are not.

Dominique’s Social Media Model, Disentangled

Ah, okay. So I need to disentangle myself from all of these social networks. What if something really cool comes out? Don’t I have to stay on top of these things? What if it’s the next Facebook?

You don’t have time for everything. There comes a time when you have to say, I have enough. If what you DO understand is working, it is enough. If it is not, you have to explore other possibilities, but it is ok to decide that something isn’t right after trying it, or even BEFORE if you have analyzed the potentials and feel that they will not be great enough to warrant the time it takes to try it out. Just trying it out takes a lot of time, so you have to be careful which ones you try.

I try some things, but I won’t try Twitter, because I do not have time for it. I am maxed out on social networking. FaceBook is working for me, in unexpected ways, and it did so rather fast. But long term, I don’t know what it is capable of, or if it will fritter into a time waster. If it does, I’ll pan it and go on.

Darn. I have to make a mental shift in my approach to social media networks. I love gadgets, and I can see now that I let that get in the way of logically assessing their actual value.

Dominique’s Social Media Model, Optimized

I think the big thing is to think about them. To consider your objectives, and consider whether the option is likely to help you achieve them. Sometimes when we are new to networking, we get confused about the objectives - we think meeting people is the same as networking. It isn’t. We think advertising is the same as communicating, and it is not either. We aren’t sure who our target market is or where they hang out, so we get confused about where to look for them.

I can certainly simplify matters by focusing on one or two complementary social media networks. But Laura has also clarified why LinkedIn isn’t doing a thing for me: the objectives of the network do not match mine. LinkedIn is more of a corporate headhunter site, filled with credentialed professionals. Not likely the kind of folks looking for my services!

Laura’s Business Networking Model

Lately, I’ve been able to connect more with the down-to-earth business people who are starting to join Laura’s Front Porch Folks. She encourages members to minimize social networking in order to focus on business networking.

Front Porch Folks certainly has plenty of ways for us to do that. I’ll be spending a lot of time over there.

In fact, I’ve just contributed my first article to the library: Marketing with Games.

Laura’s having a membership contest! I want all twelve of you readers to join us on the Front Porch Folks website! She’s giving away some absolutely fabulous prizes. (Hint, Laura builds websites!)

Just click this button and sign up for free.

Please tell her Mitchell Allen sent you.

Stumble It!