ADDED CHALLENGES FOR INDEPENDENT BUSINESS OWNERS LAUNCHING INTO SOCIAL MEDIA.

While All My Web Needs Social Media Maven Stephanie Katcher was bouncing around out West (SoCal, Salt Lake and Denver if you saw her) a few things occurred to her that many clients overlook when trying to launch (or relaunch) their social media efforts. Namely the independent business owner or independent consultant who must build their own business while maintaining the integrity of a corporate brand. These individuals must work twice as hard to develop a social media plan that connects with their target audience, complies with corporate guidelines and showcases their individual strengths.

Four challenges to address when launching into social media as an independent business owner:

1. DOES YOUR CORPORATE HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA POLICY?
This is one of those things that you want to pay close attention to. It is not a “ask for forgiveness later” issue. Most corporate social media policies are set to protect the corporate brand and leave little guidance as to what you can do to build your media presence and stand out from the crowd.

2. DO YOU HAVE A SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGY THAT CONSISTS OF MORE THAN “GETTING OUT THERE”? Social media can be one of the most daunting aspects of building a business. When it works well it’s fabulous, but most of the time it’s a lot of effort with little engagement, simply because the Attention Economy is so tight. MIT suggests that on average we are bombarded by 400 billion bits of info but only aware of 2k. Those numbers aren’t getting any better.

3. ARE YOU USING ANALYTIC TOOLS TO MEASURE YOUR EFFORTS?
Each social media outlet offers tools as a part of their business pages, these combined with third party tools, website analytics, and your choice of lead tracking software can help you gauge where best to invest energy in cultivating monetizable leads.

4. DO YOU HAVE A GUIDE / ROLE MODEL / COACH?
Learning from others successes and failures is always a good idea. Having someone that can help you sort through the current trends as well as the latest best practices to craft content that meets your needs is even better. Finding a social media pro that can help you set yourself apart from the pack is a big win.

Bottom line is Social Media is a serious part of doing business in today’s world. It should appear seamless and natural even though it requires finesse, strategy, and endless devotion. <—So you don’t run away in fear of social media commitments, consider the devotion to be to your audience not the media itself. This will also help you adjust to the ever changing social media platform demands that your audience is likely to have over time. Your devotion will pay off in agility and true connections.

[Need a refresher on the rules for creating content that converts? https://allmywebneeds.com/social-networking/creating-content-that-converts]