social media: surviving or thriving?
Running three blogs has been difficult, so plans are to combine them into one site. In addition to my blogs, you’ll find me on social media at:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/wizardofwords
Facebook (three pages there: my personal page, in addition to my author’s page and the page for my previous book.
Linked in: http://www.linkedin.com/in/doreenpendgracs
Google +: http://plus.google.com/u/0/107893345071393615322/
As I am a highly visual person, I really enjoy the visual platforms of Pinterest and Instagram. Please connect with me there as well.
You’ll also find me on Tumblr at Doreen on Tumblr and about.me at Doreen on About.me.
But how do we find the time to work in all these platforms? Which ones do you really like/dislike?
I’ve learned that it is important to have a presence on each of these sites if you are marketing your services or product, or are trying to raise your public platform (called “author’s platform” if you are writing for a living. I love connecting with people. I’ve learned so much from the contacts I have made. I just wish it didn’t eat up so much of my time.
Doreen — I can empathize with you. I don’t how you manage three blogs plus all those social media sites. My audience is B2B and LinkedIn is their preferred content marketing channel, according to a new study. It’s where I spend most of my time, too. I joined Pinterest but wasn’t active so recently closed my account. I have to say it was a sense of relief not having to feel guilty about posting.
Jeannette Paladino recently posted…LinkedIn Most Used and Most Effective B2B Content Marketing Strategy
I so agree with using social media to further enhance the experience whether that’s a blog, website or other. I use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Instagram. I have accounts on a few other sites such as Tumblr and Disqus but I don’t maintain my accounts there like I do the others. For optimum effectiveness, I believe you have to really have a plan for each of the platforms as they are all dealing with a different audience. I have found the most networking and connections with regards to blogging with LinkedIn.
Hi Pamela: Welcome to the blog, and thanks for your persistence in getting your comment to go thru. I apologize for the difficulties with the previous post.
Yes, you’re so right! Each platform has a different audience, and it’s out job to know where our intended audience hangs out.
I agree that Linked In is really a wonderful platform for connecting bloggers and people in our given niche areas. It’s certainly been great for me. 🙂
WizardOfWords recently posted…social media: surviving or thriving?
I enjoy FB and Twitter most. They’re linked, so everything I post on FB is automatically tweeted, giving my posts double-duty. They also seem to be the easiest for me to navigate and post to.
Doreen you struck a chord! I agree with you about the importance of having an active presence on multiple social media platforms but who has time? I’ve decided to focus my energy on a handful of platforms, learn the best way to use each and develop active, engaged relationships on each.. and then expand to other platforms once I have a system in place 🙂
Hootsuite is a lifesaver for scheduling the sharing of posts, and I rely on Buffer to send out curated content to my FB and Twitter accounts. Then there’s Triberr which is a great way to amplify reach. However, it all gets a bit much at times and I’m looking for ways to tone the time spent on all of it down in the new year. I stay sane by trying not to use social media much during the weekend.
Jeri recently posted…Ikea: Furniture Uber-Store
Hi Jeri and thanks for your comment.
I’ve never tried Hootsuite or Buffer.
Triberr can be effective, but it is really difficult matching blog content with others. So far, I haven’t found that it’s worked that well for me.
WizardOfWords recently posted…social media: surviving or thriving?
I use all 4 social media platforms. My two favorite lately have been twitter and pinterest.
Jason B recently posted…Homecoming Weekend
Thanks for your comment, Jason. I know what you mean. Sometimes, certain platforms seem to work for us than others, and that may shift over time. I’ve always loved Twitter because of its far reach (I have my largest following there.) But I can see the benefits of each of the platforms I am on, and think it’s worth spending some time on each.
WizardOfWords recently posted…social media: surviving or thriving?
My friend – What a great post. Social media is so important. I love being able to help my customers really connect with social media outlets. 🙂
Elizabeth Scott recently posted…Setting Goals
Thanks for dropping into the blog, Elizabeth. It was so great meeting you earlier this month.
That’s what I love so much about social media. It opens so many doors. We just have to know which ones to go thru!
Cheers, and I hope to see you again soon.
WizardOfWords recently posted…social media: surviving or thriving?
Nice post… I am a fan of LinkedIn from a networking perspective, probably more from the perspective that it is the easiest to create professional connections with. I tend not to mix business and personal too much so my Facebook account is usually reserved for friends and family.
I’m interested to learn more about the other platforms from a marketing perspective.
Thank you for sharing!!
Mark Brody recently posted…What’s really important?
Thanks for your comment, Mark. I, too, try to keep business and pleasure separated to some degree. Which is why I have a personal FB page that I try to limit to people I know, have met, or know virtually thru an assn I belong to.
By the way, I tried twice to post a comment on your blog and it vanished. Not sure if the comment went into moderation, or just evaporated.
That is so wierd Doreen…. Not sure why that happened… 🙁 If you try again, please let me know if it went. I was having difficulty posting on others blogs yesterday too.
Thank you for taking the time to read and comment!
It’s all out there, but I think you have to play around and find out which works for you best. Because, seriously, who has time to do social media all day, right? And just “doing it” is no guarantee that you are reaching the people that will buy your product, or read your work. I think you have to narrow it down and then nail the things that work best for your particular brand.
JACQUELINE GUM recently posted…Meditation…Where’s The Justice?
I’m convinced that social media is important for trying to find new readers and for keeping current ones in your loop. I also try to use it to improve my standings with search engines and ranking services although different ranking groups seem to fall in and out of favor. Since Google started “Google authorship”, I’m concentrating on social media that uses my real name rather than, Boomersque, my blog name. (Klout only lets you connect one FB name/page to their stats). Having said that, the number of FB “Likers” seems to be important too, so I’d be thrilled if any new people want to “like” my Boomeresque FB page. I don’t use Pinterest or Instagram although most of the successful travel bloggers I follow do so. I need to use Hootsuite which I believe lets you schedule your social media posts — or is that TweetDeck? Sigh. The social media I use in order are:
FB: Boomeresque
Twitter: @Boomeresque
Google +: http://plus.google.com/u/0/110871339082164974538
Suzanne Fluhr (Boomeresque) recently posted…Captain Phillips — A Boomeresque Movie Review
I use Hootsuite to manage LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook – one post of mine, or a share, and it goes to all three places. And right there I get to see and comment on others updates.
I avoid Pinterest for now. It will be there when I am ready.
I play on Instagram so I am only just building a following.
Facebook is my very least favorite and I am working to leave there end of this year.
Patricia Weber recently posted…Publisher And Author: Are You A Suitable Match?
I couldn’t agree with you more. Pinterest is a big one for me because of my photography and images. Instagram is great because It allows me to same time and share images on many different platform at one time. I could go on but you get the idea. 🙂
Susan Cooper recently posted…Chocolate and Wine Tasting
I use all that you do but Instagram. I don’t do enough with pictures to warrant using that service.
Cassi recently posted…Corseting Cassi
Hi Cassi: I didn’t think I needed Instagram, but then a friend advised me how using it will guarantee my Klout score would rise, and sure enough it did! I guess Klout likes pics b/c they usually get a reaction from your readers.
When I first started blogging about a year ago, I started out with four blogs. Once a day I would work on one of the blogs. As time went on it became exhausting, not just to write but to come up with new ideas. When I saw that most of my traffic was going to one blog, I decided I’m just doing everything on that blog. And it’s been great. Really all those blogs are me and so is my blog. I’m about to open an etsy store and I’ve read to start a blog just for your etsy store. But I say why – why not have one blog that can still talk about how I work and what my craft room is like but still have other posts about connecting and doing activities. Anyway, that’s what went through my head when I read you had three blogs. I followed you on twitter 🙂
Joanne recently posted…A Simple Halloween Invitation How-to
Hi Joanne: Yes, it’s become overwhelming to have 3 blogs, but the audiences for them are so different I think I will keep them separate. One is really just the events and commerce site for the book. I don’t post regular blog posts there. So that leave this (the writers blog) and the other blog, which is devoted to chocolate travel. Pretty much yin and yang. Cheers, and good luck with your etsy. 🙂
Agree with you about the huge importance of social media. Personally use Linkedin, Google Plus, Twitter and Facebook. Since I do not target young American women and have no photos of my services I stopped using Pinterest.
The four social media platforms I use work very well for me and I honestly don’t feel I have time for more. At least not at the moment:-)
Catarina recently posted…What makes you follow a leader?
Thanks for sharing, Catarina. Yes, I agree that those 4 platforms are effective for me as well. I think Linked In has been the best for making great business connections and establishing support for my blogs. Where would we be w/o the BHB group? Cheers.
WizardOfWords recently posted…social media: surviving or thriving?