Just like that disciplined exercise plan you follow through on every day, your social media activities can also benefit from a little structure. I came across this article written by Sean Platt of the Ghostwriter Dad Blog. Sean describes in words the approach I take to my social media time investment. He was speaking to freelance writers about leveraging LinkedIn. Many of these same activities apply to Chairs.
Ready for my corny analogy of comparing an exercise plan with leveraging your time on social media, such as LinkedIn. (Be glad I didn’t use another analogy to coaching high school girls basketball). Just like any exercise plan, the more focused and disciplined your plan, the more you’ll personally gain. Social media is exactly the same. It’s easy to get “lost” or “distracted” and feel like you’ve just wasted 3 hours. I prefer to do my social media work in small time increments like 15 or 30 minutes with a very specific action plan of what I want to do in that time period. I also separate what could be on-going maintenance/conversation/posting/interaction with projects, such as setting up a new account, creating a short white paper, or writing blog post.
This “engagement” side is an important part of social media. Just showing up, having hundreds of connections, friends, and followers – and then “lurking” in the background is worthless. To gain any leverage, you must interact, share, ask questions, answer questions, share, be helpful, respond, share, and engage with others.
Where does this engagement level of a few minutes a day take you? I’ll give you quick example. I was recently named the number ONE on-line influence for recruiters by HR Examiner based on a number of different factors – primarily of which on-line engagement was a large metric. In the two weeks since that announcement, I’ve received hundreds of congratulations from my network, 2 requests for radio show interviews, over a dozen requests for guest blog articles on “A-List Blogs”, and a couple of reporters called for interviews over the phone for articles they are writing. That’s just a few of the requests and accolades that have come from that recognition of engagement in the recruiting and hiring arena.
As a Chair, you can do this too. You can create a powerful reputation, image, brand, pr, awareness in your local community for CEOs that would be a perfect match for your groups. The question is whether you’re willing to invest 15 minutes a day for 2-3 years without a significant return or pay-off. Why do you have to wait 2-3 years (read my next article on the analogy of how social media is a lot like the book “The Little Engine that Could”.
Would you be willing to invest 15 minutes a day in being active on the primary social media site that could generate an abundance of member leads and referrals? How would you modify this list for your unique situation? Could you be this disciplined to accomplish all these tasks in 15 minutes?
Here’s what Sean recommended to freelance copywriters in how they should spend their 15 precious minutes every day on LinkedIn:
Once you’ve identified your groups, here’s your daily 15 minute to-do:
- Post an update to your profile. Profile updates are less critical on LinkedIn than on other sites, but still show you’re using the site and are updating regularly. (1 minute)
- Respond to invitations to connect. You can arrange for these requests to be sent directly to your email in-box, too. (1 minute)
- Add additional contacts. Each time you approve a request to connect, you’ll automatically be shown other people you may know. Spend a few minutes looking for potential new contacts and requesting additions to your network. (3 minutes)
- Read current updates in your groups, and respond to questions and conversations. (4 minutes)
- Post new threads in your groups with related topics and points of interest. (3 minutes)
- Request introductions. Spend a minute asking for introductions to anyone you may want to “meet.” (1 minute)
- Write a recommendation. LinkedIn allows you to write and receive recommendations from your contacts. Writing a recommendation creates good karma, and increases the likelihood someone will write one for you in turn. (2 minutes)
If you would like to read Sean’s post on the Ghostwriter Dad Blog, click the link below:
How to do LinkedIn in 15 Minutes a Day
Barry Deutsch
