~by Haley Gray~
LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, SnapChat, Pinterest… the list goes on. There are so many different social media platforms that it boggles the mind. It used to be that you could advertise on the TV or radio, and know that you were reaching most of your target audience. Nowadays, that’s not true anymore, as more people have quit cable, and are instead on Hulu, Netflix, or hanging out on the internet on their computers, cell phones, or tablets. The market has segmented wildly, which means that it can be harder than ever to find your ideal clients. Don’t fall into the Social Media Trap!
Beware the Social Media Trap
It’s tempting to start opening accounts on all the different platforms, then creating a YouTube channel, an email list, a blog, and then try to maintain all of those as a startup company. Even if you had a dozen people working for you managing social media, it can be an incredible time sink, and you may not even be reaching your ideal clients on all the platforms because they may not even hang out there. Or, you may fail to respond to inquiries because you have so many points of contact that you lose business.
Neither scenario is particularly pleasant, so what is a business owner supposed to do? In short, you need to do a little bit of research, and think about who exactly your ideal client is, and figure out where they hang out online. Then you create an account in that place to reach them. For example, for Leadership Girl, my ideal client is a female over the age of about 25, who has job experience, and is in a leadership role, or is contemplating owning her own business. My ideal client for my Home Care business is actually the daughter of the client. She will typically be between the ages of 40 and 65, and likely will still have children at home, or recently graduated from college. In both cases, those ideal clients tend to hang out on Facebook and Pinterest. That’s where I focus my time, and focus on engaging clients.
I make sure that where I’m spending my time is where that ideal client spends their time. I limit the amount of time I spend on Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google Plus, and SnapChat. I’m pretty sure I’m not ever going to find a client on SnapChat, so I don’t even have an account there.
In the words of one of my friends, time is money, so unless a particular platform is going to be bringing in clients, and thus money, don’t bother with it. Don’t try to open a gazillion accounts that you then have to monitor for activity. Don’t do it. That way lies madness, and you won’t have time to focus your time and energy on doing the things that matter the most to your business.
Subscribe to the KISS principle when it comes to social media. Focus on the ones likely to bring you revenue, and ignore the rest. You can’t be everything to everyone, so it is not even worth trying.
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Meet the Author: Haley Gray
Haley Lynn Gray
Haley works with female entrepreneurs. The only problem? Many want their business to grow so that they can make money to pay the bills, send the kids to dance lessons, and be able to spend quality time with the kids.
Haley works with her clients to create a strategy plan for their business – so that they can make enough money to spend that quality time with their family, pay for their children’s lessons, pay bills, and not worry about where the next client is coming from.
Haley is a serial entrepreneur and founder of Leadership Girl. She offers Business Coaching, Business Plan Development and Strategy Sessions for entrepreneurs. Whether you want to get a new business off the ground, or expand an existing business, Haley can assist you.
Connect with Haley:
- Work with Haley: https://leadershipgirl.com/work-with-haley/
- Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/Leadershipgirl
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/haleygray
