Don't look clueless

- So this is my favorite part of How to Rock Social Media, which is how to avoid looking clueless. Okay, so number one, never buy followers, and likes, and plus-ones. There's often a temptation because people make the calculations, the more followers, the more legitimate, the more followers, the better the person must be, and you know, to some degree that is true, but if you're cheating and if you're buying these followers, it just doesn't work out because those followers, those likes, those plus-ones, they're not real. You're cheating. It's unethical, it's dishonest, it's wimpy. Next piece of advice, don't ask for followers or reshares. So the way it works is you post good stuff, you get more followers, you get reshares. You don't have to ask for it. If you do have to ask for it, it makes you look weak and wimpy. Why is this person asking? Can't this person's content and work stand on its own legs? Next thing, when people unfollow you, often they look clueless by announcing to the world that they unfollowed you. This is not intermediate school anymore, okay? You don't stand up in the cafeteria saying oh, Trixie's not my friend anymore, why is that? Don't sweat it. Move on, keep posting good stuff. Some people may unfollow you for very good reasons like they're tired of social media, or they're too busy, or, you know, they just don't agree with you. It's better that they unfollow you if they don't agree with you than to troll you. So don't sweat the unfollowers. Next thing, don't overly promote your product, your service, don't overly use social media as a marketing platform. And listen, you know, I'm calling the kettle black here. I know I do a lot of promotion, but I feel that I pass the reshare test and I have this NPR model in place, right, that I'm thinking I'm always providing great content so I've earned the right to promote, but many people don't get that part of the equation, that they think that social media primary purpose is promotion, and they are dead wrong. I think the right ratio for promotion to adding value is roughly one to 20. That is, you can post once about your book, post once about your company, your product. The next 20 times it ought to be something that's valuable, something that adds information, or assistance, or analysis, or entertainment. Next way to not look clueless is never call yourself an expert or a guru. If you are an expert or a guru, people will treat you that way. If you aren't an expert or a guru, calling yourself an expert or guru is not going to make you one. Next piece of advice, don't abdicate to an agency. I think abdicating to an agency is a great temptation because you think, well, social media is challenging, it takes a lot of effort, let's just give it to an agency, let's just throw money at the problem. I completely disagree with that theory. I think social media, because it provides such a great way to interact with your customer, should, of all things, be done internally. It takes a small team. I've had situations where I came across companies who were using digital agencies that had 10 people just to check their Twitter feed. I mean, it was just mind-boggling to me. Don't abdicate to an agency. This is something that you need to do for yourself, because it leads to better engagement, it leads to greater feedback, it leads to a much stronger relationship. And my final tip about cluelessness, and I ask you not to take this wrong, I happen to love interns, I've hired interns, I've had my sons be interns, so I love the concept, but I've seen organizations abdicate social media to interns, and the simplistic logic seems to be, oh, these people are on Facebook and these people are on Snapchat so they must know what they're doing. That is, let's just say, a stretch. This would be like saying, hmm, that person owns a Mercedes, so that person probably is a Mercedes mechanic. It's not the same thing. So yes, use interns, let them help you with social media, but you have to control your social media. You have to set the tone, you have to set the practices and the strategies. Don't just abdicate to interns or agencies. So if you follow this advice, you will not look clueless on social media.