A guest blog by Katrina Sawa
I laughed as I created this title but it’s true. So many entrepreneurs that I talk with or who work with me always ask, “What’s Hootsuite and should I be using it for my business?” That’s if they have any idea about what it is at all of course, many do not. Hootsuite is an automation tool. The layman’s way to describe it is that Hootsuite allows you post comments and updates on your social media profiles all from one online location. This is supposed to save you time from having to log in to all the different ones separately. Some of the things you do on Hootsuite are good for time management, however some things aren’t worth doing in my mind because they could make you look bad.
There are a few different types of automation tools. We have Hootsuite and a few other sites like that one. We have our phones now too right? You can post from your phone to almost any site with an app – that’s great for saving time and giving more up to the minute reporting. There are ways to get your blog posts on WordPress and your YouTube videos automatically linked out to post on your social profiles. Those auto functions are very useful however they have flaws too.
Here are some of my random thoughts about automation on social media:
Hootsuite – It can be good and save time of course to use this type of tool but I recommend only auto posting the following types of posts: event updates, some promotions that you may have going on, possibly some regularly scheduled content you want to get out for education.
I don’t recommend posting personal notes, status updates and posts about what you’re doing right now as its less personal.
People can see where you are posting from by the way too. So if you do post solely from Hootsuite, all your posts say that underneath. You may have seen people’s Facebook pages like that. This means they haven’t probably logged on to Facebook in a long time, which means they aren’t really interacting with you or any of their friends and it’s not personal.
I recommend a mix of automated and self posts no matter what.
Your Smartphone – I see nothing wrong yet with using apps for updating your social profiles. Afterall, those apps are pretty good at letting you see all your friends and everything that’s going on as well as posting to your profile so you can interact more and it shows.
Auto blogging and videos – This is good too because its an efficient way to get your info to your followers quickly. However you want to look at your settings for those posts because often times they don’t give too much detail about what the post is about, its just a link and a picture and it would be good if there were a bit more description is all to make it more compelling to open.
Now there is a ton more to know about how to maximize your social media marketing and time online but I can’t cover it all in one article. While posting and commenting is good and you do need to do that so people know what you’re up to, what your interests are, etc. but in order to get business from your social media marketing profiles and the time you spend I recommend one way in particular about how to connect on a deeper level with your fans, friends, followers and new prospects.
The system I teach is my Social Media Messaging System. It allows you to connect with up to 1000 people every month one-on-one on social sites. It works to bring in paying clients and to bring in opportunities for speaking gigs, joint ventures and more.
Katrina Sawa is known as The JumpStart Your Biz Coach because she literally kicks her clients and their businesses into high gear. Katrina is the creator of the JumpStart Your Marketing Follow Up™ System and author of Love Yourself Successful of which she holds a live event on every year. She works with motivated entrepreneurs who want to start, grow and market your business the right way from the start. Katrina helps you move faster and more affordably towards your ultimate revenue and professional goals using online and offline marketing strategies, plus she kicks you in the butt to implement it all too! One thing that makes Katrina different is that she also focuses on your personal life when she works with you on your business. She found that most business owners lack enough self-confidence to truly enable them to get to their next level or take those leaps of faith they need to take to finally achieve their ultimate dreams. Katrina’s goal is to inspire, motivate and educate entrepreneurs how to love themselves fully, live a bigger life and leverage themselves to complete happiness. Katrina is an award-winning coach who has been featured on the Oprah and Friends XMRadioNetwork, ABC and CBS. Pick up a copy of her book today at www.LoveYourselfSuccessful.com or go get her Free Entrepreneur’s Success Kit and 2 additional Free Business-Building Gifts online at www.JumpStartYourMarketing.com/gifts!