I find that one of the biggest sources of stress for my clients and students when we first begin working together is the belief that you need to be omnipresent.
Fortunately, this is not true—in fact, you could really sabotage your efforts if you started focusing on building a presence on every social site and platform! Talk about exhausting!
Let me let you in on a little secret: the most successful people in social media, the ones that appear to be everywhere—and connecting all of these “everywheres” seamlessly, to boot—are doing so by way of a few specific, focused strategies. You could call it “social leverage,” and I am going to share with you exactly how you can do this too (and no, it won’t take up all of your time either!)
Here are a few specific methods from my own 6 Simple Steps to Kick Start Your Social Media Success System™ to “cross-link” like a pro:
To send your blog posts to Twitter:
Twitter Tools plugin for WordPress at http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/twitter-tools
Import your blog’s RSS feed into Hootsuite at http://hootsuite.com
To display your latest tweets on your blog:
Twitter Tools plugin for WordPress
Twitter’s own widget at http://twitter.com/goodies/widgets
To send your blog posts to Facebook (personal and/or Fan Page):
Facebook’s Notes application
Facebook’s NetworkedBlogs application at http://www.facebook.com/networkedblogs
To send your blog posts to LinkedIn:
LinkedIn’s own BlogLink application or WordPress application
To send your LinkedIn status updates to Twitter:
LinkedIn’s own Tweets application
To send your tweets to Facebook selectively:
Facebook’s Selective Tweets application at http://apps.facebook.com/selectivetwitter
To send your Facebook Fan Page status updates to Twitter:
Facebook’s own Facebook to Twitter application at http://facebook.com/Twitter
To share YouTube videos to Facebook:
YouTube’s own Share button beneath each video
Options–>Settings on your Facebook personal profile’s wall
To share YouTube videos to Twitter:
YouTube’s own Share button beneath each video
To share YouTube videos on your blog:
YouTube’s URL or embed code shown to the right of each video
To update Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and more at the same time:
http://Hootsuite.com, http://ping.fm, or http://hellotxt.com
Finally, to see all of your or others’ activity from around the social web in one place: http://friendfeed.com
Now, you don’t have to set up every one of these tools all at once, but try out a few and see how much your own productivity soars. As always, be careful not to automate or delegate too much—social media is still primarily about “live” interaction with others. But by implementing a couple of these strategies you can look forward to making a bigger impact in much less time.
Do you have any tips or tools to add to this list?
I can’t agree any less, Social media is indeed complex and is growing everyday, therefore putting more strain on anyone who tries to do it all. Using these tools will definitely help.
Good info.
.-= cfagbata´s last blog ..Using Twitter to grow your Network Marketing Business =-.
Thanks for the excellent article. You always give such targeted info at the right time. I don’t think I’ve talked to one person in two months that can get past the very basics of FB or Twitter. I get frustrated with the continuing barrage of changes and constantly take classes just to keep up. I’m still not very good at it; although, I do at least understand the power of SM. Thanks, Christine.
I agree with Bea that this article IS timely! I just joined Hootsuite and tried to make a post to my Facebook fan page, only to learn that I cannot use Hootsuite if I don’t have a Twitter account! I am not ready to begin on Twitter. Will ping or hellotext work without having a Twitter account? I am leaving on a trip and need to get automated posting set up as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Monique
Thanks, Christine, for another great article. Always communicating value. Thank you.
Your articles are fantastic! Keep ‘em coming
@cfa–These tools are really a big help with that strain. It does all seem to get more complex every day, but at least some of these sites can assist with lessening the load.
@Bea–Thanks Bea…the continuous changes are definitely a challenge. Social media is so fast-paced it can feel like a full-time job to try to keep up with it! I bet you are doing a better job than you are giving yourself credit for though.
@Monique–Update: Actually, you don’t need a Twitter account to have a Hootsuite account. Ping or Hellotxt can be also used without having a Twitter account.
@Drew–Appreciate that.
@Angela–Thanks!
Christine, This article is just whatI need right now too! I am using Twitter and Facebook Fan Page to draw people to the Blog I created for my husband’s artwork and articles, http://www.corvettereport.com. I am using hootsuite to post tweets but all this other information is fantastic. I will get to work and try some of these approaches on my new http://www.bettyboopdreams.com website as well. Thank you for your always great tips!
Karen
@Karen–You’re welcome!
Great information, Karen! I’m wondering how Google’s new Buzz is going to fit into this puzzle…
.-= Cathy L. Ribble, Certified Paralegal´s last blog ..Research Apps for Legal Professionals: The Secret’s Out! =-.
What about ping.fm? That has revolutionized my social networking. Well worth checking out.
Ping.fm is great too! I tend to use Hootsuite for similar purposes, but Ping is nice because there are SO many choices of other networks to post to from it.
Thanks! for the information. I have always wondered how to link sites together.
You’re welcome, glad it was helpful!
Very good article as linking all your social media together is the key to being able to keep up. I don’t currently use all of the tools you mentioned but I’ll sure check out those that I don’t as you can never be sure just what mix will work best. I would also tell everyone to check out Amplify.com it’s a great community and it does a good job of posting to over 20 sites including Blogger, Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and many many others. I would also suggest that people check out Evernote.com great site to use to capture things on the web and be able to access them from an on line synced version. I Love being able to take pictures of business cards and send them to Evernote where it grabs the info so I can use it.
And thanks again for all the great advice and if you ever have a tax or accounting question drop me a line!
Frank Woodman Jr
@kstaxman (twitter & Amplify)
http://www.proservicesks.com (accounting web site)
Thanks Frank for the recc on Amplify–and glad you mentioned Evernote! I love it and use it all the time, on both my MacBook and iPhone. Great app.
Why can’t everyone be this succinct and clear? I can go down this like a check list. All of the things you suggest to do, I already knew but just had all the information up in the air. Now I have a list. I have my eye on you now Christine! Thank you.
Why thank you Pamela, I appreciate hearing that. Glad you found it valuable. And happy to know you’ve got your eye on me