Do you have a screenwriter? Why not hire a director as well? Avoiding unwanted social media advice

14 years ago

I don't profess to be a technology or social media guru, but I will say that I have been immersed in this stuff for a couple of years, so I certainly have developed my own set of opinions on what works and what doesn't. That being said, one of the worst pieces of advice that I have witnessed is something along these lines:

"Don't blog about your personal life."

"Don't tweet about your boring day. No one cares!"

And so on.

I utterly disagree with those statements above. If people care about YOU, then they will likely care about what is going on in your life and during the course of your day.

The title of this post refers to something I recently discussed with a friend of mine at lunch. If you allow others to tell you what to write about, this is tantamount to attending a party with a script in hand. Don't allow anyone else to direct your networking activities to this degree. It's fine to get tips and understand protocol, but let your content show your unique personality.

On our radio show (Social Media Edge), we once had a guest who told us about his "formula" for Twitter, with specific percentages for each type of tweet (something like 20% personal, 20% business, 40% information, and 20% unwanted advice).

I disagreed with him on the air, and I still disagree today.

The essence of social media is that it's SOCIAL. When you are talking with friends in person over dinner, do you ever think, "Wow - I need to work in about 8% more talk about business, then I can mention that cool movie I saw yesterday." NO! No one does that in real life - why would you do it online?

Be yourself, and reap the benefits. If you relate to others and engage them, it can lead to some great friendships, some of which may turn into business for you (just like offline, right?).

I have been asked "But what should I blog about?" at least 250 times over the past year. The quickest answer that I can give, when blogging, tweeting, or spending time on Facebook, is this: