Whenever I join a social media site, I spend a period of time making use of a couple features and otherwise observing the site and the activity that’s occurring on it, before I fully jump in and start using all of the site. The reason I do that is because I usually need to spend some time figuring out how the site works and what my role is in the site.
For example when I first joined Biznik, I would write the occasional article, put together the occasional event and otherwise keep my profile updated. But as I spent time on the site I also observed the biztalk forums and I was able to figure out how to use those forums as part of my business activity. I then started to participate in those forums on a regular basis and have since been able to moderate the amount of time I spend on Biznik while still using all the features of the site.
I’m currently utilizing the same learning process with Third Tribe marketing (Affiliate link). I initially just listened to the interviews, but lately I’ve been getting more involved in the forums. I’ve gotten more comfortable with the site and I’ve figured out how to fit it into my schedule of activities.
The challenge with social media is finding the time to actually do it and do it consistently. While some people will just jump in, I’ve found that just jumping in doesn’t really work for me, because until I’ve spent some time lurking and learning I’m not really sure what I want to do on a given site or how it fits into accomplishing my other goals and activities.
By spending some time just learning about a site and the different features on it, you can figure out how you want to participate and how that participation will help you achieve business goals for using social media. Instead of jumping in, step back, spend some time getting to know the site and determine if your audience is on it, and then participate.
