Social media is a powerful technology but it’s also often misunderstood. In its simplest form, social media is a way to connect with old friends from childhood or college and a way to share pieces of your daily life. In its more complex form, social media is a unique way to market your business and products to the world in a fairly short amount of time. While you can take months or years to study the ins and outs of social media and craft corresponding business strategies, there are three common myths about social media that solopreneurs can dispel today.

Myth #1: You must use every single social media platform.

Expanding your reach is certainly a goal for solopreneurs as that generally gets more sales, which should equal increased profit. However, a question to ask before signing up and using every platform is: where is my ideal customer? Using Facebook just because it has over 1 billion users doesn’t mean those 1 billion users will find you and start purchasing. Identify your ideal customer and find out where they hang out. Those are the platforms you should use.

Myth #2: Aim for every post to go viral.

It’s fun to see a post go viral as they are usually entertaining or thought provoking but of the viral campaigns you’ve noticed recently, could you say what company sponsored them? I can’t either. Aim to provide value in your posts mixed in with some of your personality as opposed to aiming for shock or entertainment value. Your ideal customer wants to learn from you so your valuable lesson will be heard and remembered long after the latest viral video fades away.

Myth #3: Having a large number of followers equals increased profits.

It can be an ego boost to see a large number of social media followers but are these followers interacting with you? Are they liking or sharing your posts? Are they leaving comments? If not, then chances are they aren’t your ideal customer and chances are they will never purchase anything from you. Evaluate your own posts; it’s quite possible they’re boring and that’s the reason for no response. Be more creative with your posts and watch for audience interaction. You’re not appealing to everyone; you’re appealing to a small fraction of the world’s population. Pay attention to finding that demographic and the number of engaged audience members will follow, as will the profits.

Do you want to save time during your day? Do you wish you had an extra 18 hours to accomplish everything on your to do list? Most folks would answer, “Yes, most definately.” to those questions because a solopreneur’s  to-do-list is never really finished, especially if you still have a 9-5. Automating certain tasks, like social media, is one way to gain some time back in your day but that task still requires you to interact with your followers.

Social media schedulers, such as HootSuite and Buffer, are convenient and budget-friendly. Simply log in, schedule which posts should publish on which platform, and hit the save button. Done.

Some platforms, like Meet Edgar and Social Oomph, are more powerful because they continue to share your evergreen social media posts into the future, thus saving you even more time from creating and scheduling. This all sounds wonderful and who doesn’t want to have more free time but do these platforms eliminate the ‘social’ from social media?

The answer to that is: only if you allow it. Using schedulers is a wonderful thing and is a task that a savvy virtual assistant can take over if you choose to get some help. But you still need to be aware of what’s happening in your social media world. If followers are asking for your opinion, you need to be there in a timely fashion giving your opinion. If customers are asking specific questions about a product or course, you need answer those questions.

Also, be active in your social media world in terms of connecting with others online. Yes, it’s wonderful when folks find you but you should put in equal effort to connect with your target customer. Passive marketing puts too much power into the hands of your target audience. Don’t wait and hope that they find you; make them want to choose you. Show them how you can help solve their problems. To do this successfully, you need to have a personal presence online instead of allowing a social media manager or third-party scheduler to be in charge.

I’m a firm believer that consistency is a key element in the success of a business. Of course, there are other important factors but consistency is what will create name and brand recognition. Consistency is what will build your tribe so you can develop a trusting relationship. Consistency is what will showcase your expertise to new followers.

Let me give you an example: You go out to dinner at your favorite restaurant and you fall in love with your meal. A few weeks later you take a friend to the same restaurant, order the same meal, but it tastes different and you send it back to the kitchen. Their lack of consistency in how your meal was prepared will now leave doubt in your head about that particular dish and possibly about the whole restaurant.

Doubt in a customer’s mind generally means you have to rebuild that trust again to show that they should continue doing business with you. It’s not impossible to earn their trust again but you’re basically starting over. Just like when you stop watching what you eat during the holidays and you have to lose those same 5 pounds again and again. Working your business consistently and focusing on quality content and excellent customer service will help to keep your customers happy and trusting in you.

Tell me, have you ever had something like this happen to you: You opt-in to an email list that has great potential. You receive a few weekly emails and then nothing. Nada. Then a month or two later you receive an email from that person again, making an offer to purchase their product. How does that lack of consistency make you feel? I’m guessing your first reaction would be, “Who is this person?” Lack of consistency will cause you to forget who they are and why you signed up for their list in the first place. Especially if you get a lot of emails. And the lack of name recognition generally leads to, “I don’t know who you are so why would I buy from you?” Again, this business owner just made themselves a much harder task to win you over again.

Consistency with Your Brand Image

Have you noticed how many gurus there are, each proclaiming to have the answers to earning 6- or 7-figure incomes? There are tons of them. If you tried implementing all of their different strategies, you’d be exhausted from keeping up with it all. And not only that, your audience would be very confused about your overall message.

When it comes to branding, consistency and repetition will help develop name recognition. If you wear clothes that match your website colors, folks will make the connection. If your trademark is a purple stripe in your hair, don’t go changing it to fire engine red; your followers won’t recognize you. Be consistent with your brand image, colors, and message, both online and offline so you’re always recognized.

Social media. It’s one of my favorite ways to interact. This is also true for a lot of folks. They use it to interact with others around the world and to market their products and services. Some people get great interaction on social media platforms while others are posting day in and day out with very little engagement.

What’s the difference between the star and the person who struggles? Usually the differences are in their social media planning and their ability to develop relationships. Even if we’re talking about selling the exact same product, how each approaches the opportunity is often quite different.

Let’s break it down a little more:

The social media maven cares about other folks. She interacts with people every single day on social media by answering questions and replying to comments both on her own posts but also on other posts in her feed. She shares snippets of her life instead of bombarding her followers with product pitches. The maven also knows, through trial and error, which platforms give her the most engaged audiences and this is where she therefore spends her time.

The novice also cares about folks but she’s posting product photos on every single social media platform available, desperate to make a sale. She figures that folks don’t buy the first time they hear about her product so she continues to post about the product….over and over again. She doesn’t notice when folks leave comments or doesn’t know how to respond back. She comments on only a select few posts and is spread too thin across all the different platforms.

Social Media Plan Revision

One of the reasons you went out on your own is that owning your own business gives you the ability to do what you want. There aren’t any hard and fast rules about which social media platforms you should use so approach it methodically. If you’re posting random photos on Instagram and get a few likes here and there, is it worth your time? If you post an article once a month on LinkedIn but have an inbox filled with unanswered invitations to network, should you continue to use this platform?

First, determine where your target market hangs out and learn how to use that platform. If you’re aiming to attract professional customers, then LinkedIn might be your ticket. If you’re looking for other solopreneurs or solopreneur owners, check out Facebook. Want to market yourself locally? Alignable is a new platform to try. Can’t fit your thoughts into 280 characters? Then drop Twitter instead of stressing about it.

Second, remember to be social. You’re much more than your business so show that to your followers. Yes, share about your business because that’s your passion and a part of your life but share about your other passions. Trips and travels; favorite hobbies; favorite sports teams; favorite movies or television shows. Let folks get to know the whole you, not just the business you.

Social media platforms were created primarily as a way to connect with folks, as a way to be social online without being in the same place. However, with the increased popularity of social media and the ways you can promote your business with these platforms, some business owners forget about the ‘social’ part of social media and use it just as a free advertising platform.

It’s been proven that folks will spend their money with those they know, like, and trust. I’m sure you’ve heard that one before. But if all you’re doing is posting photos of your product or hyping your service or your signature program, you’re not allowing anyone to get to know you. If your followers don’t know who you are, it’s impossible for them to genuinely like you and you’re therefore making the trust almost impossible.

So, show off your personality with your social media posts. Let the real you shine through and you will naturally attract your tribe of followers. Here are 3 ways to spice up your social media posts with some personality:

1. Act like you’re the hostess and your followers are at your party. When hosting a party, you want everyone to be happy and having a good time, right? The same is true on social media platforms. Don’t just hang out on your page; visit other pages and leave comments. Ask your followers questions. And really listen to their answers. Respond to questions or comments that are asked of you. Be compassionate and friendly. Offer friendly advice when asked.
2. Share your sense of humor and be entertaining. Search YouTube for the videos that strike your funny bone. Better yet, get on Facebook Live and showcase your personality. This doesn’t mean acting fake because you want folks to be entertained; rather, be yourself and tell the funny thing your grand kid said or relay something comical that happened at work. Everybody can use a laugh and posting videos or funny photos is a way to lighten the mood.
3. Provide value and inspiration. Talk about your business and let your passion shine but let it be more than, “Buy my services.” Your audience wants to know what’s in it for them; how will your services benefit or help them. Do you have the solution to their problem? It’s not you making sales; it’s about helping them find solutions. Share your favorite inspirational quotes, especially around the holidays, which can be a tough time of year for some folks.