Social networks are catching on and becoming big business in many circles. It is important to remember though that not everyone is using social networks for business. With this in mind it is a good idea to separate your business and personal networking so that the two never meet. This means that if you are trying to build a brand based on your name, the name your friends and family know you by, it is probably worth creating an alias so that friends and family can find you online and in other social networks easily or create an alias and re brand your business.
If you have been in a business for quite a while it is probably not a good idea to toss your brand into the wind and start over. However, if you are new to the world of Internet marketing it could save a few clients from seeing those old college photos your sorority sisters are tagging you in elsewhere.
You also do not necessarily wanting your friends and family learning the intimate details or how much time you spend playing on the social networking sites when you are telling them that you are working. Remember, if they are going there to play, they really will have a difficult time understanding that you are doing anything other than playing.
Other benefits of keeping your personal and professional social networking efforts separate is so that friends and family do not say things or post things on your pages or walls that accidentally insult existing or potential clients and/or customers. I'm sure you know all too well that people say stupid things every day. It seems that the more we love someone the greater the odds that we will forgive them for being less than politically correct. That doesn't mean that our clients will forgive us for associating with them.
One final reason that it is a good plan to keep your personal social networking accounts separate from your business social networking accounts is so that you have a clear line in your own life between work and play. It is too simple to sneak back to work when your goal is to enjoy a little bit of downtime and reconnect with friends and family. It is even easier when you are logged into the same account you use for business. We all need a little bit of R & R on occasion. A separate personal social networking account allows you that little bit of respite from the demands of work.
Whether you keep things separate to shield your business associates from family and friends, shield family and friends from business, or so that you can set aside a little bit of room on the Internet for your personal sanity it is a good idea to have one account (and screen name) for social networking for business and a separate account to be used when social networking for pleasure. How many accounts do you have?
With many things in life it is sometimes good to take a step back and re evaluate what is going on and whether or not you are getting as much out of something as you are putting into it. There are very few things in life that will not benefit from an occasional break—even social networking. You may be wondering how on earth taking a break from social networking could possibly be good for business. Consider some of the answers below and decide for yourself if or when you need to take a break from social networking of your own.
1) Reassess the situation. Sometimes you cannot accurately gauge how beneficial something is when you are right in the middle of it. Social networking can take a lot of time to manage. If you aren't managing it well, it can take a lot of time away from other things that are more important for the operation and success of your business. When this happens it is time to step back and apply the brakes. The important thing to remember is that a break isn't permanent and when done properly, you will use the break to draw up a new plan of action for your social networking efforts.
2) Take back control. It is easy to lose control of your social networking efforts. When this happens you will either be spending too much time dealing with the maintenance of heavy social networking activity or you will be so overwhelmed with the social networking side of the business that you are letting everything else slide. This is not a good state for any business to be in. When this is the case you should take a break and learn how to manage your social networking by creating a schedule for social networking and sticking to it. Do not begin your social networking efforts again until you are confident of your ability to stick to the schedule and walk away for another break if the results don't improve.
3) It is also a good idea to take a break from social networking when you aren't seeing the sales come rolling in. You should have a goal for your social networking. If you aren't meeting that goal it is time to take a look at your game plan and decide if changes or substitutions needs to be made. Make changes to your plan and put them to work in your marketing efforts before you decide to go back in full force.
4) To get a fresh perspective. Sometimes, stepping away is the only way to see thins clearly. When you are too close to the issue at hand you can't really focus and get a clear vision of the big picture. However, if you take a step back you can see the whole thing and know what needs to be fixed. The same is true of social networking.
Don't stand so close that you can't see the need for a little time away from social networking.
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