Social Media Presence – 3 Steps to Establishing Your Authority

For authors, entrepreneurs, and coaches social media marketing can be difficult if operating from a “ready, fire” approach.  There are many platforms to start with: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc – and it can be overwhelming.  One method is to open accounts on all of them and begin firing off posts without any clear direction.

This leads to frustration and a serious lack of results.

I’ve been there.

Social media is simply a tool to build relationships.  And building relationships takes time.  When first establishing a presence online, people will run from you if you tell them to follow you on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook, read your blog, AND watch your videos on YouTube.   Instead build systematically with purpose – and you will find greater success.

In the end – it’s not about the number of followers.  It’s about engagement, credibility, and building your own unique tribe.

Scott Stratten’s book, UnMarketing, is one of the best available when getting started.  It was my “a-ha” book.  He introduces a concept called Social Media Platforming and breaks establishing a social media presence into 3 phases: 

1. Traction
2. Momentum
3. Expansion

Traction:  His recommended tool to start with is Twitter.  Of all the platforms, it’s the best for making initial contact and connections.  Often times you meet on Twitter – and then go on a date on Facebook.

Twitter is a give before you get kind of situation.  Meaning that to build a high quality twitter presence – begin by following high quality people.  Find people in your niche that are interesting and having success.  Ask questions and be there to talk about the answers.

Get to know the influencers.  Learn what they are doing.  Start replying to them and sharing their content.  In time others will do this for you.  You’ll be amazed by the generosity of the Twitterverse.

Jump in.  Be consistent.   You’ll begin to attract followers and establish credibility.

Momentum:  This is when you make the change from looking for new relationships to strengthening your existing connections.  Stratten writes, “Sites like Twitter are good for initially getting to know someone, but if you really want to enhance relationships it’s time to take it to the next level.“

When you feel like you have established momentum – you can ask people to meet you on another platform.  Stratten sent over 10,000 tweets (!) before writing his first blog post.  He wanted to make sure that he had an audience that would actually read his blog – before spending blood, sweat, and tears writing.

As you build momentum, and begin to “get Twitter” you can consider expanding into other platforms.

Expansion: Once you have begun to connect and you’re getting something out of your efforts –  expand to additional platforms.  This comes at different times for different people.

As you continue to build your Twitter presence – move onto building a Facebook page.  Once your Facebook page hits a momentum phase then consider another platform and so on.

Remember each platform represents a different audience with different terminology.  Take the time to learn the rules of the road.  Connect with others that are successful so you can model what works.

Begin in one place, master it, then move onto the next.  Step by step.  Go deep before going wide.  Eventually you will have a strong social media presence – and you’ll begin to reap the rewards.

We walk the talk.  Come check out how we are building our presence one person at a time.  Connect with me on twitter.

What has been your first experience with social media?  What are some lessons that you’ve learned?

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