Miley Cyrus left Twitter because she felt like a social media slave and I certainly felt like one last week as my to do list kept bugging me that I haven't blogged in a while.
No one ever said it was easy to do this social media thing, but I think it's especially challenging for businesses. I try to blog once a week. If I have ideas during the week, I just pop them into a folder and then when "blogging time" comes, I pick one. This is great when life is normal, however, any business owner can tell you that life is full of one emergency after another and it can be tough to get back into a routine when the dust settles.
So when my dust recently settled, and it came time to write a new blog post, I had nothing to say. A few days pass and then a few more and still nothing to say. How can I be out there encouraging other businesses to take up a social media strategy and not be doing it myself? Some would say, just write anything, but I'd rather be silent than inauthentic.
There's a sense of obligation that develops when you start blogging or tweeting. That you are on this ride and you can't get off. I had a few days with these feelings, but then the lightbulb came back on.
Social media is supposed to be social! It's about listening!
I had lost sight of what this was all for. It's not about what I have to say, but it's about what I'm hearing. It's a conversation, and you can't have a conversation without listening. It's such a simple point, but it makes all the difference.
For any slaves out there that feel stuck, remind yourself that social media is a two way street. The only pressure you should feel, is the pressure to listen to your customers (which you should be doing anyway). Once you refocus on that, the rest should fall into place.
