Social Media Overwhelm: Simple Solutions to Manage Your Social Media Fears

Have you had this conversation?

During a coaching session with one of my clients, we did this little social media dance:

Client: Can you teach me about Google+? I read this article and they said I needed to be on there to grow my small business.

Me: Who is this ‘they’ you’re talking about? And why did they say NEED?

Client: It was a post I read in one of the blogs I follow from {undisclosed blogger name}. Well, maybe the blogger didn’t say the word NEED but that’s the way I read it. The post made me think that I need to be on there.

Me: I see. So you want me to teach you to add one more thing to your already packed schedule? We’re still working on growing your Facebook fan page and just today, we set up your account on Twitter.

Does this They person understand your business? Or how you lose at least 3 hours of work every week to take your daughter to tennis practice?

Client: Guess not. It just sounded like Google+ was a big thing for small businesses and I better get on there before I lose business … or securing my name … or there was something else the blogger wrote.

Me: I see … so you really don’t know why you should add this to your social media mix, right? {client nods}

You know what I think? I think that we should table Google+ until we get everything else working and then we’ll see how right THEY were and if you should be on that network.

———————

Did my coaching conversation sound familiar?

Have you had this exchange with someone or worse – by yourself? I wish that social media marketing folks would stop telling small business owners that they NEED to be active on every social program.

I can’t tell you how many people show up to my workshops with what I call Social Media Fears.

They hesitate to start their social media marketing because of these social media fears. They’re afraid that they’ll be overwhelmed with all this extra work.

They’re concerned that they’ll need to set up six different profiles in six different social networks, which will add in at least six more hours of managing their marketing every day.

Here is my simple solution to Social Media Fear:

Give yourself permission to say No.

How To Deal With Social Media Fear

How do you handle the overwhelming feeling of managing your social media time online? Seriously, managing your social media marketing is really no different than working on any other area of your business.

Try out these tips to help you control your social media fears:

1. Your Social MIT

For most of us, the first thing we work on is our MIT – your most important tasks that need to be done that day. It could be completing a client project, preparing for and attending a meeting or writing a blog post.

We all have a list of what we want to accomplish that day.

Social media MITs are the same thing. When you pull your daily (or weekly) to-do list together, what type of social media actions can you take to move you closer to your sales or marketing goals?

To figure out how to find your social media MITs, check out this post: What are your Social Media MITs (most important tasks)?

At the top of your list should be the social program that gives your business the best return for your time. This is the social site that brings the most traffic to your website, you see the largest number of shares of your content and most likely, this site creates the majority of the sales or conversions for your products.

Think of this idea like the 80/20 rule in sales: 20% of your customer base drives 80% of your revenues and commissions.

When you write out your social media MITs for the week, plan to spend most of your time developing opportunities to engage with that 20% loyal fan base that delivers most of your traffic and hopefully, brings in the revenue for your business.

2. Make your social media to-do list

I’m a big fan of lists.

It keeps me on task and I admit, it just warms my organizational heart to see all those things crossed off my list. I feel productive because I know that I accomplished something that day.

Now I want you to take that list of social media MITs you want to work on and create a tracking sheet. You can use an excel spread sheet, an online app or a pretty printable you found on Pinterest.

Just find something that works for you that you feel comfortable using.

I made mine as simple as possible. I save all my social media to-do lists in Evernote – the app is in my laptop, on my tablet and in my phone. If you need some tips on how I set this up, take a look at the detailed breakdown in How to Organize Your Social Media To-Do List.

I create a tracking note for each social site. Within each note, I set up my to-do list with check boxes { my online version of crossing things off my list! } and I give myself room to make notes about what I’m working on in each site.

The more you track what you’re doing, the more likely you are to keep doing it. You become accountable to yourself until the day comes when the action turns into a habit.

And the more you do something, the more efficient you become at this behavior. Soon you’ll notice that you’re getting more done in a shorter amount of time so you can add new things on your social media to-do list.

3. Just say No

I realize there are tons of articles and tips out there telling you that you have to be on this site or sign up over here to secure your business name. I totally get that because I’ve read most of those blog posts too.

Social media is more than just setting up another profile. You have to show up regularly and participate. It only works when you work it.

And seriously – who has time to be everywhere? Your time is valuable so be realistic about what you can add to your daily to-do list.

If your day is already crazy busy and the thought off adding ONE more social media thing overwhelms you, ask yourself this: If you don’t sign up for the latest new social network, what would happen tomorrow?

I’m going to bet that the sun will still come up but your stress level won’t.

Think about it like this – if you had two focused hours every day, what is the most effective thing that you can be working on to grow your business?

Would it be creating content like writing blog posts and then sharing the links on your top social program? Or is that time better spent engaging with others, commenting on other blogs or fan pages in your industry?

Whatever your answer is, make sure that you use your time and energy for the social media MITs that bring you the highest return. I feel pretty confident that when you focus your time working on your top social sites, it’ll do more than just manage your social media fears.

You’ll be growing your social presence and decreasing the time you’re dealing with social media overwhelm.

PS If you’re looking for more time management tips to help you handle your social media marketing, download your FREE copy of my 10 Social Media Time Management Strategies ebook. You’ll learn some easy to follow strategies to help you create a social media routine that works with your crazy busy world.