Social Media – where the selfish thrive

The only way to really truly succeed in social media marketing is to learn to be selfish.  What I mean by that is that you’ve got to learn to love it.  Luckily it’s an easy thing to love (for a lot of people).

I talk to business professionals every day about how to use social media as a vehicle for growing your business.  A lot of people think ‘Oh I have to do this and that and I have to do this as well and….’  The problem is that people often look at it as a burden.  If this describes you then you need a paradigm shift right away.

When I really started delving into social media I did it slow.  There was no way I was going to start using Twitter, Friendfeed, read 50 blogs a day, enter all my contacts into linked in, experiment on some niche social networks… you get the idea.  There’s so much to do that it makes no sense form a strategy standpoint to try to do everything at once.

In my case, I started with a blog.  Then I joined a niche social network for business professionals in Indiana.  I moved on from there to everything else.  As I eased my way into social media I slowly began to love it, and that’s why I’m so active in social media today.  I don’t necessarily do it to build my personal brand, or promote my company, or anything else.  I do it because I truly love it.  I do it selfishly.  If you can get to the point in your life where the things you HAVE to do are the same things that you LOVE to do, then you’re doing very well indeed.