6 Ways to Help Your Social Media Career Soar

Believe it or not, but I only ventured into the world of social media (which includes blogging, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.) in February 2009. That’s just 17 months ago.

It’s been quite a ride over the past year. All the people I’ve met (virtually and in person), all the information learned, and connections made–it’s invaluable.

So are you looking to make the leap? Maybe you already have a Facebook account, but are intrigued by Twitter. Or maybe you’ve always been meaning to set up a LinkedIn account, but haven’t made the leap year.

In the spirit of soaring (and to try to help you learn from my mistakes), here are 6 ways to help your social media career soar:

1. Keep your goal in mind. It helps to have a purpose for your online work. Are you wanting to connect with friends? Network and market your services? Simply share information? The tools you use (and how you use them) will vary depending on your goal. Always keep that in mind.
2. Be consistent. Consistency could mean posting once a month, once a week, once a day, or several times a day. There is not a magic number (and in fact it depends a lot on #4)–but decide on a pattern and stick to it.
3. Just dive in. The quickest way to learn is by diving in a trying it out. There are dozens of different social media and social bookkmarking sites out there. I’ve tried many–some I’ve stuck with (such as Twitter and blogging) and others have died off (Stumbleupon). I’ll continue to try new ones as they come out. Some I’ll incorporate into my social media strategy, most I won’t. But the important part is…dive in and try it out!
4. Consider your audience. It would not make sense for me to publish a new blog post a couple times a day. My audience–primarily music therapists and therapy students–are not connected to computers all day long. However, there are some professions where it makes sense to post more frequently, such as PR blogs. Always keep your audience in mind–because you’re doing it for them, right?
5. Be useful. People joke that Twitter is about sharing what you ate for lunch or when you went to the bathroom. Wrong! Most of my posts aren’t about me and what I’m doing. I try very hard to be relevant to my audience, either information-ally (e.g. links and articles) or educationally (e.g. photos, humor, videos).
6. Have fun. There is lots about social media that’s fun–making new friends, learning, sharing. If it stops being fun, it’s okay to stop. Enjoy what you do!

Speaking of making connections through social media…it’s through my Psychology Today blog that I’ve been invited to be one of the speakers at the first ever international creative arts therapies teleconference! Laura Dessauer (a.k.a. the Creativity Queen) is hosting this conference, which brings together 10 different speakers in the creative arts therapies. Some are more established and others “up and comers” (I think I fall in the latter category ;D).

I’ll be sharing more information over the next month, but if you’re interested in reading more NOW…click here.

Tagged as: Conference, Creative Arts Therapies, education, Private Practice, social media