Social media is becoming more and more prevalent. It is the lifeline for businesses! It is the reality! And some individuals support it and are successful with it, and others misuse it and form negative opinions. So do you think you should you invest in a social media strategy or just keeping doing the same thing without getting the results you are hoping for? I am going to present to you 3 common myths on social media, and dispel them so you can start using it to your advantage.

Social Media Takes Way too Much Time– It is interesting how when you want to find an excuse not to do something, you blame it on the fact that there are not enough hours in the day. And sometimes that may be true, however- you can always make time for something that will not take more than 5 minutes at once. And logging into Facebook and Twitter is not exactly going to even take you that much. When you sit down and really think about it, most of your high revenue generating activities are time consuming, especially if you are a solo business owner. Putting in a direct mail campaign, going to networking meetings, creating products, writing blog posts, etc – to make money and build relationships it takes a little time. The fact is, if you cut out 10 minutes 3 times a day, you can really make social media work for you. You can set a daily schedule and allocate a time where you will log into your social media sites, check comments, post articles, and publish content. Or if you truly are pressed for time, you can hire a social media manager or find an intern to manage your accounts and set aside time to check in and see who has interacted with you! Next time someone tells you social media marketing is time consuming, you now know the truth.

You will Never Make Money Using Social Media– This one I hear all of the time. One crucial thing to remember about is social networking is not about closing the sale- it’s about building relationships, building your tribe. Think about the reason behind building relationships when marketing is to close a sale- correct? Even though it is true that the buying cycle may take longer on a social media platform, it’s extremely possible to make money from social media. What people fail to understand is that you need to build relationships on your social networks first, so your prospects can get to know like and trust you! Once they trust you, then they will either buy from you or refer their friends or clients to you! That is one magical piece about tribe building and social media makes that possible.

Your Social Media Activities Cannot be Properly Measured– This is one of my favorite debates and this goes back to the controversy behind Klout. Many say it is an inaccurate way to measure your social networking. Well if you are expecting a perfect measurement, then that is true. However what is perfect in this world? If you receive a lot of interaction because you are sharing good quality content that your followers and fans find fascinating- Klout will measure that quite well. If you have a lot of fake followers and not receiving much engagement, Klout will also measure that accurately enough- meaning your score will definitely be low. So, yes your social media activities can definitely be properly measured, and remember too- on Facebook you can actually install Google Analytics to see how many people are visiting your fan page. If you post a blog post or an article, you can sign up for bit.ly, a URL shortening service that tracks the clicks of the articles you submit and that will give you an accurate enough measurement too.

To sum up, you can find time or find someone to manage your social media if you truly are strapped for time- you can make money by using social media if you build relationships first and stay active, and your social media activities can most definitely be measured.

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