How to Keep Up Online

Are you as overwhelmed as I am with social media? Whew! It's exhausting. And, I'm a supposed expert on the Internet. I can only imagine how most of you feel. Some of you just figured out how to text your kids or turn on your iPhone...(but we love you just the same).

If you are like me, you already have tons of phone calls and emails to keep up with. Just the thought of adding more online to-do tasks like updating Linked In and remembering to "tweet" routinely on Twitter is mind blowing!

Here is the good news. It gets easier. Several months ago I made a dedicated effort to be more active with social networks and here is the secret; using social media is just like any other habit you want to cultivate, make it part of your daily routine and it happens.

Take for example eating healthier or getting more exercise. The key to long term success is to incorporate those behaviors into your established routines. Use the gym closest to your home on your route to and from work. Instead of changing your entire diet, eat less of the foods you already eat. Put the cheeseburger down people! You didn't need to super-size it! There are simple things you can do within your established daily patterns that can make a huge difference.

Routines keep us sane. I've learned the art of the routine from my husband. He went to military boarding school and his middle name should be "routine." This man is a routine machine! (Wouldn't that make a great book title-don't steal it). We've been married eleven years and I never really appreciated his ability to form and maintain a routine until we had our son. I learned quickly that routines are everything with babies! I've taken notes on how he does it and really learned a thing or two.

My time management philosophy was formed long ago by the great Stephen Covey. His book, First Things First, made a HUGE impact on me. If you haven't read it lately, go back and re-read it or listen to it again. His philosophy is that day planners and time management classes aren't enough. Ultimately you only have 24 hours a day. We all have the same amount of time and it will NEVER be enough. Go a step further and instead of focusing on what task goes where on the calendar, prioritize tasks by your "true north"; the important tasks that align with your core principles. Covey stresses we should not focus solely on the urgent tasks (which generally scream the loudest for our attention), but instead make time for the important tasks critical to our long term success.

I don't mean for this blog entry to be a Stephen Covey book report but his material is so on target with the topic that I had to revisit it and recommend you do the same.

I can assure you that incorporating social media into your marketing is important! The house won't burn down if you forget to check your Linked In account, BUT you might just miss out on a huge business lead or the chance to interact with a prospect that hasn't returned your phone calls. To understand the true impact of social media, I asked Carol Flammer, social media expert, for her thoughts. "Utilizing sites such as Twitter, Facebook, ActiveRain and Trulia provide great inbound links for you Web site, and this in turn provides you with a boost to your site's SEO in terms of social media optimization. Home builders and developers are finding that incorporating social media marketing into their online mix is a powerful tool for web optimization, as well as attracting leads that might not otherwise be introduced to them. The cocktail party has started; don't miss the opportunity to be one of the first to arrive."   Carol Flammer, MIRM, managing partner with mRELEVANCE.

Block time in advance for the important tasks so the urgent tasks don't eat up all of your time. That's how I've come to conquer social media. I now pre-block time to blog, update my Linked In and Facebook accounts. I am launching podcasting and video casting soon (so stay tuned) and I already have pre-blocked that time as well. If an unavoidable urgent task, like closing a MAJOR sale, has to override my pre-blocked task that's okay. I don't delete the task, I just reschedule it.

For some of you, urgent tasks consistently bump important tasks. I know lots of folks whose business is one big fire drill. Don't you? If this sounds familiar, ask yourself which of your daily tasks can be outsourced, automated, eliminated, delegated or streamlined (I call this The Rule of "ed"). I am not an expert in this area but if you need help in this area, I highly recommend Laura Stack at the ProductivityPro.com. I was in one of her seminars recently and she blew me an outrageously organized, insanely routine oriented, highly driven entrepreneur out of the water! She can definitely give you the tools to eliminate fire drills and focus more on important tasks.

What are some of the important tasks for today's marketing and sales professionals? Any task that makes money! There are tasks that directly put money in your pocket and there are tasks that don't. What percentage of your day is spent on tasks that make money? Most marketing and sales professionals find themselves bogged down in urgent busy work that is not revenue producing.

Tasks such as:

>>Following up on prospects- Phone calls, emails and handwritten notes

>>Networking for new leads- Attending networking events and leads groups

>>Building relationships with existing customers- Small acts of kindness that stand out

>>Face time with decision makers- Taking clients to lunch or meeting for drinks

>>Building awareness- Writing articles or giving free speeches

Set a goal for yourself to spend time everyday on at least one activity that is revenue producing. Quit perfecting your spreadsheets and pick up the phone! Go into your Linked In profile and reach out to a couple of your connections and let them know your latest offering. Tweet a fun fact to your Twitter following that might help them be successful.

I think in today's climate this applies more than ever. Not only does focusing on the important make money, but it can help you manage the anxiety and stress of the economy. Let's face it. We are all freaked out- our freak is effectively freaked. No stimulus package can help the emotional level of freak we've all got right now! I said this in a speech today to a group of small business owners and I thought they were going to fall out of their chair laughing. It's funny but true.

This is what has helped me....on day's I wake up with my freak freaked, I stop the mental mind game immediately and replace it with "what could I do right now to make money?" I immediately pick up the phone, send an email or network online. I do something to take my mind off the negativity and get busy making something happen. This strategy is working for me and I hope it helps you too.

I know you need hope out there and not just hype. My goal today was to acknowledge the hype about social media and give you hope that you can do it. Further, your business can be successful this year despite all the crazy headlines out there.

Now, it's time to sign off and stop writing because my calendar is reminding me that it is "mommy and baby time"...after all he is my ultimate true north!