I hate it I see a client letting their online reputation go … it’s so obvious, too. The neglected blog, the missing updates, the long delay (or lack of) responses; it’s frustrating for those of us who really appreciate social interaction with brands we support.
A couple of weeks ago I used Twitter and Facebook to try to pin down the location of a food truck I like. SEVEN days later the person behind the Twitter account told me where the food truck was that day. Too bad it was a full week ago that I was interested.
If you’ve set up a presence for your business or, if you’re a sole proprietor, yourself in social media, here are five simple ways to make sure you’re protecting the investment of your time and the reputation of your brand:
- If you’ve “gone fishin'” leave a note behind or hand over the reigns to a trusted associate to manage the presence while you’re out.
- Create a schedule for yourself — and stick to it. If you can manage interaction three times a week (and mean it!) then get it done.
- Set alarms, calendar appointments, visits from the goon squad or your Uncle Vinnie — whatever works — just set an effective reminder to hold yourself accountable to maintaining your presence.
- Find a way to keep it personally rewarding — examine what you, personally get out of online interaction and focus on that element.
- Reward yourself! When you set goals that are realistically high but attainable, celebrate it when you achieve them. Go ahead. Buy yourself a little something, just for making it to the end of this very important blog post.