Best practices tip: post high value messages to build your brand

Beyond email - message overload

Messages come to us in many more ways now. Traditionally, people have used email for years to communicate, and share information.  Chat rooms have been around for a number of years.  Instant messaging came around and a few years ago and quickly gained in popularity with those who wanted to connect via a faster, "in the moment" communication tool.

Social media sites and social networking have fast become part of our culture over the past few years, and are seeing a tremendous spike in both popularity and usage among many age groups. 

The end result is that there are so many ways to "connect" and "message" people now, and therein lies the problem - the tendency of many to share too much information of little value; these messages can become very annoying "time wasters".  

Do your messages add value?  Would others want to share them?
Facebook asks, "What's on your mind?" Twitter asks, "What are you doing?"  LinkedIn has a Share window. 

The problem is too many people take this literally and often post messages describing their day-to-day mundane activities.  Most people don't really want or need to know about one's daily routine.

Best practice tip: Think "what are you focused on?" What value message can you post that others may want to read and share with others?

Protect your brand - send out messages that add value

Some examples of message types that support others and add value: recommendations to great articles, useful links to - tools, tips, late-breaking news, upcoming events, organizational updates, something funny, thought-provoking, or unusual. 

"Share really useful links, news related to your field, things that are really funny or inspirational, or inside information about your business or blog. The key is to make sure almost every message is something that people will want to share with their friends. Here’s something that many people who use social media don’t understand: if you send out too many messages, people might stop following you or might even block you, because you’re flooding their inbox." 

- From 'Focus on sending out high impact messages' article on Mashable by Leo Babauta, May 14th, 2009

Best practice tip:  Focus on sharing valuable content that will benefit others, don't be too self-serving, and promote others when possible.  Don't post TOO MANY messages or you may lose followers / connections and be considered a "spammer".
 

Think BEFORE you send - ask yourself "so what?"

Thinking "so what" at the end of a message is a good test to pre-qualify whether the message may have value (for someone other than you) and have content that followers will want to share with other connections.  A message that shares information about a great new social media tool, career networking event, or late-breaking news probably passes this test.  What one had for breakfast or lunch, or details about a daily routine, such as running an errand, or taking the dog for a walk, adds little value, and does NOT pass the test.   

Think BEFORE you connect

Decide on the type of connections you want to pursue.  People who share similar industry experience, club and organizational interests, career networking groups, civic groups, etc. may become strong connections.  Pursuing professional connections - industry leaders and those with similar career interests may provide valuable content worthy of sharing, and increase the size of one's network.  Connecting with too many people with little or no common interests runs the risk of receiving messages of little value to you, and you may even get "information overload" - too many messages too frequently.

Takeaways:

• Think "so what" BEFORE you post messages
• "Quality", not "quantity"
• "Less is more" when it comes to messages; build your brand as someone who shares valuable content, not someone who "spams" others with too many messages of little value.

From a recent Facebook article I wrote, a few tips on using Facebook professionally also apply here:

• “Less is more” when it comes to pictures and the number of wall updates, so don’t post too many pictures or too many wall updates, or you may turn people off and lose friends.
• Keep content relevant to your business, career, job or professional interests, avoid political ideology, and any controversial subject matter.
• Only accept friend requests from people you know well so you can avoid any “surprises”.

Tip: If someone you sends you too many messages or you don't care for the subject matter they contain, you can always "Hide" the messages from that friend so you no longer get them.

 - Daulton West, Jr. , aka ”DWestJr” on Twitter

Other articles that may be of interest:

Social Media and the Job Hunt (SMCEDU-RVA event)
3 sites to help in your job search: the social media 'power trio'
8 tips for creating a social networking plan for your job search
Do you need a social media champion?
Using Twitter for career networking
Nonprofits embracing social media for fund raising
Are you using a blog to build your brand and build your business?
Best practices tip: post high value messages to build your brand
The Legal of Social (SMCRVA - Feb 2010 review)
LinkedIn groups – are you building relationships for job networking?
Professional networking with Facebook
Are you using the power of a Google profile to promote your brand?
Using social media to help Haiti earthquake victims - Together we can make a difference!
Are Twitter lists the new #FollowFriday? Are you using Twitter lists to monitor your brand?
New Hootsuite & Tweetdeck features, Facebook - News Feed / Live Feed defined

More social media news, views, tools, & tips: Richmond Social Media Examiner