Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, Wordpress blog, Google+, Pinterest….

There are so many social media platforms you can use, but where do you stop?

My ‘must have’ list is

1. Twitter

2. LinkedIn

3. Facebook Page

4. Wordpress Blog

5. Youtube

More platforms than that and effective social media becomes too time consuming and unmanageable even using Hootsuite.

Anybody have a better or just simply different ‘must have’ list?

Morn’n’ @jon-hartley @annfurnivall — 

Although I don’t recommend it for everyone some automation is necessary and can even help you with communications.  Planning can be the hardest thing to wrap your mind around when thinking “social” because it seems so mechanical. But it works if you practice and find the right tools. 

Have you done your homework?  Automating Twitter has been the easiest for me and it has really paid off – yes, I still have to spend some time there for interactions (daily) but I also gain valuable followers regularly as a result. I can keep it clean easily with all the tools that are provided at Twitter along with a few outside tools too.

FB is a family matter for me – I check it several times a week seriously and post once a week (or so) at my biz network there. The questions I get at FB are for free advice so that is not a great place for me to hang my hat. I used to mentor a lot, but don’t do that much anymore.  Free does not pay the bills.

Pinterest I use for fun and as a means of bringing some (not a lot) of traffic to a few websites. 

Google+ is a must so am going for the gold on that one. Still figuring out some of the features implemented in the past few months.  Although I was in on the beta, G+ has been updating and changing rapidly.  This can be confusing at times but will be ongoing for some time until they hit on (with all our suggestions) the right mix. 

What I do to stay current – I do use Hootsuite but not to a huge extent. For the most part, I utilize the custom toolbar in Chrome to hit on and peruse SM places each day.  I just run across those links several times during the day to keep up. LinkedIN is listed there too.

The biggest thing to do — get to know each platform so your visits can be short and productive.  If you figure out that one is much more productive than another, you’ve figured out which one will be your goldmine. But that does not mean you should not still show your face at all the majors.

Eileen

@jon-hartleyThere is no one-size-fits all “must-have” list when it comes to social media. Deciding to focus on a given platform should be approached like any other business decision: determine what is the actual draw on business resources to maintain a presence and then measure the ROI. These days, there are enough tools and metrics out there to get a handle on how much your efforts in social media are paying back.

I will say, though, that if you are maintaining any kind of business presence online, then you do need to have a G+ profile and maintain some minimal activity there. But this is just from an SEO standpoint.  

@annfurnivall 
Hi Ann,

I looked at your sites, the shop’s website and your blog, and here are a few suggestions (Note: I’m not an SEO expert; I’m coming more from a business background):

• Attach your blog to your store website’s domain. If you don’t know how to do that, then ask your Internet hosting company how to transfer it over. Then make sure there is a button or menu option on your store’s homepage that directs visitors to the blog. This will help your site’s ranking and help keep visitors on the site longer)
• Make sure there is a G+ social sharing button on your posts/pictures for others to share (and make sure you are sharing it- even if you don’t have a following)
• Also, is your G+ page a personal one or is it a business one? Here is some info on Google Plus for businesses http://www.google.com/+/business/ 
• Make sure that you completely fill out the G+ profile page, including adding pictures and your address. This will help those online who are seeking antique shops in Indiana to find your store
• Finally, add a G+ button on your website to your G+ business page. I would recommend updating the business page every now and then with new pictures and other shop or community-related news,

LI has been my go to networking site for a year now. I find that is produces the instant responses and conncections that the other social media sites don’t Maybe I just dont know how to use the others as effectiveyl.

@supereb

Eileen, as well as others, what social management tools do you use to keep it simple and organized?

Also, I’m using other Web 2.0 sites… mostly curating content there with their built-in tools… places like Scoop.It, Spundge, Squidoo, and about a dozen others. Those I only check in about twice a month, do a marathon workout there, and go to the next one… spending only a day to do all of them. Since they basically serve as tools to build backlinks to my backlinks… I don’t pay much attention to them, but they do tend to rise in the rankings quickly because of their parent’s high rankings, which always ends up helping my target sites.

But I’m still in the market for a better overall management tool to run the whole kit and kaboodle. I’ve toyed with a couple, but so far nothing really floats my boat. Recommendations?

Robin Carlisle