Are you Suffering from Social Media Writer’s Block?

Do you stare at your blank Twitter profile wondering what to write about?  Have your profiles sat under-appreciated and unused because you just don’t know what to say.  It is understandable.  When you first start using social media it can be a bit overwhelming.  In the beginning it is hard to know what is the “right” content to share.  Not to mention that you have only a few followers, so who is really listening anyway?

Well, for social media to be effective for your business, you have to get over this hump.  You have to start contributing and adding content.  Simply having a profile isn’t going to do much good for your business.  It must be updated regularly.  Here are a few ways for you to start coming up with that all important content:

1. Read More.  Start to follow other blogs in your industry or that are of interest to you.  Look for good articles that your target market will also enjoy.  Then post links to the blog posts and articles that have good information to share.  You can add a little comment or just post the title and link.  Most websites and blogs make this very easy to do.  Just search for the “Re-Tweet” this or Share This button on the page and with a few clicks you have posted the link to your account.
2. Share your Own Content – If you have a blog, be sure to post the link of your new blog post on your social media accounts.  (There are wordpress plugins available to make this very simple to do)  If you have written articles, post those.  Got an event coming up?  Mention it.  One side note – make sure you aren’t only posting links to your stuff.  This gets old fast.  Mix it in with other content and interaction.
3. Comment or reply to someone elses post.  This is one of my favorites.  It doesn’t take long to reply to another tweet or comment on a facebook posting, and you are starting to build the ever important relationship this way.
4. Spend 1 hour a week brainstorming content ideas.  Schedule this time in your calendar and keep it an easy to access file (I use Evernote).  Think of 10 valuable bits of information you can share.  It is much easier to do when you have set aside the time to focus on it.  Now, when you do get onto your social media sites, you already have some great content to post .  You can now spend your time responding and commenting to others.  Instead of spending all your time trying to decide what to say.

It doesn’t have to be scary.  And the only way you will really learn what works for your business is to try.  Stop staring at the blank screen and make it a priority to start talking.  Jump in!

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Tagged as: content, Social Media