UpYourSocial

This is my weekly round up of social media links that I’ve bookmarked in Diigo over the past week. You can get this list every week by subscribing to my RSS feed or subscribing through email. You may also follow me on Twitter or join the Facebook Fan Page to get some of these links throughout the week.

• 8 Simple Steps to Growing a Quality Twitter Following | Social Media Examiner
• 6 Ways To Get Organized And Centralized With Social Media
• 5 Simple Twitter Listening Tips Every Marketer Should Know
• 4 Essential Traits for Social Media Success in Your Career
• Top 3 Twitter Apps To Manage Your Twitter Contacts | PCs Place
• 7 Tips for Local SEO and PPC Success | Search Engine Journal

This is my weekly round up of social media links that I’ve bookmarked in Diigo over the past week. You can get this list every week by subscribing to my RSS feed or subscribing through email. You may also follow me on Twitter or join the Facebook Fan Page to get some of these links throughout the week.

• 8 Most Useful Firefox Plugins For Facebook Users
• Should a Blog be Your Social Media Hub? | Blogging and Content Creation | Social Media Consulting – Convince & Convert
• The Five C’s To Social Media
• 7 Traits of Highly Effective Viral Videos » Techipedia | Tamar Weinberg

This is my weekly round up of social media links that I’ve bookmarked in Diigo over the past week. You can get this list every week by subscribing to my RSS feed or subscribing through email. You may also follow me on Twitter or join the Facebook Fan Page to get some of these links throughout the week.

• 7 Lessons for Better Networking with Social Media
• Social Media Strategy: First have a Plan. Then Execute the Plan. | Branding and Marketing
• Logic+Emotion: The 5 Reasons You’re Failing In Social Media
• How to Build Conversations in Social Media Using the 3 P’s
• Get Started With Twitter in 6 Easy Steps | Digitizd

This is my weekly round up of social media links that I’ve bookmarked in Diigo over the past week. You can get this list every week by subscribing to my RSS feed or subscribing through email. You may also follow me on Twitter or join the Facebook Fan Page to get some of these links throughout the week.

• 10 Musts for Marketing to Women on Facebook
• 10 social links you need to bookmark « Direct Marketing Observations
• A New Age for Social Media Marketing | Brian Solis
• Using Search To Prove Social Media’s Value | Social Media Explorer
• Coca-Cola’s New Social Media Policy
• 5 Tips for Creating a Successful Social Media Contest

When I wrote Cleaning My Social House, I just wanted to focus on how clearing out some clutter in your social networks can make them much more efficient in the short term.  A comment from Lauren Fisher brought another great point to light.

She said,

I think this helps us to remember that social networks are a constantly evolving process. It’s not just a case of setting up a profile once and hoping it will manage itself.

You change the people you want to converse with, start using it in different ways and want to get more out of them, the more you use them. We’re so constrained for time now and need to optimise our consumption of content.

This is such a great point about the long term view of social networks.  Everybody that uses social networks uses them in the way they want and need.  Those wants and needs are going to change over time as things in their lives change.

In the Beginning

When I first logged onto Facebook in college, it was used to connect with classmates and find a great party on the weekend.  Now, I use it to stay connected with my family and closest friends and to promote my blogs on my fan pages.  If I hadn’t kept a tidy profile, it would have been harder and more time consuming to move to this new way of using Facebook.

The same can be said for Twitter.  Originally, I used Twitter to find some new links about social media and marketing.  Now, I send out my blog updates and use it as a networking tool.  If I had gotten too caught up in mass followings or other Twitter strategies, it would have taken much longer to change my ways.

Change is Hard

You can still switch directions and change how you use your tools no matter how clean or messy your social house is.  I just think it is easier to see when it is time to make those transitions, because there is less change that needs to take place when you have a clean social house.

Change is hard, and I can get set in my ways.  Anything to help me stay flexible is something I value in an industry that is constantly changing.  How clean do you keep your social house, and how have your social strategies changed over time?

I’ve been a huge fan of Conan for many years now, and I am not the only one. Lots of people around the Internet are joining the I’m With COCO campaign. This campaign was started when Mike Mitchell created the image you see to the left.

This image is starting to pop up all over the web as more and more people are getting on board in supporting Conan.  It’s a fantastic example of how an idea can spread quickly through the use of social media.

To show your support, you can throw up a blog post or go join the I’m with COCO Facebook Fan Page.  That leaves me with just one question.

Who’s with COCO?

Recently, I had a conversation with @thenewsrookie about blogging and social media.  We talked about a lot of things, then somewhere in the conversation I talked about all the things I had quit doing in order to continue blogging and playing around in the space of social media.  His response to this was “sacrificing in the name of social media.”

I thought this was such a great quote that I’m turning it into a blog post.  So what did I actually sacrifice for social media?

Some Things Don’t Change

First, let me tell you what I didn’t sacrifice.  I didn’t sacrifice time with my wife and family.  The time with the people that are most important to me stays no matter what.  I’ve needed to set a schedule in order to keep this promise.

I also don’t sacrifice some of my down time.  Everyone needs a little time to unplug and zone out.  Staring at a computer at my job all day and then staring at one when I get home at night can get a little rough.  I’ve made sure to take the time to get away from the ringing iPhones and emails that need answering.

The Sacrifices

Now, it’s time to discuss what has changed.  I’ve limited my paintball playing to once or twice a year.  That’s down from once or twice a month.  It’s an expensive and time consuming hobby.  I did make a trip this past summer to a big event, but that has been the only time I’ve played in the last year.

I’ve also reduced my time playing video games.  I used to play most of the hit games and some of the not so great games.  Now, I have to really pick and choose which games to play.

I mentioned previously about making sure you have downtime.  I really believe in this, but I will say that blogging has impacted my downtime as well.  I would be lying if I said I kept the same amount of downtime.  It’s still there, but it is less than it was before.

Where I Stand

This may not seem like the most positive article so far, but I will tell you that all the sacrifices I have made have been worth it.  The hobbies I’ve had before have just turned into this new hobby of blogging and social media.  I really enjoy the challenge and am always excited to work on my blog when I get the chance.

If you are considering starting a blog or getting more into social media, I really recommend it, but just keep in mind the sacrifices that will have to be made to get truly involved in the space.

What things have you given up or changed in order to devote more time to blogging or social media?  Are you like me and think it’s worth it?

Image by Brainware3000