During the summer is when we go on vacation, take trips to see our loved ones and enjoy some much needed rest. But that doesn't mean that your business as been put on pause and you need to still market/promote your business while on vacation. That is when virtual assistants come into play...there are companies that provide this service for a fee, however, there are sites that provide an aspect of virtual assistants for FREE. With these free services one must be careful to be ethical about their marketing/promotion.
6 Points To Ponder Before Using Automatic Status Updates
Posted by Ching Ya | Posted in Blogging Attitudes, Facebook, Social Media Tool, Social Networking, Twitter | Posted on 01-02-2010
1. Moderate Your Scheduled Status Updates
More doesn’t mean better. Recurring updates are to be handled with care or it will hurt badly. Do not suffocate your followers with endless info, separate them into different time slots if must. It’s tiresome to filter our Twitter streams and live feeds, don’t make us annoyed and shut you down for good. We’re not saying you can’t promote your own stuffs, but keep them moderated at all times. Here’s a clear example by Chris Garrett just how ugly it can get in real life.
2. Don’t Put Others’ Reputations At Risk Just Because You Can’t Follow the Rules
Some people are using it in special circumstances: getting messages across about rescheduling a tweetup, alerting others to beware account impersonations, call to actions in meaningful causes etc. Just because you’re desperately to be heard, sabotaging your chance with repeating self-centered updates can alter people’s judgments for both the application and the person who uses it. Do not force the spamming marker to be placed on others simply because you can’t follow the rules.
3. Avoid Self-Promoting Link(s) in First Direct Message to New Friend or Fan
It’s the same nature why people dislike salesmen, they have only one purpose – to sell. If you’re not, why rushing to push products? Take time to engage, find out what your followers truly like. Wouldn’t that be a much better approach? Think ahead and don’t limit yourself shortsightedly. Sometimes it’s not just about the revenue, but the word of mouth, long-lasting trust and friendship that worth so much more in social networking. First impression counts, don’t ruin it.
4. Personalize and Edit Your Automatic Status Updates According to Relevancy
Sometimes a pre-scheduled updates can be outdated or irrelevant. Make corrections and add values to them if needed. It should be as genuine as your other live tweets or news feeds. If the purpose of using online scheduler is for productivity, it shouldn’t be a problem for you are just as enthusiastic to enhance them for more retweets and bookmark-friendly. Make your updates count or no updates at all.
5. Knowing the Acceptance Limit of Your Audiences
Always, the acceptance limit of your followers or fans, not your own. Think on their behalf of how many updates are going their ways and how you shall engage with them during intervals. Many people forgetting the need to follow up and connect but depending lazily on online scheduler. People don’t want to talk or listen to a robot. My advise is, do not schedule too much updates before you manage to get in and start conversations or reply to a feedback. A stream without engagement is monotonous. That’s the last thing you need in social networking.
6. Personality and Sincerity of Wanting to Connect Should Be Well Delivered
Forget about affiliate links, ‘visit me’ blog links, help-me-to-help-you type of messages. These will turn people off before they get to know you, which is a pity. It’s not too late to change, try apply a mixture of scheduling of post-sharing for blogger friends, collecting data from poll questions dedicated to people from different timezones, offering freebies or job positions that will end someone’s misery. It doesn’t sound all that bad now, does it? Good things do happen if you know when to use automatic status updates, and when to stop.
You can even add a special hashtag as in offline or a short message indicating you’re currently unavailable for chatting. Making it clear that it’s a good information you think worth a look, even you’re not there in person. In that case, no misunderstandings will put you in a difficult position but people will aware of your absence. Promise to feedback to them when you get online and keep your word. I have yet seen this been done anywhere but thought could be a considerable thing to do.
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