Stop Talking About Yourself…

If social media was a party, many of us would be headed home before it even got dark out. That’s because everybody seems to be talking about themselves:

“I’m standing in line at Starbucks.” “I’m starting my day with a hot cup of chai tea.” “I just dropped my kids off at school. It’s pouring rain!”

The most important question to ask yourself before posting anything is… who cares?

Chris Brogan, who is arguably one of the top social media marketing experts in the world and whose blog has been ranked Number 1 by Advertising Age magazine, says we should be spending 12 times as much time talking about other people as we do about ourselves.

His tips:

-If you’re not spending time using a twitter search or the search part of your social media marketing application, you’re missing one of the best opportunities that social media offers. You can search for people who are talking about certain topics. Following conversations is usually more valuable than following people.

-We should be listening far more than worrying about what to say.

-Sharing helpful tips and information from other people, makes us more valuable to the people who follow us. 80 percent of Brogan’s Twitter posts are responses to things other people have tweeted.

-No continual “barking” about your products. People aren’t on social media to buy. They’re on social media to read. So give it a a rest every now and then.

-The only difference between an audience and a community is the way you turn the chairs.

Instead of sitting around wondering what to tweet try searching, sitting back and relaxing. Sometimes the world around us is much more interesting than we remember and can provide inspiration and material in ways we never thought possible.