Four Social Networking Myths That Can Hold You Back

Social media is one of the best things that’s ever happened to freelancers. Most will affirm that it helped them to develop their personal brand, network with potential clients and raise their profile online.

For a freelancer, social media fulfils two valuable needs. It facilitates peer-to-peer socialization and provides opportunities for marketing one’s skills or products. It’s not surprising, therefore, to encounter self-proclaimed gurus offering advice on how to get the most out of social media. While often well-meaning, these “experts” are often guilty of perpetuating damaging myths.

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Here are four common social networking advices to take with a pinch of salt. Check these tips and share with us your ideas and experience about it.

Myth #1: Automatic updating is always a good idea.

Taking advantage of automatic updates can seem like the ideal way to streamline social media activities. While automation can provide a steady throughput of updates, it can’t duplicate the real meat of social media: interacting with others on your network.

Strike a balance between shackling yourself to your social networks and sounding like a robot. Automate a portion of your updates to give you a break, while making time to come back and interact regularly.

Myth #2: If you don’t sign up for everything or you’ll miss out.

Some social networking advices work on the assumption that you need to be active on every single social network in existence. Just posting on Facebook, Twitter and maybe a blogging site isn’t enough. No, you have to be active on Pinterest, Google+ and Tumblr, building your Linkedin network, commenting on Disqus, workstreaming on Soup.io – constantly glancing over your shoulder to check that a new network hasn’t popped up overnight. Fail to keep up with all of this and you’ll disappear, fading into the ether.

You need to remember that your time is worth something. It’s a good idea to sign up for accounts on multiple networks but you don’t actually have to be active in all of them. Choose a core group of well-populated social media platforms that are relevant to your business and let the rest go.

Myth #3: You must post at least five updates per day.

The exact number will vary from expert to expert. It might be five, or seven, or 10, or 23. All will claim that their figure is the optimum number of daily updates and for a freelancer to send out any less is self-sabotage.

What counts isn’t quantity, it’s quality. Concentrate on making your updates engaging, relevant and useful to your followers. Three or four gems are more use than fifty banal “what I had for lunch” posts.

Myth #4: More shares are always better.

You need to share content for your social media presence to have any substance. Therefore the more content you share, the better, regardless of the topic. Right?

Wrong. If you’ve optimized your profile to encourage followers who are interested in your PHP skills but most of your updates relate to your favorite soap opera, your audience will become confused and drift away. Stick to sharing content that is actually relevant to your followers.

Conclusion

You don’t have to follow common social networking advices rigidly. Modify them according to your own needs, developing a personal social media strategy that works for you.