How to Understand the Purpose of Social Media

 Yes, social media remains a place of unfettered interaction online. It is a very useful tool for people who know what to do with it. But, you must know how to play in it if you don’t want to make a fool of yourself out there. It takes some thoughtful planning and organization to get things right on social media. All you need is to pay attention because if you don’t use it right, you may perpetually struggle fruitlessly out there.

Here are some salient issues you must understand about the purpose of social media if you want to derive immense benefits from social media’s uses:

#1. Social media delivers your message to the right audience online

Like minds always associate on social media and more likely to do business with one another. You must be an active participant yourself to derive maximum benefits from this relationship. The main thing social media helps you do is to put your message right out there in front of customers and potential new customers. Fact is, you’re unlikely to attract customers to places they don’t already go to. The real reason you must always take the time to figure out where your audience is before trying to reach them. Targeting popular social media platforms like facebook, twitter, instagram and the likes is usually of immense benefits in that regard.

#2. Social media is not a know-all, be-all platform

It sure has its limitations. Some users erroneously expect social media to work miraculously to promote their business. Experience has shown that things don’t usually work out that easily. You must first work hard on your own account before it gets noticed online. If you do manage to get good traction, it is usually as a result of the lot of hard work you’ve put in earlier. Social media does not solve all your marketing problems but it sure takes care of a lot.

#3. Social media doesn’t help in all issues

It doesn’t always help in all things because of its own short comings. Sometimes, having a social media profile doesn’t make much of a difference for your business. It may not even help at all depending on the type of business you are into. You must get fully involved too if you want to be taken seriously as a participant. If you don’t participate actively, you don’t get good results. Participation is what brings results not by just being a dormant player. If your social media profiles are not updated often enough, they may actually be hurting your online presence without your knowing it. 


 

How Liking What You Do Helps Your Business

“Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it.” ~ Maya Angelou

My mentor once told me, “if your heart is not in it, just forget it, you are wasting your time, energy and resources for a lost course.” The import of this statement was lost to me at the time it was made. Years later, I came face to face with the reality of the statement when I had to be practically “forced” to do something I didn’t believe in because it was an instruction from my superior officer. Till date, I regret not declining that instruction outright and face the consequences later instead of going ahead half-heartedly and ending up in avoidable failure. In any business deal you want to negotiate, forget it if your mind and heart are not in the deal. A practical business lesson!

To succeed in any venture, you must have your mind on it, be focused on it and be determined to get it done. That is only possible when you like what you are doing. Liking what you are doing enables you to focus properly. Being focused on the task at hand is the key here. This is because at all times, success demands singleness of purpose. Without it, hoping to succeed becomes a mirage. What you choose to focus your mind on is critical because you will become what you think about most of the time. If you like what you do, and liking how you do it, it becomes easier to focus your mind on all tasks at hand relating to what you have to do. That way, getting it done to your satisfaction comes about more smoothly. That is success. Liking yourself, what you do and how you do it, helps the mind to focus better. It enables you to harness and concentrate your thoughts positively. The more you concentrate on the work at hand, the better the results you get. No doubt you know that the sun's rays do not burn until brought to a focus. That is exactly how concentration helps everyone who wants to succeed.

Get busy right now because…. “No pains, no gains. To get the prize, you must pay the price.”