The good news is, you don't need a social media expert to create the best social media presence this side of the Rio Grande. As social media usage advances and we learn more about trends, it becomes clear that, just like learning to read or riding a bike — learning how to build and maintain a valuable social media presence easily evolves, it’s passion, creativity and perseverance that make for a great online reputation.

Let Your Passion Be Your Guide

photo Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums
You can be a lion tamer or a cross-stitching guru — the most important asset you have when conquering the social-mediasphere is the very same asset that drove you towards your career in the first place. Mari Smith, the president of the International Social Media Association knows this better than anyone else. In an interview with Success.com, Smith delves into her experiences with sites like Twitter, exclaiming that it’s little more than a global chat room stocked with influencers who don't know what they're doing or why they're even there.

In for the Long Haul

Laying out your long term objective and sticking to it is the only way to build a solid social media network. Although your methods may vary, Smith advises that social media simply be used as a vehicle that transports your message — not an ATM machine that doles out cash for pressing the right buttons. Also, just like building a brick and mortar house, constructing a social media structure takes time. Success.com suggests that it can take as long as six to 24 months to see results after even the most ambitious social media campaign.

Build and Maintain a Solid Reputation

The second essential ingredient to a flourishing, long-term business presence online is managing your reputation. Although minding your Ps and Qs is a given, even the most confident media mavens often make missteps and miss opportunities to build or strengthen their reputations online. Services like reputation.com can help ensure that false or slanderous remarks don’t clog your business search results, but the reach of reputation management stretches much further than that. Encouraging your social media friends and followers to review your company on sites like Yelp.com can really help bolster SEO and your brand’s reputation. Offering customized incentives also helps incite user engagement and helps your brand and mission resonate.
The social world truly is your oyster, even if you're not as tech savvy as you’d like to be.


http://www.firebrandsocialmedia.com/guest-blogger/social-media-experts-dont-exist-but-you-can-still-be-one/