Consult, Manage, Change

Social Media it is time to set goals and make plans and strategies for the year

What do you want to achieve this year with your strategy and approach to social media and the use of tools such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook?

To help you clarify your thinking here are some social media predications for 2012

• The use of LinkedIn by recruiters, customers and your competition will continue to grow
• The use of twitter will make a comeback
• Social Media will provide you with information, knowledge and wisdom if used correctly
• Smartphones put the power of social media at your fingertips
• Your clients will demand more from you and expect that you have a social media presence
• Having a social media strategy will become a competitive advantage
• More and more apps will be available to increase your efficicney with posting information to social media sites
• 2012 is the year of convergence your personal and business brands will merge

Business professionals in today’s technology rich environments are presented with many opportunities to market ourselves through many channels. The rise in the past 5 years of social media platforms has provided us with amazing opportunities to leverage our networks both nationally and internationally.

All professionals either independent professionals, teams or companies need to have a social media strategy and approach.

Many business owners and professionals ask me “What sites should I use”? and “How do I integrate all of my social media sites”? In addition, the big question I am asked is “Should I use Facebook for business”?

When it comes to social media strategy often the questions are:

1. Can I use Social Media to increase my sales?
2. Can I use Social Media to increase awareness, of both my business and skill sets?
3. Do I use an independent professional to help aid me through the definition of my Social Media strategy?

Tomorrow is Monday 16th Jan and a lot more people will be back to work. The summer holiday break in New Zealand is fun as we have Christmas and New Year celebrations during the summer break.

Unfortunatley holidays always come to an end and when back to work looms you get to thinking if you like the work you are doing. If you are about to go back to work and you start feeling dread and stress then it is time to change jobs!!

People ask me about work/life balance. Work and life are not two distinct things you can lock away in a box! Work is life and life is work and if you are not enjoying it then you need to make some changes. If you are not looking forward to work then make a change.

Update your CV, register with a recruitment agency, update your Linkedin profile and find a job that makes you want to get out of bed in the morning.

I do not want to see unhappy people at work make the work lives of other miserable just because you are unhappy and dont want to do anything about it!