Does managing social media feel overwhelming?

Are you racing to keep up with changes, create content and build a viable online presence?

Today’s “Breakthrough Social Media Success,” an interview with Denise Wakeman is going to give you the tools you need to go from invisible to viable!

Denise is an Online Business Strategist, Founder of The Blog Squad, and Co-Founder of The Future of Ink.

Denise has been using the Internet with great success as a marketing tool since 1996 and works with business professionals, helping them  get more visibility for their online and offline businesses.

During our chat you’ll learn:

• How to effectively leverage online tools
• How to make a mindset shift and succeed at social media
• The most important thing you should be doing right now
• Why you need to be present on social media
• Why a social media strategy is a vital component to your online success

Click here to Subscribe to the “Breakthrough Social Media Business” podcast via iTunes!

Below is an excerpt from our time together. Listen in as we discuss how businesses are succeeding at social media.

How to Use Social Media Strategically

The Early Days of Online Marketing

Rebekah:

Share with us a little bit more about yourself. How did you become an expert within your field?

Denise:

I work primarily with small business owners, entrepreneurs, authors, speakers, and solo professionals to help them with their online marketing.

I started in 1996, so it was online marketing then. It wasn’t social media and there was no blogging.

And in 1997, teleseminars kind of came in like bridged line that you paid $30 an hour to rent to have a teleseminar. So those are the olden days, but just to give some context for those people who think everything is free, it wasn’t always that way.

The Biggest Challenge in Social Media Today

Rebekah:

Knowing what you know now, how are you transitioning your offline into online and helping  businesses solve their top  social media challenges?

Denise:

It’s understanding the complexities that come with social media, because while it may seem simple on the surface, it really isn’t. It’s changing all of the time.

I also realize that it’s a big mindset thing. Most people that come to me are experts within their own field. They know they need to get online and get found, but they have the typical “I don’t have time,” “I don’t understand,” and “I don’t want to do this” complaints.

Those kind of issues come to me a lot. The most important thing I try to impress is that this is an important way to get the word out about their business. They need to participate in some way, at least a little bit.

There’s only so much you can give away. They must be involved on some level and I help them learn how to do that.

How to Make Social Media Manageable

Rebekah:

Whether it’s a fear of failure or of the unknown, coming up with an excuse such as a lack of time can be debilitating. Many people take themselves out of the social media game making up stories that simply aren’t true.

How do you help clients make that shift within their own mind and truly embrace social media?

Denise:

The first place I start around the “I don’t have time to do this,” Can somebody else do it for me,”  is to remind them that this is not about blogging. It is not about Facebooking and tweeting and all that. It is about marketing their business and helping the people who have the problems that they solve.

I also assure them that they don’t need to be on 10 social networks. That they can start in one place and get comfortable and then put the next layer on and the next layer on. Because once you’ve mastered one, it’s easy to move on and continue connecting, sharing, and commenting.

Knowing that there are major similarities between the networks makes it so much easier.

Tips on Content Curation and Creation

Rebekah:

You are out there practicing what you preach within your own business every day.

Can you give some suggestions that might make content curation and creation easier for anyone looking to build their presence online?

Denise:

Because I started in blogging before any of these social networks existed, I always recommend that people start building up content on their own site first.

You have to remember, you don’t own or control these social channels, you’re renting real estate.

So start on your own blog and create an editorial calendar. Now go find your content and topics.

For example, look at the top 10 topics that are relevant to your business. Now make those your top 10 topics and then go down and list five sub-topics you can write about under that one topic. You now  have 50 ideas right there.

So that usually has people going, “Oh, okay I do have something to write about.” The truth of the matter is this –  if you’re a professional, you have expertise in something.

Now determine your comfort level in creating content and determine how often you can commit to a posting strategy.

Listen to the full interview and subscribe within iTunes! or Watch the Google+ Hangout Below: