While speaking at the Minnesota Marketplace for Entrepreneurs yesterday I discussed some Social Media best practices. I thought it might be helpful for me to post that slide with analogies on our Minneapolis Online Marketing blog.

1. Too self promoting – If people wanted to keep getting hit with non stop advertisements they would just drive around all day looking at billboards or TiVo just the commercials then watch them later.
2. Poor content – Similar to Search Engine Optimization (SEO) content is king. The more entertaining, controversial or informative you can be the more “viral” your content is likely to be.
3. Frequency – That person talks so much! Monitor the volume of content you are pushing out to people. Message fatigue is live and well in social media. Traditional media allows some forgiveness. In the Social Media world you really don’t have a second chance to reach people. Once they stop engaging you they are likely gone forever.
4. Non responsive – People generally don’t join social networks to just listen. Social Media is a great TWO WAY medium and people are looking to engage with you or your brand.
5. Budget your time – Continuously Social Media time management is a major concern and the answer to social time management is not always clear. With all the Social Media sites out there make sure to budget your time where you will get the biggest bang for your buck. If you don’t know which areas to focus on try one of two things. Consult with a Social Media marketer (Try connecting with one via Twitter.) or try a few at a time and see which one you get the most traction with. A few easy places to start.

I hope this helps you to avoid some common fatal Social Media errors. Best of luck!