Beat Into Submission Your Social Media Flash Flood With One Simple Step

Drats!

It happened AGAIN!

I hate it when this happens, don’t you?

See, there I was, happily writing my stupendously insightful post about making your customers who use fossilized clam mobile technology…happy.

I had just finished my first cut of my cute little peelio welcome thingee on my site (you should see it there in the upper right hand corner, isn’t it the most wondrous thing you’ve seen since Macgyver ran for president in 2012?) and was earlobe-deep in breaking down all the steps required to something even your Aunt Bertha could do.

But then!

I needed a humorous video about Social Media Overload and came across this hilarious video:

My gosh, I couldn’t stop laughing at the creative uses of “corporate logos as WOMD!”

Truly it cries out for a blog post that centers upon it instead!

And with that as an introduction, let me ask you to do the following.

Sit back, relax, make certain you do NOT tip your chair over and answer me this critical question.

Do you receive:

• 1-1,000 ABSMI a day?
• 1-1,000 ABSMI an hour?
• 1-1,000 ABSMI a minute?

What was that?

What does ABSMI mean?

Oh my, sorry for that!  I should have explained…ABSMI means:

Agonizingly Blunt Social Media Interruptions

C’mon, I see you smiling there.  But it’s true, right?

Every minute of every day, I’ll bet you get some sort of (ping!) or (ack!) from the various social networks.

• It might be…a tweet or 2 or 3,294 from your Tweekdeck….
• It could be…one or 2 or 9,392,481 requests from Facebook to bomb someone’s farm and turn it into a jewelrly beading store instead….
• It might be…1 or 2 or YOU CRASHED THE INTERNET  #FAIL emails from various sundry marketers about why whenever they discover a new method, tool, or technique for making ‘lump sums’ of cash online, they make sure to share it with all their friends, and subscribers….And quite frankly, they’re  puzzled why some of them decide to NOT take action with it, specially if it’s going to make them real money online… they just don’t get it (actual email I received this morning, sigh).

Right?

Yep.  What I said.  Yep.

How on EARTH do you manage to tame the overflow of social media interruptions?

Hmmm?

I’ll tell you, it certainly isn’t easy (heck, it’s easier to compel my children to embrace the mantra that a CLEAN room is a HAPPY room because then Mother doesn’t transform herself into the Evil Overload Parent Who Barricades Off Their Room Until Chaos Has Been Decimated)!

But I AM making some headway.  And that’s what I’d like to share with you today! For I have beaten my social Media Flash Flood into Submission with this one simple step.

I got a life.

Okay, no, that’s not exactly it…instead, I prioritized what was important IN my life.

My BUSINESS life, that is.

Yes, it’s true that spending hours and hours tweeting, Facebooking, responding to emails etc. can be a delightful way to pass the day.

But do that…and the time required to complete your business actions (you know, the things that make you money?) disappears in the blink of an eye.

And that’s not smart business whatsoever!

So here’s what I now do.

---

1.)  I do most of my commenting first thing in the morning.

When I get up, I fire up my feedreader that has several hundred blogs listed in it…and I open in a new tab all the articles that I think are worthy of me spending my time commenting.

Then I leave that particular browser instance OPEN.

After I comment, I’ll kill that particular window.

And within half an hour or so, I’m basically done.  That’s 30-odd new blog posts at which I’ve contributed, 30-odd blog posts that now have a direct link back to my site.

---

2.)  I use a desktop feedreader.

Sure, I have Google Reader too…but I also use Feedreader as well.  This nifty application will popup a notice in my tray whenever a new blog post shows up.

If it’s a blog post from an author whom I treasure and adore, I’ll park my current activities, fire up the post and comment intelligently.  The benefits there are that my comments generally show up near the top.

True, it could be perceived as distracting, but hey.

I suffer for my art.

---

3.)  I try NOT to tweet much during my business work.

As you can see now at my Twitter Timeline… I have not tweeted a lot at all since I got into FINISH THIS POST UP!! mode.   That was achieved by simply closing down Tweetdeck.  Hey, tweets will keep.  🙂

and finally, the most important thing I’ve done is:

---

I look out for Number One.

Make no mistake about it.

I love taking care of my customers and love solving issues and love making the world thrill to their expectations.

• Such love, however, requires health.

and

• Rest
  

And

• Giving myself permission to take a break.
  

’cause if I don’t….I crash and burn with far more flair and excitement than the Cirque du Soleil on their opening night rendition of Monster Trucks Meet Transformers Flamethrowers!

Really.

So looking out for myself, first and foremost…it’s now a priority.

By following the above simple tips, I’ve managed to regain a portion of my social media sanity.

And if you’re finding yourself drowning in Information Overload, perhaps it could help you as well.

Do you have any tips for staying sane with social media?  If so, please share them below, I’d love to chat!

Enjoy,

Barbara Ling