Food, Fun, Travel

Social media has been around for quite some time now. People have started to browse more on the internet for guidance or research before buying something or starting a project. Because of that, more and more people have started using social media to promote their products or business. The recent growth of social media, or consumer-generated media, has given rise to bidirectional communication between consumers and marketers. Some evidence shows it helps companies' business performance by influencing, for example, product sales, consumer attitudes, and consumer decision-making. This area is constantly changing because we are learning new things daily and beginning to understand how it works and harness its true potential. We have to go with the flow. Otherwise, we will get left behind, and if you are in business or wants to be in business, we can’t afford to stand and watch.

Here, I mapped out people’s beliefs about using social media for business. If you have other more valuable things to share, feel free to comment on this post.

Belief #1: Not all customers are into social media.

This might be true, but in some way, most people, especially your target audience, use social media in their everyday lives. Or even if not all, you can still harness the power of the internet by ensuring you optimize your website to be easily searchable in search engines like Google. This may take some time, but it is doable once you gain momentum.

Belief #2: Social media can’t be measured.

This is not true. Social media is highly measurable. There is a lot of software that we can use, even for free to track our social presence or campaigns. We can even track our website performance, people who visited our sites, etc.

Belief #3: You can’t do-it-all in-house

Like most say, you need to hire experts to make it work. This may be true, but if you are starting your business and don’t have much budget allocated for a great campaign or to get exposure, you can always start small, do-it-yourself. All you have to do is do your research; there are a lot of free software you can use, type the keyword of your industry and study what is popular or what works; try ubersuggest[1]; they offer a wide range of keyword ideas and other important stuff to learn from.

Belief #4: You have to spend hours per day on social media

You do not need to do this. You can always use a social media planner like Planoly[2] to plan your social media posts and campaigns.

Belief #5: Social media can replace your website.

This is not true. Your website and social channels complement each other, especially if your business has a product or service to promote. You can always include your website within the post or campaigns.

Belief #6: you have to be on every social channel.

This is not true unless you already have a team or have hired a firm to handle all your social media. If you are working alone or just starting, 1 to 3 maximum is acceptable. Otherwise, it will be very challenging on your part to manage all your social media channels. Before choosing which social media, make sure you have determined where your target audience is primarily using and focus your business on those social media channels.

   [1] https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/?utm_source=ppc&utm_medium=google%20ads&utm_campaign=brand&utm_term=uber%20suggests&utm_campaign=2022%7CQ1%7CSearch%7CABS_TOP_Brand&utm_source=adwords&utm_medium=ppc&hsa_acc=9016992746&hsa_cam=16967631265&hsa_grp=133638292457&hsa_ad=593698074693&hsa_src=g&hsa_tgt=kwd-466983413006&hsa_kw=uber%20suggests&hsa_mt=e&hsa_net=adwords&hsa_ver=3&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0f2GmIWQ-QIVowh9Ch1Xow_ZEAAYASAAEgJNyfD_BwE

It has been almost two years now since the Covid-19 Pandemic started, and a lot of us have not been back to our normal lives. We are all trying, and although some have said that this is now the new norm, a lot of us are still left feeling overwhelmed and isolated. For many people, it challenged beyond what their minds and bodies can handle. Even I have been affected greatly.

A lot have lost their jobs. Some were forced to stay home which at the beginning may have been great, eventually left us feeling more tired and restless. Other issues were magnified, domestic violence rose, and our mental health was left suffering. Until we can get back to how we were before this all started, all we can do is simply try to take better care of ourselves and hope soon we can all go back to our normal lives.

Here, I outlined a few tips that we can do to take care of ourselves:

·       Try to eat healthy and drink plenty of water. A balanced diet and a well hydrated body will contribute greatly to a sound mind.

·       Try to get enough sleep. 7 or 8 hours of sleep is best.

·       Exercise daily. A 15-minute workout or stretching helps, along with deep breathing exercises.

·       Avoid consuming alcohol and drugs. Having vices does not contribute to a sound body and mind.

·       Try to go out for walks. Getting a breath of fresh air and experiencing outdoor walks helps.

·       Focus on what you can control. Stop overthinking.

·       Focus on things to be grateful today and everyday.

·       Read books, learn something new, listen to music. Reading good books and listening to music is feeding your mind with good thoughts, starting a hobby will be advantageous to keep yourself busy and away from anything negative.