There are a LOT of trolls
on social media now
– both the bots
and the less likely
human sh*tstarters.
Trolls suck energy,
especially if we respond to them.
That’s energy
we could be using
to make our businesses a success.
They bring negativity
to ourselves
AND
our prospective customers.
That will decrease our sales.
And they will NEVER
buy our products/services.
NEVER.
Blocking them
will increase your sales
AND your happiness levels.
Block the trolls
and move on.
One of my buddies
tracks
what he calls
the Troll Index.
He’ll post a photo
on social media
of himself
wearing a mask.
Then he’ll count how many trolls
comment on that post.
A high number of trolls,
he’s found,
correlates to a COVID surge.
Trolls are usually paid
by entities to stop
actions from being taken.
More trolls
means more concern
those actions will be taken.
Which means
if you want
that action to be taken,
push HARDER
when the trolls are raging.
I’ve noticed a trend
on social media.
I’ll share another writer’s post.
They’ll, in response,
like one of my posts.
That’s not the same thing.
At all.
When I share a post,
it means all of my followers
have a better chance
of seeing the other person’s post.
When I like a post,
it means the other person’s followers
have a better chance
of seeing their own post.
Both increases reach.
But only one increases reach
to new-to-us readers (prospects).
A like doesn’t equal
a share.
Remember that
when reciprocating
on social media.
Recently,
one of my social media posts
went viral.
I gained thousands of followers.
That sounds like
it should be a good thing.
It’s not.
It’s a bad thing.
Because
that social media post
had nothing to do
with the products I’m selling.
Those thousands of new followers?
They’re not interested
in the products I’m selling.
But it is worse than that.
They do NOT want to SEE posts
about the products I’m selling.
They are reporting those posts.
I’m currently running the risk
of having my account banned
from the site.
You do NOT want to go viral
on a post
not at all related to
your products/services.
Remember that
when you post content.
Dealing with trolls and bots
is part of the social media experience.
Some people try to shame them.
They share the troll response
and ridicule it.
And that is exactly
what the trolls and bots want.
They don’t care
about the ridicule.
They drop a comment
and run.
They care about reach.
And by shaming the troll or bot,
that reach is expanded.
Instead,
I block the trolls and bots.
I’m not going to change
the mind
of a computer
or of a human
paid to cause chaos.
There’s no point
in arguing with them.
I simply sever their reach
and remove them
from my feed completely.
Block the trolls and bots
and move on.
A buddy got fired
from a much needed job
because she posted
under her own name
on social media
about Gaza.
This happens.
Quite often.
Most companies
have slipped
into their employment contracts
clauses stating
if you portray them
in a bad light
that can be grounds
for being fired.
This can impact you
before you’re hired.
Many managers
scour social media
for their job candidates’ accounts
looking for a reason
to disqualify them
from the job search.
They’re looking for stances or beliefs
they don’t agree with,
for photos
they don’t want representing
their companies,
for, heck, any mention
of the job search,
and many other things.
I don’t have a social media account
under my real name
for this and other reasons.
I also don’t have photos of me
attached to my social media accounts
(due to facial recognition software).
If you do have a social media account
under your real name,
know that you can be fired
or targeted for anything
you post.
Weigh the risks
before you post.
I had a social media post
go viral recently.
It received many, MANY thousands
of likes.
I didn’t receive
any new followers
due to that post.
Not one.
Sales
didn’t increase
due to it.
I gained no additional satisfaction
from the post
being seen by so many people.
All it did
was suck a lot of my time
as I had to manage the responses.
Going viral isn’t always
the solution
to your marketing woes.
Look into
a variety of possible solutions
and hope
one of those
works for you.
In yesterday’s post,
I used the term
‘female facing.’
Being female facing
AS A BUSINESS
is a choice.
Our businesses
can be any gender
we wish them to be,
including genderless.
In the Romance Novel writing business,
for example,
I might wish my branding
to be genderless
to appeal to a certain
target market.
I might use initials
instead of a first name
in my pen name
(company name)
and I might use
genderless avatars
on social media.
I would be female
but I wouldn’t be female facing.
Being female facing
AS A BUSINESS
is a choice.
Make that decision
consciously.
If you’re female facing
and a male facing person
uses ‘sweetie’
when posting to your message
online,
block that person.
Hell, save yourself
future trouble
and
block anyone
who uses ‘sweetie’ in that way
with any female facing person.
‘Sweetie’ is not only
condescending
and patronizing,
a means of belittling
you and your views,
but it is also
a dog whistle
to women haters everywhere.
By using it,
the person
is intentionally sending
a wave of hate
your way.
They are deliberately
trying to harm you.
The use of ‘sweetie’
is meant
to attract
more of those awful people
to your account
and to you.
You’ll be swamped
by hate
and you’ll have to manage that.
No one has time
for that sh*t.
View ‘sweetie’
as an automatic block.
When I have a couple spare minutes,
I schedule a promotional post
for a book (product)
or
I shred some documents
or
I take some photos
of interesting textures
for backgrounds
or…
I have a list of
tasks
that need to be done
yet don’t take much time.
And I used them
as filler
in my schedule.
A call got cancelled?
I do one of these tasks.
I finish a chapter early?
I do one of these tasks.
I have to wait for something
or someone?
I do one of these tasks.
I don’t waste these short durations
of time.
And the little tasks
all add up.
Keep a list
of fast tasks.
Complete tasks on that list
when you have a snippet
of extra time.