I'm not sure if you get newsletters from John Reese, or if you read his latest email?
He sent it on Monday of this week (Oct 11th). It was very candid and honest, and it really gave me pause.
In fact, I read it 3 times.
If you didn't read it, I'll give you the short version. The title was Letting Go of Your Online 'Friends'.
John talked about his personal experience with social media "noise", information overload, and feeling completely burned out. And about shutting down his twitter and facebook and email accounts - and ultimately getting out of the Internet Marketing space altogether to focus on other ventures. (It was a long email.)
The big take-away was on minimizing communications, basically to stop responding to the "noise" - or allowing it to overwhelm you - and to get back into creative or action mode. This is exactly where my own mind has been lately, and so his email really resonated with me...
(No, I'm not leaving the Internet Marketing space.)
For the last few weeks I have been working on a solution to my overall communication system. I've made a lot of changes in that area this year, including outsourcing the majority of my email and "going mobile". It's still a work in progress, and I'm still trying to streamline the process.
You probably deal with much of the same stuff that I do: too much email, too much content, information overload, interruptions & distractions. We have solutions for that sort of thing, of course - but it needs to be reassessed every now and then.
Now is one of those times for me personally...
Stepping Outside The Noise
It's a tough call, figuring out the best way to manage Social Media and the combination of all communication points. I don't want to be completely out of the loop. And I do want to continue to maintain a high-touch business, and a real relationship with my market.
The key is to structure communications so that they are on MY terms. While that sounds selfish or maybe arrogant, it's actually the key to delivering exactly what my market wants: more tips & resources, more help & more actionable content.
Or to put it another way: By giving less of myself, I am in a better position to give (much) more to my market.
And so once again I am unsubscribing from numerous email updates, clearing my Skype list, cleaning out my feed reader, mass deleting archived messages and emails, and basically doing major clean-up on my content stream.
Facebook - Ack! 😯
Facebook is a major issue all on it's own. I recently asked my private group what their #1 distraction was, and the majority gave the exact same answer: Facebook.
I sat down last night and cleared out the majority of the Pages I "liked". More than 60, actually. Many of them hadn't been updated in months (some more than a year). Others had become regurgitated information I was already getting elsewhere - via email, feed reader or Twitter.
I've also decided that I want a personal profile. I want a place to connect with MY friends. I made my profile private, and from this point forward am only adding friends that I already know. I don't want to make friends on Facebook. I want to connect with my friends there. I already have a Facebook Page for business connections & conversations, so there's no reason for the two to cross over.
This is a big undertaking considering I already have over 3,000 "friends" on Facebook. Unfortunately it HAS to be done. My content stream on Facebook is full of marketing spam, and CRAP. I also value my privacy, and now that anyone with a smart phone can sync their Facebook friends list and have me in their mobile contact list... I have to be more choosy about who I friend.
Responding vs Creating
In the end, this is not really about marketing. This is about ME.
It's about how I want to spend my time, and how I want to run my business. It's also about getting out of constant response mode, stepping outside the never ending noise, and getting back into creative mode.
This means I'll have to ignore some things, and say no to others. It's not fun, but it has to be done if I am going to regain my focus and keep my sanity. Both of which I would very much like to do. 🙂
The good news is, this is going to free me up to focus on the things that you like best: fresh new content, creative ideas, new videos, podcasts - all the stuff you enjoy from me most, and that I enjoy doing most.
There's a balance to it all of course. And this is what I'm seeking.
What about you?
I would love to hear how you are managing your communications, your social media reach, and your content stream. What is your biggest challenge? What have you found to be most helpful in maintaining focus & productivity?
Best,
About Lynn Terry
I don't have a problem with turning off twitter and facebook while I'm working on something. I've had my mom call me up, worried because she hadn't seen me online for a couple days.
I only have a problem with them when there's something I 'have' to do, and don't want to do it.
When that's the case, forget social media - even FreeCell is too much of a distraction!
I know what you mean, Kelly 😉
I don't have any problem turning them off either. Unfortunately, messages pile up on me like crazy and it's difficult to catch up if I don't keep up. It would be different if it were personal, but I often get support requests via Twitter DM, Facebook wall post, Facebook message, etc - even though I have a contact system set up for that...
Ahh, such good stuff!
It's a constant process of evaluating and re-evaluating. It's particularly tough when someone is drawn to you, in the business sense, because of the personal touch and accessibility. So how do you continue with that high-touch model when you continue to grow?
Gary Vaynerchuk said he thought people would give you points for TRYING to keep up -- I don't know if that flies. The people who have been with you for the long haul feel cheated when they no longer can "reach" you; the newcomers wonder where that high-touch, personal access they've heard so much about has gone.
We have so many tools at our disposal, but we need to remind ourselves they are TOOLS. What is our business? What, in a sentence, do we offer the market? If personal service and access is part of our differentiation, we need to figure out how to continue to provide that on a larger scale, realizing we lose something as we scale upwards. Then we either need to limit our size, or accept the lower level of personal touch we can continue to provide.
I admire your transparency as you deal with these items. It's going to continue to be an issue for many of us!
Thank you Lain. Scalability is definitely the issue. I don't think "your best effort" is good enough either. People are quick to use words like: rude, snob, unresponsive, incompetent, clique, etc (and yes, they've been used on me). But in the end, they follow/like/subscribe because they want to get tips & content from me, so that's where my focus needs to be.
Social Media can easily put too high an expectation on an individual - and outsourcing social media updates is called out & frowned on heavily.
I don't have nearly the amount of "noise" that you do Lynn, and it is already a huge distraction. In order to stay active on social media, you have to be there posting and reading and responding... but the can literally take hours, when there generally aren't enough hours anyway 🙂
I have recently and for the first time ever hired a VA to help with the things that need to be done daily but that can really bog a person down in the managing of a business.
I love, love, love my VA 😀 Smart move!
Yes - so far I'm loving it... not sure why I waited so long. 🙂
Lynn and Heather, I might sound stupid, but what exactly is a VA? Is it a virtual assistant? And what can you actually give them to do? 😮
Hi Petra,
A VA is a Virtual Assistant and you can have them do a variety of things depending on your business model & the size of your business. Many people have entire virtual teams, with a personal assistant and project manager at the head of that team.
To give you some examples of things they can do - and this is a very limited and brief list - they can: answer email, manage customer service & support, proofread & edit, hire people for you, submit content & links, etc.
I applaud you for taking this route! I wish I could do it myself, but I fear that, as someone at the beginning of the cycle of product creation, building a following, etc. I'll have to open myself up to more noise. My dreams of a cabin in the Yukon with no Internet access will have to wait.
Do you think that tuning out is really only an option for more established marketers?
I think you should tune in to the things in your market that you need to tune in to in order to be a Market Leader. And you should do so on your own terms - using a feed reader, or whatever works best for you personally.
There is more noise in the IM space than most, and when it comes to Facebook specifically. But the main point being that sometimes you have to step outside the busy-ness and the noise in order to get back into creative mode...
The feed reader I use is NewsFire and absolutely love it!! though I believe it is Mac only. Feed readers are an absolute life and time saver.
I don't have any great advice. I literally almost cried this morning when it took TWO hours to answer this little email, that little forum post, this, that and the other. Two hours is ridiculous.
At the end of the day, it is no one's fault but my own. With my plate already full, I somehow agreed to keep adding to it. I know I'm not happy with the stress, and I know that means the quality isn't going to be there.
Modifications desperately needed... 🙂
I'm feeling stressed with it as well, so I can empathize. I am going through the motions to remedy the situation as best I can.
There is only so much I can do in regards to systems & support. I can't force people to use what I put in place (vs DM me on Twitter, for example). Which is the very reason I/we should NOT follow/friend everyone just for the sake of numbers alone... given that it gives them direct messaging access. Which blows up any communications system we make great efforts to put in place.
With social media, in the IM space specifically, this WILL all come to a head.
Back to your comment about an email, a forum post, etc, etc - I try to look at those and figure out whether they can be outsourced or used in a better way. If I choose to give a long reply, sometimes it's better done as a blog post and then reply with the link and a thank you for inspiring the topic. Just as an example. I also often look through my Sent box for articles and/or blog posts that are practically written and need very little editing to publish.
Ah Lynn, what a liberating post! I dont have any answers yet on how to do it, so I'll just keep watching what works for you!
It's a work in progress 😉 I'll keep you posted!
I think what helps me is that I don't have social media on my phone. I don't want it there. lol. I don't want to be accessible 24/7 or worse "wired" 24/7. Although nowhere near your level of popularity or reach, I would imagine I would want it less if I were. lol.
Ever since phones became mini laptops, the issue came into question. At first it was an expense issue, "I don't want to pay for that". Now it's much cheaper, so no longer a monetary issue - but I hold true to my original belief, that I don't want to be reached all the time.
I spend a great deal of time online and on my laptop, that to take it everywhere (via phone) is too much for me. It's just a wacky personal thing of mine.
As for Twitter and Facebook, if it were on my phone. I'm sure I would get addicted to it and fast. Another reason NOT to get it. lol.
I get distracted all the time, but it's getting better. I think.
I LOVE operating mobile 😀 It has freed me up in SO many ways. I am able to manage the majority of my business from my back pocket - anywhere.
I also love the mute button -lol. And I don't have a problem turning it off, or focusing on what I am supposed to be doing.
My main issue is the communications madness. The fact that there are too many points of contact with no means of managing it all efficiently. Like the example I gave in BH of a member posting a support request on my Facebook Page (for a different site). Considering I don't get notification of posts on the Page, not ideal. And also not a place where my VA can get notification and respond in a timely manner...
Twitter has been the most challenging thing for me for some time, but I think it's mostly because I'm new to it. Lately, I have been growing a bit bored with it already. I think getting bored is a good sign: it's better to be bored than addicted!
Also if I'm sucked into social media for hours on end, I always feel somehow empty and disappointed afterwards. I want to go read a book instead!
I have also been wondering whether it's really "compulsory" to have for instance a Facebook page as part of your business model. Isn't it enough if you have a Twitter account and a mailing list? Also, if you have several niches and domains, you can't possibly be high touch in all of them.
Unless the the purpose of our online business is to burn ourselves out, I don't think we should feel a need to apologize that we periodically have to limit our subscriptions etc. 🙂
You can *appear* high touch, without being AS high touch as might be assumed or expected. That's the goal I'm working toward at the moment. 🙂
This is a really timely post. Thank you, Lynn.
It's true: There is too much information and communication happening, and filters are essential in order to stay sane!!
I get distracted checking out all my favorite news sites, just in case something just happened that I'd missed -- so I totally relate to these comments.
My thinking is that it's a matter of discipline. When my kitchen is a mess, I methodically clean the right counter, the stove top, the left counter, the table, the sink, etc. I know that if I keep getting distracted in the middle of cleaning the kitchen (like making the beds, doing laundry, doing errands, etc.) then it will take me a very long time to get the kitchen clean.
If I focus on my important tasks, the tasks that will yield profitability for my business, without getting distracted by all the shiny objects vying for my attention, then my business grows. I have to give myself permission to miss things -- it's ok if there are newsletters, new products, and new blog posts that I miss entirely!!
That is all true. But what if you miss customer support requests, or an important note from an affiliate manager that requires action on your part? Streamlining our intake is important, but it's tough to have a system that works - when the entire system your system is within... is a mess. LOL
Timing is everything! I recently wrote a post about this very same thing. I'll admit, you were a lot nicer about it than I was. I was particularly railing against internet marketers. But I did it for the same reason: To get time back in order to give more to my readers.
Spring cleaning is no longer reserved for the house and/or yard. Our "virtual real estate" needs some purging once in a while, too.
Thanks for the great post!
I get you, Bill - loud and clear. I do take personal responsibility for the things I subscribe to and request and purchase. That's on me.
I also take personal responsibility for following people on Twitter, enabling them to direct message me. Although, I didn't realize at the time how much that would get abused. Now it's my responsibility to UNfollow so my DM space is even usable again. I already had to turn off getting DM's to my mobile device for that reason - but again, I take responsibility for that.
Likewise, I take personal responsibility for accepting friend requests on Facebook from people I don't even know - much less, know as a friend. Now they can plague my account with event requests and group requests and inbox messages and even post crap on my wall. My fault, and I am going to do something about it.
When I first set these accounts up a few years ago, I had no idea the madhouse they would eventually become. I'm taking a few steps back, jumping out of the stream so to speak, to regain control over my spaces.
Proud of you. You know that I'm battling similar issues (always) and saying "no" more and more often just to keep focus.
We'll take charge of our time and win - together!
Heck, I'm proud of both of Us! 😉
Just the act of saying "no" alone is time consuming on a large scale - or becomes a significant expense if outsourcing (which we both are)...
Good point. Do you use canned responses in your gmail desk? They're a life saver!
My VA has a swipe file for responses. I'm not sure what a gmail desk is - but I only access gmail on my mobile (usually).
Hey Lynn
That was just like talking to you ... so real, I could totally see the discomfort on your face but the determination to do the right thing. I would simply add that doing the right thing by you is the right thing to do. It is your business and has to be run to suit your lifestyle. Well done.
As someone who's business life is inside Fb, I do find I just have to turn it off some times for sanity. It is a big fat distraction, but learning the techniques to manage Fb helps to unleash the power of it.
Leigh <3 (Fb heart hehehe)
<3 right backatcha Leigh ;) I look forward to connecting with you on my Facebook issues specifically for some expert guidance!
I guess you know you won't get any static from me. This past year, Michael Hyatt did the same thing. I don't read his blog anymore because too many others are more relevant, but you might check to see how it went for him, professionally.
I got on FB to keep in touch with friends and relatives, and rarely post anything. Got on Twitter to get some news from an author doing a contest. Sometimes I use Twitter now to retweet or comment on something I've read, but rarely try to post any witty remarks or items that might boost my blog. Probably should, but haven't decided the time is that well spent. I like to read things the Copyblogger team say and a handful of others.
My major interest in communicating with you is one way. Yeah, I'd like to have a cup of tea and chat, but that's not uncommon when I like an author. Doesn't mean I will. I want to know everything I can learn from you about building a blog that is heavy on affiliate products and my own artwork. First, I have to learn how to do the technical stuff, and then I'll worry about list building problems.
I think you are doing the right thing about narrowing your lines of discourse. So much of what's put out there is self-serving, vacuous and well worth passing up. And here's what I really think. Time is going to show that all this vacant chit chat is dumbing down kids and young adults, who have already been taught that mediocrity rules. Thank gosh for Seth Godin. (Boy, do I sound jaded.) Partly these thoughts comes from reading a fantastic book recommended by Naomi, FASCINATION. I recommend you get it and read it. Been wanting to tell you that, so here's my chance.
Be looking for you on Clicknewz.
BTW, I haven't read the other comments yet.
Hey Dorothy,
It's not uncommon for me to enjoy a chat over tea - or coffee, or more commonly some ooey gooey chocolate dessert. 😀 I take every opportunity I can to meet up and get to know people in person that I've met online. It's fun, and I've met some of the coolest people that way - and even made a few very good friends.
You make some good points. I will look up the book and check that out - I am an Amazon addict so I already have a new cart filling up as we speak. 😉
From my experience (my own, family, friends, reading posts and blogs like these etc) this happens with almost everyone, but I think it hits people working in Internet Marketing the hardest if they don't separate their personal (i.e. Facebook) profiles from their work ones (fan pages, blogs, etc).
When I say "this" happens, I am referring to building up a massive list of "friends" and then later decided to tone it down a bit (frankly out of necessity, for the exact reasons you mentioned in your post here).
When I was younger I used to be a promoter (quit about 8 years go) and as a result I had between 700 and 800 friends even after I quit promoting because they were all on my email mailing list, which facebook allows you to import.
Then about a year ago I decided to only have actual friends and family on my Facebook, so now I am down to 119 (most of which are family; big family).
I felt that my personal profile should be, well, personal. For any work or group related communities, I can simply use fan pages for that (even now with the new groups system to make sharing more private for those with massive friend's lists).
I am only now starting to get into Internet Marketing after spending the last 15 years building websites and web apps. My wife has been in Marketing most of her life and turned me onto the simple fact that with how busy and crowded the internet is, getting involved in the conversation and not just putting stuff out there is critical. Due to the nature of Internet Marketing (being part of a human network that requires you to stay involved in the many conversations that take place), I am glad that I made a defined separation of my personal and professional profiles. Your blog entry only furthers to confirm that it was a good decision.
Definitely a good decision 😉
I recently did this as well. A few months back, I cleared out nearly 400 Facebook 'friends.' Interestingly enough, they didn't seem to notice since none of them contacted me asking why we weren't connected any longer. Hmmm, I think we're on to something!
I have found that the more time I spent online, the less I am focused and the less I have to offer those whom I am serving.
It's the 'less is more' factor. The less noise I'm involved with, the more focused I am and the better I can serve my clients, colleagues and friends.
Like always, time management is of the essence. For me, these distractions (they always seem to exist in some form) seem to at times cause me to "stray" from the objectives; not just daily tasks but the "what's" and the "why's" of the big picture.
Focus is King!!
Thanks Lynn,
Jim Campbell
Oh, Lynn - this is such an important topic. I did get John Reese's newsletter/email and I totally empathized with him, and with your post here. I feel like I'm this little drop in an ocean of huge gigantic waves of communication. I used to feel in control but I don't now.
I am on my own journey of scaling back also.
Thanks so much for providing once again a very important opening for discussion and thought about this important subject!
Diana Walker, Cravings Coach
Actually Facebook can be a lonely place when all you see are marketing messages. I fell into clutter and time-sucking with my email inbox - all those darned sign-ups, just to read a sales letter half the time - so I was careful not to make that mistake with Facebook. I've become super choosy about who I accept as a friend, because I really don't like someone using me solely to swell their numbers.
I think the principle of keeping your Facebook News Feed for your personal life and a Facebook Page for business is a great way of handling it. Though I confess I haven't got around to making my own Facebook page for my business.
(Too busy unsubscribing from all those emails!)
I have always been a fan of John Reese. He has created some great products over the years. But...right after I read it I got an email from him promoting Kajabi. Well John are you in or out?
I saw that too, Mike. I had to assume he was on the hook for a reciprocal mention or mailing. Very possible that was the case...
Sometimes I feel like I'm always ahead of the pack on certain things. I had already decided that I had too much going on. That's why I'm only on twitter twice a day now. I check facebook periodically instead of all of the time. Now email...That's a whole different story. I'm working on it, though. I get exactly what you're saying, Lynn and I'm nowhere near as popular as you or John Reese (yep, I got the email too). I missed seeing you at NAMS. Okay this comment is kind of rambling on so I need to end it. I'm just saying that if you have to scale down to focus on giving value to customers, that's a great thing.
Although I am somewhat new to Internet marketing myself, I have never allowed myself to get thoroughly engulfed in social media even for personal connections. While it can be fun and mentally healthy, for some it is an obsession, which is most unhealthy. (I have a very limited presence on Facebook and none on Twitter.) And a lot of the content there is self-serving, as someone mentioned. So you have to set boundaries. You have to put walls up around your personal space and time, when necessary. Those already engulfed have to regain control of their time and their lives, which can be done, as you have just demonstrated, Lynn!
I'm not on John Reese's list anymore so I didn't get that message.
Just a couple of weeks ago I came really close to closing out my Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn Accounts. To me they are distractions I have a really hard time not being nosy.
I actually really only use Facebook for personal and mostly people I've met in person. I did add you as a friend Lynn but I wouldn't be upset in the least if I didn't make the cut as I totally understand the need to reduce the noise.
I'm glad I did end up keeping Facebook though because this past weekend my Nan (grandma) passed away and it was a really good way to connect with family I don't talk to over the phone (big family) and to see pictures of my family who went home for the funeral that I couldn't make it too - that made keeping Facebook worth it!
Anyway, smart move clearing out content and keeping focus - I'm always striving for that!
Angela
Facebook is a challange, yes! But the key is dealing with it in a way it doesnt interfere during working hours. It's hard but it has to be done. I've disciplined myself to not open Facebook at work in the starting 3hrs. This helps me to stay focused and get most of the work done. Infact it also acts an incentive to get my work done faster. Otherwise emails from work are another distraction as in our company even small notices and announcements are sent by mail. So I do need to keep upto date on the latest and it cannot be avoided. But only the most important mails are read everything else is kept for my breaks.
I have been following his article for a long time. He seems to like to portray the image of a loafer surfer. He is so knowledgeable about moving the free line and marketing.
Guess it's good to know this problem affects everyone I guess. I have been hugely distracted by FlicKr, when finding images for posts to my anxiety blog, I'll end up looking thru countless photos and wasting time- no good. Email has been my main problem. And I learned to do what Nicole Dean above suggested, I have canned responses to a lot of questions I get for my wall murals site. I spend the majoriy of my time driving traffic and it is sooo easy to get distracted. Thats why I only follow you and one other internet marketer.
I agree there is a lot of 'noise' out there, and it is so so easy to get distracted. I work with Facebook and twitter daily. I have to be disciplined, Every morning I write a to do list and the amount of time to spend on each task and then do my upmost to stick to it, often I exceed my allocated times and stay on to catch up. In your list you should also allow time for you, in the form of breaks exercise etc.
Great post! Sometimes I feel like I'm killing time on social networks and the reason I'll feel that way is because I'm not there for a specific goal. Whenever I have a clear objective, I'm being productive.
Facebook? I think I signed up for one of those once. Figured it was going to be a "flash in the pan" in my world, so I haven't ever been back. Don't know what a "wall" is, unless it's the one around my house.
Facebook is good for friends and family. I'd not use it for business connections.
For personal profiles on Facebook, I totally agree. however I think the Fan pages of Facebook do come in handy and are fairly useful for business connections, then again I haven't seem the complete statistics on the effectiveness of Fan Pages=, so I very well may be wrong.
This is a very timely topic for everyone it looks like (enjoying reading the comments from everyone)...
As ususal Lynn, you're right with the beat with the reality in the market.
I am still a newbie with Facebbook (will be setting up a fan page soon) but it seems twitter can be time consuming and I will follow your advice when setting up my Facebook fan page and limit my personal profile to those I actually "know" well enough to give personal contact info to.
Thanks for the insight.
This is good stuff Lynn! It can be easy to mix it all up 🙂
You just encouraged me to make a very necessary step in my life. I am implementing it as we speak!
It all seems to shallow to me now. I used to be heavily involved in the Internet Marketing world. I simply lost my taste for it. I was heavily involved in the Mom blogging world. My desire vanished. Facebook is for real life friends and family and a few good friends I've made online.
All the "friends" obsession online, with twitter and facebook and blog readers gives me a bad taste now. It literally makes me feel icky to think about it all. I don't know how else to say it except, for me and in my own personal experiences, it feels very shallow and fake.
(not internet marketing or even blogging but the wild desire for people to have tons of people following their blogs, following them on twitter and claiming to be your friend on facebook but all it is is twitter feeds or business crap. leaves me with a bad 'self absorbed' feeling.)
Nell
heh.. what you are talking about in terms of some people's need to have tones of people following them kinda reminds me of all the (in my opinion stupid) popularity contests some kids took part in, in high school and college.. unfortunately, am sure it just carries over into adulthood for many..
I totally get what you're saying, Nell - I get that feeling as well. More and more lately. It's been on my mind very heavy this last year, particularly chewing over solutions (for ME) that I can personally be happy with. I think I just about have it figured out. 😉
Once a month I take my Dad up to his orchard. Over there, there is no broadband, both on the wall or on the mobile. The mobile is just to make phone calls and text messages. We spend a night there and the only noise we get are the dogs barking, birds singing, a moo here and there from the neighbors cows, and the odd car or motorbike in the distance going past.
This is the time where silence becomes golden, because I can think - clearly, appreciate nature within and without, and experience a temporary nirvana.
I've been clearing my subscriptions to IM'ers and marketing gurus, stopped tweeting for weeks on end, and checking FB the odd time. Having a young child does help, as your world revolves around them. Sometimes I wonder whether I should involve myself further in IM, and I think of your present business model Lynn. Maybe it's better to just be an affiliate marketer than to be some Guru IM - they can toot their gazillion bucks per second launch, as long as I'm sane and healthy... 🙂
I love Affiliate Marketing. Love it, love it, love it! Especially when I am working in my other niches, under my other names. 😉
Oh Boy this came at just the right time. I've been spending the day avoiding looking at my facebook to see what everyone is up to and saying. I have just felt that is has been a waste of time always needing to know what is going on. But I was also feeling guilty because I am staying away. Then Lynn you posted this! Thank you for putting my head in the right place. The world won't end if I don't go to facebook or twitter for a while. They both take up to much of my time and I'm beginning to feel like and addicted robot.
I need me time to think and breath and get creative. When I focus, really focus, on my businesses everything flows...when I turn my attention to all the social media stuff I lose my flow, my focus and my creativity and then I get mad at myself and my business suffers. It's a vicious cycle.
It's definitely a drain on the creative force, that's for sure. I've noticed the same in myself and heard similar from some of my peers. I imagine it will all come to a head soon enough. I am going to make some changes to how I use Facebook, and my availability there. Still working out the details, but hope to implement over the next couple of weeks. (it's a tedious manual process that cannot be outsourced - ugh)
I found last month I was reaching saturation point as moost of my online income was coming from email marketing/ad swaps etc in the IM niche.
The whole thing in my mind - the crap, the numbers and false promises was and still is getting out of hand so I have trimmed my list of subscribers down to those that still open my emails, stop ad swapping and concerntrate on mini sites with good SEO so people will come to me if they want something.
Its coming along well and I hope it will put things on a much sounder and automated footing in the years to come.
FB Twitter etc - Its fine to use and have friends but I dont do much with it. Up lines, downlines - urrghhhh! These MLM type groups I keep seeing fill me with horror.
Regards
Pete
I was at my parents yesterday evening to help them with some computer problems.
And we talked about how even my mom gets frustrated with the amount of noise on FB. She initially started out by accepting every friend request she got.
I tried telling her that she should be more selective, but she didn't want to appear rude or stuck up, so she continued to accept requests.
Now she's at a point where she finally understands the importance of keeping clutter out of FB and only use it to connect to friends.
But she's still not ready to un-friend all those non-friends she accepted in the first place.
I did the same mindless accepting of requests in the beginning, but has since grown wiser - and I will happily un-friend anybody that are not "contributing" to *my* FB experience.
I'm even more selective on Twitter.
I have 2 primary Twitter accounts that I use for 2 distinctively different purposes. On one account I'm very picky about who I connect with and I will stop following anybody who doesn't contribute to the interaction between Tweeps - If you're high volume, promotive or very me me me then you're out of my circle.
And emails is yet another beast - getting to and responding to important emails amongst the flood of promotional stuff is quite another story.
I try my best to stay off all the IM lists, but unfortunately I let myself get lured and squeezed into joining those lists over and over again.
From time to time I spring clean my inbox and unsubscribes from any lists and newsletters that haven't provided me primarily with original content.
I love all of the comments here and I too, applaud the author for opening the box! Why not stick to keeping your 'sphere of influence' specific to your professional needs as well as social? I have found that less is more when it comes to time management.
Hi Lynn!
I'm right there with you. I am a bit surprised of how overwhelmed I feel all of the time and I don't even have that many pressing tasks. I think it has to do with us online marketers and all of the "new" stuff we feel like we need to be involved in all of the time. Anyway, looks like you've been away for a few days. I hope you're taking time to take care of those items you mentioned in your post. All the best!
Lynn - Wow. Just the other day I did a major purge of a bunch of my "friends" on Facebook. It wasn't out of meanness or that I was madd at anyone. I just realized that I'd also prefer to limit the private things I say about my life to remain with certain friends and my family. I felt guilty and I even got a re-friend request from someone I cut saying "I'm not sure how we got unfriended...". I don't have the heart to tell her that she just didn't make the cut.
When FB first started getting big, it was fun to friend everyone I could think of. Semi-strangers, acquaintances, friends of friends, co-workers, business meeting contacts and even people I *wanted* to be friends with but wasn't yet. Yep, everyone! Then I noticed that I began creating "limited" profiles for certain people. Boy, was *that* a pain! Now I'm down to 99 from several (400?) hundred and I feel a lot better about it. Probably the most important thing is that I now only see updates from people I *actually* care to know what's happening in their life.
Thanks for this post. It's nice to know I'm not alone in my thinking.
Always found social networking to be more of a distraction than an asset, unless you have the kind of business audience that's inclined toward that audience demographically. Just my opinion, though...
Lynn, I am so proud to see you taking this step to simplify you life to make it better. I can't even imagine everything that you try to keep up with.Sometimes the hardest thing of all is seeing that we can't do it all and deciding what has to go.Lynn over the last year I have seen you start to enjoy life in different ways like being a dog Mom and just simply doing stuff for Lynn. This is your life so if Facebook has to go or Twitter or whatever, Be Happy. life's short so enjoy it.
Thank you Gail. It has been a big year for personal change, that's for sure! 😉 I see this as a larger issue, this being social media and communication overload, that will come to a head over the next year. I am not the only one talking about it, or implementing solutions. See this from Joel Comm's blog this week: http://joelcomm.com/how-to-control-your-email.html
It's not just social media, it's really about running lean businesses on the internet that don't enslave already extremely occupied entrepreneurs. But it's so hard when what you want is to project your brand as much as you can on the internet.
Connecting with an auience via social media is certainly a justified effort, and so is establishing that "direct line" relationships through other mediums. It's a matter of knowing how to use them efficiently in perfect alignment with strategic objectives.
It's easier said than done... I know I'm still struggling with that, not being able to fully justify the extent of how the time and work spent in those activities contributes to my ultimate goals.
Toward the end of the summer, I noticed that I was getting overly distracted by Facebook, email and Twitter, so I put a few limits into place, then wrote a brief post about the things that have helped me: Are Online Distractions Limiting Your Personal Productivity?
I don't think anyone can deny that there is a lot of noise in the IM world. A day can really fly by and be unproductive if you're not careful. Check in with a couple of your favorite guru's (of course Lynn being one of them!) and still accept emails from others but create a rule so they go elsewhere and don't cause a distraction. If you'd like take a few minutes each week to scan through these in case there is something that you're really interested in.
Just my .02 🙂
Thanks!
Joe
I no longer subscribe to John Reese’s newsletter but I completely agree with everything you said- especially about social media (Facebook has now become the bain of my existence.) I think that it’s important to always separate your professional and your private life when utilizing social media. I remember when I first signed up for Facebook, I got caught up reuniting with with old college friends and co-workers, so much so that I completely lost sight of the original goal- which was to network with other entrepreneurs. Now I have a Facebook page that I use for my business, and one that I use for personal use.
I am so with both you and John on this one. I feel like and am stuck in the middle; one part of me feels like I need to be connected and the other just wants to unplug everything and go and live in a cave (well maybe not that drastic).
My short term solution - every Friday I encourage my FB and Twitter followers to join me in un-plugging for the weekend and living in the present moment (without the need to tweet your every move).
Very cathartic and so far very successful 🙂
Keep up the great work Lynne, I would miss you if you un-plugged completely.
Rick
I actually let go of John Reese - now I have much more room in my inbox.
Turn off your EMAIL! Seriously, only look at it about 3 times a day. How often do you really get something that is so urgent it can't wait for 2-3 hours? Its just a huge time-suck to distract you.
Thanks Lynn,
This post comes at a perfect time. I have spent the last few weeks prioritizing my life and business.
This came from realizing I have fallen away from what my purpose.
Now those things directly to my purpose in life are on the top of my list. It is amazing! How it has worked. It has been easy to look at those other things that need to be streamed down and to get rid of the distractions.
Finding your post has brought up some new areas I will address this week.
I've been doing the same thing. I realised just how many distractions I get a day and as a self-employed person time really is money.
I've read similar things in productivity books and books such as The Four Hour Workweek and now I'm really starting to act on it!
yeah i know what u mean, i get the same problem too, but i would keep personal contact on a differ email than being on the same email with your business. like with your affiliate business, keep in touch with affiliate business and updated. I know that i need to make that change myself in order to keep my eye on my business niches