There’s so much to know and do in any given field.  It’s not always easy to know what’s what or even where to start.  When you’re at the beginning of a journey when you know there’s so much, where do you start.  It’s often say a journey of a thousands miles begins with the first step.  This is such an understatement because there’s so much more that occurs even before those first steps.  It’s those preparatory steps that are often over looked.  So how does that unfold with Social Media.  Put the first things first.

First Thing:

The first thing that you need to look at is having a ramp up period.  It’s easy for others that can’t do what you’re in the process of learning and beginning to have patients.  People tend to what everything to be perfect from the beginning.  The reality is; it’s not and your not going to be.  Even when you’ve got the basics down, you’re still going to make mistakes and have things that you have to learn.  Be easy on yourself.   That doesn’t mean that you dilly or don’t work to move forward.  That means that you give yourself time to learn, process and find what’s going to work best for you.

Second:

Make lists of what you need and want to get from each person involved with you.  For example, you will need to find out how often they want to be contacted.  You may think one week is frequently enough.  But if they have the jitters, it may be twice a week or even daily.  A miscommunication on this front may cost you unnecessary time, anxiety and potentially that job that you worked so hard to get.  Find out what they’re expecting and if necessary, over communicate.  Don’t let someone else do the communicating for you.

Tweaking:  Even when you get the basics down that you need, you’re going to find that there will be things that you need to tweak.  Some things will work for one client or employer, but the next one will want nothing to do with what the first wanted.  What one considers to be urgent, the other doesn’t.   Never assume that you can transfer everything from one client or employer to the next.