Photo courtesy of jonathanfields.com

Social Media is like getting into shape. The first battle is getting into shape, and the second battle, which is potentially a greater feat, is to stay in shape. This means that you can’t come and go like a pulsing star that twinkles only on occasion. People won’t spend their time staring into the world of social media looking for your star. It will just go forgotten. In order to compete in today’s fast paced, digital world of information overload, you must stay consistent. Once you’ve worked out enough to get a hot bod you wouldn’t want to just throw that away, you want to keep it up! Do the same with social media.

1. Don’t forget to sweat. No one ever got in shape without sweating. Sometimes it’s a little work. But you usually feel good after you’ve accomplished your workout for the day. No one left the gym a stud after just sitting around watching other people workout. We’re not even saying you need to spend an hour at the gym. You could spend probably 30 minutes exercising your social media muscle and still see results. Some people even suggest 5 minutes is enough.
2. Getting in shape requires discipline. You may have to grit your teeth a little to stick with it. You might not want to do it some days. But if you give up than you fall back to square one. That’s what happens with social media. Even if you were active on Facebook, Twitter and your blog for two weeks if you decide to stop and get lazy with it, people tend to forget you (unless you’ve already built up a super solid reputation like Beth Kanter who can go on vacation for as long as she wants and people will still flock to her blog and inundate her with Tweets and Facebook comments).
3. Setting up a routine can help you stay consistent. Having a hard time with that discipline? Set up a routine. Pick times when you will check your Facebook and Twitter account and stick to them. Make a schedule for your blog. Stick with it.
4. Mixing up your workouts will keep you from losing interest. There’s something to be said for routine and there’s something to be said for spontaneity. Want to have your cake and eat it too? Stick to a routine time-wise and mix it up with what you share and who you share it with. Don’t limit yourself to only one topic (although it is a good idea to find a niche), you can showoff a little of your personality with tidbits every so often of videos that make you laugh that are just for fun, motivational quotes, or a picture that means something to you. People will feel more connected to you when you have a human approach to social media. No one is best friends with a robot.
5. Having a workout buddy can make it more enjoyable. This doesn’t mean you guys sit next to each other on your own computers, it means reaching out to people through social media and making connections that are more personal. You can develop these relationships into something where you can help each other out and share tips with each other.
6. Find your idol and post a picture of them on the wall for inspiration. It always helps to have something to push you forward. It might help to put their Klout score on their too. That way you can have a reach-for-the-moon-type goal and you can (hopefully) land among the stars.