Happy New Year!
Now that we have that out of the way, let's talk about what the Self-Employed-Social-Media-Maven-types should do to help get the year off to a great start!
Know who your "Friends" are--Hey it's a New Year. So this is a time to quit some bad habits and start some new ones. One good habit to employ with your use of Social Media is to segregate your personal and professional life online. How does one do that? Pages baby! Pages. Keep personal info about family life or non work related friends on the personal page of your Facebook Account. Create a separate page for your business. This is also a good time to go through your "Friends" list and designate who they really are. Are they work acquaintances or friends from school? Don't remember who some of those folks are? Consider them potential clients. If that doesn't seem right it's OK to un-Friend them. They will likely never know.
Share your Goals and encourage others to contribute to them--The great thing about the New Year, is that it's a chance to start over. So consider some reachable goals, like how many Facebook/Twitter/Google+/Tumblr followers you want to gain in the new year, or how many blog entries you want to write. Encourage followers/clients/customers to send you their questions to answer in your blog. This not only engages your audience but will encourage them to refer others to your site.
Make a Communications Plan--Do you know how often you want to be in touch with your clients? Do you have annual events or a new product or service to offer this year? Knowing how and when you are going to share that information with your Social Media audience is a good way to manage your goals. Develop an effective message and let that be a guidepost for you. Make a schedule for when and how you will get your message out. It doesn't have to all come out at once. Sometimes putting information out a little at a time, can help keep your audience engaged and help create anticipation.
Go Offline! What? Yes, you read that right. Go offline. Social Media is most effective when followed up by real life interactions. So get out there and meet people one on one. Go to mixers or host an event of your own to show your audience how much you really appreciate them. Social Media may get their attention, but individual contact is more likely to get their business.
A New Year offers new opportunities, new challenges and new ideas. Here's hoping we can all make the most of it. My very best to you all for a great 2012!