Much like your house, networking and social interaction requires frequent upkeep and an occasional robust cleaning to function effectively. We all perform the daily tweaks and weekly sweeps of our social media lives, but at least once a year we should do a thorough cleaning to keep our social networks in optimal condition.
You need to clean out those old sources of your social media diet that are no longer nourishing, dust the cobwebs off those old connections to keep them polished and valuable, and clean out the dirt from the corners of your social life where you haven't ventured in months.
Spring cleaning is really just a bunch of chores that we are only in a good enough mood to endure when we know spring is coming, but they are necessary. And you will feel much better afterward.
Identify and follow up with your 20 most important LinkedIn Connections. Not all connections are created equal. Some are more important, either to you directly, or for the connections they have themselves. These connections need to be kept alive with an occasional "hey, how are you? I'm doing this now" type of email.
Find 3 new LinkedIn groups to join. There are endless networking opportunities just waiting to be maximized on LinkedIn. Don't get too stagnant or comfortable with your presence. Any successful brand, personal or corporate, is constantly looking for ways to innovate and expand.
Blogs
Unsubscribe from all the blogs that you don't like/read anymore. Everyone has them; those blogs that you subscribed to because you or someone else thought they would be valuable, but you disagreed with the first five posts, and haven't read one in weeks. And be honest with yourself; just like throwing out old clothes, when in doubt throw 'em out!
Find 3 new blogs to read. There is so much amazing, valuable content out there. The problems are a) you don't have enough time to read it all, and b) you don't know where to find it. Well, with regards to problem a) see first blog tip (you just created that time), and for b) just ask! You already have a network of people with relevant interests, opinions, and needs who would be happy to give you some suggestions.
Get unfollow-happy. The 80/20 rule applies to Twitter, just like it seems to apply to everything else. I would bet that 80% of the value you get from Twitter comes from 20% of the people you follow. So, what are the other 80% of people you follow providing? Noise, which equals a waste of your time. Get rid of them.
Transfer 10 of your most valuable Twitter connections to LinkedIn. Twitter is great for networking, but the connections you make are usually a lot looser and lighter than on LinkedIn. If you can transfer those connections to LinkedIn, you not only bring them closer, but you will be able to access and utilize them in a more robust way.
Find 5 of your friends that could be valuable professional connections. Most of us use Facebook for our personal lives. But many times we overlook certain personal connections that could be valuable as professional connections. Check out some of your older friends that you haven't talked to in a while, and reconnect with five that are doing something interesting, relevant, or valuable to you.
Find 3 businesses that are using Facebook exceptionally well and study their fan page. Facebook for business is a great skill to know, and it's only going to become more important to understand how brands create value on this platform. Even a quick lesson or new perspective will help you understand the potential.
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