20 BIG Social Media Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Online Business

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Many solopreneurs make big social media mistakes and they don’t even know they are making them. I know what I’m talking about because I have been one of them 🙂

Don’t get me wrong, it’s ok to make mistakes, it’s actually great to make them because we learn from them. But if we don’t learn and fix the mistakes, then it becomes dangerous for our business and our personal branding.

Yes, it actually can be really bad if you keep making these social media mistakes over and over again. You probably know how fast you can get a bad reputation and how hard it is to get a good one. That’s because good things take longer 😉

Before we jump into the rest of the blog post, I would like to invite you to our FREE Coaching Group which is for all solopreneurs, marketers, and bloggers who want to learn about Social Media Marketing, Blogging, Email Marketing and more. CLICK HERE or on the button below and prepare yourself for a value-packed journey 🙂

This post includes affiliate links to products I really love and recommend, which means I may receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you. I will use the earnings to feed my little dog Ciara 🙂

BIGGEST SOCIAL MEDIA MISTAKES

1.) Starting without a clear strategy & goals:

Not having a good, clear strategy and goals will cost you dearly. I made that mistake in my first and second year of being in online marketing. Let me share a little bit of that story.

The first year (2013) in marketing was a complete FAIL. I didn’t have a strategy, the only thing I had was unrealistic goals 🙂 I thought I’ll make $1,000 the first month without any knowledge. And I thought I’ll be a millionaire by the end of the year. I can hear you laughing, well I am too 😉

The second-year (2014) wasn’t any different. Without a strategy, I thought I’ll make money. My goals got smaller but I only manage to make $125 in a whole year. How? To be honest I don’t even know how I did that.

Don’t repeat my mistake. First, learn a strategy from someone who’s already successful. Then write the strategy and goals on a piece of paper and make sure you take MASSIVE ACTION every single day! Grab your Freebie HERE and make a KILLER Social Media Marketing Strategy to attract leads and turn them into sales.

2.) Limiting your presence to only one social media platform:

If you’re using only one social media platform, you are in danger. I’ll explain what happened to one of my Facebook friends. Matt posted a funny meme and for that, he ended up in FB-jail for 30 days!

He couldn’t make posts, comment, or even respond in messenger. But he wasn’t worried because of his HUGE email list. See what can happen? There have been other marketers that actually LOST the whole social media account.

Yes, any social media platform can simply delete your account. What will you do then? Your income is going to drop or you won’t even have any income at all. That’s why it’s really important to include other platforms and even email marketing and blogging.

The blog and email list are completely yours. You can make the design however you want, but on Facebook, you can’t. If we could, probably my FB would be pink…pink everywhere 😉 What color would you choose?

3.) Not posting consistently (every day):

If you’re struggling with this, you’re not alone. It can be hard to come up with so many ideas and topics. That’s one of the biggest social media mistakes we all did or are still doing. Have you ever said, “Ahhh I’m not going to post anything today because I don’t know what to write.”

Been there myself, so many times! And it’s not ok to just give up. Your audience has to see you every single day so that they get to know, like and trust you. Let’s be honest, no one likes to work with people who are not consistent. It’s just not professional.

But don’t worry, I got your back 😉 My blog post can help you with this – read more about Social Media Research Topic Ideas HERE and you will find out how you can come up with so many topic ideas that you will never struggle with what to post again.

4.) Posting things that don’t make any sense to your audience:

Many solopreneurs are guilty of that. Have you ever seen someone who was sharing weather reports every day for a whole week? Yes, I had a Facebook friend who did that.

He was an online marketer (in weight loss niche) but for a whole week, I only saw weather reports. What does that have to do with health & fitness? Not much, right? 🙂

Whenever you share something that doesn’t connect with your business, try to figure out how to make it work for you.

I’ll make an example of the guy who was sharing weather reports.

He could actually say something like this: “Hey it’s going to be raining the whole week here. Do you go for a run even if it raining, or do you work inside?” – See how easy it is to include your business and your audience.

What about your selfies and lifestyle photos? Well, you need to include that because your audience has to get to know YOU. If you love crafting, share that, but not every day.

5.) Only posting quotes and sharing from other people:

It’s ok to occasionally post an inspirational or motivational quote. But don’t do it every single day. Here’s why:

• you don’t tell anything about yourself
• it gets boring really fast because social media is full of quotes
• you don’t help your audience much

If you decide to share a quote, make sure you write your thought about it. That way your audience will get to know how you think and what you feel. They will be able to connect with you better.

Another thing I want to talk about is shared posts from other people. It’s ok if you share a really interesting article from a leader or influencer, but you still need to explain why you are sharing it. You can share one post per month, but not more.

6.) Reversing the 80-20 rule:

You probably heard of the 80-20 rule, but just to make sure everyone knows what it is, I’ll briefly explain. 80% of your posts and videos should be about your lifestyle, value, stories, quotes, and anything else you want to share with your audience. Only 20% should be about your business.

But what do you see on Social Media most of the time? Business here, business there, right? 🙂 Some solopreneurs and marketers are reversing this rule or even making a new rule – 100% rule which means all their posts are about business.

Do you accept a friend request from those who are posting only about business? I hope not or your social media will look like a big advertising place. How boring and annoying is that, right? 🙂 So do the 80-20 rule and you will see great results for sure.

7.) Ignoring your audience is one of the biggest Social Media mistakes:

Another big mistake you should NEVER repeat. Instead of ignoring them, include them in your posts and videos. But how? Here are a couple of great examples:

• ask them questions about topics they are interested in
• ask them for advice (example: which photo is better for my next blog post – A or B)
• share your story and ask them if anyone when through the same obstacles (many will relate with you)
• tell them to share their favorite quote, or some fun/interesting/weird facts about themselves
• share some of your goals you want to achieve and ask them what are their top 3 goals

If you want to increase your sales and income, don’t ignore your audience. They are “the boss” 😉

8.) Not being social at all:

Hello!? It’s called SOCIAL media 🙂 So if you’re not going to be social, you are just wasting your time. And because we know time is really valuable, you probably don’t want to do that, right? 🙂

How to be more social? We talked about including your audience and asking them questions, motivating them to interact with you. But besides that, you should also share your story.

Yes, I know it’s scary to be vulnerable, but this is the best strategy to turn your audience to raving fans and hungry buyers. If you pretend that you’re perfect, your life is completely amazing and you don’t have any obstacles, that don’t feel real to them.

It actually feels super FAKE! Each and every one of us has obstacles and flaws. You can be fake or you can show the real you and increase your income. The choice is yours 🙂 What will you choose?

9.) Being really boring (+FREEBIE 😉 ):

Don’t get me wrong, if you don’t have a really fun life, you should still share the selfies of you going for a walk or just making dinner. To be honest, my life isn’t that exciting lately either 🙂

But the power of your selfie is really strong. People are curious and they want to know what you are up to. Here are a couple of great examples that you can include in your social media marketing:

• show the behind-the-scenes (maybe you’re doing a video, new blog post or even a free mini course)
• share a selfie with your dog, cat, or even pet goldfish 😉
• if you’re a coffee lover just like me, you can share a photo of your amazing full cup of that “magical success juice” 😉 (p.s.: ask your audience how many cups do they drink per day)
• you could also do the #TBT (Throwback Thursday) and share a photo of you in a tropical place or a road trip

Before you read on, I would like to give you a list of 20 creative ways to post on Social Media. You’ll learn how to be unique and stand out, so grab your freebie HERE 🙂

10.) Putting other people or companies down:

Don’t talk bad about other people or companies. You tell more about yourself than about them. And trust me, you don’t tell anything nice about yourself. It will hurt your personal brand and when you have a bad reputation, people start avoiding you.

I know it’s tempting to talk bad about someone if they did the same to you first. But be a better person and show them they didn’t hurt you. Also, you don’t want to waste your precious time, right? Then don’t go to their level and just keep enjoying life 🙂

11.) Using bad quality images:

The first thing we all see on social media are images. And when you see a bad-quality image, what do you think of that person? I’m sure you don’t think “Oh this is a leader!”.

This is what you should do for your homework:

• find 5 leaders in your niche you really love and trust
• analyze their social media profiles
• write down every little detail you notice
• “copy” them (not literally, you need to find your own voice)
• also, check their photos and you’ll see they have good quality photos (no you don’t need to pay for a professional photoshoot, except if you want to) – your phone will make good photos too (good lighting will help)

I’m not suggesting you should invest a ton of money in professional photos because there are websites that offer free beautiful images. Here are my three favorite sites:
Pexels.com
Unsplash.com
Pixabay.com

12.) Not analyzing your social media results:

This was one of my BIGGEST social media mistakes of all time! And if you’re doing the same now, don’t repeat my mistake. I know analyzing can be boring, but it is really powerful. Just imagine you doing a specific strategy that doesn’t work, but you keep doing it.

You’ll keep wasting your time, not knowing why it doesn’t work. Here’s a great idea where you will include your audience and you will get the analysis done by them 🙂

Ask them about a specific step you are doing in your strategy. Let’s say, sharing your story. You can ask them: “Hey, do you feel I’m talking with you when I share my story, or should I change how I share my story?” Always take the feedback from your audience seriously and improve your strategy.

13.) Thinking Social Media is free:

If you think it’s free, you are really wrong. Money is not the only currency on this planet 🙂 There is also the most valuable currency called TIME. You don’t know how much you have it, so don’t waste it.

Social Media is a time-waster if you are using it wrong. That’s why it’s so important to invest in courses that will teach you how to use it the right way.

14.) Not responding in messenger is one of the biggest social media mistakes:

This is another one of those bigger social media mistakes you should avoid. We said before that social media is social and if you want to increase your income, you need to get to know people. And also they have to get to know you.

Sharing posts and videos is not enough. That’s why social media platforms have messengers. You must use that free tool that will bring you the most money if you use it right. Besides the money, you will get great friendships and most importantly loyal customers. That’s your goal, isn’t it? 🙂

15.) Responding with a “thumbs up” emoji:

You get a friend request, accept them, thank them, and ask them how they are…and then…THUMBS UP 👍 I can see you’re rolling your eyes out loud 😉 Yes, I get it, I feel the same.

That thumbs-up emoji is the worst thing to get as a response. It should be banned forever! But still, some people use it all the time. That just shows they are not interested in who you are. They are there to sell you.

I know you’re smart and you’re not using the thumbs-up emoji in that way, but please if you see someone using it in that way, tell them to STOP! 🙂

16.) Spamming in messenger or anywhere else:

I have to say we have come a long way from spamming. In 2013 and 2014 when I was still a beginner marketer, I noticed more spammers than now. I think more people see this as not the right way.

But we all know there are still some superstars who think this is going to make them wealthy. Unfortunately for them, that will never happen.

Social Media platforms are not joking when they say you will get your account deleted. I heard about a lot of marketers who lost their Facebook profiles or pages. We have to play by the Social Media rules.

17.) Trying to do everything yourself:

If you are doing everything yourself, you will just get burned out. Don’t make that mistake because it will cost you more than you know. You can get overwhelmed really fast because of all the Social Media tasks you’ll need to do daily. Here are just some examples that will take a lot of your time:

POSTS:

Posting every single day might sound easy. But if you want your audience to love and trust you, you’ll have to have a good posting strategy. It’s not just about sharing quotes and funny things.

There is a great solution that will take most of your stress away. It’s called 7+ Years of Social Media Content Ideas.

18.) Not knowing your audience:

This is another one of the biggest social media mistakes you should avoid at all costs. If you don’t know who your targeted audience is, you will attract the wrong people and you’ll just waste your and their time.

Will your income increase? No, it will actually be non-existent. You can’t sell a car to a person who’s looking to buy a new house. Makes sense?

So to stop wasting your time with the wrong people, grab this Freebie where you’ll get the TOP questions you have to ask yourself before you start marketing your products or services. CLICK HERE or the button below.

19.) Not using social media built in tools:

Here are all the FREE social media built-in tools: Facebook live video, Facebook Stories, Instagram Stories, IGTV,…

Are you using them? If not, you’re missing out. Every social media platform loves it when you use its tools. That’s why they made them, so take advantage of each tool. Your engagement will grow because they will reward you by showing your content to more people.

I know some solopreneurs and marketers are on a tight budget, so this is a perfect and free way to get in front of more people and increase your income.

20.) Not investing in courses:

If you’re not investing in courses that will teach you the right strategies, you won’t get far with your online business. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. I know it’s scary to invest money but you probably heard that money makes money.

Don’t think you will get everything for free. I’ll give you one example – a test that I did in the year 2017. I made a Facebook live video where I actually gave away a whole strategy that would make people money.

Do you want to know what my audience did? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

They didn’t take it seriously because usually, people think FREE means, not valuable.

I had that video on Facebook for 2 weeks and then I decided to delete it because I made a course ($297) that had the same strategy inside. I made money, and my audience took it seriously, learned, and implemented the strategy.

I’m glad I made this test because it proved that you should never give everything away for free. Your audience will cherish it more if they invest. And it’s a win-win situation. You make money, they learn valuable information.

Did you get some value from this blog post on 20 BIG Social Media Mistakes That Will Ruin Your Online Business? I hope you did because every week I put my whole heart into giving you the most amazing tips and strategies that help you succeed in your business. 

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Petra Šranc (CEO of Big Income Paradise) is passionate about teaching female entrepreneurs how to do Social Media Marketing to grow their business online. She also focuses on teaching Social Media content tactics to skyrocket traffic, leads, and sales.