Social media can get overwhelming really fast for most of us…so much so that we don’t know where to start or even how to know if we are wasting our time. Here are 3 questions Andrew gets asked about how to better manage social media: How much time should I spend on social media every day? Can I outsource some of my social media activities? Which platforms should I be on? Find out how he answers these questions when speaking or consulting to business owners. TRANSCRIPTION Andrew: On today’s podcast, we’re talking about managing your time on social media. Hey everybody! This is Andrew McCauley. Welcome back to episode number 117 of the Autopilot Your Business podcast. Today we’re talking about managing your time on social media. How do you manage your time? Are you spending too much time doing it? Or maybe you’re not spending enough time on social media. We are going to dig into probably three questions that I get asked more than ever about social media. I want to explore those, of course I’m not going to explore them by myself, because Heather Porter is with me. Hello H. Heather: Hi guys! Hello Andrew. How are you guys? It’s cool to hang out with you once again. Appreciate you being here with us and your ear buds where you are around the world. Which by the way, Andrew, guess what, we’re over in over 100 countries. Andrew: Oh really? I didn’t know that. Heather: Yes, I think we’re at 102. Andrew: Awesome. What are the last two countries that we’ve been found in? Do you know? Heather: I know Belize was one of them. Andrew: Belize. Heather: Yes. I’ve been to Belize. Cool spot. Andrew: I know you have. I haven’t, but I’d to go there one day. Heather: It’s a good place where you go cave diving and all sorts of cool things. I don’t know the other one. That’s the one that caught my eye though. Andrew: Hello Belize! If you’re listening to us in Belize, thank you very much for doing that. Thank you for listening wherever you are in the world, as we dig in to episode 117. I love doing these podcasts. These podcasts are fun. Heather: Me too! I like them because we always learn something about each other. I don’t know — I just kind of feel like I’m hanging out with you guys. Like I actually can picture you guys sitting in your car or cooking your dinner or going on the train into work, or whatever it is. It’s just fun. I like it. Andrew: You know what else is cool is that podcasts are growing. There are people doing podcasts everywhere and you’ve chosen to be with us, so we thank you for spending your time with us; we hope that we can give you good value as we have a bit of a chat and explore the online world, the automation world, and all things in between. Heather: Yes. Love it. So Andrew, what have you been learning? Soaking in, consuming lately? Andrew: Well, I’m going to tell you something that… Let me frame before I tell you — that I’m looking at all this stuff from a marketing perspective — Heather: Yeah right. Andrew: Nothing else. And I have two young boys — four and six, nearly seven — who are loving it, but I’ve been checking out Pokemon Go. Uh-huh. Heather: I have it. I do. Andrew: Here’s what I’m looking at. I’m thinking it’s fascinating because if you haven’t got into the Pokemon Go craze then good on you; stay away. But seriously, from a marketing point of view, there are some really smart people out there doing some really cool things for their business — things like buying lures, which basically gives you a little Pokemon animal in your store or in your shop front, so that people come in and spend time with you. That really isn’t going to work if you’re just a shop where people walk in and walk out and they don’t buy anything and they don’t even look up from their phone screen. That’s not going to be much chop. Where I am seeing some smart business owners are places where you’ve got to pay to get in. For instance, there’s a zoo just up the road from me here, The Living Desert Zoo. This week they’ve got a special Pokezoo Night. They’re charging ten dollars to get in; they’ve paid for all these extra little animals to go and find little Pokemons you can go and find. They’re probably going to get around 400 people to walk into the zoo. Think about this — the zoo is normally closed. We’re in the middle of summer of course, so it’s hot, but at night time it’s going to cool down. They’ve paid a little bit of money to put these extra Pokemons out there. But they’re going to get 400 people at ten bucks a head — that’s just guessing how many they’re going to get; but I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s more — but they’re going to get an extra $4000 on an off-night because of this craze. Heather: There are businesses all over in Australia, in Sydney as well, getting these lures, just like you’re talking about and — teens — whatever age range who’s into it, goes. Cafes are doing it and so they’re off on their hunt, and then they go into the cafe, they’re catching the Pokemon and then they go in to buy something. Andrew: But do they? Here’s my question about that — do they? Do they actually go in and buy something? Or they’re like — hell, I’ve just got a new Pokemon; I’m going to go and get the next one — and they’re out the door. So my point about this is — Heather: Good question. Andrew: — smart businesses who charge to get into their venue… Think about maybe street fairs, or concerts, or sporting events where you’ve got to pay to get in, and once you’re in there, there’s some extra bonuses for you. Once you’re in there. Maybe that will get people through the doors. But all I’ve seen as far as the cafes go are — people walk in, collect their Pokemon and then they leave. So I’m not seeing — and I’m yet to be proven wrong — but I’m not seeing the people come in and buying stuff because of it. Maybe there is, but I am definitely seeing the results from people like the zoo who are charging people to get in, in the first place. Heather: OK. Yes, I like that. Plus it’s creating that whole little safe environment as well, so there’s not like kids walking across the street. Like I was just saying to you earlier — I was looking out the window in my place. I’m just in the suburbs of northern beaches of Sydney and these two teen girls were standing on my lawn. They had their phones out and they were obviously catching a Pokemon right on my front yard. [laughs] Andrew: Oh, I know. It’s crazy. I was at the park today. I was picking up my son from daycare, and I counted 20 people walking around the park chasing Pokemon. Ordinarily, that’s not a big deal. But I’ve got to tell you, in Palm Desert, it’s 44 degrees Celsius or about 112, and it’s hot as hell, but there’s people out there going — you know what; we’re going to go catch these little buggers. They don’t care about the weather; they’re out there chasing Pokemon. So anyway, that’s me. That’s what I’m learning — Pokemon Go. How about you? What did you learn over this last little bit of time? Heather: I from time to time do these little round table sessions, kind of mastermind mentoring sessions for a group here in Australia called Business Blueprint. I recently went to one and what’s cool about these is — I not only love to hang out with the business owners… Personally, I like to go for two things. Obviously I like to teach and share my knowledge, but I also can really in the span of one day really find out what the pain points are in online marketing for business owners. So I’m right there in it, and I can find out. Another reason I like to go is the other mentors that are there. So during the lunch break all the “students” or business owners leave the room, and then we’re just left with the mentors and we’re all scrambling around to try and meet each other. I met this really cool guy, Jeff Muller, and he is a trademark expert, basically. Really cool story about how he was building up his own IT company and then this other company came in and basically knocked him out because they owned the trademark for the name of his business. So he just had to walk away, which was horrible for him. What I learned which is interesting, is there’s sort of three ways you can trademark or protect your business — you can protect your logo; you can protect your name; and you can protect your tag line. What he said was really interesting. There’s a lot of speakers and sort of consultants right now and what they’re doing is not necessarily trademarking their name — because it’s their name — but they’re trademarking the training that they offer and their products and the info-products and the membership sites and things like that. So they’re protecting distinct brands in their business. It’s becoming bigger, especially when we’re all relying on online marketing and our IP and what we’re building online, it’s hard to not get ripped off. Interesting guy. Had a good conversation with him. Andrew: Yes, wow, definitely, so maybe we’ve got to start looking at trademarking our brand. Heather: I was loosely talking to him about some of those things, finding out if it’s worth it and all that. So stay tuned, guys, because we might have him on. I was even asking him, “do you like to be interviewed?” and he was like — oh, I love it. Andrew: Really, OK, cool. Heather: Yes, I think you guys might get some value from him, just thinking bigger about your business expansion. Andrew: Definitely. Let’s kick in to today’s topic. Heather: Yes. Andrew: Today’s topic is all about managing a time on social media. I’m speaking again tomorrow; I spoke again last week; you’re speaking all the time
