I was teaching a social media class last night and I loved it. I get excited seeing the spark in a woman’s eyes when she is driven to grow her business. I am beyond excited when I am in front of a group of women who have the same goal in mind.

These powerful women are all using social media for their businesses, and that’s a smart move. I am so grateful that we live in a time when we can experience, enjoy, and take advantage of wonderful tools to grow professionally and to bring awareness to our mompreneur businesses and entrepreneurial efforts. We have so many social networks at our disposal, and they either free or require very minimal investment for the return.

We were born for such a time as this! The mistake we sometimes make is that we measure our impact by the amount of likes and followers we get. And sure, it is nice when you are able to see some numbers, and to get some feedback, but in most cases, your impact goes beyond what you see on the analytics reports.

Rule #1 of social media for me is: don’t compare yourself with other people! You have more followers than some and less followers than others, so what truly matters is that you are making progress and moving forward. Progress is success.

[Tweet “Rule #1 of social media is don’t compare yourself! #elaynaquotes #mompreneurmastery”]

I know I promised you a proven formula to get more likes and followers. That wasn’t a trick to get you to read my rants. I have actually been using this formula for a long time and it has worked wonders. I have shared it with others on radio shows, TV shows, podcast interviews, and on live events I’ve presented as a speaker. I’ve gotten feedback that it’s been very helpful, so I want to share it with you, too!

The L.I.K.E.D. Formula To Get More Likes And Followers

As a word nerd, and lover of acronyms and acrostics, the five steps of my formula spell the word LIKED. Here are those steps:

Listen first ~  Social media marketing is all about building relationships, and in every relationship listening is paramount to make it work. By actively listening to the kind of people you most want to influence, you can get to know them well and have a greater opportunity to understand their struggles and their goals.

This is the time to start noticing and taking notes, so you can cook up a strategy that will get the response you want. When you know your focus audience, and you define your goals with the best possible clarity, your odds to succeed will greatly increase.

Interact Often ~ I’ve heard mompreneurs complain that they don’t get likes, comments, shares, or follows. I’ve asked “are you commenting on other peoples’s content? Are you liking and sharing their posts? Are you following other influencers in your industry?

As you interact with others and build them up, you will start to see more results on your own efforts. A great byproduct of reading what others post and providing your very own valuable feedback is to start developing your voice and style, and to be aware of issues and perspectives you otherwise wouldn’t know or think of. If you are intentional in observing what thought leaders do, you can learn from them. 

One of our rules at home is to “be happy for others’ success.” Envy is not only damaging and ugly, it’s also counterproductive. When you admire, celebrate, and cheer on other successful moms, you are more likely to be successful, too, and you will definitely feel more joy in the process.

Keep it Authentic ~ The best marketing strategy is to be yourself, to be authentic, and to share from the heart.

I was chatting with one of the wonderful mom entrepreneur I met after my presentation – I strive to be generous sharing my expertise and to make new friends wherever I go. She vented in frustration because she’s modeled many leaders in her niche, but hasn’t gotten the same results.

Tactics don’t make one successful, unless those tactics are in full alignment with your values, in alignment with your top passions, and in alignment with your priorities. When you are following a sound strategy with the focus to share from your authentic love and purpose to help your followers, you will inevitably see the harvest.

I am all about learning from others and I attribute my success in huge part to being spiritually guided, and coachable, but imitation or random emulation simply do not work. And I know I probably don’t have to even mention it but I just have to say it: stay away from plagiarism! 

Your followers want an authentic leader who shares her own ideas, her own journey, her own wisdom and does it from the heart!

Engage your audience ~ Being an influencer, a social media influencer or any other kind, is not about you, it’s about the other person – AKA – your audience. The key to connect with others is to share your heart in a way that it is relevant to them. Here are some questions to ask yourself before you post:

• Does it add value to my audience?
• Is it written in the best tone to connect with my audience?
• Does it align with the way I want to be perceived by my audience?

Whether you are sharing a short message, a quote, a picture, a link to an interesting article, a funny meme, a video, or asking a thought provoking question, you want to make sure it is posted as a conversation, a dialogue, that is going to empower, educate, entertain, or encourage your audience. When possible, add a call to action that helps achieve the overall goal of your post (yes, a goal per post!).

[Tweet “The key to connection is sharing relevant value from the heart #elaynaquotes”]

Do it Consistently ~  The big secret of success is no secret. The secret to success is focus. You’ve heard me say this repeatedly and I don’t mind sounding like a broken record:

• Follow
• One
• Course
• Until
• Successful

[Tweet “FOCUS: Follow One Course Until Successful! #marketingmastery”]

The course to succeed in your social media efforts is to publish content consistently. The first step is to commit yourself to posting when it is realistic for you and when it is possible for you. Stepping out of your comfort zone is a good thing to do, but setting yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations is not. Burn out is not your friend, and as a mom, you NEED your sanity! 

Be honest with yourself and based on that honest truth, you can create a content calendar to guide your steps and keep you on track. Hiring a coach (hint, hint: me!) is also a good idea to help you be accountable as you strive to achieve these goals.

Again, I want you to know that there’s more to social media than getting likes and followers, and I want you to take rule #1 to heart (don’t compare yourself) because if we’re not careful, social media can greatly affect our self-worth. It can happen to anyone, but you can’t afford to let it happen to you!

As you listen with attention and post with intention, you will find your sisterhood and will understand that numbers can be deceiving, and relationships are priceless.

[Tweet “Numbers can be deceiving and relationships are priceless. #elaynaquotes”]

The reason I’ve partnered with hundreds of brands over the years, won awards, and have been richly favored and blessed in my craft, is not because of my gazillion followers, but because of the God-given purpose in my heart, my willingness to pour myself wholeheartedly into it, and my genuine love, care, and concern for you. Thank you!

What is your idea of success in social media? I’m sure many could use your feedback and I’d love to pass on your insight as I teach more workshops in mom communities all over the world.

[ela]