Spring may be just what we need. As I update this post, the Coronavirus (COVID-19) confines us to our homes (at least I hope that’s what you’re doing).
Springtime is a rebirth.
And, hopefully, a departure from winter’s cold and snow and our fears about this pandemic.
With time on our hands, we think about Spring cleaning. Well, some of us.
Before you haul out the garden tools, don’t forget about another area in need of help – your social media activity.
Spring Cleaning List
Spring cleaning opens the door to springtime freshness.
- During this difficult time, it can provide a different focus
- Something you can control
- Start by reassessing what you keep and what you throw out.
Make room for social media on your Spring cleaning list.
- Has your social media activity withered from lack of nuturing?
- Have you neglected its upkeep?
- Do your platforms need a fresh coat of paint?
Here are a few ideas to freshen up your social media activity.
1. Clean out the junk drawer
Open your inbox.
Is it cluttered with a tangled mess of newsletter subscriptions? Sales offers?
Start with your email subscriptions.
If you’re like me, you may wonder how you ended up with so many. You thought signing up for that newsletter was a good idea at the time. When did that morph into an instant click and delete? And how did those uninvited subscriptions creep in?
I’m transitioning into semi-retirement and a new focus (no, I am not going away). So, I’ve used the following method for my subscription rationing.
- Sort through the subscriptions
- Ask yourself – do I delete this more than I read it?
- Find a spot for the subscriptions you keep
Each time you receive an email subscription, assess if you really want it. Then save or delete.
The next hurdle are all those sales offers.
Geez, buy one item or download one free report, and you have a friend for life. I figure I know where they live so I unsubscribe from the barrage of emails.
Finally, take a deep, cleansing breath.
Is there any better feeling than an inbox free of unwanted subscriptions?
2. Work in the garden
Do you have a garden? Or did you have one in the past? Remember when you couldn’t wait to start nurturing your garden?
- Your back may ache
- Knees may groan (especially if you’re in my age bracket)
- Clothes display the dirt evidence of hard work
But the results are so satisfying.
Think of your social media network like a garden with a winter hangover.
It’s time to spruce it up.
- Plant new seeds in your social media network – market new ideas, products, or services
- Focus on what you want to grow this year – pull the weeds that are choking your success
- When was the last time you updated old blog posts? Is it time for rebranding? Are there new tools that can help?
Sharon Hurley Hall is the Queen of Social Media Tools. That’s what I dubbed her. I love reading her list of tools she uses. You know they are well-researched and she has tested them for use.
3. Prune the trees and bushes
Mother Nature does a great job of transforming skeletal trees and bushes into bursts of foliage. But, sometimes she needs a helping hand.
- Roses crave feeding
- Fruit trees need trimming
- Flowering bushes require pruning
Awaken your social media platforms with timely Spring pruning. Share on X
Like your trees, bushes, and flowers, each social media platform has its own needs.
Discover what works best for each. You may need to sacrifice some to keep others growing.
- Remove non-productive activity
- Snip off dying platforms that are not producing
- Allow new ideas to grow
If you read this blog, you know I’ve been a fan of LinkedIn for my business writing career. However, that networking platform does not work for everyone. And I may find a more effective one as I move into this next phase.
Schedule time to evaluate your social media platforms. Are they still working for you?
4. Open the windows
After being boarded up all winter, it’s exhilarating to unlatch windows once more. Open the windows on your social media to find out what is happening right now.
- Listen to the buzz of your neighbors and customers
- Watch what chores they are doing
- Discover ways to make their tasks simpler
Especially during this surreal time in our history, neighbors and customers need a lot of help.
5. Walk around outside
Now that I can walk outside (without resembling Nanook of the North), I feel like blooming tulips stretching with kaleidoscope joy.
Of course, keeping that 6-foot distance during the pandemic. Challenging times.
Take a walk outside your winter comfort zone.
- Visit new ideas, products, or services
- Drop in on old friends – reconnect with network contacts
- Sit down on your porch (office chair) and visualize the future
- Read one of the social media books you’ve been meaning to
Springtime is the perfect time to breathe new life into your business, your blog, your new product, or service. Simply open the door to the possibilities.
What’s on your Spring cleaning list?
Note: This post was originally published on April 20, 2011. In keeping with the theme, I updated it on March 20, 2017 and March 19, 2020. Stay safe, everyone.
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Thanks for the fun way of sharing. I just did this. I also deleted people on my personal FB profile who should not be there. I deleted gmail contacts, people I followed on twitter for the wrong reasons, deleted facebook pages and consolidated them under one.
I also focus on one blog now. Simple and more effective.
Have fun
Luving the ideas Cathy, especially simply walking around outside. We should periodically unattach ourselves from the lap-top to recharge our batteries. I take a 5-10 break each hour and go for a short walk or simply lay down and relax to watch my feelings. Keeps me refreshed. Thanks!
RB
Thanks, Ryan. I’m a huge supporter of walking around-figuratively and physically. 🙂 Thanks for walking on over to comment. 🙂
Hi Johan: Some great tips! Glad you enjoyed the post and thanks for sharing your ideas.
Thanks for stopping by, John. I do appreciate it.
Cathy, what a ‘green’ and fun ideas to clean up social media.
Walking around the outside is something that I need to do more often, as I have started. My ‘social media garden’ needs quite a bit of work this quarter.
Hi Stella: It’s never too late to start! I highly recommend walking. Of course, that may be because I am walking in my 8th 3-Day, 60 mile walk for breast cancer. 😀
Thanks for stopping by, Stella. I do appreciate it.
Thanks, Cathy!
This is great advice and I love the analogy of spring cleaning!
I have just started my blogging/social media efforts, so this will be great advice to tuck under my hat and to keep me focused in the coming year!
Hi Steve: Thank you for the kind words. Sometimes I get caught up in the day-to-day, so I need a bit of fun to remind myself to keep it fresh.
I appreciate you coming by and now I have to go check out your post, You Can’t Be Oprah..so quit trying! Great headline! 🙂
Spring is my favorite time of year for exactly the reasons you mention! Out with the old and in with the new. . . . oh wait, that’s new year’s! LOL Anyway, planting and pruning always bring a fantastic harvest and it’s true whether talking about plants or social media. Thanks for a fabulous post!
LOL, Martha! 🙂 Whichever season, out with the old and in with the new leaves a good feeling.
Maybe I’m appreciating spring more now because I moved to Idaho from 20+ years in San Diego where winter was a cold day at the beach. 🙂
Thanks for the kind words, Martha, and for taking the time to drop by. Happy spring cleaning! 🙂
Cleaning is not only something we do in Spring, it’s something that’s continual process. If we have clean desk, our mind will be clear for work as well.
Clear mind is one of the most important factors that is determining productivity levels.
Very true, Bojan. For me, though, there’s something about spring that just makes it seem like a brighter task. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Bojan, and sharing your perspective.
This was awesome Cathy! Such a fun, refreshing way to get this across, and a great reminder too!
You Rock!
Aww, thanks, Melissa. How nice of you to say so. Thanks for stopping by. I do appreciate it-especially with comments as nice as that one. 🙂
Cathy, this article is awesome. I love the way you broke down all of the points. I need to print this and tack it up next to my pc.
Thanks!
–Donna
Donna-you are too kind. Thank you so much. I really appreciate you stopping by.
Hope to see you here again. Thanks, Donna! 🙂
Fun! I love the way you shared these tips, Cathy. I tend to get stuck on 1, 2 and 3. So I’m going to choose some tasks from 4 and 5 to put on my calendar and get done this week. 🙂
Thanks, Michelle. I always say whatever works best for you. 🙂 Hope the open windows and walk bring a breath of spring air. 🙂
Thanks for stopping by, Michelle!
What a breath of fresh spring air your blog is Cathy. You have just inspired me to take a break and go and water my little babies – tiny hot Chilli plants
LOL, Barry! 😀 Glad I could inspire you (and I’m sure your hot Chili plants appreciate it, too!) 😉
Thanks for stopping, by, Barry, and for the nice comment. I do appreciate it. Enjoy your day.
What refreshing ideas, Cathy. Lots of inspiration here.
Thanks, Sharon. I appreciate that from such a master of great ideas.
Seems like cleaning up the email box is perpetual, at least here. And I’ve been doing some hands in the dirt gardening which feels wonderful.
I agree, Anne. But, I know I tend to let my clean-up of my Inbox slide (like any cleaning chore). 😀 I’ve always loved gardening, too.
Spring cleaning. Which to me brings up the fact that Passover is coming- and EVERYTHING needs to be moved around. (Along that line- what’s old is new again also applies to this post 🙂 )
My biggest issue – as you outlined- are those daily mails that no longer meet my needs. (Plus those from folks who promised to NEVER send an unsolicited mail, and now it’s two years later with their monthly- or weekly- missives.) In my case, I just kill the eMail account. Voila. No more spam. (The advantage of owning one’s own domain and being a techie.)
One of the many reasons I love Spring, Roy. You are right – Everything needs to be moved around. 🙂 And more than once I wished I had your skills. Such a gift.
Funny that I read this during a brief break between bouts of yard work!
I’d much rather be cleaning up my social media.
Ha! I can relate to that, Paula. But then I’d rather be doing nothing but reading a book or taking a walk in the Springtime. Oh wait, I think I’ll do the latter right now. 🙂
Nice analogy Cathy. I live in the south so I can often get outside and walk during the winter. Now it’s starting to get too hot for that. When it’s too warm I like to pace around inside and read. Gives me some exercise and the books keep the ideas coming.
I guess you could say that I’ve been doing some spring cleaning the past couple of months. Figuring out how to get more out of what I’m already doing and looking for other things that I can add in without sacrificing the things that already work.
Thanks, Wayne. I lived in southern California over 25 years so I had year-round walking. Now that I am in Boise, I plan my walks around the weather. In the winter, I hit the mall, which I hate, but at least I get some exercise.
Spring cleaning of work is good any time of the year. 🙂 Thanks for stopping by, Wayne.
So, I consider my social media to be housed in a greenhouse. That way,I keep everything weeded, fertilized, and in excellent shape all year long. (I do know nothing lives forever, so I do plant new items to keep the greenhouse fully populated.)
Downright poetic, Roy. 😉 So good to see you here again.
This was great Cathy! Such a fun, invigorating approach to get this over, and an awesome update as well. Keep up the great work!
Thanks, Danielle. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂