Thanks to everyone that submitted questions in response to our e-newsletter last month. There were so many great questions that we decided to answer and post them one at a time.

We start with this question from a local realtor. We have kept them anonymous in case the author prefers it that way. If not, please let me know and we’ll publish your name.

Broadcasting myself on Facebook and Twitter etc. has always seemed out of step with my personality type. Every time I post anything it seems so contrived (and it is).

I believe in what you do and social marketing will definitely help my business. How do we get comfortable with the habit of posting stuff that appears to be so innate and effortless to others.

Great question as I know many others feel this way, and you know what, I felt that way too. My first few tweets and Facebook updates felt as you say, contrived. That was probably because I didn’t know many of the people on Twitter at that point and didn’t have many followers either so I kind of thought, what’s the point.

What people who are new to social media sometimes misunderstand is that everything you say doesn’t have to be groundbreaking, earth shattering or even relevant. Depending on who you are, what business you’re in and how you’re using social media you can simply let your hair down and be yourself. Sure you’ll need to post relevant, insight and topical content but people want to get to know you and see your personality too.

Remember that like anything in life; a sport, hobby or business, it takes practice and time to understand, get comfortable with and ultimately master – so more that 20 tweets and a few Facebook updates.

Here’s an example from my personal experience a few months ago. It was a Friday afternoon before a long weekend (mistake #1) and I had just finished work on what I thought was a really good blog post on an important topic. I quickly went to Twitter and crafted a few punchy headlines and posted them then sat back to watch how many retweets, replies and clicks they received ~ nada.

I noticed some people in my tweet stream talking about the long weekend. So my sense of humour clicks in and I tweet this. Right away I start getting lots of retweets and replies. People were already in weekend mode and they enjoy the humor.

So in answer to your question, give it a good honest shot. I encourage you to take the 90-day challenge. Commit to social media for at least 90 days and do the following:

1. Tweet every day at least a few times, more if you’d like.
2. Talk about what you are passionate about.
3. Find more people to follow in various areas; business, hobbies, sports, passions. We all have them.
4. Create at least 2 lists e.g. business related, hobby related.
5. Retweet people who’s tweets you enjoy.
6. Say something funny – poke fun at someone else.
7. @reply at least once a day with either a comment or question.
8. Post a few pictures to Twitter using Twitpic or Hootsuite (or other).
9. Use a few hashtags e.g. #YYJ or those related to your business.
10. Try to get to know some of the Twitter folk you are meeting offline by attending an event e.g. a tweet-up, a meet-up, Social Media Club or other.
11. Here are a few other Tips to Tweeting Your Business.

What about others reading this – what advice would you offer this new user? Leave your comment below.