In the end, the key question ends up being “What are your priorities and What would you like to accomplish in a specific time frame?” These are important questions to ask ourselves now because we avoid the last minute research and stress we will likely experience in the future. It also, puts us in the drivers seat in terms of dictating what we want, when we want it and how much we are willing to give for it.

Setting up goals and milestones is important in keeping on track and making sure we are making the most of our time. However, it can become difficult when unexpected distractions, priorities and obligations present themselves. Being flexible and dealing with these occurrences as they come is highly valuable. The mindset of not allowing anything to break us from our goals is stronger than any strategic plan or system. There are times in our lives when we get tested in how to deal with certain situations, but it ultimately depends on how we react and approach the situation, that demonstrates our commitment.

Getting back to the original reason I wrote this post, I want to emphasize the importance of seizing the day. Making sure we get the most out of each day we live is important for our growth, innovation and peace of mind. It makes us accountable in our progression for whatever we want out of life. The more we approach each day with purpose and accountability, the more we can get done. This all goes back to making the most out of our time and seeking new opportunities in everything we approach.

1) Market Research

Who’s consuming your brand? Who is your target demographic? What are you competitors doing different than you? Each of these questions can be answered utilizing the social web. For instance, let’s say you own a clothing line and would like to drive more potential customers to your website. You already have a Twitter account and Facebook fan page, but you don’t feel like they’re growing fast enough. You look at your competitors and notice that they’re fan pages and Twitter activity are growing exponentially. Why is this the case? I don’t the answer, but I can give you the solution. Do a competitive analysis between your pages/accounts and the others. Now, look at how your competitors fare against even larger brands. I guarantee you’ll notice similarities (contests, games, fan interaction etc…) that will give you insight on how to improve your social brand. I’m not saying blatantly copy your competitors Social Media strategy, but utilize these networks to discover untapped research.

2) Social Marketing

So the real reason businesses are so intrigued by social media is the marketing aspect. Being able to talk directly to your customers (and potential consumers) instantly is amazing. Companies are literally shifting their marketing dollars from traditional to new media marketing relying heavily on Social Media. Often times, the amount of spend is lower and more efficient than traditional billboards, magazine ads and TV commercials. When designing Social Media Marketing strategies, it’s important to keep in mind the process is ongoing and won’t without interaction. Simply setting up a Facebook and Twitter account doesn’t mean you’ve embraced Web 2.0.

3) Customer Relations

We’ve all heard that “Content is King,” but I’d like to add that “Conversation is Queen.” At the end of the day, we’re basically just talking to our customers. The worst thing you can do is ignore your customers. It’s almost the equivalent to asking them not to buy your brand. When companies reward their consumers and acknowledge their loyalty, we start to see brand allegiance. Consumers will then start to go out of their way to make purchases with your company. Amazon.com has proven this theory successful in their attempts to socialize the online shopping experience. Offering solid recommendations and rewarding frequent users has become a staple to their success. Jeffery Gitomer put it best in his book: Customer Service Is Worthless, Customer Loyalty is Priceless.

4) Reputation Management

Social Media makes every company accountable for their transparency, therefore it’s imperative that you start thinking about reputation management. What are people saying about your company online? How are you perceived by your customers? How do I get rid of that negative stuff about my company on Google? Each of these are valid questions that exist when thinking about reputation management. Social Media Monitoring is one of the most important tools when dealing with reputation management (Lucky for you I made a list of 7 superb monitoring tools) They alert you whenever your company or brand is mentioned online. Staying on the pulse of your online presence will allow you to be the first to respond to your brand. Rapper Kanye West has managed his personal brand effectively this way. Most of his fans turn to his blog to get the real answers, instead of listening to whats reported about him on the news. The fact that he’s built up this authentic rapport online has allowed him to be his own publicist.

What are your followers saying about your brand? How can you better interact with those die-hard fans and include them in future promotions? The understanding of “community” is huge here. It’s not about having 100,000 followers on Twitter, but more about what those followers are saying and how they’re responding (Retweets, Mentions, Sharing etc…)

Most of us get caught up in the numbers because that is what are clients ask of us. How fast can I get 50,000 followers on Twitter? I’ll pay you X amount to get my fan page to 5,000. These demands are inefficient and miss the point of Social Media. By taking this approach, you’re not only losing your voice, but also your authentic followers.

As we continue to move forward with Social Media and Social Networks, I think we’ll begin to see better techniques evolve and utilize sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Instead of just trying to grab followers and fans, companies will need to focus more on the content and distribution models. There are plenty of tutorials and lists out there that explain social media etiquette and how to get the most out of your followers. These are extremely helpful and need to be employed by brand strategists.

Quality over quantity basically comes down to playing by the rules and allowing your content to speak for itself. Making strategic alliances is also important and shouldn’t be overlooked. But simply spamming for more followers, fans and irrelevant links won’t help in the least.