Should you Hire a VA to do your own Social Media?

Are your trying to figure out how to use Social Media and be everywhere for everyone? There are so many platforms now, how does one keep up? I would like to say that these are just my opinions but I have been on Social Media for 6 years now, and I feel like I know a little about Social Media. I am not an expert by no means, but who is? I know there are several people out there who claim to be Social Media Experts but how do you stay on top of all the platforms and all the updates. That is humanely impossible, so think about that before you hire a Social Media Expert. I do believe there are Social Media Experts on one Platform. For example, you might hire a Social Media Expert for Instagram, yes! That Social Media Expert is not going to be a Social Media Expert on Twitter and Snapchat too, oh no. Not if they are an expert.

So what does one do? I believe you have to be the expert of your own Brand and you have to learn all the Social Media Platforms yourself and start using the ones that work. I will teach you some tricks. There is software and Apps out there that help you such as Hootsuite, Pagemodo, Buffer, and Edgar. There are more but these seam to be the most popular. I use Buffer. What Buffer does for me is, as I am reading articles in my spare time and if I feel they would be great articles for my followers to read too, I share them on Buffer and Buffer sends them out to all my Social Media Platforms and schedules them. I absolutely love this service. I am on Google Plus, Instagram (2 accounts), Twitter, Facebook (6 accounts), Periscope, Pinterest, and yes I signed up for Snapchat but I am not using it yet. I am not sure I will either. My kids love Snapchat so I believe it to be more for teens and young adults and if that is you, then start exploring with Snapchat. Another tool I use is IFTTT. I love this tool. When I post on my Blog or Podcast, IFTTT is set up to send out those posts on Social Media too. Then one day a week, I pin my Instagram to Pinterest with Gramfeed. I feel like I am everywhere all the time, but I don’t spend more than one hour a day on Social Media. So, in my opinion you don’t need to have a VA for Social Media. I strongly believe that you are taking the social out of Social Media when you have someone else doing your Social Media. I absolutely love Social Media so why would I hire someone to do my social things. It’s like this…would you hire someone to attend weddings, social events, baby showers, school events on your behalf? No, if you said yes, you have a serious problem.

Let me give you an example of this. I used to follow someone on Social Media everywhere that I loved and I still like this person. I will not be naming any names here. This person is everywhere on Social Media. I would watch her on Periscope, follow her Instagram Updates, and Retweet her Tweets. Let’s just say, I thought she was the coolest thing since slice bread. Now, I am dating myself. Well I discovered that her Periscopes were being recorded for her Podcasts and I love listening to Podcasts when I am exercising so now I don’t need to hear her twice. There is no need to follow her on Periscope, I already listen to her Podcasts. Then I discovered that she is not the person behind her Instagram or Twitter Accounts. How did I discover this? Well, she told everyone on Periscope and encourage everyone to do the same. Oh yeah, I was crushed…like stabbed in the heart. I felt betrayed. So the person posting and replying sometimes was not her, it was her VA. I am not OK with that. I felt let down and betrayed. I am not Okay with that at all. It was like I had to break up with this person. I know a little dramatic. But REALLY???

I don’t know how you feel about this but if you have an opinion about it, please leave me a comment here or somewhere on any of my social media accounts @dinamariejoy because they are really me. My VA can and will do many things for me but writing my Blog Posts, or Podcasts, or being on my Social Media is not my VA’s.