Social media can open up all types of doors for you, or it can be a complete waste of time.

It’s all in how you use it.

The problem is that without a plan or a goal, social media becomes just another distraction.

It becomes another little white lies we tell ourselves everyday. Because we think we’re working hard, even though we’re not getting anything done.

Here are 3 social media excuses to watch out for.

Image courtesy of seanrnicholson

1. Telling Yourself You Don’t Have Enough Time or Money

People always claim that they don’t have time or money to invest in social media, learn search engine optimization, or to start working “on” your blog instead of “in” it.

You’ve probably said this once or twice. I know I have.

Unfortunately it’s easy to be overwhelmed with everything around us. There’s always more to do.

But the truth of the matter is that you can’t afford not to. These things are too important.

If you’re short on time, then hire a virtual assistance and outsource your lowest level tasks. Or invest in resources that will speed up your learning curve.

If you’re short on money, then you should have more time to spend on content creation or networking. Set an easy, actionable goal like 2 extra guest posts each week, or reach out to one blogger each day.

And when you think about it, you also can’t be short of both time and money at the same time.

Do an informal audit of how you currently spend your time. You’ll be amazed at the time wasted and the opportunity cost that time could be worth.

Which brings us to the next point…

2. Telling Yourself that Being Busy is Being Effective

Social media is wonderful, but as Cameron Herold told Srini in their interview, people confuse busyness with effectiveness.

The key to solving this is by having a plan. Here are 5 short tips to help you create one today:

• Start with a goal: Do you want an extra $1,000 each month? If so, then what products or services will you need to create to reach that goal?
• Create a roadmap: Now figure out how you’re going to achieve that goal.
• Identify your highest ROI activities: When you have a roadmap to your goal, you’ll be able to see key tipping points. For example, what online marketing channels are you going to use to bring in more traffic? And how can you increase the number of people signing up for your mailing list?
• Prioritize and set boundaries: Decide what you’re going to focus on (the high ROI activities), and what you’re going to put on the back burner – or ignore completely. There’s no reason you have to be on Twitter for longer than 30 minutes at a time. Set a timer and check-in later that day.
• Be disciplined and accountable: Finally, planning is worthless if you can’t stick to it. If you’re having trouble staying on task, then turn your WiFi off or go somewhere that doesn’t have internet connection. You can also join a community of like-minded individuals that will help keep each other accountable.

3. Telling Yourself You Need to Be on Every Platform

If you’re anything like me, then you have limited resources.

You really don’t have enough time, energy or money as you’d like. But that’s perfectly normal and OK. Once you recognize that, then you’ll realize that you need to prioritize everything you do.

In short, you need relentless focus.

Because when you’ve identified one main goal, every strategy and tactic will need to support it to get the highest ROI on your time.

And sooner or later, you’ll have to make a tough decision. You’ll need to divide your limited resources and choose what you’re going to do (and what you’re going to ignore).

If you want to get more traffic, then maybe you need to focus more on creating content. Which also means you might have to ignore Pinterest completely for a month.

But you’ll see that this decision is easy when you have a goal. The tactics will naturally align and you’ll see better results.

Your social media use will also now have a purpose. And you’ll find that you do have enough time for it’s strategic use.