N - Niche: Who specifically are you trying to each using social media? You are not trying to reach everybody. You don't have the time, energy, or budget to reach everyone. Even if you did reach everyone, you couldn't handle all the work that would come in. Just as you clearly define a narrow target audience for your business, you also want to do the same thing for your social media accounts. You might even consider narrowing your efforts in social media by focusing on just one network - the one where you find your target audience. You may find your audience at LinkedIn, not Facebook. Focus your efforts on LinkedIn instead of Facebook or Twitter.

S - Subject: What subject, or topic, do you want to share with your social media network? Your main area of expertise should be the focus of what you post. You want  your audience to come to you as the expert in your field. If there is there a supportive area of expertise, post about that as well.

P - Passion: Here is where you can really get inspired and creative. Share your passion. Let it shine through in what you say and the images you create and share. Your audience will be able to feel that passion and be inspired to share what you post with their networks. This is where you want to use photos and videos to help your audience visualize your passion.

I - Integration: You are busy and may not have a lot of time to spend on social media marketing. There are many ways to integrate your social media that can save you time. Using plugins at your WordPress blog that integrate your social media accounts allows your blog post to be automatically shared on your social networks when it goes live.

R - Regular, consistent: This may be the area where I see the most need for improvement when prospects come to me for assistance. Posting regularly on  your social media networks so people can come to see you as an expert in your field is important. Your audience comes to know you and trust you.  Don't worry that you need to create lengthy messages. Keep it short and this will encourage others to share.

E - Engagement: People like to connect and engage with other people. If you want to see real progress using social media, then engage with your networks. Ask questions and then reply to those questions, comments, or suggestions. Ask where, when, would, and should questions. Don't ask why questions as they require people to think and on social media people want to answer questions that can be done quickly and succinctly. Ask  Share other people's posts and comment on them. Mix is up a bit and share something personal - a hobby or interest, the latest book you are reading, a photo of your pet. Don't over do it though. Another way to build engagement is to promote someone else in your network.

It doesn't take a lot of time and money to invest in social media. Schedule just 15 minutes a day. Each blog post should be sent out on all your social media accounts. You can just post the blog title and a link to it or pull out a couple of tips from your blog post and share. If someone else in your network posts something you know your audience will find interesting, repost, share, or retweet it. Share an inspirational or funny quote.