In January, even in Atlanta, the weather is not always conducive to biking. A 50-degree day can seem pretty brisk when you’re creating your own wind chill. I miss those Indian summer days of fall, and even early winter, when my friends and I would put in 20 miles or more in an afternoon.

A few times, I’ve logged 30 miles!

If you’re NOT a cyclist, it may sound like a long hard ordeal. Here’s the thing, it’s really not that bad. In fact, it’s fun. And I’m no athlete.

I had to work up to those 30-mile bike rides—spending time at the gym on the stationery bike, elliptical as well as leg-strengthening machines. I’ve done plenty of shorter rides. Like I said, I’m no natural athlete.

It’s so worth it. Biking provides a great calorie burn. One of my friends has an Endomondo Sports Tracker that measures calorie burn based on distance, time, and ups and downs in elevation.

On a pretty much flat surface, a two-hour bike ride can burn over 1500 calories. Whoa! That’s like a whole day’s worth of calories. And if you’re with a friend, it doesn’t even seem like two hours.

So that’s why I bike. It’s an incredibly efficient way to burn calories. Plus, it gets me away from my laptop, away from my overly active brain, for a few hours.

What does all this have to do with social media?

Just like I need exercise, you know your company’s marketing requires social media. You may have already set up accounts, even posted a few items. But that’s where it’s stopped.

Or, you may have pushed the whole social media thing onto someone else. It’s too overwhelming; let them deal with it.

That certainly works well. But in doing so, you’re missing out on the fun. You’re missing the immediacy of being connected with your customers and your prospects. And you’re missing a great deal of good information.

It’s time to get into training mode!

Identify one social media outlet, and dive into it. Once you’ve figured out one, you can move on to another. Twitter is a very active platform for the health industry. It’s a great place to get started.

• Put a hashtag like “health” or “healthcare” or “health IT” or “mHealth” into Twitter search, and you’ll find multiple companies to follow.
• Put your competitors’ names into search, and start following them. Watch what they’re posting.
• Once you follow a company, you’ll see their tweets – as well as their followers. You see who they’re linked with; perhaps that’s a prospective client for you. You can develop a relationship by commenting on someone’s tweets.
• Put your own company’s name in search. Monitor the conversations. Ask questions; answer questions, and help people get the help they need. Twitter is a great forum for customer service.

Social media shows your company’s transparency. Prospects and customers love the one-on-one conversations and immediate care. Twitter is a great way to increase customer loyalty—and create relationships that lead to sales.

You may also find, over time, that these interactions stimulate ideas for new services, products and promotions.

Just like exercise, social media is one of those “gotta do it” tasks. But once it’s part of your routine, you’ll get more efficient. And you’ll see big benefits to your business.

Here’s a great article that will ramp up your company’s Twitter power.

To your success in 2015!