The Paradigm Shift of Social Media and Time Management
It has been a pretty busy week around here at Brandswag. Projects have been piling up and there never seems to be enough time… for anything. The past 48 hours have been pretty efficient in terms of business and extremely inefficient in the realm of Social Media. I have been writing posts every day for the better part of a month and yesterday was the first time I have missed in awhile. Truthfully it upsets me.
I thought about continuing the posts on Being Productive in Social Media but I ran across Andy DeSoto’s new post entitled, Observations on Social Media Compression. I found myself reading exactly what I was going to write today! Amazing how these things happen.
Andy has been extremely busy with starting up classes in his fourth year of school and hasn’t had the time to really invest in Social Media.
From Andy:
Social media becomes something to be attended to when all other responsibilities are fulfilled, kind of like an ever-present background process.
When time is tight, not only do we rely on applications and services to filter for us, but we also engage in a more implicit, natural filtering of our own: discovering what does, and what doesn’t, work for us when free time becomes considerably scarcer.
When I am talking to small business owners about social media and being productive in online communities there is always the issue of time. “I don’t have time to manage social communities.” “I don’t have the time to write three to four blog posts a week.” “I have clients that demand my attention. I feel like I will be left out in the cold if i ignore a network for a couple of days.”
The last statement is where the curse of knowledge will get the best of us. In everyday life there seems to be an underlying belief that if you do not keep up, you will be left behind. If you do not attend a social networking function regularly the members will forget all about you and your business. In some cases this is true but, in my opinion, it is the exact opposite in the social media world.
A paradigm shift needs to occur in terms of time management and social media. Frequency of posts and over-commitment to social media communities does not necessarily mean you will be noticed. There isn’t a measurable ROI when it comes to time and social media.
The beautiful thing about social media is that you can leave and come back, save and rewrite. In a world in which content changes every second of the day it is not hard to re-join the conversation.
Don’t get discouraged if you do not have time to update a network for a day, two days, or even a week! I have to keep telling myself this as days become busier and the work gets deeper. If you are committed to staying in the conversation the members of your group, your social posse, will understand. They will remember. They will contribute and grow with you.
As Andy has shown, most of us are busy. Most of us have the daily routines which fall precedent over our social media community involvement.
Be efficient with your time. Find the best way that works for you and if you need help….ask. You have a community of people spread all over the world who would love to help YOU in this ever-changing process.
2 Important Things to Remember When Blogging
I am a new believer of Gary Vaynerchek. Gary is a self-made millionaire and web 2.0 genius! I stumbled across his site the past week and fell in love with his daily video blogs (vlogs anyone?). The energy Gary instills in the listener is unbelievable! Check out his site if you haven’t. You will not regret it!
My “social media circle” on FriendFeed, SmallerIndiana, and Twitter have been talking a lot about the secrets to blogging. What should be the reasons to blog? What kind of content do people want to read? Should you cater to an SEO type system?
Gary posted a great video about his opinion on How To Build a Great Show on the Internet. He relates building an online show to the likes of a blog or podcast. What I loved so much about the video is Gary completely destroying the glitz and glam aspect of social media
From Gary (semi-paraphrased by me):
“All that glitz and glamor is horse crap. It is not about the camera I use. It is not about the high-tech blogging software you use. It’s NOT! It’s not about the widgets. It’s not about the SEO
It is about Content and Community.
It is about giving from your heart on topics you understand.
Simply brilliant. Gary comes from the hardcore tactics of posting daily, responding to every reader email, and always being involved in the conversation. Content and Community should always be on the front burner of goals associated with business and personal blogs. If you start a blog strictly for SEO purposes, go ahead and join the ranks of lifeless posts.
If you care more about your bottom line than helping and joining the COMMUNITY behind your brand… Go ahead and send out an e-newsletter. Don’t waste your time with a blog.
Taking Advantage of Twitter and NOT Getting Arrested
Hat tip to Shel Israel on his post, 7 New Tips for New Twitter Users
Social Media can be cumbersome for some to understand. Most of the questions center around large sites like Facebook, Myspace, or LinkedIn (especially in my small business environment). Recently, there has been an increase in questions regarding Twitter. Most of them center around, “What the hell is the purpose of Twitter?” or “I just don’t understand why I would want to know what you are thinking 24 hours a day.” OR “Why waste my time? Does it help my business?”
It took me awhile to finally understand the importance of Twitter. Other than the daily updates from friends and business acquaintances, I started seeing importance in community development. After using the tool over a couple of months I started forming relationships with the people I was following. I would be driving down the road and get an update on where someone was nearby. I’d stop. Talk. Relationship strengthened.
For those of you wanting to get into the Twitterific world, or what Shel refers to as Twitterville, here are a few steps you can take to get acquainted!
My opinion of Shel’s Most Important Twitter Guidelines:
3. Celebrities don’t count. You can always start by getting followed by a few celebrity Tweeters like Scoble, Calacanis and Loic. But they give you no credibility at all because they simply follow everyone. Their purpose is to be a new media star and it works well for them.
5.Have favorites. When you are new to Twitterville, you may not even notice that little star icon to the right of each tweet. You can use it to make that post a “favorite.” ….. It shows your sense of humor and your passion points.
6. Take your time. Twitterville works like any other neighborhood. People start by chatting about weather, lunch–silly little things. Sometimes the conversation goes nowhere, tapering off into cyberspace. Other times, the conversation deepens. It evolves into a real friendship or a business opportunity.
My 3 Tips of Using Twitter
1. Mix Personal and Business: The Social Media world is huge on the concept of being authentic on the Internet, whether it is blogging or having a profile in a social media community. Twitter is a form of micro-blogging and it deserves the same respect. When I decide to follow you or vice-versa I expect meaningful content. I don’t need to read a feed about your latest sales pitch. If I wanted sold I would walk into a Cutco Knife Convention. People want some authentic. They want to feel the personal side and the professional side. “Oh he has a business and a dog! That’s nice.”
2. Tweet and Meet. I take advantage of using twitter as a social stream and a information stream. I have met a couple of people off of twitter. I met BradJWard yesterday at Paradise Cafe! When you combing the online and off-line you gain an even HIGHER rate of relationship growth. I had never met Brad but felt like I knew him.
3. Relationship Building Leads to Business: In every aspect of business networking, a strong relationship usually leads to referrals and project collaboration. Why not use Twitter as a one of the relationship building tools? Start to follow your friends and you will run into like minded people.
Shel is a freaking genius, read the rest of his post for the rest of the 7 tips.
Socially Creative Corporate? When is the Right Time?
(major hat tip to my blogging mentor Douglas Karr for his post: When Should a Company Dive into Social Media?)
There is a massive argumentative and substantially humorous conversation circling the steel and glass of corporate culture.
1. When should we jump into social media? Loaded question.
2. Should the CEO have a blog? Should upper management have a blog? Maybe even the peons? Yes. Yes. Yes.
3. Should the blog be Internal or External or BOTH!? This is all dependent on your strategy.
4. How do we combine a work tool with a social tool? I would read up on Best Buy’s Blue Shirt Nation.
5. Should Sharepoint be used as a social media tool? HELL NO. Do you have a paper towel? I just threw up on myself.
6. How do we manage and protect proprietary information on social media platforms? You can’t. Unless you control the social media platform (refer to question 4).
There are, of course, hundreds of questions that follow the simple ones listed above. The biggest problem corporate America has with Social Media is not necessarily managing and building of the platform (up for debate if IT gets a hold of it) it is the beginning. How do we get into Social Media? What is the best way to enter the information flow? should it be a corporate strategy or a marketing strategy?
Doulgas Karr does a great job at answering this question in his post:
I advise that social media and blogging are not a marketing strategy, they’re a corporate strategy. It’s not simply putting yourself out on the market to jump on the latest band wagon and consumers will flock to you. Social media takes time, a strategy and the right resources (both tools and people).
As one of the leading GENIUSES behind Corporate Social Media, Douglas knows what he is talking about. Both Douglas and I have written extensively about being Authentic when writing a blog or getting involved in a social media community.
From Doug: You must involve all the leaders in your company – those who own the strategy of the corporation.
Strategy and Marketing should go hand-in-hand when debating whether to enter the social media world. This message is not only catered to corporations it should also be the focus for small businesses. Do not throw yourself into social media (whether blogging or networking) if you do not have a sound strategy. Without a social media plan/goals your productivity will plummet! You will be inundated with thousands of pieces of information and overwhelmed.
Strategy. Content. Participation. Authenticity.
Social media can be a fragile world, an extremely narrow path, proceed with care.
Most of all, HAVE FUN! This isn’t a corporate board meeting with Fiji water bottles. This is the information highway BABY! Take your time, hit it hard, and reap the benefits of open-communication!
Online Social Networking. Impersonal?
Why do we tend to shorten experiences? Why, as a society, do we keep inventing new ways to make things faster, harder, stronger, and compiled. Information flying this way and that, overloading everyone from the iPOD Millennial to the AM Radio Baby Boomer (sorry stereotyping is a spiritual gift of mine). Technology has managed to help our society do more in less time. But (hat tip to Seth Godin on this one) the “do more in less time” philosophy has taken the personality out of every day encounter. Seth makes a brilliant example in his post, Old Marketing with New Tools:
Cost and speed pressure means that when you get your car serviced, it’s unlikely you’ll be greeted by the mechanic himself, wiping his hands on a greasy rag, telling you exactly what he did to your car. Instead, you’ll get a difficult to decipher printout.
In some cases, new technology has taken out the face to face interaction with the business to the client. BUT we have seen an increase in social interaction (both online and off) in the realm of social media.
I overheard a gentleman talking about a social network (whether Facebook or LinkedIn it doesn’t matter). He was making reference to social networking on the Internet as impersonal and stupid.
First off, I about flipped out of my chair and set him on fire. I understand that online social networking is not for everyone but the least someone can do is recognize the fact that it has VALUE. I turned around thinking I would be face-to-face with a twenty-something year old. Unfortunately he looked around 50 with his real age probably being closer to 35.
The simple fact that a gentleman/business owner was implying that social networking was impersonal is completely ridiculous. If you do it right.
The right way to make social networking work for you is two fold.
1. Join a social network (preferably a geographically local network). In order to know and be productive in the different social networks refer to my post: How To Be Productive in Social Media.
2. Use the social network to meet members of that specific network off-line.
Combine face-to-face networking with your online social networking experience. I use Smaller Indiana to meet new business owners/creative individuals in the Indianapolis community. This does not replace my off-line business networking with groups like Rainmakers but it does add value in meeting people who usually do not attend networking events.
The combination of off-line and online social networking is a powerful tool you can utilize for YOUR business. Try it out. Spend a few minutes on a local network and set up a meeting. If it doesn’t work. TRY AGAIN. If that doesn’t work. Third times s charm?
Also, if you ever hear an older gentleman degrading social media, please call me. I’ll bring the blow torch. You bring the gasoline.
Instant Gratification. A Misnomer on the Web.
There are a few blogs I read that I absolutely love and Seth Godin is one of them. Everything he writes is so simple and yet completely mind blowing. He wrote a post yesterday entitled, The Secret of the Web (hint: it’s a virtue).
Patience.
The main problem people have with social media is the time involvement.
“You are meaning to tell me I have to spend an hour a day on four different sites? Plus my blog?”
“It can be a half-hour but if you want to succeed. Yes”
Seth brought it all into perspective for me this morning by writing:The irony of the web is that the tactics work really quickly. You friend someone on Facebook and two minutes later, they friend you back. Bang! But the strategy still takes forever. The strategy is the hard part, not the tactics.
A teaser. You can have all the friends in the world on Facebook but if you don’t have a strategy to cultivate the relationships, it is a waste of time. You can check out my post on how to be productive in Social Media here. But the main purpose of the post is this:
Don’t get caught up in the instant gratification of someone following you, commenting on your blog, or adding you to friendfeed. The fleeting moment of importance will be good for a day and then it will vanish. You will be swallowed up into the hole of web turnover. Whether personal or business make sure you have goals set before entering the social media arena.
It is like everything in life, more often than not, purpose can justify chaos. The web is chaotic and a tease. Tame the beast with patience and strategy.