Happiness CCXCV

Jan 20, 2009 | happiness

Looking forward to the future, yet nostalgic for the past… wishing with the rest of humanity that there really is a mix of both.

2009 – Goals & Plans

Jan 12, 2009 | blog

'Achieving Goals' by tochris So it’s the end of another year. As such, I wanted to take a minute and put my plans & goals for 2008 out there.  I’ve not done this one before, but thought I give it a go this year.  Much has changed and I have some directions that I want to follow in 2009 that I neglected in years past.

Writing – Blogging

I’m planning on making a return to a regular blogging schedule after a bit more than a year of a more random approach.  The reason for this was partially work related, but also from a lack of direction in the Fall/Winter of 2007/2008.  This will include the review of a couple other blogs I have – see if I still have the passion & interest to continue those, or if I should end up selling them off.

Writing – eBooks, Newsletters

Ah… yes, there were two aspects to the writing bug this time around. I also am planning to move forward with some eBook projects and a possible Newsletter in 2009.  I’m not sure when exactly this will take place, but will be working on the planning in January.  The eBook topics will relate to personal branding, the social web, information technology (& social media), and probably how many of these relate to the enterprise. I’m thinking hard on these lately.

Events

Social Media Breakfast – Twin Cities (@SMBMSP on Twitter) has been a great success here in the Minneapolis & St. Paul area, and I plan to continue evolving our local version.  It will remain a low or no-cost event. In addition to this fun monthly event, I’m planning on working some one-off special events and possibly an annual event.  Whether those are a summit, retreat, or un-conference style I’m not sure yet, but I do have a few concept ideas that I want to expand on.  I’ve found that I really enjoy helping people connect, and thereby connecting their business or career needs with resources in the local community.

Online Income

2009 is the year I get serious about increasing online income.  By focusing energies on new ideas and business models for my consulting services I plan to make the transition this year from a senior technologist role to a business & customer communications role. The end result will probably be something different, but that’s the fun of a dynamic, fast-paced industry… it’s constantly changing.

Direction

The next few weeks of this year is also the time I’m going to be taking to reassess my career direction. Am I really pursuing the dream, or have allowed myself to get sidetracked and mired in the mechanics of the mundane, again? This is a crucial piece of the puzzle, as it feeds into everything else.  Without direction, none of has have a clue as to where we’re going.

So what’s your plan for this year?

Photo credit: tochris

Interesting how people plan for the new year

Dec 29, 2008 | blog

I’m catching up on feeds and have run across a number of posts and articles on personal plans, goals, or predictions for 2009.  It’s a good exercise, and one that I’m working on for this week as well.

However, I’m amazed (nay, dismayed) at the number of people who either do not understand what a goal should be or at the goal that they’re fixated on. Especially in relation to blogging.  There are a number of great posts around outlining what people are planning to do, but I’d like to see folks really focus their energies when writing them.

For example, I’ve seen a number of people taking about increasing their blog posting schedule, or about getting 100, 200, 300 RSS readers, or hitting 1,000,000 page-views.  This doesn’t tell me what they’re purpose is, however.  It doesn’t tell me why I should come back tomorrow to read a post. It doesn’t tell new readers why they should spend time reading their blogs.  This is simply a lack of understanding of what makes a good blog – in short, numbers don’t count. It’s about the quality of information rather than the numbers of clicks you can run through Google AdSense.

Another theme I’ve seen in some of these planning post for the new year are more lower-level task specific items rather than broad visionary goals for an individual. New or casual bloggers who are interested in growing their blog should look at things that bring value to themselves and their readers.  An example of this would be something like "Revise and rejuvenate my blog’s theme to reflect it’s focus, and for easier reading" would be better than simply wanting to "get a new blog logo".

These more far-reaching goals help us stretch outside our comfort zones for the year.  It gives us something to strive for, something to attain… hence "goals".  I hope more folks take the time and really go through a good personal growth exercise for 2009. It doesn’t have to take long, and if a person allows themselves an hour or two to really think about what they want to accomplish in one year – and what just may be possible in one years time, they may surprise themselves and really accomplish more than they think they can.

So good luck to you on your goal quest for 2009! Watch for my 2009 goals post in the next day or so.

Thoughts on Social Media Careers

Dec 24, 2008 | blog

My Career Path in Ten Words by Jay Dugger I’ve been working in the technology field for a long time and the thing that really keeps me engaged is the fact that it’s always changing.  Technology evolves and there is a constant need to be upgrading or planning on upgrading.  It’s made a great career for myself with a number of great projects and experiences that I can look back on with fond memories.

"IT" as it’s called has also enabled me to push boundaries that were uncomfortable for me, allowing me to grow and continue to learn about things that I needed to but was uninterested in. To my mind, this is what a career should deliver; experiences, personal growth, team participation, leadership, and providing a decent living for a family. This is something that a technology career has rewarded me with for my investment.

So with that knowledge, experience and expectation, I wonder just how big the social media market is for it’s practitioners. As every site integrates more social media and "web 2.0" technologies and methods, how will social media professionals remain in demand? Ensuing generations will be even more well versed in the concepts, tools, technologies than even the much celebrated millennials today.

As the online world continues to circle around and pick up the once-forgotten "human face" that it lacked in the .com boom/bust, it becomes harder to distinguish just what a social media professional is.  I fear that most of them will simply be absorbed into the existing professions as Marketing and Public Relations – already, the social media sphere is mostly made up of this demographic.

Am I off base here or is there really a career path for social media specialists or professionals as we know them today? Or will it just become another skill listed by bullet point on the resume of future marketing professionals? What do you think?

Photo credit: Jay Dugger

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