Social Media Burnout

Feb 10, 2009 | blog

'REBOOT!' by Magnus So you’ve drained all your energy on social media and don’t know what direction to go next?  Don’t fear my hard workin’ friend!  The next step is closer than that notebook you’re drooling on.  Come on!  Wake up!  You’re makin’ us look bad.

I know you’ve been trying to take it to the next level and figure out how to break into the blogging stratosphere alongside the Brogan’s and Scoble’s of the world.  Of course, the reality is that getting to that level is through a LOT of hard work.  A never-ending job of reading, learning, tweeting, researching, writing, blogging, writing, and (hopefully) consulting.  All to become really good at what you do.  As any expert, and they’ll describe the same type of thing.  Long hours, following their passion on a topic that they want to share as much as learn about.

So you’ve been writing about social media, talking & tweeting with the rest of the flock about social media.  What’s the next step for you to make your mark?

Find something else to talk about.

Seriously, I’m not trying to be a smartass about this.  You stumbled upon (heh, get it 😉 ) social media and something clicked, but you came from doing something else.  I’m not saying there isn’t space to explore social media as a career.  What I am saying is that its nothing more than a set of tools to better communicate.  You need to use these tools to better interact with folks either in your industry or the genre that fits your passions.

  • Social Media allows you to listen to customers better and faster.
  • Social Media allows you to start, and join in conversations with customers.
  • Social Media can be a new teambuilding tool.
  • Social Media are tools of change for those looking to affect change.

So if you still have dreams of being a blogging superstar, make sure that you find your niche and get started sharing your knowledge.  That’s one of the values of social media – sharing what you know in a way that helps other folks, but also brings more folks to your doorstep.

Good luck my friend, and don’t let the keyboard leave marks on your forehead!

😀

Photo credit: Magnus

50 Uses for Twitter

Jun 8, 2008 | blog

twitter Awhile back, I’d started a list of "101 Uses for Twitter", but never seemed to get past 27 for some reason.  Of course, it had been last autumn since I brainstormed on it.  While I don’t think that I personally could come up with 101 uses, I’m sure there are many more than that.

So I thought about this again for awhile this morning and did think of 50 uses that I’ve seen or participated in.  So here is a list of 50 uses for Twitter, I’m thinking of more as I write this, so maybe there is a chance at that "101" post sometime.

  1. Keep in touch with my Twitter peeps friends
  2. General news item links
  3. News & links on my industry or area of interest
  4. Fast answers to quick questions
  5. Professional networking
  6. Links to nearly everything
  7. Marketing
  8. Personal branding
  9. Corporate & product branding
  10. Haiku’s
  11. Making friends
  12. Feel "plugged into the web and it’s various personalities"
  13. Replacement for instant messaging applications
  14. Chat tool
  15. Promotional tool for my blog
  16. Providing new reading opportunities
  17. Fun stuff!
  18. Meeting new, interesting people to communicate with
  19. Collecting links
  20. Finding sites related to social networking
  21. "To listen in on my contacts rants"
  22. A web worker "water cooler"
  23. Micro-blogging
  24. A personal "techmeme"
  25. Lightweight text broadcasting tool
  26. Easy way to annoy your spouse
  27. Promotional tool for my brand
  28. Ranting
  29. Idea generator
  30. No-cost non-profit announcement system
  31. Bring a sense of community to your home office
  32. Tracking status of friends
  33. Status message generator for other social networks
  34. Frustration generator (at least when it is down)
  35. Thought publisher
  36. Promotional tool for my organization
  37. Following public discussions
  38. Travel guide
  39. Controlled discussion between friends
  40. Uncontrolled discussion between friends with viewers
  41. List generator
  42. Meeting agenda generator
  43. Coffee shop locator
  44. People search
  45. Promotional tool for my company
  46. Product reviews
  47. Trip planner
  48. Backchannel for events
  49. Feedback generator
  50. Authentication mechanism

So what are you uses for Twitter?  I’m sure I didn’t capture them all, so add your ideas and things you use Twitter for below.

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