Mar 31, 2009 | blog
One of the more frequent questions I hear about social media, is around how much time should a person allocate towards it. The answer is a lot simpler than it seems: lots.
For those looking at moving into a social media role, whether its a community manager, specialist, analyst, or strategist (hmm… lots of –ists in there) expect to spend quite a bit of time. Each of these jobs consist of a lot of hours, mainly because you’re dealing with a platform that never turns off: the Internet.
The speed of the Internet really has an influence on the time you need and should spend in a social media related field. Since things change so quickly, it’s imperative to be monitoring all the spaces that are relevant to your company, brand, or interests. This can take up a huge amount of time.
The bottom line on time invested in social media activities, is that you need to set boundaries, and work towards containing them. There are always things that require our attention, or distract us in some way. The trick is to be diligent in leveraging the tools and services that are available for doing monitoring and alerting you when something needs attention, or is relevant to your interests. Event then it get’s a bit difficult to stay on track.
Dec 11, 2008 | happiness
Working towards a goal that is crystal clear, but stretches one’s abilities.
Aug 28, 2008 | blog
It’s a new field where there are no experts; no real training for classification or certification, and it’s difficult for folks participating in it to explain how it works. It’s not a lawless field where anything goes, but the cowboys still roam the prairie where social media grazes. Christopher S. Penn describes the problem and the process quite well in his post How to Become a Social Media Expert, comparing social media to the nuances of martial arts training – pretty good analogy in my book.
Since there are no real experts with years of schooling and experience, how does a company find a community manager? Heck, how do they determine what they’re looking for – most companies really don’t even know exactly what they need. Several are starting to here “community manager†more in relation to social media, and I suppose it does make a bit of sense to the average hiring manager.
As I’ve been looking around in this space as a consultant myself, I’ve noticed a bit of mislabeling, and misunderstanding of what these positions do. They can range from being a glorified forum moderator, to the public figurehead of the company in social media circles. The vagueness and inconsistency is frustrating to both those looking to move into these jobs, and the companies who realize they need someone to fill this indefinable niche they have.
Normally, a company would hire a consultant to help define the needs, address the process, and sometimes assist in filling the role. The problem though is… aren’t consultants experts and there really aren’t any social media experts? Catch 22 huh?
Some firms are looking internally and finding candidates in their existing staff. This could be anyone from marketing, to information technologies, to human resources (and beyond). Sometimes it’s easy to get noticed and get in front of the right people. Other businesses are going for the big guns and hiring out consultants from the A-List to assist them in their social web endeavors.
At least, several of the A-List actually have participated in building, shaping, and forming the concepts of the social web through the work of Cluetrain and their own pieces through the years. This is a great place to start, even for organizations with small budgets – many of the thought leaders in social media give away really good information for companies to start from.
So in this nascent “industryâ€, there is confusion on both the side of organizational need and individual growth in social media. The next step for those mastering the dark arts of the social web is to be bold, go forth, do good things, and prove that you have the vision and understanding. Both to the founding concepts of Cluetrain and to the fiscal responsibilities of corporations that want to participate in, not control, the message.
Photo credit: .mw
Aug 26, 2008 | blog
Have you had the pleasure of participating in a “fire drill” project? You know the kind, the ones that are rushed into being with such a flourish as to miss many (heck, most) of the components that make a successful project. I only mention this because I’m in the middle of such a project (again), and continue to marvel at how often it happens to any size company.
That is not to say that fire drill projects are always a mess, or always a failure, or don’t meet there objectives within budget or timeframe. Often, their outcomes are successful, mostly due to the determination and diligence of the core project team – almost always because they take ownership of their tasks, and even the project itself.
It’s this concept of ownership that interests me quite often. People who could otherwise be mere desk driving time punchers, believe in the project, product, process, or other outcome that the project is driving towards. It’s these people who make or break a project or a company. It’s not that they are indispensable – everyone is – but, they bring such a combination of work ethic and pride to what they do. They bring leadership and peer or team encouragement that is worth much more than their salary alone.
These are the people that make startups work, that can drive a simple idea to success through tireless ours of focused work and attention. It’s also these people I wish had more time to work on their own ideas and agendas, but that’s another post. Folks like these are the ones you want to have on your project, especially when one of the three key factors of your project has been removed from your control (namely time, money, resources). If you’re having to deal with a project that you can’t control all three components, you need to have more of the other two – mostly the best chance for success is to have one or two of those passionate leaders that will take ownership in the outcome of the project and work as hard as you are to that end.
For those working on their personal brand, one of the best things you want as part of your word of mouth marketing about yourself is that you see things through to completion. No matter if it’s through hard work or buy-in on the project, you want to be one of those passionate advocates for the projects you work on.
As for those fire drill projects – they can be as fun as they are frustrating, just make sure to bring a fire extinguisher.
😉
Photo credit: EgjishG
Aug 19, 2008 | blog
Do you blog with an authoritative or a more passive voice? By “authoritativeâ€, I mean an expert, someone with experience. I don’t know about other bloggers, but I seem to get wrapped around the axle when it comes to authoritative voice in blogging. Maybe I’m not even on point in this post – you tell me. When a post starts drifting from my intent, it usually starts sounding “wishy-washy†and doesn’t draw conclusions as I’d like.
Depending on what you’re focus or intent is for your blog, it’s important to keep your tone consistent. If you are an authority on a topic, a knowledgeable or an experienced professional, it’s important to find the right voice to present your ideas to support your brand. Writing with too authoritative a tone without having the expertise to back it up won’t bring a positive vibe to your brand.
Because I want to share experiences, ideas, and such, I often stop writing a post when I feel like I’ve lost that authoritative voice. Usually, it’s also about the point where I’ve lost direction on what I’m trying to say. I know this happens to others as much as it happens to me, but I find it really disruptive and end up closing the work and walking away for a few hours.
Being authoritative is a double-edged sword though. As easily as you can communicate your expertise, you can also annoy or alienate some folks too. There’s a balancing act to it, one that nearly every blogger works to maintain. At least if their trying to be a contributing resource to the social web and not just blog about their family photos and latest vacation.
So how do you stack up? Are you able to present your ideas as an expert without being a know-it-all? How about me? Which way does my writing usually end up?
