Just as Difficult as it Seems

Ok I speak 90% from a personal perspective here when I say that the effort towers way over the difficulty.
The social media related content that I involve myself with in a semi-business manner is for the church. Here the intent and strategy goes beyond the personal benefits of stats and cool comments. Here the effort still towers of the difficulty but the benefits tower of the effort. Benefits as in making connections, discriminating information, encouraging stories, keeping people in the loop and keeping the message alive between Sundays.

Incredible photo!

In a meeting, a photo like this alone, could spark the conversation for my clients, who are afraid of social media or who underestimate how strategic they need to be. With one photo they would have a visual of how precarious, balanced and spectacular social media could be for their organizations.

Yea, I’m with Kris (comment #27). Love the photo :)

On to the point … it does take work! lot’s of it. I don’t think you can put an accurate time frame on it. We’ve been at this for about 6-8 month now where i work and it’s only just starting to gain momentum. we’re not cruising or anything close to where we would like to be one day, but 8 months later we at least have some legs. the blog is up and running. we’ve got some people very actively using Twitter and other outposts. the desire to write content for the blog is growing and we’re starting to get subscribers to our RSS.

http://twitter.com/franswaa

It’s hard but not difficult. The tasks involved are not difficult, but it takes a lot of time and patience and networking to slowly try to build a brand and make connections. Something that doesn’t happen over night even with an influx of PR. Whether for a company or for your own blog, it takes time.

Chris I really like the way you are able to cut to the chase without offending. Thanks for the wisdom that has come from spending hours in the social media world that allows you the ability to provide the information that you are able to teach through your blog.

Thank you.

Chris,

AMEN, BROTHAH! I am so happy to see someone ‘big’ in the industry come out say that you can’t just slap a profile up and watch ‘em all line up to buy from you… that it takes time, persistence, and a bit of research to even figure out WHAT you want to do, say, project, etc.

I have time on my calendar weekly for blogging, twittering, and facebooking — it’s the only way I know how to manage SM as part of my business. Yes, it is part of my business. Yes, it’s on the calendar for a reason — because SM is so seductive that I can be sucked down a rabbit hole really easily (following links on twitter is my biggest time suck) so I need the little chimes from Outlook to keep me on task; or conversely, if it’s NOT on my cal, I may forget to get there and update in the rush of getting up to speed with a new client, etc.

Thank you SO much for posting something that isn’t all pollyanna-sunshine, but is also not negative. Keep tellin’ it like it is, please!

Mary McD (@marymcd on twitter)

Agree with you brother! Your hypnosis is working on me.

“You’ll have fewer headaches if you ignore social media as part of your business communications strategy.”

Great thought-provoking post. Interestingly, I have found that at my nonprofit org I need to have a plan for using these tools for two primary reasons: 1) to legitimize (for management) the value of building online communities and meeting people where they are at; and 2) to underscore the need for not just a long-term view but a holistic approach to how we position ourselves in the community.

Without a plan, our org likely would do one of two things: 1) run full speed ahead, blogging, twittering and friending like maniacs without any thought to purpose or expected results; or 2) avoid engaging online at all because they have no idea how to start.

By articulating a plan, I am able to bring these all-important questions to the forefront and forge a path that people can follow. That goes a long way toward buy-in in our org.

At the same time, I think investing in a full out strategy/plan can become a hindrance if you’re not careful. You end up spending SO much time planning and researching and thinking that you never DO anything.

But it raises this question for me: If your org’s internal culture isn’t adapted for this brave new world, will simply trying to participate in these media force that change org-wide?

It is amazing how many “experts” are out telling every chiropractor, dentist, plumber, photographer etc. how easy it is to “get new business from social media”.

Usually those advancing this idea (that it is easy and does not take alot of time and effort) have an ebook or course for sale and have never actually used the web to promote anything other than there “how to” products.

Just as it takes time to have friends who care about you. Thank you, Chris. This is perfect.
Hildy

Chris,

It would be great if we could just short-circuit the law of cause and effect, but we can’t.

John
(Hi, Hildy!)

Nothing worth doing is easy … isn’t that how the saying goes?

Social media is simple at the surface, but both complex and definitely time-consuming when you start to peel back the layers. I’m so tired of seeing posts and emails from social media “gurus” who claim they’ll rocket you to social media fame and fortune in 7 easy steps. There’s no silver bullet here, people. Each individual and brand needs to devise a customized plan for engagement in social venues. What works for one, may fail miserably for another. And ALL successful plans take time and elbow grease to execute well.

Although I agree with Yianni in comment #23 that – in a perfect world – the best folks to handle corporate social media are those who “are” the brand, I don’t think that solution is always feasible. As a professional writer, I think that an outside party who is properly educated on the values and products of the company and brand can actually bring an important “outsider” view that benefits both the brand and its fans. In addition, she can provide a certain level of social media expertise that may not exist within the organization. Sometimes an in-house person can’t see the forest for the trees, if you know what I mean.

As always – great post. Look forward each day to what you’ll say next. Keep us on our toes, Chris!

Hi Chris!
Excellent article and so true. While it is often fun and always interesting, pounding the “virtual” pavement is a lot of work. And even though social media and the internet have made the introductions easier it still take a real person doing real relationship building to make it work. Thanks for a great post!

Chris – I do have a question:

How do you do “relationship management” in social media? Here’s what I mean:

What you’re saying here is that social media takes time and effort in order to create anything that has long-lasting value. You nurture and grow connections on Twitter and Facebook, build business relationships on LinkedIn, and discover great new friends through your blog.

From a tactical perspective, how are you recording the “data points” that span the arc of these relationships (vocations, websites, birthdays, children’s names, hobbies, quirks)?

Thanks,

John

Amen to this. Embracing new tools and traveling on a new road requires a change in structure and a change in structure requires a change in mindset. And that requires buy-in from a lot of people to do things differently. Nothing easy about that. I am currently leading a task force for developing a social media strategy for my company, WRAL in Raleigh and I was ecstatic when I got buy-in from the big wigs on a mission statement that is so completely different than anything any TV station has ever actively embraced. You see, I feel as though a mission is at the core of everything. If you don’t have one you are simply floating about and if you have no mission how do you know if your goals are the right ones? Yes, this is difficult. It takes time. But when you believe it’s worth it, you put in the time. The rewards will come.
Angela Connor | @communitygirl

There is a chorus of voices like to tell the world that social media is the way however few understand the work involved or the re-design of strategy, job descriptions, focus and even training to make it work.

Great post Chris.
Kevin

I really am glad to see this post. I have clients who come to me wanting me to “make social media happen”.There is the whole education process you have to guide them through first–if they are willing. I am surprised how often they have a Twitter account and a Facebook page but they also have ” somebody in the office” whoever has time, do the posting. No plan, no objectives, no strategy. Most would not attack any other portion of their business in this manner. Social media takes time. It is just the nature of the beast. I think perhaps, because it is not hard or is not “rocket science” is what seduces people into the misconception that social media is not work. Thanks for the post!

So true, so true, Chris – I wonder if the phenomenon of social media is so huge as to change the fundamental ways we work and structure organizations. Which of course puts ‘traditional’ business in the nursing home. When every person and department in the organization is responsible for the brand, nothing can stay the same anymore.

Doing the right thing is seldom, if ever, easy. It is not limited to taking on social media in your business. However the point remains as true as it always has been. Only people who take on the difficult stuff in life and persevere through it will attain real success!

Chris,

I wholeheartedly agree!

If you want to produce anything of great value in life, you must devote an enormous amount of effort, energy, and passion toward it. The sum of those three parts equal WORK. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about parenting, becoming an accomplished musician, or, regarding your topic, a professional blogger.

As Donald Kendall once said, “The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.”

Chris, thanks for the post. Social media is captivating and evolving, yet at the same time, time consuming to keep up with everything. Mass email and messages are easier; however, they are no hope to connecting with people on a true, personal level. To use social media to the fullest potential, one must be able to set aside and dedicate time and effort.

I appreciate what you are articulating in your post Chris. The “Twitter/Facebook” phenomenon is yet another example of irrational exuberance. Every get rich quick canned spam/scam artist on the internet is offering a how-to-profit “course” or eBook. Social Media Marketing is the busiest buzz phrase in the digital space.
I worked with a client last month that wanted to “cash in on the gold rush” and can’t type. They approach the keyboard with two index fingers?!
The next thing to consider should be, can you write? Can you write enough—often enough and skillfully enough that the two dimensional world of text based communication becomes three dimensional in the mind’s eye of the the reader?
Heck do you have a working knowledge of the basic rules of written English?
I was recently solicited by email with a “Marketing Tips” newsletter. The goal of the newsletter was obviously designed to expose the company to potential new clients. The flippin` thing was written in CHAT! The author posed three questions in a row, something that had to be extrapolated because punctuation used did not include question marks. The newsletter amused me, as I subsequently wrote of the company, their services and products and unsubscribed to their email list. With comments.

Great post. Good advice. Yet there are a lot of ways to look at social media. There’s the “me,” which is all about using social media to build an individual brand, not unlike Chris Brogan, which will ideally benefit the company for whom that person works. There’s the “we,” which is the community a brand enables: think Harley Davidson Motor Company, or Twitter Moms, or any big group of Fans on Facebook, or even Times People or Nike Plus, both of which require less effort from the brands. Instead they are the “gift” of community offered up by a brand to those who can benefit from it. Then there is the “they,” a more traditional way of looking at all of your prospects, users and community members from whom you might want to generate interest, participation and business.” They are all a little bit different and require different levels of commitment and time. The “me” and the “they” are the most demanding, for sure. Especially if you want to do more than listen and engage. If your ultimate objective is to inspire people, build a following and ultimately mobilize them it takes a lot of time. Social media is not a program or a campaign. It’s a commitment.
@edwardboches