Social Media Is Not a Race


Nobody likes to hear this, but there is no such thing as a quick and easy solution to social media. Lots of people have lots of advice on the subject (I've offered some great tips of my own), but all of the good advice out there requires time, effort, and dedication to properly implement. You can't just throw a few pictures up on Instagram or post a few tweets and expect people to flock to your door. Don't get me wrong - doing something is better than doing nothing... just don't expect to get amazing results for zero effort.

The truth is that social media isn't a race, it's a marathon. It's a strategy, not a solution. You have to prepare for it, pace yourself, and be dedicated. You have to stick to it, even when it seems hard and you feel like you're at the end of your endurance. Also like a marathon, there are a lot of other people out there with you. They're not necessarily competing with you; really you're all competing with yourselves, to find out if you have what it takes to make it through. Maybe you'll end up racing each other part of the way, and maybe you'll encourage each other to keep going when one of you falters. And the harder you work and train at it, the easier it gets to keep moving, to get into a routine, to rise above the pain of the work, and ride the crest of the wave.

You can't just sprint to the finish line (there isn't one anyway). Don't rush off without a plan and without any preparation. Pace yourself. If you want to be successful and get recognized, it's going to be a long haul. There are several factors you need to consider, like what you want to be known for, what you have to offer that can help other people or be interesting to them, and what subjects you can discuss or media you can produce that will give you enough material to keep going. It's important to find your own voice and style, and be true to that. You'll burn out if you're not satisfying yourself, or if you're being disingenuous.

So lace up, do your stretches, and start running. I'll be sure to wave to you when we meet out there, on the road.

Interested in reading more? Here's a great article (and podcast) from social media expert Amber Naslund of Hootsuite about the issues I touched on: https://blog.hootsuite.com/hootcast-amber-naslund/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Identifying and Managing Stakeholders: Tools of the Trade

Image
This week in Tools of the Trade, we will be discussing project stakeholders - the key people in your company that will help you implement changes or fixes to your processes, programs, or business practices. If you're not sure how to identify the problems that require changes or fixes, be sure to check out our previous Tools of the Trade article, Process Mapping . What is a stakeholder? A stakeholder is, simply put, anyone at your company who has a role or a stake in the process you are working on improving or adding. They can be the employees who perform the actual work, employees who are affected by the work once it's done, employees who depend on the results of the work to do their own work, managers who are responsible for the department the work gets done in, and so forth. The stakeholders of your project will be your key allies in figuring out what is causing your problems, deciding how to fix it, and helping you get the job done. Why are stakeholders important?
Continue reading »

Make Better Decisions with Process Mapping: Tools of the Trade

Image
When I came up with the idea for Tools of the Trade, the very first thought that came into my head was Process Mapping. It's pretty much the first thing any business analyst or project manager whips out of their bag of tricks whenever they start a new project. It's ubiquitous in the industry, because it's so powerful and diverse. Despite this, it's not something that has really made its way outside of the project management toolbox. I think that's a real shame, because it's so useful. With a bit of work, it can easily be adapted to almost any industry or small business, and help them to identify problems, make better decisions, and track their progress. So for my first Tools of the Trade article, we're taking an in-depth look at Process Mapping. What is process mapping? On the surface, process mapping is exactly what it sounds like. It is a visual representation of all the steps in a process from start to finish. To create one, you map out all the st
Continue reading »

5 Tips to Improve Your Contact Page: Design in Detail

Image
Today, in the fourth installment of Design in Detail, we're talking about the Contact page of your website. While it's true that the Contact page is probably the most straightforward page on the site for most businesses, there are still some key pieces of information and best practices we should use to make sure we're getting the most out of the page, and that it's providing our customers with the tools and information they need to connect with us and conduct business. So, with that in mind, here are 5 tips to improve your website's Contact page: 1. Be Accessible You want people to get in touch with you. That's the whole point of the contact page. So be sure to include as many ways for them to reach you as possible. Some people are turned off by contact forms, since they don't know what happens with the info after they submit it. So include a phone number or email address as well. Also include your hours of operation - people shouldn't have to con
Continue reading »