Archive for September, 2009
True story that happened a couple of weeks ago: Just as I was reading the umpteenth article written by a self-proclaimed “social media guru” a good friend of mine in the industry called to say, “I’m so sick of all these gurus”. Laugh, laugh, chuckle, chuckle, what a coincidence, couldn’t agree more, etc.
I decided to look up the current (i.e. Wikipedia) definition of “guru”, which states “one who is regarded as having great knowledge, wisdom and authority in a certain area, and who uses it to guide others (teacher).” Hmmm, I can remember a few teachers from my past that definitely do not fit that definition, how about you?
As the owner of an agency that has made it through 20 years of transitions in marketing and advertising, I would like to say I know a lot about today’s new world of social media. And, just like most others, I’ve learned what I know through a lot of reading, practice and, yes, failures. But every time I begin to think of myself as a “guru” I pick up a book from Seth Godin, Guy Kawasaki, Chris Brogan, and now Mitch Joel (way to go Mitch!) and I’m instantly humbled back into the position of a never-ending learner. And you know what? That’s perfectly ok.
So why am I writing this? Who cares, you say. I agree. Except for one thing.
If anyone reading this is trying to become more involved in the world of social media so that you can make money in the industry, I encourage you to come every day as a learner. You don’t have to be a guru to work within these new parameters. If it’s all about truth, trust and transparency, then live these characteristics in your own self-promotion. Most of us are not worthy of being called Social Media Gurus, so let’s not weaken this industry’s authority with falsely self-proclaimed titles just because we can.
Remember, if you understand just a little bit about how Linked In, Twitter and Facebook work you’re ahead of most. You can still be helpful, and earn an income from it, if that’s your goal. But if this industry ends up being viewed as nothing more than thousands of self-proclaimed gurus, it will hurt the validity of those who really can use their knowledge, wisdom and authority to guide others.
I’ve got a self-proclaimed title that I’m working on for myself. I want to be a Social Media “Student Teacher.” The only requirement is to come as learner and be passionate about sharing what you’ve been taught. I can do that. Want to join me?
If you can make it through a blog post or an article and never click on a link in the copy, congratulations. You’re better than me. Yet I know I’m not alone. I have conversations with many people who say they lose track of what they went online to do. Like me, they got caught up on the Hyperlink Highway.
You know what I mean. Imagine traveling cross country with one important goal – you must get from New York to Los Angeles in five days. But every time you see a billboard with an interesting message about an interesting town, you turn off the highway for “just a minute” to check it out. When you get to that town and like what you see, there’s another billboard there telling you to check out another town that sounds interesting. You cruise over there for “just another minute”. Then to another one, then another one. Before you know it, your five days are gone and you’re nowhere near Los Angeles. In fact you’re in Nova Scotia.
For some of us who grew up without having this level of immediate accessibility to knowledge, it’s like being a chocolate junkie on a Hershey’s assembly line. It can undo all those time management seminars your boss from three jobs ago paid for you to attend. It can even negate all the skills you learned from your tattered Stephen Covey books that no one buys at your garage sales.
So, how do you manage Hyperlink ADD?
I think someone should start HA (that’s Hyperlinkers Anonymous) meetings. Maybe when you pass your first milestone (It’s been two hours since my last hyperlink) your sponsor will let you read a blog post with over 200 words. But I think they’ll absolutely restrict you from ever again going near Wikipedia.
I may be one of those that never finds a cure or recovers, I might very well end up on the streets, addicted to link baiting, mired in the hell of every word on a web page taking me somewhere I wanted to go but didn’t have time to visit.
My final advice. If you’ve yet to be diagnosed, don’t be. Ignorance is bliss. If you must absolutely get control of your time, though, I think the only solution is to go cold turkey. Who knows, if you succeed, you just might make it cross country in five days. (Too bad though – everyone you traveled to see will be with me in Nova Scotia)
(Sorry for all the links. Thought they might help make the point!)
I remember one particular Jetsons episode as a kid. It showed Jane’s hectic daily duties of button pushing overwhelming her to the point of a nervous breakdown. Now, I rarely questioned the futuristic lifestyle of the Jetson family, but I clearly remember having a hard time with this one episode. I just couldn’t get my head around the concept of button pushing being so stressful.
Ok, maybe now I get it. Maybe Jane Jetson is our modern day online interactive cross-channel digital marketing communications expert trying to find a beginning and end to her day because the work is always on. Maybe her button pushing involves css, html, php, ajax, analytics, link building, directory submissions, keyword analysis, and checking her good old fashioned email. But then she also has to update her Facebook, write a new Blog post, send a dozen Tweets, another dozen Re-tweets, join a new Linked-In Group, comment on half a dozen relevant blog posts, and respond to the alerts talking about her online.
And we wonder why so many businesses resist embracing today’s interactive online world. The main reason why we marketing companies are so engrossed in it is because we have to be. We need to be there, ready to serve our clients, when they finally fully understand that the old world of advertising and PR is dead. We need to be their guiding light that can take all this confusion and turn it into extra money on their P&L.
It is exciting to some of us because the transparency and truthfulness required for marketing success today is what we’ve always wanted. But the process of sharing this information also means substantial sales increases for Advil and Tylenol.
So the next time you get overwhelmed from our new world of marketing, do what Jane should have done. Ask Rosie to get you a Martini and take Rastro on a nice long walk.
I don’t think our clients are all that unusual. First of all, they’re really good at what they do. And they also understand the need to involve their business in this relatively new thing called Social Media. But, they ask, we’re going to have time to learn this and do it WHEN?
They’re right. For the techies and online gurus that helped invent, develop, and grow this powerful new communication, it might all seem simple. But for the other 95% of America, it is overwhelming.
So, if you’re in the 95% what do you do?
Here’s our opinion – Find someone you trust, and outsource it to them. Oh, I know. How do you outsource something that is supposed to be so personal, so transparent, so pure? Leave that to the people you decide to trust, and let them be your online “concierge”. They’ll cover for you when it’s simple, alert you to things you should be involved with when necessary, and help you respond to things that really do need to come directly from someone inside your business.
The alternative is to spend about 200 hours getting your arms around this new world, then another 20 or so a week managing it. Right, like you’ve got time.
But do your homework. Make sure your concierge knows their stuff, mostly about you, so they can accurately represent you. And be sure to give them regular feedback. Make yourself available to them at least once a week for an hour of debriefing. That one hour will pay off in multitudes, and allow you keep doing what you do best.
