Yikes, I know I need to jump into social media pool
Today I had two phone calls from potential social media clients. One a good friend, the other a stranger. Both made the same comment to me…ugh, ok, I’m thinking I really need to do this social media thing, but YIKES, I don’t have time. How do I fit this into what I’m already doing? And to be honest, that is a really good question because truly, it does take time. I love @nancymyrland‘s latest post on her blog Myrland Marketing Minutes ” “Yes, It Does Take Time.” I sure wish I could sit here in my chair and tell you….”hey, won’t take much of your time at all. You can focus on what you love to do best…spend a few moments here in the social media world…and hey, kind of like the Field of Dreams….the clients will come.” The reality…well, it is like any other type of business development and marketing efforts…time is what it takes.
The biggest obstacle I find (and just my experience) for peeps diving into the social media waters? FEAR. In some ways…well, ok many, it reminds me of the junior high school dance. Yep, you remember…surely…boys on one side of the room, girls on the other…both wanting to try out this thing called dance…It looks like fun, but a tad scary…we aren’t sure what will happen once we dance. We want to do it right and with our fear…well, we are afraid to try. For my clients and potential clients, they have heard about these social media waters…they want or if don’t want, know they need to dive in and try to swim. But, they are afraid. When they dive into the waters, they want to do the perfect breaststroke. This is what I loved about my friend and life coach, @katjaib‘s latest post “What’s Stopping You…Perfectionism” My thinking is that they so want to do this social media thing right that they can’t even start.
Now I normally fight with this thing called “perfectionism” and fight it hard, but I was fortunate from the sense that I had been working endless hours and was quite exhausted when I dove into the social media waters. I guess it was kind of like a child being thrown into a pool and paddling to the side. The beauty of social media is it lets you flounder around, for the most part is forgiving for your lack of strokes, then rewards you for reaching the edge of the pool and let’s you get brave enough to dive off of the high board.
The advice I gave to my 2 potential clients and to anyone else who listens to my rants? Well, throw yourself into the water. It will take sometime to figure it out, but you’ve got an advantage…you are you, and simply be you. Yes, it will take some time, but the rewards are worth it. Just dog paddle until you can do the breaststroke, backstroke, freestyle and any other stroke you might like to try. But the key to the success….is be you.
(BTW, photo credits…..um, me…and that is my little nephew Zac)
elaine suess
June 4, 2010
And get help if you need it. Have a nice swim!
debdobson
June 4, 2010
Definitely make friends with life guards, eh? But dive in. Thank you Elaine for reading the blog post and commenting. I appreciate you.
Nancy Myrland
June 8, 2010
Deb, this was a great post, and not just because you mentioned my blog post…although that sure didn’t hurt!
Your suggestion to go ahead and throw yourself in to the water is a good one. The only way I learned what all of this was about was to jump in, watch others swim around me, then start to swim when I felt comfortable.
Once again, your words are right on target!
Jeff Mello
June 10, 2010
Deb,
Nice post!
I would like to add by working with you they will not be swimming alone. One of the advantages for a client to work with someone like you is they can ramp up a lot quicker by having someone knowledgeable like you devise the right social media strategy for them.
Keep up the GREAT work!