"Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity." (Albert Einstein)
When I work with clients on Web visibility, I define exactly what we want their social media Economy of Effort plan to engender. I define Economy of Effort in this way - taking the best content and brainshare you can provide and using it in the most efficient and economical way possible to reach your communities through online channels.
In the hype, over-hype, more hype and master hype that the social media "experts" are urging you to buy into about social media profiles, they forget to pass on the real truth that if you can't keep up with them all, then not one of these tools serve you well.
If you're diluting your message across hundreds or frankly even five or more social media platforms, fan pages, blogs, twitterIDs - then you're not utilizing economy of effort in social media. And your return on investment in doing all this work will be very small.
You can't conquer all communities, you can't be the answer for every single question on the Web, and you can't be active on every social media platform. And trust me, you don't want to be either.
It's not about the masses, it's not about how many people are following you on Twitter, it's about the quality, the congruency and the resources they require from you uniquely to help them.
It's not about how many comments your blog posts are getting - it's about setting up a structure for you to blog effectively, even if it's just once weekly, with valuable and integrity-based content. It's about using content to its best purpose through all your online profiles and not spending hours generating tweets, blog posts, status updates or weeping over your keyboard because you can't possibly think of one other "tweet-worthy" thing to say.
Instead, it is about using your efforts wisely. Pick three goals and focus your online efforts toward those.
(HINT: Make it a goal to attract journalists, media and peer publications to your blog or your profiles, so you become a valued expert for them, without the need for PR gatekeepers, agencies and pitches full of pablum to mass media lists.)
Keep in mind all your goals should focus on supporting your community with grace and respect for their time as well as yours. Your community is always more important than you. Your community, by this point, is most likely sick of being interrupted by your Flickr, YouTube, blog posts and incessant tweeting.
We would all be served better if we decided to incorporate what Einstein said, "Out of clutter find simplicity; From discord find harmony; In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity."
How to do that?
1. Out of clutter find simplicity - Start slow with your social media efforts. I suspect many of you are already suffering from what I've termed "Post-Traumatic Social Media Disorder" and so for you, I would advise you "socialdown" immediately. I know it sounds hard, but you can do it. If you've got twenty places you're juggling online, reduce them to five. Message them so they know where you'll be and why you're doing it, and believe me, the ones who really value you will "socialdown" right along with you. In fact, you'll inspire them to take this step themselves.
Think of it in terms of downsizing, social media belt tightening so to speak. There's not enough time in the day to do everything well, and keep our work life balance where it should be, so choose to no longer be trapped by "tiny shiny social media" tools.
2. From discord find harmony - Incorporate a strategic and congruent plan for your brand and your online conversations. Not just superficial junk, make sure that every single thing you're doing counts for something. Not only counts, but brings you harmony with your community. And most importantly, brings you harmony in your life. Stop being in front of the computer 24/7. Get off the Blackberries, iPhones, laptops, YouTube and walk outside.
3. In the middle of difficulty, lies opportunity - I feel your pain. I feel your panic about what you might be missing out there if you're not online all the time and you're not on all these platforms. That difficulty - that pain- will pass. Give yourself six months and you'll recognize that it's nice to see the sun again, it's nice to not be in constant social media panic mode, it's nice to have a plan and follow it. Congruently, abundantly and with boundaries.
Sieze the opportunities, I promise you'll find, if you'll choose to set yourself free from being everywhere online.
