I read many posts around the web giving free advice to individuals about how to get started or succeed in social media. Excluding the bloggers who are trying to sell you something or the ones who have no idea what they are talking about, the first step is usually to create goals. They will usually provide some example questions, such as:
- Are you trying to increase sales?
- Bring more traffic to your website?
- Create brand-awareness?
- Build relationships?
Eventually, you start thinking about a complete social media program by asking yourself questions like:
- How will you measure changes?
- Are you going to be passive, reactive, engaged or create with your social media efforts?
- What amounts of time are you spending listening, initiating, responding, etc?
- How many people will it take to accomplish your social media efforts?
At this point, most people become a little overwhelmed by these questions. It is very easy to get ahead of yourself with social media efforts and focus your attention in the wrong places. Simply asking yourself, “Who am I?” before thinking about your goals will help you get a solid foundation and understanding about what you are trying to achieve.
The first time I asked myself the question, it felt a little bit like the scene from the movie Zoolander.
No need to worry, the trick is to break it down into a series of questions that, when combined, give you insight into who you are and exactly what you are trying to achieve. Call it what you want, a self-assessment or even a self-situational analysis; it is important to have a grasp on your personal, internal and external environments. In this case, the personal will refer to your qualities and capabilities, the internal involves questions dealing with your organization and the external extends beyond the doors of your workspace.
Next week I will provide you with a questionnaire to help you establish a more focused idea of where these questions can lead you, but I right now I would love it if you asked yourself in an open-ended way —
Who am I?
{ Comments are closed! }