My online friend, Bill Dorman, published a post today asking what we would change if we could turn back the clock to start in this world of social media today.
He writes often about the big kids of social media, those who are perceived to be important, the ones who are always tapped to speak at national and international conferences on the subject of social media, and those who some observers feel the need to be connected to in order to somehow feel worthy.
What Would I Change If I Started In Social Media Again Today?
I wouldn’t change much at all about how I’ve used these tools. I have loved my journey because I have needed every inch of it to become more informed about how my clients can integrate these tools into their existing marketing and business development strategies.
I think some became frustrated, or maybe disillusioned, because they came to “the dance” by themselves, not knowing what they wanted to do once they got here.
They didn’t necessarily view social media as more tools to plug into “the plan,” even if one of the goals in that plan was pure networking in their field. They just knew they liked to dance.
I get that.
I like “the dance,” too.
It’s fun spending time on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and this Myrland Marketing Minute blog, just to name a few.
I have made many friends that I know I will call friends for a long time.
How Does Social Media Fit Into Your Life and Business?
What becomes important is to figure out how this activity fits into your business life. If you sell widgets to wombats, then, by golly, connect with all the widgety wombats and related parties you can in order to get to know, learn from and help them.
Along the way, you’ll meet lots of non-wombats who will be an absolute joy to meet, or at least pique your curiosity, and you will find that you like to spend time interacting with them, too. There’s nothing wrong with adding them to the mix as long as you continue to work on your widget connections, too, and don’t get so distracted that you neglect the business case for being on social media.
Looking Outside The Norm Can Be A Bonus
The bonus is finding out we can learn a great deal by listening to these non-wombatty people, too…you know…getting outside of our comfortable surroundings long enough to see how others do things.
My dear friend, Heather Morse, writes about that here in a post titled I Broke Out Of Legal Marketing and It Feels GREAT! It’s amazing to discover that people outside of our profession have been doing what we’re doing for a very long time, and might actually have some valuable insight that we can apply to our own marketing efforts…{wink, wink}.
In Bill’s comments section, I shared that this is all still pretty new in the grand scheme of life and marketing, so people are still figuring out how they want to use these tools. If playing in the sandboxes of “the big kids” of social media is a goal that supports your business, then go for it. It’s when we make that a goal because we feel we aren’t worthy unless we are “in their league” (whatever that means) that we become hamsters on a wheel that never stops spinning, and that doesn’t feel very productive to me.
If You Could Start Over, What Would You Change?
If you have a minute, I’d love to know how you would turn back the clock on your use of social media. Let me know how you think your “dance” is going down there in the comments section….thanks!
SPECIAL NOTE: If you would like to be notified when my online course LinkedIn Course For Lawyers is accepting new students again (very soon), you can do that here.
Nancy Myrland is a Marketing and Business Development Advisor, specializing in Content, Social & Digital Media. She helps lawyers and legal marketers grow by integrating all marketing disciplines in order to establish relationships and grow their practices. Also known as the LinkedIn Coach For Lawyers, she is a frequent LinkedIn trainer, as well as a content marketing specialist. She helps lawyers, law firms, and legal marketers learn and implement content, social and digital media strategies that cut through the clutter and are more relevant to their current and potential clients. Nancy also works with many firms and lawyers on Zoom and virtual presentation training and coaching to be the best they can be when presenting online.
As an early and constant adopter of social and digital media and technology, she also helps firms with blogging, podcasting, video marketing, voice marketing, livestreaming, and Zoom and virtual presentation strategy and training. She also helps lead select law firms through their online social media strategy when dealing with high-stakes, visible cases.
If you would like to reserve time to begin talking strategy or think through an issue you are having, you can do that here.
