As we enter advent and the run up to Christmas I thought I’d do some posts following a festive theme.  One of the big things people think about at Christmas is the present giving element.  To giving, and receiving.

Is there a social media equivalent of this?

We can give our time:

Our time to ourselves, to commit the time to review the way we use social media and the impact it has on others.  In taking a little time each day to be social we can reach outside ourselves and into the wider world.

We can give help and information.  If you’re the expert, or you know how to connect someone, you can give the gift of your time to answer a question to help someone out.

We can receive from others:

In social media we can learn when we open ourselves to new experiences.  Check out new resources within your industry.  Take the time to reach out to find out what others value.  In a time of renewal, it can be beneficial to look at what you already receive so you make time for the new.  Sometimes we can become “over-full” with new information.  When that happens we can make a choice to stop and un-subscribe from information which is no longer relevant.  Who adds most value to you when you read their output?

Give the gift of attention.

In choosing where you spend your time it’s more likely you can give the gift of time and attention. Whether that’s time to stop and take attention to your writing practice, your social media profiles, or to move away from the computer and recommit time to important, real life relationships, you can use this time of advent which is all about preparation, and waiting, to shift your own attention.  Be present, whatever you choose to spend your time and attention doing.

What’s on your socialmedia to do list?

What’s on your list will depend on a few key factors:

-  How much you are using social today
-  What you want to use social for
-  if you have ideas about how social can add value.
-  A realistic assessment of how much time you can devote to your to do list

I’ll give you an example so you can consider what you need to build your own social media to do list.

If you currently find that your main tools are more traditional like email and you don’t have a Facebook account, Twitter account and only have a basic LinkedIn account, it’s difficult to think about adding new tools unless you know what you want to use them for.  

If it’s for business, you may decide you are better spending time deepening your use and knowledge of LinkedIn, than you are to add in new tools simply because you think you should.

If on the other hand, important stakeholders are asking where you are on a platform you don’t use yet, you may want to prioritise that action to finding out more about that platform.

Your time is an important factor as we are talking about social activities which take time to build.  Being clear about what you want to focus on and spending time accordingly gets you out of the time trap.

Now you’ve taken some time to think, does that change your mind about what you may place on your social media to do list?

One of my favourite musicals of all time is Les Miserables about the story of Jean Valjean, at the start of the story prisoner 24601. The number and his past follows him through the story as he seeks to assert who he is as a human without the baggage of the number he was once known as.

I mention that as there is some debate happening right now about the change in Klout scores. Klout is described as a measure of online influence. Many scores have changed significantly leading to questions about the change in algorithm. (Authenticity – impact on my own score was a drop).

Whilst moving in social media circles you’re often asked to think about useful measures and ways to filter information, reflecting on all the posts about it have made me stop to think about how we can get focused too much just on the numbers and not enough on the positive outcomes that we can gain from social media.

Above all we need to use our wisdom here. We need to view the scores as interesting, but not as the full story. I am not my number (especially if it can change so comprehensively overnight!). I am more than my story on social.

Even on social whilst I can take account and interest of the numbers, I will do better when I concentrate on the outcomes that social gives me. Is the overall outcome positive, or negative for me? Some positive outcomes I may choose to focus are:

- I helped someone out today
- I learnt something new today
- I made a difference today
- I met someone new today / made a new connection
- I reconnected with someone today
- I deepened a relationship today

What positive outcomes will help you focus on what you enjoy in social, and how it influences how you work?

I attended a conference event this afternoon. Full of other people involved in social media and keen to hear from others about what they were doing, and gain both ideas and best practice. When your role is something which is fairly niche you may find that you are one of the few people in the organisation carrying it out. If this is the case, then joining both real life and web networks and forums can really add benefit.

Here are a few ways that I get benefit from these events:

1. Share the reality. Often you only hear the success stories. Building relationships and getting out and about and networking allows you to have honest conversations about what is actually happening, what is working as well as what the challenges are. Invaluable to help you recognise that you aren’t the only one in that situation.

2. Continue the conversation. Especially with Twitter and a well promoted hashtag it is very possible to connect after the event with a wider range of people than there is time to meet people at the event.

3. Inspire and energise. Getting together with a lot of pele who are all passionate about the work that they do and want to share ideas and best practice not only gives you ideas but also helps you to bring that energy back into the organisation.

I saw a Facebook image that got me thinking yesterday. It said “You can do anything but you can’t do everything”.

Often it feels like we are being compelled to try everything. When we try this, what we get is breadth of coverage often at the expense of depth of coverage and fullness of knowledge. We know a little about a lot. In old money we are a jack of all trades and master of none.

The opposite of this is to be very discerning about where you put your time and energy on the web. You choose the platforms which make most sense for you (yes you, not your friend, not your competitor; you)

We have an opportunity to craft our unique presence on the web. To be well thought out. To use sites which please us and which fulfil the function we chose them for. At the same time they also are where the people we want to connect with and to learn from, and to share with, hang out and out their content and ideas as well.

Above all, we can breathe. We can enjoy deepening the knowledge and the relationships we have already started building. We can get off the Merry Go Round.

What about new social media tools? For most people, you won’t necessarily feel that you have to be on top of every little thing. Again you can stop and make a positive choice about which new tool or platform you will try out and then give yourself time to build a practice around it. This approach helps you avoid that feeling of dabbling that can arise when you fail to give yourself time to enjoy and embed the tools you are using.

I’d love to hear your thoughts about this. What platforms feel instinctive for you?

Even if sometimes it feels that you spend a lot of your time worrying about what you didn’t do, conversations you didn’t have, really all you can do is work from where you are today.

Easy to say, challenging to live to. In social media terms, worrying that you didn’t yet grow your Twitter following or join LinkedIn, won’t help you take action. The goal is to work out what you want, and then from today to start taking action. From today, you can build that following, start a LinkedIn profile or whatever platform works best for you and your particular set of circumstances. The beauty comes in making that decision one that you are committed to and then learning as much as possible about how to do it well.

Only one person can be the first.  First to report, first to share.  After that, it’s about the point of difference.  Your point of difference is knowing what you bring to the party.  And then making sure you actually bring it with you!  Don’t be the guest that turns up empty handed. This post is inspired by @chrisbrogan and his fabulously wonderful description of his clients and community as being like snowflakes.  You can read it here.

What do you bring to the party?

I always try to turn up to the party in my best frame of mind.  Like if you were attending a real life party, no one wants someone at their party who is miserable or moaning about all the terrible things happening.  There is room for that in life, but it’s not at the party (unless that’s what you are building your personal brand around, of course!).  My best frame of mind is a bit like turning up in my best party dress, shiny accessories and best shoes, and my smiliest self on show.  In social media/ online terms, my best self is about bringing to the party a sense of enthusiasm about being there, a hope of the connections that can be made, and a willingness to share positively with my community.

I like being a beacon for those around me.  What I want to bring to the party is a sense of opportunity and possibility.  A reminder that practically, it is possible.  A sharing of the resources that shows, in fact this is the case (social media case studies, links to interesting and useful material).  I’m not the person who wants to be first.  I want to share useful information, and I know my best self isn’t being the person who shares first.  To share first, you usually need the contacts and the breadth for people to know you’re the first one out there with something significant.

You can add your unique slant.

You may not be the first to use social, but you can add your unique slant for yourself and your personality (whether that personality is yours alone, or part of a wider brand you work for).  Your unique slant is made up of a huge combination of factors that you can tweak until you find the right mix that really gets across what you want to be known for.  It comes from your background, your education, the work you do, the work you’d like to do, the sense of flow you have, the topics you want to be known for, the reason you are using social media, your learning style, your communications style.  And much, much more!

Don’t announce it.  Try it, play with it, enjoy it.

Sometimes we get caught in thinking we have to announce what “it” is.  The being you, and your unique viewpoint, will come both from your knowledge of the subject, your engagement with it and what you believe you want to say.  You don’t have to announce that out loud, although you can if you like working that way.  You can start small, on the edges.  You can just start weaving more of that unique viewpoint into the way you write.  Get comfortable with it, and question yourself to see what will help you bring out more of it in the way you work.

Not being yourself right now?

If you feel you’re just stuck in the crowd. Stop and take a deep breathe.  Close your eyes.  Reconnect with what the very best of you is. What you’d like to be known for.  For the legacy you’d like to be behind.  For what is at the very heart of the way that you work.  And then get that out in the world.

Relax: The best is yet to be.  Social Media off the treadmill and into enjoyment.

I was reading a book recently which had this quote about vital optimism “is a quality of spirit possessed by a community or person where there is a persuasion that the best is yet to be” (Gordon Macdonald)

How freeing to think that in our personal, our business and professional use and understanding of social media as well as the development and integration of social media, the “best is yet to be”.  When we work this way, we can focus on the opportunities and the future.

It enables us to ask of ourselves “What does our best look like, in this space”?

My best is different to your best.  

When we stop to ask “What does our best look like, in this space?” it makes us think about what good looks like, what success in this space means to us, and what our best is as well.  In short, it asks us to dream much bigger than where we may be starting.  It also enables us to recognise that “best” will be different for different people, and different organisations.  It recognises that the best is yet to come, and means we can focus on our own opportunities, rather than focusing on where we sit compared to another person or another business.  When we focus on what best means to us personally, we can free up our thinking into blue sky consideration of what we could possibly achieve (even if we’re not sure right now how we will get there!)  My best, as a social media marketer, will be aimed at a different point, to your best if it is one small part of all the different considerations you need to make when thinking about your business.

Learning is continuous

The great thing with a mindset of “the best is yet to be” is that it focuses us on our own continual learning.  In the space of social media, this is crucial!  It’s also important to remember as well as thinking about all the new skills and different tools, to stop to take the time to learn what is effective and what works for you, to refine your approach.  In this way it helps you take a step back off the treadmill and consolidate and tweak your approach alongside other activity you do in order to build relationships and share knowledge.  It also means we can take the heat off ourselves when we commit to the best in our individual circumstances.

Design your plan to achieve “best” for you

Wherever you are starting from, know that’s OK.  Wherever you hope to be, ask yourself if you’ve set a big enough goal, for how it fits with what you want to achieve, and how that fits with the picture of your own personal best.  If you’re starting off feeling overwhelmed, give yourself some small, targetted activities that feel realistic to get yourself going.  Check often to see what is working.

Enjoy doing your best

Don’t feel downhearted if you aren’t achieving everything you hoped all in one go.  Go back to your desire, your hope and what you want to achieve. Look out for best practice of what you see others doing which feels like a version of the best that you’re hoping to head in the right direction of.  Social Media is just one part of a huge tool-kit we have to communicate in our everyday life.

What changes for you when you acknowledge that the ” best is yet to be”?

For me it gives: Hope. Courage. Excitement. Possibility. Curiosity.

How about you? Do share your views in the comments section, I’d love to hear them!

I love being able to find useful content to share with a range of different audiences.  I’m using a couple of tools right now and thought I’d share more about LinkedIn Today in case it’s not a part of LinkedIn you are familiar with.

What is LinkedIn Today and how can I access it?

LinkedIn itself describes it as “The most shared news on LinkedIn”.  You can access it by going to this link directly, or by looking at “News” from your LinkedIn profile, and then clicking on LinkedIn Today.  LinkedIn introduced it to their suite of tools in March this year and highlighted the benefits in 3 key areas:

1. Surfacing content that your networking is sharing
2. Surfacing content that your industry peers are sharing
3. Surfacing content outside your industry

Talking to people about social media I can sometimes feel eyes starting to glaze.  There is a definite feeling of information overload, or as Chris Brogan refers to today, Social Media Fatigue.  Whilst it’s true that we can feel overwhelmed with the amount of information we get in an average day, I wanted to ask you to take a look at it differently from a mindset of opportunity and abundance.

Social Media and the internet gives us:

The ability to access information from a range of sources, fast

When we see news on Twitter, it’s often faster than we’d see it straight away in the main stream news, yet we can go to mainstream news and sources we trust to verify it.  It’s like having your own early warning system for important news.

A multitude of mindsets

If we open ourselves to using tools that open us to new sources, then we are able to find new perspectives, and connect with new people.  We can see posts that challenge us, our viewpoints and our way of thinking about the world.  And right from the comfort of our own desks.

A river of news, a party of potentials.

The joy of social for me is the ability to pull in information which I am interested in.  I’m abundant in mindset simply because there is so much content out there, some of it will give me a new perspective which will resonate with my current view or cause me to reach out to find out more.  The important fact is that in our river of news, it’s important that we can fish for the pieces that we want to see.  We don’t have to hook it all out of the water.  We can pick and choose until the right catch comes along and we scoop it up and take it out and show it off.  We do this all the time in social where we share insightful, relevant content that we found on our journey through an average day.

Room for old friends, new friends, and friends we haven’t met yet (or your business equivalent).

When we think about social with a mindset of abundance we can see that there is room for our current connections as well as keeping in touch with people we may not keep top of mind so often.  We also see that we can open that door to building a relationship more easily with people we meet and find interesting at real life events like that conference you attended just last week.

Give yourself permission to feel abundant, not fatigued.

Yes it’s easy to feel fatigued especially with each new tool. I love learning and I love finding new tools to use, but even so sometimes it can feel overwhelming.  By giving yourself permission to remember to come back to the benefits you find, and by holding each piece of content, or each source lightly, you save yourself from the burden of keeping lots of content in your mind.

Find places to hold your content, but most of all find ways to share relevant content.  That is abundant thinking with social at the heart – using social to share the gift of useful, relevant people with the right people, at the right time.  And with so much content out there, it’s a great time to get started!

Question:  How does thinking about social media in this way help you shift your perspective?