Social Media Is Not A Short-Term Project

Jacob Morgan's most recent blog post inspired me to write this post. Check out Jacob's blog on social media strategy - its good stuff.

Sandwich Fever is the biggest sandwich blog out there (and is fictional). Thousands of avid readers visit the site every week to learn about the newest and best sandwiches out there. My restaurant would really like to be on Sandwich Fever because that would mean more customers would come to eat our great food.

Short-term mentality - I'll send Sandwich Fever an email about my great sandwich and because it is so great they will have to put it on their front page. The most likely result is that the email will get ignored or quickly deleted.

The correct mentality - I will begin to read Sandwich Fever regularly. When I get a chance to contribute something meaningful in the comments, I will post my response in hopes of beginning a conversation with the writer and other readers. If possible, I could connect to the writer (and readers) on other platforms like Twitter and Facebook in order to have more conversations with them. As I build my personal brand, I will have more credibility to get people to find out about my great sandwich. Eventually, I may have an opportunity for my sandwich to be on Sandwich Fever - The writer may even be the one to ask me!

To try to pitch to a blogger in a 'cold-call' style more than likely will produce little result. The best option for getting attention online is to build relationships. Just as you would not ask someone you barely knew for a favor, so it is with online relationships. We need to be realistic with our expectations with time lines; if we truly wish to make a lasting impact online it will take time to build a proper foundation on meaningful conversations, genuine interactions, and beneficial information shared between people.

Social media is not about a 2-week marketing plan. Social media is not about throwing an idea out there to see what works. Social media is not about quick, easy results.

Social media is about careful planning and intentional actions. Social media is about relationships that are two-way. Social media is about long-term plans and hard work.

Do You Have A Goal For Your Personal Brand?

I have been thinking a lot lately about online identity and personal brand. Many people work very hard to create their online brand identity starting at the bottom and building upwards with hard work, persistence, and transparency. Some reach a place of not only familiarity, but of credibility on a certain subject. When I think about what it is I would build my reputation on, I often come back to one interesting question: What is the ultimate goal?


U2 is the arguably still the biggest rock band in the world. Their front man, Bono, has been given charming charisma and a winning personality and he could be easily satisfied with just making music and touching people through songs (which is not necessarily bad). His personal brand has reached a height that gives him a platform and the attention of the world's listening ears. I believe that Bono, not settling into his position for what it is, uses his personal brand for a higher purpose. Instead of sitting back and basking in rock-star glory, he acts differently. Bono often comments about the absurdity that a rock-star can get an audience with the world's political leaders and multi-million dollar corporation CEOs , but he also realizes the importance of taking his opportunity no matter how it comes. He reaches out using his personal brand and position and now has literally affected millions of people all over the world as a champion of poverty, AIDS awareness, and international advocacy.

The quest for online notoriety often times seems selfish to me. If I were to build my name up to a point of credibility, would it just be for me or could I do it for something more than myself? The position of fame for fame's sake is an easy place to stop, but we must all ask ourselves why we work so hard and what the goal of all our efforts could be. At the end of the day, what will we make of our personal brand?

Are You Choosing Where To Leave Fingerprints?

Classic rock band Yes was planning a 40th anniversary reunion tour this past summer, but when their lead singer was suffering from respiratory problems, they had to cancel. The band decided to recruit a new singer for the tour, turning to YouTube for possible candidates. After Yes saw Benoit David performing in his Yes cover band online, they hired him for the gig. After Boston's lead singer passed away last year, the band also searched YouTube and MySpace, finding Tommy DeCarlo to tour with them for their 2008 shows.

A lot of people have their name out on the internet with no intentional purpose of marketing themselves. Whether its a home video on YouTube, a blog post, or even a cover song on MySpace, these components make up someone's online identity - whether they take control of it or not.

You may be leaving your fingerprints everywhere online, but are you taking control of your personal brand through intentional and crafted actions? Whether you want it to or not, your actions online will not only be around forever, but they will represent you. This isn't a blog about not posting stupid pictures or crass comments on Facebook giving potential employeers reasons not to hire you (these behaviors should be an obvious no-no by now), but its about being proactive and not reactive. Instead of letting your brand or image form outside of your control, we all have a choice to be involved with what is portrayed by being active and purposeful. Sure, you might unintentionally do good things that get you noticed like Yes' new lead singer, but what if we all became more conscience of our fingerprints? Are you planning enough for your future?