Monday, December 17th, 2007 |
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Photo by Fabbio
I love you so much I hate you!! Or, I hate you so much I love you!! Oh boy,
is my head Sphinning!! I keep
Stumbling over things
and getting Mixxed up because
my head is totally in the Social Media clouds. Let me explain my battle a bit…
I love you, Social Media…. Let me Count the Ways:
- People – I have met
so many people from
all over World.
Many of these
people I would consider a dear
friend and/or Colleague.
- Traffic - With the correct Social Media Marketing Strategies
you can bring a lot of amazing traffic to your site.
- This is Work?? - I can call Social Media part of my job,
but yet it is so much fun.
- Voyeurism - I can be a Voyeur and it’s okay….
Watching where my friends have been and what they did while they were there.
(StumbleUpon,
MyBlogLog,
etc…)
- Conversations - Conversations via blog comments, Instant
Messaging, blog posts, facebook,
twitter, blah,
blah, blah.
- De-Stresser - Take my mind off of my Stressful Work / Life.
- Not all about Google - No longer have to rely on Major
Search Engines for all of my traffic.
- Keep Updated - Easy to keep up with new and updated information
on the topics that interest me. RSS Feeds
- Link Building - Building Links is fairly easy with Social
Media and a lot of fun. No more emailing for link exchanges.
- Creativity - I feel More Creative now than I ever was.
- Sweet Dreams - I love Social Media so much I even dream
about it at night while I’m sleeping.
- Opportunities - Joined in on projects
with fellow colleagues I have met online
- Standing Out - Social Media Activities can make you Stand
Out - A successful Article or Blog Post can do very well on Social Networking
Sites which can make you stand-out in your Niche.
- Social Media Fame - Having a Blog with a Readership can
make you feel like a Superstar.
I hate you, Social Media… Let me Count the Ways:
- Pressure of keeping up the Pace - Feeling if I slow down
I will get lost and no one will be able to find me.
- Inevitable that someone will be unhappy - This is very
difficult for a people pleaser such as myself. Unable to make everyone happy.
If you make someone unhappy you might hear about it in a follow-up post or
a blog comment.
- Voyeurism - Just like I can watch other people travel through
the Blogosphere, people can watch me too. Knowing this makes me feel a bit
weary about popping on to someone’s blog or StumbleUpon Profile too many times
in a row. Not sure why, but it does.
- This is Work!! - Social Media is very time consuming. And,
even though it is a lot of fun it is so much work!!
- People - Most people that I have met online have been wonderful!!
But, not everyone is as nice. Some people pretend to be your friend because
ultimately they want something from you. Don’t use me!! I hate that!!
- RSS Feed Reader is Too Full - As I mentioned in #8 above I use
a RSS Feed Reader to keep updated. However, my Feed Reader has become so full
that lately I have been missing important posts. Because my Reader is so full
I tend to read the Titles of the Posts to see what sounds interesting enough
to read and landed up missing some really wonderful posts.
- Poor Time Management - What little Time Management Skills
I have had in the past have totally went down the toilet since I added Social
Media Activity to my To-do list. UGH!! I think I’ve already complained
about this in the past, huh?!
- Productivity - Productivity on some of my other duties
has begun to slip.
- Sleepless Nights - Don’t get enough Sleep. Even my
dreams are overcome by Social Media Activities.
- Social Media Pressure - The pressure to achieve a certain
Social Media Status or keep this status is incredibly intense. Sometimes it
is hard to enjoy the fame due to the constant fear of losing it.
I will be following this post up with other posts detailing the specifics on
each of these Love/Hate dilemmas.
Technorati Tags:social media, social networking, social bookmarking, sphinn, stumbleupon, social media marketing, blogging
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Humor, Mixx, Social Bookmarking, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management, Twitter, Web 2.0 | 20 Comments »
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 |
Social Media is an important part of my daily routine. Since I started adding
Social Media to my Daily Schedule I’ve seen an increase in daily traffic,
incoming links, sales on my Preschool
Curriculum eCommerce site and I’ve met the most amazing, brilliant
people that enjoy the same interests as I do.
It sounds wonderful, right? Well, up until last Friday I would have said an
energetic, “YES!!” Now, I’m not so sure.
Last Friday I was comparing what my goals were for that week and what I actually
accomplished. I was horrified to see that I fell short on many of my goals for
that week. For me, that rarely happens. I am ridiculously structured. I need
to be… I run a business out of my home while taking care of three children.
Schedules and "To-Do" Lists are what helps keep my crazy busy life
a bit more sane. So, when I saw my list having tons of items not crossed off
I was determined to see where all of my time was going. This is what I came
up with:
The following times aren’t exact, but gives you a rough idea of the
time I spend doing particular daily duties.
7:30 am
- Get up and start getting my 5 year old ready for School and make sure my
11 year old is awake and getting himself ready for school.
8:30 am
- Feed 4 year old Breakfast.
- Check email
- Print off ABC Home Preschool orders for the last 24 hours
- Process all Credit Card transactions
- Email Customers with their ship dates.
9:30 am
- Use my Feed Reader to check out the new Posts on my Favorite Blogs
- Stumble
and Sphinn posts appropriately.
- Comment on any Posts that I feel I can contribute to.
- Bookmark posts to come back
to later.
10:30 am
- Check out what’s new on Sphinn. Sphinn items I find interesting
- Stumble and/or Bookmark items I find interesting from Sphinn.
- Comment on Sphinn items.
- Check what’s new on FaceBook.
Respond to FaceBook messages and Notifications.
11:30 am
- Quick Stop at MyBlogLog
to see who stopped by my Profile
- Reply to Messages
- Quick Thank-you emails for Stopping by.
- Check what pages StumbleUpon friends sent me to check out…. Respond to
each.
12:30 pm
- Lunch for 4 year old and myself.
- Work-out and Shower.
2:30 pm
- Finish Writing a Post for one of my Blogs
4:00 - 9:00 pm
- Dinner, Homework and Family Time (Trust me, this time is not a break….
I’m sure you Mommies and Daddies know what I’m talking about.)
9:00 pm
- Begin online research on the next days post.
- Make Notes on the direction I want to go with post and any outbound
links I want to use
10:30 pm
- Process orders for ABC Home Preschool
- Package Orders for tomorrow’s shipment
12:00 am
- Go through Feed Reader once again
- Make Posts and Comments on other Blogs
- Sphinn / Stumble Posts
- Go thru Sphinn once again
- Stumble a bit
- Twitter
- Try to finish catching up on emails
Bedtime is between 1 am and 3 am. Lately it is closer to 3 am.
Keep in mind a few things about the above generalized schedule:
- Nowhere did I mention any interaction or quality time with my children.
I have a 4 year old who spends his days with me. So, the work I mentioned
above is done around my time with him during the day.
- I mentioned nothing about extracurricular activities for my children which
happens at least 3 times a week in which I also attend.
- In addition to this blog I have many
other sites that I work on.
- On a daily basis I speak and / or chat with the people I network with online. This
must be squeezed into my daily schedule.
- Daily tweaks and article writing for my static websites
The above schedule was just to give you a very rough idea of how my basic work
day goes. And, how much time, at a minimum, I work on Social Media. My plate
was full before Social Media entered my life. Today my plate is over flowing.
I love Social Media I just need to learn how to manage my time with it better.
If I attempt to keep going at this pace with a schedule like this I’m
sure Social Media will take my life. I am determined to come up with a Time
Management Plan for Social Media that works for me. As it is something that
is not only working for my business, but that I love very much.
During my research in the past couple of days I came across three wonderful
posts that offer some time management skills when it comes to Social Media.
- My
Half Hour Social Networking Plan - In this three part series Kevin Palmer
gives us the details of his 30 minute Social Networking Plan. Kevine breaks
his plan down into three posts 1. The
First Ten Minutes 2.
The Second Ten Minutes 3. The
Final Ten Minutes
- The
10-Minute Daily Guide to Building Your Social Media Profile - Ben Yoskovitz
offers some of his amazing Time Management Tips for Social Networking.
- 7
Ways to Own Social Media Before it Owns You - Brian
Wallace explains that Instead of suffering from social media overload,
look at a few other disciplines and tips for help.
So, please…. please Help Me!! Social Media is trying to take my life….
Do you have any suggestions? I would love to hear them.
Technorati Tags:social media, time management, social networking
Posted in Blogging, Facebook, Social Media, Social Media Marketing, Social Networking, Time Management, Twitter, Web 2.0, Web 2.0 Basics, Websites | 21 Comments »
