How much is fear really holding us back from making the right decisions? Oh, and I really want to be the Lou Dobbs of Marketing Podcasting!
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Nothing is quite as depressing as the last week before a move. Boxes sit half-packed and pieces of furniture, having been sold, leave empty spaces as a constant reminder that things aren’t ever going to be the same as they were.
That’s probably why, prior to business school, I kept the same apartment for five years. Granted, it didn’t hurt that life was a lot simpler then. Even so, I considered that apartment my base of operations and much like my current apartment, leaving it signifies much more than just a change in venue.
Normally, the feelings of change associated with a move out of one space are quickly replaced by the elation of a move into a new space. What happens though, when you move out of one space and into ambiguity?
Such is the life of the modern marketer. Despite the metaphoric reality of my current situation I’ve seen appropriate correlations with marketers and their transition into the new realities of the marketplace.
Though we might not be completely moving out of old ways, the fact of the matter is that our lease on our traditional roles is almost up.
Even for interactive marketers, we have to be much more than just great creative thinkers. We have to be technology evangelists, cross-functional power brokers and even visionary leaders of what relationships with customers can be.
Like many of my colleagues, I may not be completely sure where the road will lead me. When I pack up those boxes, their destination has yet to be selected.
The one thing I do know for sure; the one constant I can rely on is that the emotion I feel is not regret about what I’m leaving behind. It’s the hunger for something new and for something greater than myself. It’s the same feeling we should all feel about the new realities of our profession.
Change – being the only true constant – is only the chance for each of us to grow beyond where we have been into what we can be. For now though, the half-packed boxes will have to serve as a reminder both of that potential as well as the current situation.
The good news is that at some point, hopefully sooner rather than later, those boxes will have a destination. When they get there, they’ll be unpacked and it will be a new begining.
That is, until such time that it’s time to move again…
Back when I was an undergrad, I spent several summers working in restaurants. Though I loved to cook for others, after a long day I couldn’t stand the thought of cooking for myself.
Many of us find ourselves in the same situation if our jobs involve social media. With all this talk about the in and outs of the medium, combined with the endless supply of chatter about “echo chamber” – it’s not surprising we find ourselves with a queasy feeling when logging onto facebook or twitter.
The funny thing about my experiences in restaurants however, was that it kept me incredibly attuned to the details and subtleties in the food when I visited other restaurants. I could pick up on whether the chef had his entire heart in the meal or if the sous-chef was having a bad day. Every detail of the experience was heightened – just by refusing to cook for myself.
Many of us believe that because we are professionals in the social media space, we have to be active there both at work and at home. We think that somehow being uber-connected 24/7 will help us do our jobs better. The reality however is that it won’t.
Like any good thing; too much social media can numb us to the subtleties of the medium and kill our ability to enjoy what we do. Because we’re so close into it all the time, my advice is next time you feel like you’re about to burn out – embrace it!
Take the hint your instincts are giving you and let yourself unplug for a while.
I’m not talking about not checking email or locking your laptop in the closet. I’m talking about taking a break from needing to be completely inside the dialogue for every conversation. Even if you think you have to stay involved in the conversation to maintain your sense of status; realize that taking a step back and listening can perhaps be the best thing you can do for yourself.
Remember – we can’t always be cooks in the same kitchen but that doesn’t mean we can’t all take time to enjoy the meal.
What’s really fascinating to me about marketing innovation is how much it relies on a certain amount of creative tension. Similarly in upward management, the art of creating a balance between your goals and your boss’ goals, a similar amount of tension is also required.
Let’s be clear; by tension, I mean the pull between competing ideas, competing business objectives, or even between two personalities. What I don’t mean is conflict for the sake of conflict.
For instance, in an organization new to social media, it’s not unusual to see the role of “social media manager” protected by upper management or set aside as a pet project, largely untouched by other departments. However, as we see social media becoming more prevalent in job titles, our roles are going to depend more and more on our ability to manage the same political pressures placed on everyone else.
In fact, it is in that shift that we are going to see the separation between the good and the great social media marketers.
Lately, I’ve been focused a lot on what it takes to be effective in this space and found it fundamentally comes down to three things, inspired from Lonnie Pacelli‘s landmark “Thirteen Tips to Effective Upward Management {PDF}:”
1) Figure Out What Drives The People Above You
The quickest way to push a social media agenda forward is to frame in terms of things your superiors want to accomplish. Stability, advancement, notoriety; there has to be something each individual manager wants more than anything else. Show how a social media success can help them achieve that goal and that’s how you get align your objectives.
2) Partner With Your Boss
The worst pattern you can fall into with upward management is thinking in an “us” vs. “them” mentality. Sure, the people above you may not get social media like you do but that doesn’t mean they’re against you. Forward links, clip articles, engage in small talk; do anything you can do to open the door to a conversation. Ultimaley, having your boss with you in exploring social media is a lot better than leaving them in the dust. In other terms; dance with the one that brought you.
3) Develop An Effective Communications Plan To Promote Your Findings
As interest in social media grows around your office, take a page from Peter Gloor and Scott Cooper’s book, Cool Hunting: gain power by giving it away {PDF}. Realize that as the social media manager your first priority should be to spread your knowledge around. This means both promoting things that you discover along with knowing when to forward your findings upward with the we designation (see above – partnering with your boss).
The stakes are getting higher across the board in marketing and many of us have to determine how we want to compete going forward. To add to the pressures, as managers of a new and emerging medium, we are now some of the lowest “subject matter experts” to ever emerge on the totem pole.
We must realize we are not only responsible for our ideas but also for their successful adoption and implementation. In order to do that, we must take ownership of our upward relationships and not be afraid to engage them like we do our own medium.
Commentary on the shift that occurs in your handling of innovation from what’s possible to what’s probable.
Just about the time my classmates and I were walking across the stage to receive our diplomas, the Wall Street Journal was already condemning us to a disappointing life of under-achievement.
Their article, “The Curse of the Class of 2009” details a Yale business school study on the annual earnings of graduates during a recession versus times of prosperity. In addition to stating the obvious – that our class may earn 8% less in our first year, on average – the study also finds that the lag may continue 20 years past our date of graduation.
Though the study does set out solid historical precedent, I couldn’t help but be slightly offended by it’s implications.
Yes, we are graduating into what many economists are deeming the worst job market in recent history. Strangely enough though, I think they said the same thing when I graduated with my undergrad degree in 2003.
Back then; we also had to compromise to get our first jobs. The big difference was that the only individuals who “suffered” were the ones to not want to do anything about it. In fact, most of us realized that breaking out of our doldrums was only a matter of not being dependant on typical career-paths.
Sure, the study makes excellent points about lower future earnings being statistically linked to holding previously low-paying jobs. However, I think there is a strong argument to be said that as long as you are willing to put in the time and effort, it doesn’t matter what your current job is or what you are being paid.
Out of the five hours of commencement exercises we had to sit through yesterday, Associate Dean Jon Lehman made probably the best point about our MBA classes’ situation. During his address, Lehman said that our class “will be known as the one that graduated into a fierce storm.” Despite this truth being all to literal – the proceedings were ironically held under the threat of a severe weather warning – he also said that he knew that we would be able to outlast the storm.
In the end, who’s to say that we’re doomed to a statistically dimmer future than other classes?
If you ask me, I think the WSJ article was playing to the perceived reality of the situation. Call it the foolish optimism of a newly minted MBA, but as long as we do not let perception become prologue, I think the future is only what we decide to make it.
Despite its growing relevance, social media is considered a very non-traditional career path for any marketer, let alone an MBA. Still though, a year ago I realized that I wanted to pursue social media marketing as a full-time gig if only to articulate a broader theme for my post-business school career.
Imagine my surprise then when just last week an opportunity for a dream job in social media marketing popped up right in front of me. The opportunity came based on steps I had taken to position myself through social media networks and yes, I took the offer.
Smart minds like Jason Falls are quick to point out though that social media is not the panacea some marketers make it out to be. However, based on my experience, I am compelled to offer a slightly contrary viewpoint as well as some best practices I picked up along the way.
To sum it up; I fundamentally believe Jason is right in that only face-to-face interaction will close the deal on any potential job. The part where I disagree is that the nature of this job market benefits the job seekers who are prepared, flexible and able to pounce on an opportunity when luck strikes. In that way, social media is the perfect way to increase your chances of being in the right place and the right time.
To illustrate my point, here are four key best practices applicable to almost any job seeker in the social media space:
1) Develop your personal story
Social media is all about connection and the surest way to do make connections is to get people to latch on to your personal narrative.
Before you even approach the job market, make sure you can tell a compelling version of your story in 20 seconds. A good way to do this is to boil your story down to three sentences; a) who you are b) what your professional background looks like and c) why a and b make you perfect for your target job opportunity.
2) Come to the table with something besides just asking for a job
Conversations over social media are usually best suited for non-job related talk butt hey can lead to opportunities. Have your personal story in your back pocket but lead with something of shared interest between you and a social networking contact.
Don’t just jump in and say, “I would be perfect for your company!” Ask questions that demonstrate your competence in their area. Talk about a project you’re working on, talk about a project you’re thinking of starting, just talk about something other than the fact you need employment. The point is to get your contact to open up to you about their organization, what things are keeping them up at night and ways you can potentially be of service.
If you do this right and the opportunity really is there, the contact will offer some sort of opening and ask you about your job search. That’s when you roll out the personal story and pitch.
3) Create a target list of companies, then use LinkedIn to find contacts
I’ll admit; LinkedIn is not the best place for job listings. It is however, a great place to look for contacts at the companies you want to work with.
Start by doing a broad search of job postings on boards like Indeed.com. Set up an RSS feed for titles, descriptions and job requirements that match what you’re looking for and take note of the names of the companies that are hiring. Then, do a search for those companies in LinkedIn and see if any of your friends or their connections have contacts that can help you get your foot in the door.
Asking for a connection requires a little bit of guts but I have found that its very effective. In almost every instance, I was able to land at least a phone call with a recruiter. Even recruiters from companies that didn’t have positions respected the initiative I took and were more than glad to offer connections of their own.
4) Network relentlessly in person and in cyberspace
I will reiterate that all of these best practices are just to position you in social media. The rest of the journey is about being absolutely relentless in pursuing opportunities.
Check your RSS feeds, attend twitter meet-ups, and send out introduction emails. Whatever you do, keep the momentum up in your job search. It’s an exhausting prospect but when you find yourself in that right place, at the right time with the right tools, it’s worth it.
I am really grateful for the people who helped me along the way and want to pay it forward. If you’re struggling in your job search, message me here.
If have something to add to aid in people’s job search – please add it as a comment, I would love to collect as many best practices as possible and see if we can’t lend a hand to brilliant marketers that are still seeking jobs.
Also, to hear more; check out the singlecup podcast commentary:
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