Is there something about your Social Media experience that you aren’t enjoying right now? It could be anything. Maybe your blog is frustrating you. Maybe Twitter is making you crazy. Maybe Facebook is making you want to flip out.
Let me ask you something if you answered yes. Have you gone out into the Social Media world and tried to change what’s bothering you? Be 100% honest. Asking for help doesn’t count. Reading blogs doesn’t count. Attending webinars doesn’t even count.
Maybe you’re waiting to be served.
There’s not a lack of cooks
Social Media is full of cooks. It’s kind of like a festival too, because there are all kinds of cooks out there ready to serve you their delectable morsels. Even better, these cooks will not just hand deliver you their creations. Some of these cooks will literally stuff their food into your face until you say “uncle.” People are cooking up savory Social Media campaigns for you. There are cooks making delicious Digg observations. There are sous chefs specializing in SEO. It’s easy to let all of these cooks come to you and serve up whatever they’ve got, isn’t it?
But what if none of that food is hitting the spot? What if something just keeps gnawing at you?
There are three options, as so often is the case. Option One: You just keep letting the cooks serve up what they’ve got cooking. Option Two: You yell at the cooks and say, “Hey, this isn’t doing it for me, man! I am not fulfilled!” Or Option Three: You leave the table and go to cooking school.
It’s so easy to wait
Because there are so many cooks, it’s extremely easy to get comfortable with the idea of option one. If something is bugging you about your Social Media reality, maybe you visit five blogs of really influential people and you read everything they’ve written for the last week or so. That’s active, right? Maybe you go to a webinar or two. Maybe you even go to a big event. It feels like you’re moving, right?
But really, what you’re doing is walking from one restaurant to another. You’re sitting down, and without looking at the full menu even, you’re saying, “Serve me your best. Whatever it is.”
What are you hungry for?
The first and most important question you need to ask yourself before you make that order, or before you let someone feed you, is “What are you hungry for?” Or, a slightly different way of asking the same question – why aren’t you feeling full right now?
Here are some symptoms of Social Media hunger that I have seen here and there.
You leave a chat because you can’t keep up
You don’t blog because you can’t keep it going
You hate Twitter because you can’t engage
You don’t like Facebook because you can’t get it to work for you
People often talk about buzz words. Well, “can’t” is the most attention-grabbing buzz word out there. Bloggers and experts and jedi knights and gurus and wizards and ninjas – they search for that word. They gravitate towards you and they say, “Hey buddy, couldn’t help but notice you look famished. You want something to eat?”
Don’t feed the cooks. Be a cook.
A couple of days ago, we talked about expectations, right? Well, what is your expectation when you blog or tweet that you just can’t… xyz? Are you expecting someone to swoop in and solve that problem for you?
Here’s the thing. The world of Social Media is not a place where you can be passive and happy for long periods of time. It just doesn’t work. That’s not bad news though. It just means that at some point, you have to gently put down your menu, stand up, and say, “You know, I think I’m going to start my own restaurant.”
Once you do that, the Social Media world is your oyster. If you are feeling lost in a chat, cook up your own conversation with someone about something you both find interesting. If you are finding that your blog isn’t doing what you want, change it up. Add something wild, like cumin or saffron. If you aren’t having a good experience on Twitter, go out and make the experience that you want. Don’t depend on a cook popping by with exactly what you want. Learn how to cook it.
Let’s get cooking
Was there a point where you found yourself waiting to get served? Are you doing that now? What’s bothering you about your Social Media presence right now? Let’s talk about how you, yes you, can actively turn that thing on its head and leave it far behind. Put that cook’s menu down. It’s time to go to cooking school.
Image by Michal Zacharzewski. http://www.sxc.hu/profile/mzacha