The Big Hairy Experiment

Life is like one big race; we all start from the blocks and take off from there. Some will only be in the race briefly, some much longer but all fall away at some time or another.

The race of life is very similar to the treadmill called social media.  It certainly feels like a race, trying to move forward; and some are able to stay in the race longer than others. We are out there churning and burning, just hoping to gain some traction and keep moving forward and being noticed, right?

I am hearing a lot of rumblings about social media fatigue so I thought I would post this.

What if you didn’t post for a month?

For some this would be shut the doors, financial disaster. Everything you have gained at this point could very well be gone.

But what if your strategy for social media is more for networking and branding as you build your ‘brick and mortar’ business? You are building quite the crowd, but how much business is it generating? Who are you really reaching, are these potential customers, or do they look just like you?

The big question is, would you be missed? How long do you think you would lay on the floor before somebody checked on you? The bigger question is, name the two people who would look for you first?

You are out there, trying to hang with the big boys; you just want someone to see you, right? And you have certainly done your share of heavy lifting. Be truthful, name two people who will never know you are gone.

What if you didn’t comment for a month? 

A different scenario, but we all know commenting and engaging is where most of our ‘visibility’ comes from.

Certainly some sites ‘engage’ more than others. You drop by and see the ‘who’s who’ crowd and every one else who thinks this is where you are supposed to be. You can actually jump in and it’s pretty easy to join the conversation.

But what if you your big experiment was a 30-day moratorium. It would certainly free up a huge amount of your time, but at what cost? If you are just ‘gone’ who do you think will be the first two people to reach out to you? Will people still come by your place?

The big experiment

I ask this because I’ve had the opportunity to talk with people in my community who feel like they are doing all the ‘right’ things but it still seems like such a struggle.

I don’t know much but know this; social media can be fickle and appear harsh, uncaring at times. And usually not intentional, it’s just the nature of the beast.

I also know you should enjoy the community you have; whereas you might have one or two people on the radar who you feel would validate you if they would just reach out to you, show up at your place, don’t sell yourself short. They all started somewhere too; be prepared to make your own way.

Love the one you are with

We all have a tendency to want what our friends have. We do all this work, send out invites, but it’s our neighbor that seems to be having all the fun.

If you enjoy what you are doing, just keep your head down and keep doing it. If your definition of success is to ‘make it’ with a certain crowd, then you might be disappointed. Trust me, ‘they‘ see you; if ‘they‘ aren’t coming to your place now ‘they‘ probably never will no matter how many times you comment at their place. Don’t take it personally, because it’s not; it’s the fickleness of social media. Don’t get hung up on the ‘theys‘ because ‘they‘ are just ‘us‘ at a different point in the journey.

If you want an excellent primer on this, check out Margie’s Sunday post.

If you had to make a choice, what would you give up first for 30-days; coffee or the internet?