Palmira Media

Many people criticize
the corporate world as a “rat race” – a meaningless, ruthless
existence. But from what I can tell, the lifestyle of a social media
professional can sometimes be even more grueling, competitive and
stressful than that of a top corporate exec.

Social media never slow downs or takes breaks. It just keeps going. image: tatrattery

When it’s just for personal gratification, social media is lots of
fun. But for those who want to make their ideas and campaigns explode
on a mass scale (with any kind of consistency) – it demands an
incredible investment of time, energy and attention. The
pressure to find, consume, share and create new content is relentless.
The complex web of social relationships and implicit obligations
multiply quickly – many new backs and egos need scratching. Endless
reading and learning is required in order to keep your position.

Publish, Ping or Perish

The academic maxim “publish or perish” applies just as much
to the online world. Social media people have an incredibly short
attention span and tend to forget about people and destinations that
aren’t compelling and clockwork consistent. The fickleness is
especially harsh on Digg.com – where people will drop you as a friend
if you don’t digg their stories for just a few days. When people get
sick or go on vacation – they change their username to something like “Gone to Hawaii for 5 days- PLEASE, PLEASE don’t Delete me!”

On Twitter, too, you have to hustle to keep people paying attention to your updates and links. Ping people, praise people, retweet
people in order to stay “tight” with them – or many will flake and
quickly forget you and get enamored with the hot new social media girl
or guy.

Tips for Making the the Race More Manageable

1. Pay Attention in Small Doses – There’s no way
you can read everything, answer every e-mail or @reply, or interact
with everyone (and still get stuff done). So interact with more people on a limited basis. Think one or two word replies.
A blog comment or a RT once every couple of weeks will keep the door
open to a larger number of people – they won’t think you forgot them.

2. Focus and Specialize – Some people have focused
really intensively on one particular site or scene, and they aren’t
burdened with trying to learn everything. There’s people who just do
green social media consulting. Or people who just focus on LinkedIn. Or
on Wordpress. That one section of the social media universe is more
manageable.

3. Get Help and Support – Pro power users like
Chris Brogan, Brian Clark and Guy Kawasaki have evolved past being “one
man shows” and have assembled small, dedicated teams of support. Their
virtual assistants and partners to help with some of the more tedious
aspects of maintaining their presence – like editing posts, booking
flights and finding fresh links.

4. Be Okay with Being Human – Not everyone can be
an omniscient industry thought leader or Top 10 power user. Some people
have too much of a balanced life, care too much about their spouse or
kids, or have important tasks that need their focused attention for
several hours a day. Don’t feel guilty for being human and not spending
18 hours a day online if it’s not for you. Make good friends with
someone who does and download their notes.

Does social media marketing ever feel like a “rat race” to you? Or not? How do you deal with the pace and learning curve?