I got a great email this week asking my advice about getting a job in social media. I will be posting some of my answers in an upcoming blog post — but it made me realize…I need a better way to take questions that I can answer for you all!
So, I’ve set up a special page on the blog for you to submit your topics called “Ask Me.” I’ll answer them and try and help guide you to becoming a social media superstar!
OK, back to building your social media empire. I’m going to assume you guys know that no tool, no get-social-fast scheme and no amount of money can make you become a social media superstar. It takes three big things:
Time
- Time in actual minutes spent: You will need to devote about an hour every day (more would be better) to pulling off the advice listed below and to maintain the work. Because the technology changes every day, you need to be just as nimble.
- Time to develop results: Even after you’ve invested the time to get to know the big tools, you will need to be patient. It may take you some time to become an expert or to see measurable results. Keep at it.
Interest
- If you have no interest in social media and just think it sounds like a cool job, stop now. You will be bored, overwhelmed and you will not get good results. Social media is social. It’s also in many cases experimental. It requires out-of-the-box thinking and often, a bit of risk.
Effort
- You’ll have to put in quite a bit of work, whether you’re trying to become a professional superstar or just get to know the tools better for your personal projects. And it is work, even if it’s NOT part of your 9-5 job and you don’t get paid.
If you’re still with me — awesome! Because social media rocks. And we could use a few more stars.
My Superstar Badge
Your Homework Assignments
Days 1-3
Get to know the following words and what they mean. You don’t need to be an expert on the specifics, but you should know how to speak about them eloquently.
(Note: Hubspot has an amazing glossary that you may want to bookmark or even print out: “The Ultimate Glossary: 101 Social Media Marketing Terms Explained“)
- ROI/Return on Investment
- Analytics
- Geolocation
- Aggregator
- Brand
- Blog
- Vlog
- Chat
- Twitter/Facebook/LinkedIn/StumbleUpon/Digg (add as many tools here as you can think of)
- Firefox/Internet Explorer/Safari/Opera/RockMelt
- HTML
- Lurker
- Mashup
- Search Engine Optimization
- Sentiment
- Viral Marketing
- Webinar
- Wiki
- RSS
Days 4-7
Add the following blogs to your RSS reader (we know what that means now, right?) Alternatively, get subscriptions to the e-newsletters for the blogs or websites:
- Mashable
- Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist
- Bad Pitch Blog
- Brass Tack Thinking
- Blonde 2.0
- Brains on Fire
- Brian Solis
- Seth Godin
- Chris Brogan
- Daily Blog Tips
- Facebook Blog
- For Bloggers, By Bloggers
- Health Blog Helper
- Ignite Social Media
- HubSpot Blog
- IttyBiz
- Personal Branding Blog
- Problogger
- SEOMoz Blog
- ReadWriteWeb
- Socialnomics
- UnMarketing
- Web Strategy
Days 8-11
Spend some time getting to know the big social media stories (the good and the bad) of the last 12 months — you’ll need to refer to them in conversation (and know enough details to not look silly). These will also help you with the next block of homework.
Some starters:
Marie Claire, Nestle, Old Spice, Groupon, Starbucks, Google Product Launches, Cook’s Source, Tiger Woods, Gap Logo
Days 12-13
Now that you’ve identified some case studies — take a look at them and come up with a few bullet points (or, if you’re really brave), a thesis on what we’ll be talking about in social media over the next 12 months. You’ll be using all of the information you’ve gathered up until now, so you should have a few ideas to flesh out. Once you come up with your trends or future predictions, add to your RSS reader with blogs that focus on those ideas.
Start to connect with and comment on those blogs. Share the posts on Twitter and Facebook. Make thoughtful responses, on your blog or other social networks. Bonus points for vlog responses.
Some starters:
Crowdsourcing and business, group buying, geolocation/check-ins, mobile technology, apps
Day 14
Now that you’ve spent two weeks becoming a superstar, rip up your old resume and start a new one. Include some of the new skills that you’ve gathered, and really think about the keywords you use. I guarantee that even if your job does not deal directly with social media, it will. Your current job can be a great place to have a safe place to learn about social media and put it into practice. So let your supervisors know what you have learned and how you’d like to help them expand through social media.
If you’re not currently working or don’t think you can apply social media to your job, I encourage you to either start blogging about social media on your existing website or to start a blog where you can begin to lend your thoughts to all of the emerging technology.
I admit it. I love social media. I love everything about it. And the true path to success? If you love it, surround yourself with it. You won’t think of this as homework after a while — you’ll just consider it to be part of your daily routine.
Your turn: What have I left out? What can I add to this list?
P.S. Don’t forget to Ask Me your social media questions!
About Katy
thank you for such an informative article!!!
I like that you break it down, easy enough for someone who knows some but not all, to be able to understand it.
I think it’s a combination of
enthusiasm
kindness and
persistence
You need to believe in the reason that you’re on social media. For me it’s fitness and I truly believe in what I do and I’ve been doing IRL for 14 years, I love, love, love connecting with people in the cyberworld and helping them live a better life.
Kindness is really important (OK, some people put out the snarky thing and do well, but for most people that won’t work … you really become a “persona” when you just do one aspect of who you are.) Thank people when they RT you, if you say you’ll help someone do it, look for people that you can help. Be nice, polite and respectful if you want people to act that way towards you. (This is a big Chris Brogan thing BTW).
Persistence, if you want to be a “super star” you’ve got to commit to the process. You must do it daily (yes, daily) you must learn the ropes of growing your presence (lots of free content on the web to do this, Chris Brogan again has lots of good primers, just do a search on his site).
If you flag out for a week or a month you’ll lose people. The worst thing you can be in social media is fickle.
I’m not a superstar, but I respect the ones who have gotten there. Just the bit that I’ve managed to build has taken a lot of work. If you see a superstar know that they are really hardworking, smart and passionate. You have to have all three attributes
Nice post Katy, thanks for putting it up.
Lisa
This post came at a perfect time! If you know what I mean
Thanks Katy, you rock the social media world 
I have to echo Lisa’s kindness piece (and add Copyblogger to the reader too!)
Sometimes people forget that social media is created by people who have all the same motivations, desires as those in our real lives.
I like what you said about truly committing to it as well. If you don’t like it, then there are others things to do and ways of life far more fulfilling. And that’s ok. If it’s torture and a bother, do something different. We all know people that think twitter is craziness, they probably should pick a different career path.
Thank you for breaking your own rules! Great read.
Great post Katy. I’ll definitely look at all these suggestions. I don’t want to be a social media guru per se… I want to learn how to maximize my presence as a blogger using social media. Should I do anything differently w/ that goal?