Where To Go From Here?

I’ve written almost exclusively this week about the problems and perils that independent social media marketers face. It is a grueling place for us all to be  as the recession dampens our ability to earn a living. We are currently in an interstitial zone. It is that place in between places. What came before has not yet faded into the background and where we are going is still hazy and unproven.

So for now, independent social marketers, gurus, wizards, mavens, etc. are forced to contemplate how committed they are to their endeavors. This week was the most trying of the past 6 months. Ever since I founded my business in September, I have been chugging along at a nice pace, working with interesting clients, paying my bills, and making all sorts of great mistakes, happily lapping up the experiences. Along with the mistakes, there have been triumphs.

And then, all of a sudden, things turned bleak.

Clients began balking at my fees. More were simply fishing for free advice with no intention of paying. Traditional PR companies began paying lip service to social media. Clients backed out just at the moment of signing. What the heck was going on? As the situation turned from immaculately bright and positive to despairingly dark and ominous.  I began to have doubts. Maybe social media is just a fad? Maybe it doesn’t really work at all? Had I, along with my fellow progressive brethren, been fooled, as warned?

No of course not. But the changeover from old to new is taking a lot longer than I expected. Adoption of social media is still happening in fits and starts, mostly related to recessionary pressures. There is also a general cultural malaise, part economic, part political, that is mucking up the works. There is still tons of innovation and creativity going on, but people are DIYing, something I support, even if it does keep money out of my pockets.

Social Media Marketing Needs More Incubation

One reason I am unafraid of the DIY trend is that eventually business owners will realize that social media is as significant to their businesses as anything else and that trying to get the most out of it themselves takes away from their primary mission of running the business, increasing or expanding sales, raising money.

In total, businesses and brands are not yet at this point of acknowledgement, but in fits and starts, smart business owners are beginning to allocate small sums of capital to real social strategy campaigns. Which brings me to the piece I wrote this week on whether independent marketers can earn a decent living.

I believe, even know, we these downward pressures we face, there is a way to eek things out. But it is going to require a good dose of flexibility and some rethinking of how to work. Personally, I am going to have to take on more clients at a lower price point for the foreseeable future. Not something I wanted to do 6 months ago. But it is something that is being forced upon me by the realities of the environment in which I find myself.

Practice What You Preach

Social media marketers talk a lot about flexibility, about evolution, about fast-on-your-feet thinking and problem solving. Not only do I advocate for these skills, I have to implement them in order to survive right now. I find myself talking with people much smarter than myself about the particular problems in my business. And I am doing so from a posture of real sincerity, not trying to fool anyone or make myself seem grander or more successful than I am. One of my character flaws is my defensiveness. But right now, the one thing I am focused on is listening to those around me, even from people not in this line of work. It is so important to get the insights of people a few steps removed. Social media marketers tend to spend a lot of time reading and agreeing sagely with each other. This is natural, but personally, I need to engage successful people from other industries and worlds.

Right now, we are in that interstitial, and it can be a very lonely place. My advice to you, and to myself, is to have faith, do what you can, shake things up, evolve, work with the realities we face not the one we believe should be the case.

Image Source: rockinfree on Flickr

Tagged as: Building Trust, Imperfection is Authentic, Social Media Predictions, Social Media Success