Turn Back!

Where most would say, “Welcome!” I’m not so sure this would be a kindness.

There is a seething, roiling torrent of information, hype, fundamentals, business cases, enthusiasm, theories, statistics, platforms, guides, applications, white papers, devices, strategies, tactics, confusion, books, blogs, vlogs, microblogs, podcasts and lifecasts about this virulent new breed of distraction and opportunity: social media.

I’m not going to quote any impressive, astronomical  social media stats because frankly anything I put up here will be outdated by the time I type it. (Or paste it, more likely.) I’ll just say that the amount of interest and activity in the social media sphere is bigger than anything you could ever hope to cope with.

Okay, I’ll give you one slice of what’s happening: as of Jan.18, 2010, over 350million active Facebook accounts, 700,000 new accounts every day, and the average user becomes a “fan” of 2 pages per month. (More current, scary FB stats here.)

Don’t get me wrong, it’s both fascinating and fun. But one could easily and quickly drown. Think of this blog as a record of my swimming lessons.

So why am I doing this?

Because as an experienced free lance corporate writer, branding consultant and all-round media agnostic, I want to provide sherpa services to companies and organizations who have much to gain and easily lose in this Wild West phenomenon:

• the rules are different
• the pitfalls many
• the potential to engage with people who share your interests virtually limitless

So I’m blazing a trail here because the first things you learn in this realm are:

1. You learn this stuff by doing
2. It’s better caught than taught
3. It takes commitment

Unless, of course, you’ve got someone to lead you in and through.

Why so ominous?

Because it’s a benign hobby (even sport) for the individual with low stakes and some spare time. Surfers are nimble, skim and benefit by waves, and tend to bob to the surface if they fall. Big ships can plough huge distances and really “carry the freight”, but they’re big objects to turn around and mistakes can be disastrous.

So the bigger you are (or the bigger the impact you desire), the more your commercial viability depends on copacetic relationships with people, the more it behooves you to know your goals and etiquette before you get out there and engage.

Besides, if you’re hitting it right, it’s fun.

GTPMO = Get To the Point, Move On