You know, I think the universe it trying to send me a message. In the past week, I have read the following:
- A post by Meg Guiseppi entitled Social Media: Never on Sunday? talked about the insidious nature of the Internet. How strong the temptation is to check e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, or the many other forms of social media “just for a few minutes!” But, the reality is that you are sucked in for much longer than that.
- Julie Walraven talked about TweetDeck not working for her and the frustration she felt. I definitely could relate to her experience; sometimes I just feel paralyzed when the computer malfunctions or some other piece of technology doesn’t work the way it’s supposed to when I need it. Without this, how can I get anything done?
- I got an e-mail on Friday from a friend who runs a successful business. It started off, “I have been offline since Wed. night.” She had been out having meetings, connecting with people in-person, and not fretting one bit about what was happening in the virtual world of the Internet. Did everything fall apart because she focused on face-to-face interactions instead of the ones online? Of course not.
- Ryan Rancantore explained the seven deadly sins of personal branding. And what was number 7? “Never Taking a Day Off.” This quote from that point really hit home:
While it is true that your personal brand is publicly viewable on the web 24/7, don’t think that your personal branding efforts must follow the same time schedule. Taking time off just might be the catalyst you need for a more inspired brand.
Wow. That’s a lot of talk that honed in on the topic of social media and how the involvement with it can get out of control if you don’t set limits.
It can be especially challenging for job seekers to establish boundaries regarding the promotion of personal brand and the use of social media. With the pressure you put on yourself to find a job, it’s so tempting to say, “Just one more tweet to further establish my knowledge, just one more comment on a blog to get my name out there, a quick check of discussions on my LinkedIn groups to see if I’m interested in a topic.”
When building your brand to further your job search, part of what you need to keep in mind is that you need to foster a dialogue. If you are so omnipresent on the Internet, you’re not really giving everyone a chance to digest what you have said and to comment. Responding too quickly may end up shutting some people out of the conversation. By the time they have thought about what you have said and are ready to comment, you are already two or three topics removed from the one that was so thought-provoking.
Along that same line of having dialogues, if you are trying to get your name out among many industry blogs but you don’t take the time to revisit them to see what else has been said (and by whom), you’re only hearing yourself speak. Who knows what opportunities you may miss by being so quick to get your say in and moving on?
That being said, I know that I am just as guilty about feeling the need to contribute to the conversations that are happening online. But, I’m also striving to find that balance between online and offline interactions. Online interactions have certainly led me to meet some wonderful people who I know I wouldn’t have met otherwise, but connecting in-person and taking personal time away from social media enriches me in a way that just can’t be duplicated online.
Remember what Ryan said — “While it is true that your personal brand is publicly viewable on the web 24/7, don’t think that your personal branding efforts must follow the same time schedule.”
How do you find the balance between your online and offline life while building your personal brand/furthering your job search?
Image courtesy of Ivan Walsh
Twitter: JulieWalraven
says:
Now Melissa, you make me waffle on whether or not I should comment because I am admitting that I am reading your blog at 5:49am.
But thank you for citing my post in your list. Blog commenting is something that I think people struggle more with doing than they struggle with not commenting. But your point is well-taken, when the building of our online presence takes precedence over our off-line activities, a problem is developing. You’ve given me something to think about again!
Hi Melissa,
Thanks so much for including my post with these other wonderful bloggers.
It’s really all about building a strategic brand communications plan that works for you and sticking to it. The key is a slow, steady, methodical, and consistent approach to building your brand – online and offline. Slow and stead wins the race, and keeps you from running out of steam.
But that’s much easier said than done, isn’t it? In my post, I stated my goal of disconnecting for only one day a week – Sunday. So far, I’ve not been very successful in completely tuning out, but I have successfully limited my involvement to just checking in once or twice on Sunday, just to look at what’s there – not to act. And I’ve decided that the earth won’t crash in if I don’t post anything on Twitter all day Sunday. I find that once I put my hands on the keyboard, I’m in trouble! Can’t stop!
And it’s so easy to get side-tracked, getting involved with conversations that don’t add value or do much of anything except waste precious time. There’s no denying that, in the digital age, we have to keep pumping away, building our online presence, but we need to set boundaries.
Thanks for your thought-provoking post. You brought me back to what I need to do.
Best,
Meg
@Julie: No worries — glad you commented!
I ended up doing the same thing (commenting on Meg’s post on a Sunday!) Social media is such an interesting development because anyone with knowledge of and access to the Internet can have a voice. Knowing that there are potentially people from around the world reading what you are writing can be very intoxicating. However, if it doesn’t translate into something tangible offline, it’s an illusion. It’s all about keeping that balance.
@Meg: Thanks for stopping by! You are absolutely right about taking a measured approach to building your brand. That is so important to remember, especially if you are newer to social media and feel like you have to “catch up” with others who have been around longer. In addition to not running out of steam, going at a slower pace can help you evaluate where you are, where you want to go, and keeps the proverbial cart from getting ahead of the horse!