A lot of people out there really want to work in Social Media. But do they really know what that means?

Scour Twitter for 20 minutes and you will come across more experts, gurus, ninjas, and rockstars than you ever thought was possible. No other position has so many ridiculous titles and people who are so sure of their value.

Working in Social Media can mean a lot of things to a lot of people, here’s a distinction though: There are those that work as Social Media professionals and those that use Social Media.

To me this is the distinction.

Just because your boss has you updating the Facebook fan page doesn’t mean you “work in Social Media,” in the same way that sending emails on behalf of your boss doesn’t mean you “work in email.” Working in Social Media everyday doesn’t just mean that you update Twitter and Facebook. It doesn’t just mean that you know MySpace is doomed or can regurgitate that Geo-Location will be big.

You want the big bucks? You want the spiffy title? You have to step your game up and you have to be clear about what this role is all about: RESULTS! Being a Social Media professional means that you are an executive, strategist, coach, speaker and thought leader (not just a follower).

Tweeting is not a strategy. Having a Facebook Page is not a goal (at least not a very good one).

You are dealing with executives and your value statement cannot just be “you get to be part of the conversation.” Go the next step, stop just using Social Media and start influencing how people use it.

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The following is a list of the tools that I need to do this job.  Keep in mind that these are the tools that I need, not necessarily what I’m saying you all need, just what I need.  I need each and every one of these pieces of hardware and software to perform at the level that I perform.  

HARDWARE

• Macbook Pro
• iPhone
• iPad

SOFTWARE/APPLICATIONS

• Hootsuite Pro
• Twitter for Mac
• iChat
• Skype
• Google Voice
• Google Chrome plus all of my lovely extensions!
• Google Reader 
• Flow 
• Evernote 
• Password 
• Skitch 
• Screenflow 
• Adobe Photoshop 
• Adobe Illustrator 
• Keynote 
• Dropbox

So now you know.   What tools do you need to do your job?

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I started “A Day In The Life” only a few weeks ago but I already see tremendous value in this type of blog.

My other blog, Social Media Philanthropy, is about Social Media and Marketing and a number of other topics.  By discussing these topics I learn more about them.  By engaging in a dialogue on the comments of the blog I learn more about the topic, communication and my audience.

What’s unique about this blog, and why I recommend you start one, is that is a real opportunity to examine yourself and your career.  Simply putting it out there, what you do on a regular day-to-day basis, provides an opportunity to find meaning and lessons to be learned.  

I find that this blog keeps things in perspective for me and inspires me to continually push myself. It helps me to stay aware of learning opportunities.

If you are new to blogging or you are a veteran blogger, I highly recommend starting your own “day in the life” blog.

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The time drain.  You’ve all heard about it.  The truth is that it DOES exits.  

It is not a fictional, scary monster. It’s real and if you don’t recognize it happening then you are doomed to be consumed by it.

I spend a lot of time on Twitter, on Facebook and reading blogs.  All of these things are vital to my role.  All of these things have a profound ability to impact my business.

However, the usage of each of these sites must be monitored, self-monitored.  Like email, these channels never sleep. I have decided that the state of always-on is distracting, something that I can hardly afford given my natural state of attention deficit.  I have decided to schedule my Twitter and Facebook time into my day as I would anything else.  Much like email, I will respond when notified, but having it on my screen at all times has reached the tipping point and I’m afraid if I don’t get a hold of it now it will get out of hand.

To be clear, this change in routine is borne out of necessity:  
I now have a strong enough following on Twitter that I could feasibly spend all day on Twitter.  This was not always the case.

I now have enough client work that, at times, Twitter no longer supplements but instead displaces my work.  This was not always the case.

I have enough new business tasks and follow-up calls and internal work that there simply is not enough time in the day to accomplish it all.  Obviously I must prioritize.  This was not always the case.

There was a point in time where I could spend much more time on Twitter and LinkedIn, searching for new leads and engaging in conversations.  I now have responsibilities that take precedence, so I must take my own medicine and step into the shoes of my clients, who must find the time to engage in these new channels.  

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Age old advice for young professionals is to seek out a mentor.  My wife has been lucky enough to have a mentor that looks out for her, guides her and gives her the benefit of his wisdom and experience.  I’ve come to realize that I need that too.

When the pressure of a career starts to get  to you or you feel that you have a communication breakdown the best place to turn is often an outside perspective from someone who has “been there, done that.”

This is a new goal of mine.

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It’s funny, even though the majority of the work I do for clients is strategy and planning, I’ve neglected to do that for my own business in many areas.

I think it’s time to treat myself like a client.

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If you want to work in social media be sure that you are comfortable being the center of attention in the front of a room of people. A lot of my job is preparing for, and giving presentations.

It might help that I’m an only child.

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As a Social Media Professional, you must always remember that your clients, your audience…they are not YOU. What does that mean?

• They don’t understand Twitter like you do.  
• They aren’t used to checking in at their favorite restaurant, in fact, they might say “what do you mean check in?  What’s a foursquare?”
• They don’t know that they need an internal policy.  
• Privacy is a concern, not everyone lives in public.  Respect that.

While you think you are speaking English, they hear German…and they don’t speak German.  Your job is not just strategist, it’s not just coach. it’s also translator.

It’s your job to translate their goals into strategy and tactics and back again into language they will understand. 

Don’t assume that anyone knows what you are talking about, this is brand new territory for most, and you are their guide. 

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Today I got off to a slow start; I spent much of the morning cleaning my house before our cleaning service came in…figure that one out.  It’s like washing the dishes before they go in the dishwasher…never made sense.  

After that I spent a good deal of my morning planning content for my blogs.  It has been many weeks since I was blogging regularly and it’s a habit I need to get back into.  I have noticed that the quality of my writing is proportional to the frequency with which I write.  Lately the frequency is way down as a result of starting my own business.  

True Voice Media is going quite well, though business never comes in as quickly as you’d like.  I have an amazing client in the Wiley Group and I have a good feeling that they will be a case study from which I can acquire new business.  

I am taking some time this afternoon to organize my notes and clean my office.  A clear workspace helps to keep my mind clear…a necessity in an industry full of distractions. 

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I just can’t imagine clicking on one of these.

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