We all know that social media will play a vital part in the evolution of the PR industry, and agencies are already changing as a result. This is exciting stuff. I've gone from scanning the morning papers, coffee in hand, to spending the first 30 minutes of my day immersed in all my different channels; updating statuses, checking RSS feeds, diving into Twitter, saving any interesting links for later, sharing what I can. This is what Chris Brogan calls effective 'presence management', and is something we're encouraging in our offices here on the West Coast.
But, as Chris so rightly points out, this isn't easy. It takes time. The first 30 minutes of the day is a long time in agency world, when urgent, overnight emails have come in from Europe and threaten to derail your day. Or your client decides to start working out at 6:30am, and sends you urgent missives from the treadmill. And don't forget that social media needs constant attention throughout the day and night. As I wrote in "Social Media's Dirty Little Secret", social media can be a big time suck. And when you work in an agency, there are always other things that you need to be doing. These can range from the sublime to the ridiculous, but they need doing. To make matters more complicated, in an agency environment, you're responsible not just for your own presence management, but often times, also that of your clients.
So what's a PR professional to do? For me, the answer is often a social media 'snack break'. Now, I'm not suggesting we only ever operate at a surface level when it comes to this stuff. Taking a good slice of meaty time, regularly, (like the 30 minutes at the top of each day, couple hours on a quiet night) is the best way to organize, increase and enhance your social media presence. But throughout the working day, after a couple hours when i've had to turn off TweetDeck to get some urgent writing projects done, it's a pleasure to dive back into it; albeit for just five minutes or so, before the next big task, or client call comes up.
I often spend a short time just scrolling through TweetDeck, reading any interesting links, sharing those that I find valuable, or diving into Facebook to wish someone a happy birthday. Then I'm back to my day. It's like a mini-refresher for my mind, and can often inspire in the middle of a busy day where inspiration might seem thin on the ground. Connecting with the community is one way that we in the PR industry can ensure that we keep learning, that we stay open to new ways of thinking, and that we connect with others who have something valuable to share. I can't count the number of times over the last six months, where I've read an article after someone has tweeted it, and thought "I just improved my professional (or sometimes personal) life". And I would never have had access to it, were it not for a generous community.
Of course, this can't all be one-way, and it's vital that you give as much as you get. Take five minutes to share a link that will benefit your industry, brand, or even just a small group of good friends. Be generous with your knowledge, even if you can't always be with your time. And if you're up for taking a break with me, mine's a chocolate chip cookie with milk.
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