So, what’s your deal with SOCIAL?

Ugh! Right?

Another question like that and I think I will SCHNAAAAP!

That question is like a dog with shoes.

Something is way wrong with that, right?

I just finished my fresh baked copy of Fast Company this month. Issue 168 entitled Social Media is Sexy [kinda] and I realized something truly and utterly fundamental.

I don’t know SHIT about Social Media.

That’s pretty awesome.

There are pages of content by some really interesting people who say some really prolific stuff and after finishing it all in one sitting I might add (how’s that for attention span?) I discovered that it all waters down to the same message again and again.

You simply have to work your ass off to get anywhere.

What a revelation, huh?

The thing that is clear is that no one has it figured out yet. NO ONE? The guys over at Fast Company are smart in the way they decided to poke fun at it [social] and tell us how hard it is [social] and that if we think we know something about it [social] then we exist in a bubble of our own. What does seem apparent is that if you are not in the entertainment business or in the social media platform business you are working your tail off with no idea if it will work or not.

Social is like blindfold duck hunting with a shotgun. Tweet THAT!

Good luck hitting something and if you do good luck finding it.

How should I know?

All I really do is BLOG[ging].

Blogging is like riding a vintage Schwinn on the Interstate. Tweet THAT too!

Ok, ok, I occasionally tweet and I facebook (yes, the verb) on occasion (not like some people whose feeds are more active than a kid during a Skittles scarfing contest). The one thing that’s for sure is I don’t work at it that hard. Yeah, sure, I visit my friends and litter their houses with comments, tweet that gold out there and occasionally irritate some people on Facebook with photos of giant apples and the like but that’s about it.

And I think I am all that! Mister SOCIAL MEDIA. Look at me!

Hell, some of the folks featured in Fast Co. actually have STRATEGIES and they are willing to use them, like, for realz.

That brings me to my friend Craig who wrote something today that got me all fired up. A brilliant piece – get that gold here. I just think about how there is so much schlock out there about try this and try that and it irks me that so many people just don’t understand that focus and hard work is what it takes to make it. Isn’t social business just like any other business? Bust your ass or die.

A little charm helps too but if you aren’t willing to work then fuggeddaboudit.

You can feign guru status, you can talk, talk, talk about what works and what doesn’t. It’s all bullshit really.

You have to work, work, work and for good measure add in a little dash of work.

How do I know that?

Because it’s common damn sense and we all know it.

• Yes, you need a voice to make it.
• Yes, you need a plan to make it.
• Yes, you need to be willing to learn to make it.
• Yes, you need a viable business plan to make it.

But most of all, above and beyond all the good contained in wanting to help people and giving back and value, you have to work. Work, work, work!

What do you have to do?

Work.

Stephen Pressfield thinks so. I like him because he tells it like it is. From the gut. You can do it or you can not do it.

Your choice.

You can whine about your boss, the opportunities you miss out on, the following that guy is building or secret sauce it takes that you are searching for but at the end of the day you have to work.

It takes time.

THAT IS A FACT!

It takes intelligence.

THAT IS A FACT!

It takes hard damn work.

THAT IS A FACT!

Why am I ranting about this?

Well, it’s sort of a self kick in the ass. I am trying to find the right momentum because I think I might need it. Do you? Maybe yes, maybe no. At 47 I am in that place in between. The good life is good and that hunger is not as readily available as it should be.

There is always a lot of talk about hiatus, refocus, breaks, summer, etc and those things are GOOD. We need to Take 5 on occasion but it doesn’t change the fact that hard work is inevitable.

Hey, I am not going to shine you on and tell you I am all fire, piss and vinegar because I’m not. If I was 23 then maybe but then again if I was I wouldn’t necessarily know how to handle or channel the emotions.

I really just think it comes down to busting your butt no matter what you do, social or not, but in an intelligent well planned manner.

• Credibility takes hard work.
• Value takes hard work.
• Integrity takes hard work.

Everything else is bullshit wrapped in a flour tortilla.

Burrito anyone?

About this Author: Ralph Dopping (166 Posts)

A quirky sense-o-humour coupled with an indelible sense of stylish sarcasm makes it difficult to take the world too seriously doesn't it? My faves: fun, passion and hard work. I work here everyday: www.designdialog.ca