Marijean Oldham (Jaggers), a social media specialist and public relations professional, is president and CEO of Jaggers Communications LLC, a strategic communications firm based in Charlottesville, Va.
My friends Ginger Germani and Erica Haskins will be happy to see this.
And while you’re pondering what “radio hair” looks like, please listen to the podcast from Charlottesville — Right Now! We talked about reputation management, brand engagement and social media with Coy Barefoot!
It’s a conversation I’ve had far too often; small businesses get overwhelmed by the responsibility of maintaining an online presence. They start to look for ways to outsource it. 
They ask:
There’s a statistic we throw out fairly often, because it’s true and compelling:
Study Shows Small Businesses That Blog Get 55% More Website Visitors
The reason this happens is NOT because a blog is merely updated regularly — that’s important to be sure — but because the REAL, personal story of the people behind the business is what people connect with; not someone who is managing the account for the summer.
I get it if you need help. I completely understand feeling overwhelmed and like you need another member of your team to manage the production and posting of content on behalf of your business. It’s FINE to appoint someone to that role . . . but make sure it’s someone who is really part of the team. Someone who can really represent you in the public and social space and who others will happily see as representative of you and your business.
If it’s you, then it’s you. Suck it up and find someone to do some other piece of your business that’s it’s not essential you touch with your own two hands. But don’t try to have a surrogate social media manager. It just doesn’t work.
Pay attention.
It’s both the most obvious and most neglected discipline on the social web. As a business, it’s SUPER important to know what people are saying about your brand, your industry and your leadership online. As an individual, your professional appearance makes a huge (and sometimes first, and last) impression.
When was the last time you looked at your LinkedIn profile? Have you looked at how many times OTHER people have been looking at your profile? Do you like what they’re seeing? Does your profile demonstrate the true path of continuous self-improvement you’ve been on?
A long time ago, I wrote a post about Twitter usage and why we (the people of the social web) care what you had for breakfast. The social web and the community inspired by it continues to evolve, but a constant is the community that forms around food. We all eat, and those of us lucky enough to eat locally, share it, in part, as a method of connecting to others in our community. That community can be geographic, philosophical, contentious, nurturing, gender-based or anything that is the glue that binds it. It’s often not for the creator to define; sometimes it grows organically.
The blog, http://www.katheats.com/ is a good example. Kath Younger began by photographing and blogging every single meal. She grew her online presence to an astounding following and has been recognized by Shape, Oprah.com and hundreds of thousands of hungry readers. The odd thing is that Kath actually lives in Charlottesville, the community where I live and do business. And yet she has this major, national brand and following.
We are not bound by geography or likely audiences. We’re not bound by limitations on what we can create as content producers. We’re only limited by the passion we have for our own work, our lives and our interests.
What’s driving you to create today?
Today, my breakfast is inspiring me — that’s it, up at the top — the most delicious Italian ham, roasted pepper, mozzarella and egg panini at Calvino Cafe. I’m enjoying it and thinking of my friend Brian who will be enjoying a real Italian breakfast in Italy today, lucky dog.
The other day I went to set up an event in Facebook for a tech group I’m in, and was interrupted by an email. The email had great deals on some pretty bags I wanted so I pinned them in Pinterest, then went back and bought one, which reminded me I needed some office supplies, so I went to another website and bought those. What was I doing again? I was so distracted that when I did create the Facebook event, I made it for the WRONG DAY. Luckily the group knows we always meet on Wednesdays, so they harassed me about my mistake and life went on.
I think of this stream of choppy activity as internet ADD and I generally don’t allow myself to fall into this spiral, but I can see how easy it is to do. If we, as individual consumers of content, have this problem, think of what a business deals with when looking at the broad array of tools, platforms and applications to use in support of their business branding and marketing.
There are solid, proven tools, platforms and networks: blogging is CRITICALLY important. A Facebook presence puts your brand in front of a potential 800 million pairs of eyes. Twitter is excellent for customer service and engagement and Pinterest has stepped into place as a serious contender for brands marketing to women.
But what about LinkedIn? Are we forgetting about the social network CREATED to foster business relationships? I assert that LinkedIn is the most solid, reliable place for individuals within companies to build a network in support of their careers and the brands they represent. It’s a professional space, so many of the concerns that plague businesses about the division between personal and professional are lifted. It’s been around a LONG time and the users who have realized its benefits have cultivated deep relationships using the tool.
Like all of us, sometimes the internet blinders are necessary. A plan to help your business stay focused and use the RIGHT tools at the RIGHT time is critical.
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