Digital

Sarah January 23, 2012

3 Things I Learned About Community Management from Church

Today is Community Manager Appreciation Day. Community Management has been a part of my life for the past few years. It’s not the only thing I do now with Singley+Mackie, but it is a part of my day-to-day activities. So I’m patting myself on the back:)

The community management role is a tough one. I don’t care if you are the community manager for Starbucks or for your local coffee shop. The role expects one to come in as a caterpillar and quickly become a butterfly -> spreading wings, conquering unknown territories, overcoming strong winds and gently floating along the entire time.

One Sunday at church we focused on, “Growing Deeply.” I take a lot of notes during church because I always find myself inspired and eager to think more on the lessons taught and Word spoken. On this particular Sunday, as I reviewed my notes, I realized how many points the Pastor mentioned resonated with the online communities we manage, cherish and adore.

On this Community Manager Appreciation Day, I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate than to remind myself (and all of you awesome community managers) what a great place a “community” is to start.

Here are 3 simple things I learned about the role from church:

Happy People. In one study, it was concluded that, “Deep, meaningful relationships separate happy people from less-than-happy people.” (Journal of Happiness) In life, and in community management, we aim to create these relationships. Happy people are more fun to be around. Happy people are easier to get along with. Happy people will buy from other happy people they like. Cultivate these relationships with your community; make them happy. Watch what might transpire.
Truth in a Quote. Henri Nowen said, “Community is the place where the person you least want to live with always lives.” In life, and in the communities we manage, there is likely to always be that one person who is very challenging. Know it. Learn to deal with it. And embrace it.
Out of Hiding. Our Pastor mentioned, “Doing life together makes it safe to come out of hiding.” Our personal relationships form security. When we make our online communities a safe place, open for ideas, suggestion and constructive criticism, people will ultimately come out of hiding. Let your community be heard. Give them the chance to come out of hiding. Members add value. They share resources. Allow them to bring their unique presence.

Enjoy your Community Manager Appreciation Day with this awesome 2012 Community Manager Report Infographic from Social Fresh (and yes, I did contribute to this!)

Source: socialfresh.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Sarah January 19, 2012

The Numbers Game

It’s all a numbers game. Do you believe that? In life and in business, it all comes down to a number. The number can make or break a mood, define or destroy a company and assist or resist progress.

Source: soyouthinkyourecrafty.com via Sarah on Pinterest

This post has been a long time coming. Bottled up thoughts have fizzled their way to my surface with many 2011 events, rolled over into 2012.

My dear friend Stephanie Quilao stated,

We are so brainwashed to attach ourself worth and identity to a number like weight, bank account, dress size, followers, IQ or Klout score. It’s just a number; it’s not who we are.

Her thought lingered with me in the days to follow.

There are two trains of thought that have consumed me:

Numbers from a personal perspective
Numbers from a professional perspective

From a personal perspective, I am referring to numbers including: IQ, weight, age, followers, friends, Klout score, salary, etc. Society continues to preach, “age ain’t nothin’ but a number” BUT YET people judge on weight, income, age, etc. No one, no matter what they say, is truly satisfied with their personal-life numbers.

It’s sad, really, when we stop to think about it. Most of our personal numbers are meaningless. Gaining 5 pounds, making less than our neighbors and having less followers than our colleagues matters ZERO in the grand scheme of things.

Think about it this way: We all know someone stunning who carries 5 extra pounds. We all know someone who is happier making less than the neighbor with loads of money. And Lord knows we all can recognize that even some of the most “likeable” people offline with intelligence beyond words have followings which are insignificant.

From a professional/business perspective, I am referring to numbers including: followers, fans, impressions, bottom-line earning, clicks, reach, ROI, etc. Please don’t get me wrong –> when it comes to the “business” perspective numbers ABSOLUTELY matter. But which numbers is key:

BOTTOM-LINE EARNINGS matter not fans, followers, ect.

And your bottom-line earnings come from having an exceptional product/service available for the potential customer/consumer at the exact time they need it. Starbucks did not increase bottom-line earnings because they have 27,000,000+ fans on Facebook; they have that many fans on Facebook because they have an exceptional product available for the consumer when they want it. And they capitalize furthermore on that by being on Facebook where the potential consumer is at. Facebook was a part of their marketing mix; a tactic. It was not their strategy.

While the 2 trains of thought may seem very different, I assure you they are not. Their commonalities include:

Lack of Patience. How can I get there now? Hell, why did I not get there yesterday?
Sprinting Stategies. Back to patience: planning and strategizing with a sprint, instead of a marathon in mind. Attempting to move mountains without starting at the base.
Insecurities: Numbers make us insecure.

Numbers are numbers are numbers….

They are exactly as they seem and yet nothing as they appear to be. A number is only as valuable as the context with which it’s attached.

Numbers are merely a game, until we learn to focus on them correctly.

Filed Under: Digital, Life Tagged With: life 4 Comments

Sarah January 14, 2012

Saturday Funny Sh*t

I don’t typically swear on my site. But I’m not saying it….I’m just repeating the verbiage from 3 totally awesome videos I saw this past week!

If you are into fitness, yoga and/or social like I am you are likely to laugh as much (while saying – yes, that is so true) as I did.

Enjoy some Saturday Funny Sh*t!

Sh*t that flaky fitness freaks say (p.s. This is from the awesome FitFluential community I’m a part of. Come connect with us here or here, and let me know if you want to be a part of this growing and inspiring community!)