Live It Social and Crush It!

From the Desk of Melissa Hourigan
Well, well, well, two weeks after I planned to post and here I am. Social media is becoming such the catch phrase these days that I find myself searching for another way to phrase what it is that we are trying to say and do. On a regular basis, client and prospects talk about the need to incorporate social media into their PR programs. In conversations with branding and advertising firms, I hear a common request and often, people are wondering, where does the execution of social media fall? Well in my opinion and what I am hearing from others is that it falls on YOU.

In a recent Harvard Business Review Article, David Armano nails it by saying, “Many organizations simply skip this question [living social] because they assume that they themselves don’t have to be social (open and collaborative) to reap the rewards (cost savings, marketing ROI, effective reputation management, and search engine juice) they think they might get from social media.”

The more I work with companies on social media campaigns, the more I realize how important it is that the companies themselves “live social.” You can’t just hire a PR firm and hope that you develop a successful social campaign without some involvement of your own.

Which brings me to another reference. Gary Vaynerchuck social media expert, host of WineLibraryTV.com, and bestselling author of “Crush It!” was in Denver recently for the last stop of his book tour. During his visit, he shared some insightful advice from the book and how he grew his family’s $4 million wine business to $60 million in five years in large part to his “living social” approach. Because of his success, this nontraditional businessman has managed to land a spot on almost every broadcast program on TV and is a sought after speaker and consultant to Fortune 100 companies. And at the end of the day, Gary asks that you love what you do 100%, be authentic and follow your own DNA to engage with your audience.

Please enjoy some highlights of Gary’s 2+ hour discussion in Denver. Some of my favorite Gary quotes include:

• You have to be willing to bleed out your eyeballs to make it happen

• Be yourself, don’t try to be like anyone else

• You have to work your friggin’ face off

Gary Vaynerchuck

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Five Reasons You Shouldn’t Call Yourself a Guru

There was a time before social media gurus. It’s true. When I couldn’t sleep, my parents would tell me stories about those long ago days – when the world was purer, quieter. When everyone wasn’t so eager to call themselves an expert at something they’ve only been involved with for a few months.

But those days are no more. And we are plagued by social media gurus, for which no pesticide has proven effective. If chemical agents cannot diminish their number, perhaps reason will.

Here are five reasons that you should stop calling yourself a social media guru:

1. The word looks cool and is fun to say, but it has been irrevocably corrupted by bad marketers and other naughty knaves. Using it instantly casts you in a bad light – as a pompous, thickheaded dolt. Calling yourself a guru is the equivalent of boasting about having a cameo in Paul Blart, Mall Cop.

2. There are plenty of other words you could use that describe the same stature. If you truly must trumpet your mastery, prance over to the Thesaurus.com and get two scoops of synonyms.

3. Humility.

4. See reason No. 3. It makes a lot of sense. Seriously, go read it again – perhaps out loud. Stress the vowels. I’m not kidding.

5. You’re not a guru. The kind of sincerity required to be a guru is inevident among the people calling themselves such. You’re a specialist. Or perhaps an enthusiast. Or some other applicable word culled from No. 2 – but certainly not a guru.

There are more than 8,800 gurus on on Twitter.  That fact just gave me two grey hairs. Damn it.