To Much Work

I've Got a Monkey on My Back
By Marvin Double


The last 2 weeks have been especially brutal, 16 hours a day for 14 days in a row. But, that's the price you pay sometimes for being your own boss.

If you read my bio, you'll notice that I wear a number of hats, writer, artist, and internet marketer. Sometimes a bunch of projects just manage to overlap, deadlines loom and the the only solution is nose to the grindstone and get 'em done. I know there are lots of readers out there who can relate to this dilemma.

What's with the Cartoon?
Well, truthfully, at the end of my work marathon I feel pretty much like the character in the cartoon looks - back hunched from to many hours at the keyboard, eye's swollen closed by excessive time spent staring at my monitor, brain damage from mental exhaustion leading to drooling.

Silly me, I picked just this period of time to add Twitter to my list of things to do. Don't get me wrong here, I really like Twitter. If you read through my recent blog posts, your notice that most of them are all about twitter.

My list of followers has been growing quickly and it's been quite a struggle to keep with with acknowledgments and greetings, while getting all my other work done. Watching messages in the main stream I know I'm not alone in this situation. Lots of you out there have the same problem.

Keeping it Real
I know that I could reduce my workload a tad by using auto DM's to greet new followers. Lots of folks out there seem to use these. I thought about it and rejected the idea even through it would save me a good deal of time.

For some users there's a strong objection to the use of auto DM's. While the temptation to automate responses I understand why this might be seen as wrong. After all Twitter is a personal one to one means of communicating and things which seem to depersonalize it seem out of place.

Besides, I want to build a relationship with my fellow tweeple rather than just have them as followers. By contacting new followers individually I can get a sense of who they are, and what they're all about. It not only feels right but it also has some practical benefits as well.

At some point in the I may do business with some of my followers. It makes a lot of sense then that I know them, and they me. You really can't automate getting to know someone, it takes time and effort.

The whole point of Web 2.0 is that it's interactive. In fact the real sea change in so called Social Marketing is being driven by this very fact. Lot of marketers, from big corporations down to individuals haven't caught on to this fact yet.


Things are Changing
The old marketing paradigms still hold sway for now but change is happening and quickly. The emergence of Web 2.0 is part of a growing trend which oddly enough is a return to an older model. Once upon a time, in what now seems like a prehistoric era, customer service was the thing. Retailers in particular were very keen to make sure their customers were entirely satisfied. They wanted to build brand loyalty, to make sure you customers didn't become disgruntled and go to a competitor.

So called Social Media and by extension Social Marketing are bringing the idea of one to one customer relations back into focus. Getting to know who you're talking to or, perhaps buying from is something which social media offers, perhaps better than any other format. Some of those projects I mentioned earlier are all about these important changes in how we communicate, connect and how that will effect marketing in the future, so, stay tuned.

Oh yes, and if you are new to following me on twitter and I haven't gotten back to you yet, please be patient. Just look at the character in the cartoon and think of me. Hopefully it won't be long before I get the Twitter monkey off my back.