Right now I’m guessing that about half of you that are
reading this understand where the title comes from. To the other half, who have
no idea what it means but figured they would click through to read the blog
anyway, I ask that you please find time to watch The Matrix. It will make you question everything around
you. Ok now that we’ve established what you need to do this Sunday night, let’s
get down to why I’ve gathered you all here today.
“Who do I need to hire to do this social media stuff?”
No matter where I go, or who I talk to, this is always one
of the first questions that gets asked. It seems that everyone from garden
centers, to massive corporations is searching for “the chosen one”. People
always seem to think I’m going to have a short answer for them. I wish I did;
however, the truth is that for each company that person is different. With
social media it’s not about which school someone went to, or even what they
studied. It’s not about hiring the first 20 something that applies for the job
either.
The first thing I usually say when I get asked the question
of who to hire is: I really hope you don’t have to hire anyone! In a lot of
cases there are people already working in your organization that might be
completely capable of handling your social media efforts. This is the best
situation. That inside person already has one of the most valuable pieces to the
social media puzzle. They (hopefully) know how your business works. Knowing how
things work on the inside is crucial to social media success. When taking on
the persona of a business, you really have to live as the business or brand.
I understand sometimes, hiring from the inside just isn’t an
option. That’s ok. However, my suggestions on what to look for remain the same
no matter where you pull your champion from. I’ve put together a quick list of
my top three character traits to look for. Honestly a complete list of
essential traits could go on for days.
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The most important trait to me, without a doubt is
LOYALTY. You have to be able to put complete trust in this person. They act as
a gateway between your business and all of your fans/followers online. You
cannot afford to hire someone that doesn’t care about your business to the
maximum. You have to look for that “clingy ex-boyfriend/girlfriend” type. Even if
you have to let them go, for any reason, you have to know that they will still
care about your company enough not to ruin your fan base before you can remove
their access.
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The next trait on my list is PERSONALITY/CREATIVITY.
This should be self-explanatory. Social
Media success comes through true creativity and out of the box thinking.
Finally something a robot can’t do.
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My last suggestion is that this person has a high level
of AWARENESS. I mean that in every sense of the word. You have to know what is
going on at all times; with you, your brand, your fans, your pages, and the
world in general. The social media scene never stops. Nothing is going to stop
someone from trashing your business on the web at 3am. I’m not saying you can’t
sleep, but it has to be one of the first things you check when you wake up.
Like I said, that list could go on for days, but we’ll save
that for some other time. In between posts you can always find me @mday55 on
Twitter.
