(Reading time: 3 – 4 minutes)
As your success grows, you’re finding that social media is a very important tool in your kit.
At some point, you’re going to choose between business (e.g., creating products) and marketing: engaging with people on twitter, people who comment on your blog, commenting on other’s blogs, dealing with email, Google Buzz and Wave, Skype, Facebook, whatever. The list grows daily.
But you will find you can do more than you think.
And it’s important that you try. Here’s why.
The Starfish Principle
Have you heard of the Starfish Principle?
I ran across this little gem in an Ittybiz comment on You Are Not A Bad Person And You’re Not Doing It Wrong. Paraphrasing:*
“You can’t possibly save them all!”
“Well,” she says, picking up another, tossing it out to sea, “I made a difference for that one.”
Your potential number of social interactions every single day is mind boggling.
Should you reach down?
From a business point of view, you have to make a decision: which of these interactions – starfish – add value to your bottom line?
From a business point of view, it would seem reaching out or up is always better. Why reach down? Waste of time and money.
In fact, if you’re a corporation in the USA, you are legally obligated to your shareholders to ensure such interaction is profitable.
But as James over at The Infopreneur passionately argues, for long term success, ignoring everyone who can’t provide immediate profit is also dangerous to your business.
Besides that, helping people is actually fun! You can make a difference. And it will come back to you in the future.
Social divides are real
It’s looking like I’m going to cross the social media divide very soon. Currently, I can keep up with email (barely). I can keep up with comments here (barely), all while more or less getting the code out and working on my little products. The day is coming when I won’t be able to do it… but I won’t have the revenue to hire an assistant. That will be unpleasant.
But I’m planning for it in advance.
And I will continue my habit of picking up starfish. I will continue to help as many people as I can, just because.
Here’s some questions for you:
- Are you planning now for future success? Do you have any specific ideas you would like to share?
- Have you already reached any crossing points? If so, what have you had to give up?
I firmly and truly believe that each and every one of you will be successful bloggers, marketers and business people. Who do you consider your “starfish?”
*This story is told in many ways, by many different people. This is how I tell it. You should tell it in your own words.
so the 217 e-mails I sent to you today…maybe a touch too much?
omg. If you have to hire someone, I clearly have to foot part of the bill.
and, by the way – thank you for all the help.
(This is a great reminder. I love twitter. But Twitter is not creating the products I need to make. Need. to. buckle. down.)
(and stop e-mailing you)
Does that make me co-dependent? omg.
If you keep typing parentheses, I’m going to end up going all C-x C-e. You don’t want that to happen now, do you?
Ha ha I think I need to split that bill with you Kelly
Ditto that!
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3 =-.
Perhaps I’d better send a couple of dollars too ;) Sorry Dave (and thanks :D)
Brilliant points raised Dave, interesting times ahead.
Thanks so much for the help you have given me recently, brother what’s that plugin you are using above your meta tags to show how many pages and words in post words in comments etc?
http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/generalstats/
I use the default settings (more or less). It’s temporary, not a permanent feature.
I’m not sure the “divide” is as big as this, and some other recent posts suggests.
You adapt over time – when I first started I’d engage in long email sessions with people who reached out for help, and it felt good. These days, for some of the more simple requests, I may send out a canned response, which answers their question. It’s a lot less work and time for me, but it’s still (hopefully) helpful for them.
I’m still able to pick up every star fish I see, and I hope that with a degree of smart working, that will continue to be the case.
.-= Mike CJ´s last blog ..Adopting Core Principles to Move a Business Forward =-.
Adapting – exactly! Which is why I believe it’s important to try, and try hard, because it does get easier over time. We get more capable over time.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Why the Apple iPad Will Make Me More Productive =-.
Hi Dave,
Boy am I confused! :( At the moment I have just mastered regular blog posting. I still forget to update twitter and facebook as well and now I learn I am meant to digg, stumble upon, have a myspace account etc etc etc.
On a positive note, being a mumma trying to create a business online around my toddler can be a hard process and I have had to learn what I can do and what I can’t.
The point is to do what we can, the best we can and as best as we can help people along the way. No one is successful on their own.
Great article and I love starfish so I would be like the lady in your story, trying to save the ones I can.
See you back here soon!
Jacinta :D
.-= Jacinta Dean´s last blog ..John Thornhill’s Internet Marketing Master Class Coaching Program Week 25B! =-.
Jacinta, there’s always something new to master!
I have the blog posting side more or less covered myself, so now I’m branching out into Twitter and Facebook too.
The list goes on.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..A League of Ordinary Bloggers – Anyone can do this, so few do =-.
I think it is time for me to stop lying in the sand waiting for someone to throw me in the water.
Maybe you have already been thrown in the water?
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..How Do You Eat An Elephant? – Eleanor Edwards tells all =-.
That would explain my confusion.
Hmm… assistant eh? Oh dear. Still, just do what you can – and thanks for all the help!
Course if you need any in return give me a shout; would be happy to bear some of the load if it made things a little easier for you.
.-= Heather´s last blog ..Webcomic: The Mayans Day 3 =-.
I have big plans for you, my dear.
Sounds intreguing :) Looking forward to hearing details.
Nice starfish imagery. Great post to get the thoughts turning. I was definitely your starfish when you helped me customize that php code for estimated reading time. :)
My nature has always been to not ask for help, do everything on my own. Honestly, e-mailing you for help was the first time I ever asked anybody how to do something without it being a professor or colleague. (Even then those questions were asked sparingly.)
What changed it for me was some lines someone wrote that went something like this: “One man is a drop of rain. A community is an ocean.”
So I sent the e-mail off and low and behold. You threw me in the ocean and proved the wisdom of community!
So who are my starfish and how can I help?
As an indie writer who doesn’t want to be traditionally published, I see myself as a starfish linked to many others. By the nature of what I do it’s part and parcel of indie publishing. Anytime I can pass along a helpful link, or answer a questions of “How did you do…” I’m helping expand someone’s knowledge base. And the same happens to me. It’s a good thing!
Thanks for the post, Dave!
Claudia, I just adopted Estimated Reading Time plugin from Eric Olson (olsonomics.com), but I haven’t had time to release a new version yet. :( I will, soon.
And thank you for your kind words. Years from now, when we’ve all achieved stupendous success, we can look back on all this hard work… with fondness.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..A League of Ordinary Bloggers – Anyone can do this, so few do =-.
Dave, I loved the starfish story. Hadn’t heard that one before. While I sympathize with the lack of time, I must say that I envy you also. :) For those of us starting out, having too many people asking for help seems to be a wonderful problem to have.
I think the lesson here is for all of us to save the starfish we see – even if we only see a few for now. We are often sent the people we are meant to impact.
Wendy, I took a look over at your site: you have everything in place!
It’s absolutely true, we’re sent the people we *can* help. Often, they don’t want to be helped. And there is nothing we can do about that.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Social Media Overload! You can’t be everywhere… what to do? =-.
Dave, thanks – my site is still morphing so it’s good to get your feedback.
.-= Wendy (wdaunheimer)´s last blog ..Is the Work You Love Already in the Job You Have? =-.
I think it is good that the starfish get saved. I couldn’t possibly save them all though.
.-= Deacon´s last blog ..Skater Series Printing is Done =-.
And I had to add, cool sign-up form. Very neat ;) Makes it seems so much nicer and more personal than those nasty little boxes where you get asked 15 times if you’d like a one-time-only, never-ever-to-be-repeated, super-duper ebook ;)
.-= Eleanor Edwards´s last blog ..1 Minute Motivator: Do you have an objection? =-.
Eleanor, the curious thing about those nasty ones, they convert *really* well. And bribes work too!
Something to think about as I ponder “how to earn a living doing what I love.”
I understand :) They’re still really nasty though ;)
I have to second this. I noticed your sign up form too and thought how neat! Followed closely by “I wonder if I should copy that.” Do you get interesting answers in your sign ups, and does it help you get to know your fans better?
.-= Wendy (wdaunheimer)´s last blog ..Is the Work You Love Already in the Job You Have? =-.
Well Big Hat Big Head, what can i add to this..
Well said and well put. I see from recent following these ppl commenting that we are all on the same mission. Imagine what we could accomplish by becoming this small company….yes the Internet is so big that it truly does make us small. Don’t believe it then your thinking too small. It’s ours, yours and mine… link this, link that.. I may not buy your shizz but i may buy kelly’s for example. But if I promote you and Kelly promotes you and I buy, think about who promotes me and buys… Oh whatever… One of these days Imma buy something someones selling… be it the infodude, you or Kell, Imma buy something..
You know why? Because you sold it.. you sold it too me.
When it’s all said and done if you can’t sell me I can’t be bought.. Think in terms of being a seller and that your blog or site is business. If you want to make money online you sell yourself and promote. Twitter, Facebook and some others you mention (I’m not familar with) are all great tools. Take advantage of them as well as your fellow blogger commenting and posting. Facebook is the least talked about lately but I want you to know that I have focused on growing my friends and I have done so 100% lately. Know what else has increased? My sales..
Just sayin.. search for Jaxsn Lee and I’ll friend ya if you like to network blog.
.-= lees shizzle´s last blog ..I am Whacked…….Seriously! Just Shoot Me Now! =-.
My goal is that everything you buy from me, or buy on my recommendation, benefits you exactly in the way you need.
I’m bustin’ hump to make it so.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Social Media Overload! You can’t be everywhere… what to do? =-.
That’d be what they call relationship marketing and yeah, it works well!
Ricky Buchanan´s last post ..HippoRemote Replaces Your Keyboard- Mouse- and Remote Control
Sometimes you’re the lady and sometimes you’re the starfish …. the last few days I was the starfish and you were the lady Dave, thank you.
.-= Valentina´s last blog ..Life, Timing & Love all live In the Land of Internet Marketing =-.
Dave,
Its awesome how you help so many out, from a kind word to a hand up. If there’s anything I can do to help ease the load, give me a shout. I’d be delighted to help when and where I can.
Jenn
.-= Gurl´s last blog ..How to minimize three communication obsticales =-.
Your Job 1 right now is getting through your first 6 months. It’s a lot of work, for not much reward.
.-= Dave Doolin´s last blog ..Red Shoe Blogger Follows Yellow Brick Road And Finds: No Wizard. No Oz. No Magic. No Message. =-.
If you literally mean 6 months, well past that…if you mean 6 months of being a serious blogger, eh..got a long way to go. However, even including class time and study time, I still have oodles of free time. Most of it is spent obsessing over the blog and what I am doing right or wrong, but I am sure helping someone out an hour or few here and there won’t hurt me a bit. Might even help me get fresh perspective, etc etc :)
.-= Gurl´s last blog ..Review: Blogger Beats =-.
There’s a little switch inside you that goes *click* when you decide to take it seriously. I’ve been on (and off) the web since 1994 (you can find me in the Wayback Machine from 1996), but that switch didn’t go *click* until June 2009.