Sorry I am late. Really late. I've been neglecting my blog for weeks now. I've been busy taking care of clients, pitching new clients, doing interviews, having meetings, writing plans, worrying about health care, taking care of my family, trying to have a personal life, watching too much sports, playing a little music and just being generally distracted by the return of baseball season and springtime.

Wow, that is a lot of excuses. While we may counsel our clients to avoid this sort of trap, Denver public relations pros are not immune to the "getting wrapped up in trying to do too many things at the same time" disease. Before you know it you are unfocused, unhappy and unmotivated. Diffused, dazed and disconnected. Stuck in a rut.

A recent survey of social media practitioners on CloudSpark.com found that for an average brand, it takes 65 hours per week to maintain four social media channels at any given time. That's one full time job for 1.5 people.

I find this hard to believe. If you are like most serious PR pros I know, you are doing much more than just social media. You are doing strategic planning, media relations, crisis communications, community relations, writing articles, media training clients, business development, networking, mentoring and presentations. Oh, I almost forgot, and trying to have a personal life.

Social media is a very important strategy, but it should be just one pillar in what is hopefully a well-balanced, strategic, integrated communications program. The key word here is balance. Focus too much on one pillar and the others will certainly weaken. Eventually, things will start to fall apart. That is true for your business or your personal life.

A smart brand knows that success is not just based on sales or revenue or how many people follow you on Twitter. It is based on your reputation, which depends on how you conduct yourself and how you treat others. Do you behave ethically? Do you have a sense of balance in your life? Do you allow the people who work for you to have a sense of balance in theirs?

Today I will stop to smell the coffee and write this blog. I can get back to the rat race tomorrow.


Bookmark and Share