Rachel Metscher 2 July 2013

Categories Social Media, Strategy & Operations

23 Tips to Overcome Your Fear of Social

So how do you overcome fear if people will resist the change your want to create? Here a few of my favorite tips:

Last week, I attended the Vocus Demand Success conference in Washington, DC. Fantastic event. My favorite part of any conference is the opportunity to meet new people and share ideas on how to do things. Lots of things like digital journalism, e-mail marketing, content creation, and social media.

Lots of folks were talking about social media, starting a company blog, and other fun marketing best practices. But, I could tell there was some skepticism in the crowd when hearing the presenters speak. Not always, but there were a few folks who would share, “well you had resources” or “In my organization,…”

But I think all of this stems from one issue.

Questions, concerns, and fear all stem from the same source: control or the lack of it.  The reason why most organizations resist using social media or embarking on a blog is

1) What will we do (Lack of a Plan)?

2) What will we share (Content)?

3) Who will manage the message? Who will run the editorial calendar? Who will edit my copy (Control)?

4) If we put our ideas down on paper will it stink (Lack of Ideas.  At least a clear direction of what you should write about)?

5) What if people don’t like my content (Understanding your Audience)?

So how do you overcome fear if people will resist the change your want to create? Here a few of my favorite tools to deal with the fear monster:

1. Learn to paint the picture of what your ideal social looks like. Love this Tedex from Nancy Duarante on how to tell a great story.
2. Outline your goals and objectives (P.O.S.T).
3. Before you begin, assess where you been and where you want to go, a.k.a audit.
4. Plan some more. Most projects don’t see the light of day because you didn’t do your homework. You already know you won’t get all your resources for this project so plan for it.
5. Change is Hard, but it will get better.
6. Welcome Haters. They motivate you to do better.
7. Accept Failure. Failure can teach you a lot of what not to do the next time.
8. Priorities. Help those around you and yourself. Pick three area/projects and as you progress you can add more.
9. Focus on your wins. Small wins lead to big wins later.
10. Do Internal PR campaign on your wins. Sharing where you have been and where you are going helps others get it.
11. Keep Your Head up! Easier said than done, but social communications is hard work! Really you are in the business of change management.
12. Ted Rubin shares how to get over the “what if”
13. Find a support group of other like-minded folks. LinkedIn has tons!
14. Network with people who are doing social communications successfully.
15. Mark Ivey wrote a great article highlighting the importance of communicating in social media
16. Get an executive champion.
17. Constantly evaluate where you are in relation to your goals.
18. Put your big girl pants on. This isn’t for the weak of heart.
19. In order for this to work, you need vision. Goes back to point one.
20. Coffee or caffeine. You will be busy managing this change management project.
21. Social Communications isn’t one and done. Social takes time.
22. Create advocates
23. Be disruptive
24. Bonus

This posted originally appears on Metscher’s Musings. Rachel DiCaro Metscher,is a corporate communicator who has worked with many organizations to build their communications and marketing programs, including Fannie Mae, American Psychological Association, and The Princeton Review. You can follow her on Twitter @rachelmetscher.