November 9, 2010

Some years ago, I read Jim Collins’ best-seller, Good to Great. In the book, among tons of other useful and insightful business advice, Collins suggests that business people need to “get the right people on the bus.” This was his way of saying that business owners need to make sure that they have the right team in place if they ever expect to have a chance at building a sustainable business.

This made me think about the types of people business owners should have on their ‘social media bus’ and I’ve taken to referring to it as a ‘Social Media Dream Team’.

You need a Social Media Dream Team for a several reasons:

1.  Someone has to create the content. Without fresh content, your social media efforts may as well be in a bag on the shelf.

2.  Someone needs to watch the numbers. Tracking and analyzing metrics is a huge part of social media success; if you don’t know where you are, you can’t tell if you’re improving…or not.

3.  Someone needs to make sure everything is getting done and is running smoothly.

4.  Someone needs to make sure social media usage makes business sense.

5.  Someone has to reply to comments and leverage social networking to connect with people and share the content effectively.

6.  Someone should have subject matter experience and other best practice experience to draw on to make the most of social media efforts.

7.  Someone needs to cheer you on and serve as an example when morale is low.

8.  And, lastly, team dynamics, when done right, have a way of propelling a company forward in ways that one person alone can’t. There’s shared responsibility, diversity of perspective and collective success at work in teams – don’t take that energy for granted.

To that end, there are a handful of people who need to be present to make things run smoothly.

• Chris Content. His job is to consistently write about topics that position the company as thought leaders and engage readers.

• Molly Metrics. What doesn’t get measured gets forgotten. Molly’s job is to run monthly reports and translate the numbers into practical next steps.

• Adam Administrator. He’s the glue that keeps everything together. He makes sure all the tasks get done. The buck stops with Adam.

• Beverly Boss. She’s going to be monitoring the return on investment and is smart enough to know that social media don’t just deliver dollars and cents; she understands alternative forms of currency like media coverage, visibility and decreased time-to-market. (Hint: Even if you’re a guy, the Beverly Boss role is probably yours.)

• Eddie Engagement. He’s the one with his ear to the digital street and keeps the conversation going. He engages influencers in the right way and keeps your brand in front of decision-makers – again, in a good way.

• Cindy Consultant. She brings an external perspective and makes sure your brand is getting the most for its social media investment buck.

• Polly Peer. She’s a colleague-in-arms. Just seeing her progress with social media makes you want to step your game up, too.

Now you may read that list and think, “Where the heck am I going to get the budget to hire these people?” Here’s the good news. You don’t have to hire anyone. You don’t even have to ask them to join your Social Media Dream Team. And, once they’ve made the cut, you still don’t have to tell them they’re on the Team.

How is this possible?

Many of these people can be external to your organization. For example, Chris Content could be the author of a popular podcast you listen to that always gives you fresh, happening ideas without poaching. Cindy Consultant can be the author of a thought-provoking book you’ve read about social media and you decide to turn her book into a to-do list for your Dream Team. Eddie Engagement and Molly Metrics can be part-timers you hire to keep the home fires burning and keep track of your progress in the social media world.

Related Topics

• Managing

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Lena West, Article, social media, hiring, managing, Jim Collins

Join the conversation ( 2 )

• Lena West 1 year 6 months and 21 days ago

  

  @Indie Business Media: It's great that you're getting the help and input that you need. You're one of the smart ones - clearly.It's not about whether you enjoy using social media or not, the decision to use social media (or not) is a business decision and has little to do with personal preferences.So many times people think the CEO has to be the one using social media and that's not always the case. When we do have clients, and we DO have them, that have CEO's who don't like to use social media, we work with their team to figure out other arrangements. Social media is no longer a "nice to have, provided that you like doing it".I'm of the opinion that you're either going to make a solid business decision for your business or you have a fancy hobby. Thanks for reading and commenting!

• DONNA JOHNSON 1 year 6 months and 23 days ago

  

  Thank you for validating so many people, me included, who use this model. Part of the "social" part of social media is embracing others's best performances and using them as inspiration to create your own. I have a lot of help in my business, both from external people as you point out here, and from my own team. But while my team uses social media to helps us move toward our overall goals, they are more focused on their particular jobs. I act like a big huge funnel, taking in Molly, Adam, Beverly, and everyone else listed in your post, and turning them into specific action actions that drive our team forward. I can then dole this out in snippets to my team so they can focus on their particular piece. It's efficient and they don't become bogged down too much in the technology. Lucky for me, I really love it. I don't think a very small business owner who does not really enjoy socializing using technology would have as much success with this model.Thanks for helping me get my day off to a great start!