I'm watching a video training series right now about creating videos.....videos for various purposes but all revolving around the idea of selling your product, service, idea or somebody else's. Now, of course this isn't specifically about social media management but there is some transferable wisdom to be learned here.
Let's stick with the idea of selling a tradional product first.
Most marketers never learn the skills they really need to market on the iternet. A smaller group of those that do are the ones that actually apply what they learned. But an even smaller sub-group of those that do apply (this new knowledge) learn the difference between doing everything themselves versus outsourcing that actual work.
Note: In earlier management-science days 'outsourcing' was called 'delegating'. In today's digital age it's called 'outsourcing'.....you can have an entire staff or company spread out all over the planet and still be able to manage them effectivly through various types of internet communication and management. And you can bet your bottem dollar that the majority of your successful competitors are doing it.
So.......my point here is that it's OK to learn the basic idea of how to do stuff. Or even to be able to do it pretty well yourself. But you're very probably wasting your time if you insist on doing all the things that go into a successful business/marketing operation.
Your objective should be finding what your greatest talent is and/or the most important thing that has to happen in your business. And that's what you probably should be doing yourself.
If you can find somebody else to do it reasonably well, i.e. to a level that results in profits that you deem satisfactory then.....that's cool. It's your call. But don't tie yourself down by insisting on doing everything yourself.........
Including your social management functions.
Some business functions lend themselves to automation more than others. While it's true (as I've noted in other posts here and on my other site WanderingSalsero) that there are a lot of cool tools that can automate some of the social media management function, it's still primarily a 'hands-on' task.
Social media management can be a collosal waste of time if you don't know what you're doing and if you don't have a plan. On the other hand, it's fairly easy for people who have a firm grasp on the tool and the strategies of making it work.
In the end, it's always your call if you're the boss but please....don't be one of those bosses who takes every idea you hear about and try to do it all yourself. You may think you're saving money but, in the long run, you're not.
Being smart is OK....but you don't have to do it all yourself.
