Work-Work Balance: Listening to the Third Tribers

Balancing Your World

I have discovered an interesting phenomenon that is underscoring the post I wrote earlier this week (Pure Energy) in which I expounded upon the fact that I needed to make some changes in my work world because balance was getting out of hand.  One might call this transparency, but for me, writing is a way to get something out of my system- to eliminate nagging thoughts or stressors that threaten to poison my equilibrium.  It’s kind of like the heave and spew method.  Bad stuff bubbles up and the quickest way to feeling better is to just toss the cookies (apologies to any readers who just had breakfast….).  The big discovery this week, is that I am not alone in feeling the effects of this fast-paced social media world.  Several of the gurus that I hold in high esteem have written posts recently about their need to slow down the pace and to redirect their focus. I love Chris Brogan-I admire his work, what he has done for the industry and his incredible emphasis on giving back. He talks about the need for cutting back in this post.  Gary Vaynerchuk (@GaryVee), the author of Crush It, who told the world that it’s all about following your passion and building brand equity says the following in his promotional book video below:

“I want to do it all. I want to Crush It to the craziest level. I want to beat everyone’s face in a positive business way!”

Well Gary just released a new video that is getting loads of play on the Third Tribe Forum in which he is telling us all that he is scaling back.  He has realized that you can’t maintain Crush It! levels of existence for long periods of time without losing something in the bargain.  He talks about focusing more on the corporate business at hand and scaling back his access to the masses, from Twitter to speaking engagements.  He also mentions the need for personal balance and getting back to regular exercise and activities that he enjoys.

This is all so timely for me and brings a warning for companies as they expand their social media strategies into the next phase of engagement capitalization.  Yes, we live in a 24/7 world. Yes,  I really do sleep with my Droid.  Yes, having a flexible schedule and incredible passion and excitement for what I do means that I work way more hours/week then I did in my corporate job. But in the end, if I don’t deal with Work-Work and Work-Life Balances, then how can I go on?  More importantly, how can I advise my clients on their own time management issues???

Definitely food for thought! Drop me a comment on how you are meeting this challenge in your business, in your world.

Cruising at 100 mph on the Social Media Highway

Lion courtesy of: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3503/3883174121_a403bc427e.jpg

So the story about March goes something like this: “When March comes in like a lion, it goes out like a lamb.”  Discovered it is actually an old English proverb.  I think it was created by a futurist whose crystal ball was focused on the life of Michelle Beckham in March of 2010. Hunh??!!!  Just feeling caught up in a wonderfully exciting storm with gale force winds that are whipping up incredible opportunities for C3.  It’s all about relationship management and developing the right conversations that lead to opportunities and change.  So let’s keep the coffee brewing and the search light on as we continue to navigate through the perfect storm, because when the lamb appears, the quiet begins….

Take a look at what has been going on so far in March:

One:

New Partnership with Act Three owned by Julie Shifman: C3 will present a seminar “Learn to Network On-line and Off” with Julie  and will provide hands-on computer lab classes on key social media topics for Act Three clients beginning in April, 2010.

Act Three & C3 Back To Work Seminar on Networking 4/1/10

Two:

“Age of Conversation 3: It’s Time to Get Busy”: anthology from 170 leading marketing thinkers from around the world. I wrote a chapter that is included in the book which will be released internationally in April of 2010. Here is a list of the authors who contributed:  LIST More book details to come!

Age of Conversation 3: It's Time to Get Busy"

Three:

Joined the Examiner.Com team and am the new Social Media Examiner for Cincinnati, Ohio.  Look for some interesting content on Social Media topics that affect all readers and not just those from Porkopolis!  Here is my first Examiner POST.

Examiner Logo courtesy of Examiner.com

Four:

Slowly but surely, getting over my reluctance to do video as I see the importance of using this type of media. Look for more YouTube videos with an emphasis on learning and sharing as well as some Interview-type pieces in which local Social Media glitterati are highlighted and businesses put under the spotlight.  Am also in preliminary talks to do some Blog Talk Radio shows.

Five:

Third Tribe- loving this Chris Brogan & company membership community, but am missing out on taking advantage of it fully due to all of the other things exploding (in a good way!) around me.  I need a vacation just to catch up on the missed audio casts…… Shout out to my new Third Tribe friend Lori Randall

Lori Randall: Fellow Third Triber- photo courtesy Lori Randall Twitter Account

Six:

First C3 Keynote Speech:  Annual Conference for the Ohio Court Reporter’s Association (OCRA) on “Harnessing the Power of Social Media: Welcome to the R-Evolution!!”

Annual OCRA Conference

Michelle Beckham's Key Note Speech on Social Media at OCRA Conference

All That Twitter is Gold

Twitter has been on my mind lately. Despite Twitter’s 4th birthday next month, there still exists a significant portion of the population (at least in my little corner of the world) who think that Twitter is only about people who share tweets detailing what they had to eat for lunch.  I operate in the public speaking realm in the tri-state and invariably I always get one person who will make this comment and claim that Twitter has no relevance for them.  Do people NOT take the time to do a little research??!!! I’m picturing lemmings who hear a message and believe in totality without checking it out for themselves as they follow each other off the cliff……

I posted this thought on Twitter the other day and my smart alec New Media Cincy Tweeple replied back in a string of messages (here and here) outlining their lunch menus!!

Twitter has been an incredible tool for me in the following ways:

• Keeps me updated on the latest news within the industries that I am tracking
• Helps me to locate people to do business with
• Helps me find people with similar interests  to share ideas
• Handy as a search engine for real time  information
• Communication tool (DMs are wonderful!)
• Directs traffic to targeted sites
• Great place to start relationships- have met many Tweeple who have become my good friends IRL

In today’s professional work world, everyone should know what Twitter is all about. Not advocating that everyone use it, but knowledge is power; so why tip the canoe against your favor?  Now if I was further along with my Chris Brogan Third Tribe work, then this would be the place where I would insert a link to a handy dandy Twitter Ebook or Webinar at a nominal cost so that you, loyal Blog reader could be truly informed on Twitter and how to maximize it’s use…….. In the mean time give me a shout and I’ll hook you up with info on my Social Media Learning Lab Class Series if you are in the Cincinnati area.

Proud To Be Part of the Third Tribe

Chris Brogan & Michelle Beckham at SummitUp: A Social Media Confab

Gotta tell you I am truly psyched about being part of Chris Brogan’s Third Tribe Movement.  I had the opportunity to meet Chris last fall in Dayton at the SummitUp Social Media Confab in which he was one of  the key note speakers.  As part of the pre-conference marketing, Summit Up organizers launched a Twitter contest based on being prolific in conference mentions.  I happened to win and had the opportunity to sit at the Speakers’ table at the conference with Chris and the other speakers.

Not only did I love Chris’s talk, but found him to be an incredibly down-to-earth guy with a big heart and focus on giving back to the community.  I had been following him for a long time, as have most folks active in social media, and we had corresponded several times via DM tweets prior to the conference.  Anyway, I am an avid reader of his blog and am connected to him on Facebook as well as several other social media sites and I happened to see his post on the creation of  the Third Tribe.  You can read about it here.

Knowing that Chris puts out great content, I took a look and was incredibly impressed with the program.  The value is unbelievable, especially for the early adopters who got in prior to Friday evening (2/5/10).  The price has now doubled!  Haven’t had a chance to jump into it yet, but a cursory glance at the hashtag stream (#ThirdTribe) is showing that people are very happy with the program.  I keep hearing about the forums and how much great info is there- people are tweeting that it has been hard to break away from the great learning that is going on.

Once I get into it, I will report back on my findings.  I’m thinking with my penchant for immersing myself into the social media pond, this just may lead to me being AWOL from my daily life for a while…..Thanks Chris, so glad to have another tool to be passionate about!

Find some of the Third Tribe Conversations that Chris has captured in a recent post on his blog  HERE