How to Say No to Social Media: Tips from @ESPN_ProdGirl at #BrandsConf

“We need to get a profile for Foursquare.”
“How about Yelp? Do we have an account set up for Yelp?”
“Are we measuring our Twitter usage correctly?”
“What are our fellow leaders in our industry doing with mobile?”
“Have we created our Google Plus business page yet?”

Perhaps you can relate to the high tides of demands as you try to stand your ground and navigate through the ferocious pace of all the moving parts in today’s digital, social and mobile worlds. With all of the demands circling towards you for solutions and answers, how can you answer intelligently with poise and purpose? @ESPN_ProdGirl has some insight on how to be that go-to-social pro within a large company and her secret to success just may surprise you. 

Meet Katie Richman, also known as @ESPN_ProdGirl. Social and sweet on the outside, fearless and wise from within. Her twitter profile says: Social for ESPN. Best. Job. Ever.

During her presentation at the Brands Conference in New York City last week she shared sage advice to those who share the role as social media professionals within large companies like ESPN. With the rapid changes happening in the new world of social media, there are many demands, directions and devices that can derail productivity and our overall success as social media experts. Just how does this ESPN Girl ride the tides with ease? She smiles and says, “It sounds counterintuitive, but the biggest lesson learned in the past few years of social at a big company… is learning to say NO to something social.”

The tips she shares on how to cope with the new social media noise can apply to any professional who finds today’s technology, media and marketing worlds somewhat overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Her tips are enlightingly simple yet worthy of mentioning:

1. Take a reset day.

Retreat and remove yourself from the overwhelming requests. Schedule a day to re-boot and reset your mind. Go off-site if need be. Be intent to not respond to any requests or in pursuit to check off your to-do lists.  

2. Visualize your full plate.

What is the capacity of each day? There are only so many hours in one day. See where the demands are outweighing the realities. Notice where the gaping holes of resources are. Then, go to management with specific requests based on your findings. Be factual, respond with metrics.

3. Create a parking lot.

Put all of the to-do items in park. This isn’t to be considered a morgue per se, just a resting place to reassess all of the great ideas and demands against the goals. Time will tell when a to-do item is ready to shift into drive.

This is Katie Richman’s Parking Lot tool. She claims that it is usually full of parked projects.

Katie closed her presentation with a lasting truth, “You may think that you are giving 110%, but there is no such thing. There is only 100%.” True words of wisdom shared by a professional who has learned the art and reaped the benefits of How to Just Say No and be successful at social. 

If you would found these tips helpful, send her a tweet to tell her thanks >>

To catch Katie’s presentation in its entirety, visit the video recordings of the #BrandsConf 2011 here > http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18407514

Contributed by Andrea Cook, #140Conf Live Event Correspondent. Andrea Cook has brands and buzz on the brain. Since 1999, her Chicago-born consultancy, The Midas Center has provided award-winning marketing and media solutions to law firms, education facilities, non-profits, artists and hyper-local communities. She strives to support the noble game changers and life savers through social media marketing. She is a pioneer, coach, editor, cowork-owner and consultant for hire. Services vary, Live Event Correspondent services preferred. 

Comments

[Vivian Kendricks]

I have to thank Katie for the tips and I have to thank you for this post. This is really great. I really like Katie's statement: “You may think that you are giving 110%, but there is no such thing. There is only 100%.”