Sharing content
When I first started to share content, the response, by-and-large, was positive.
I don’t just mean ‘positive’ in the sense of the right sort of comments. I mean… there was a response!
Increasingly, though, despite my best efforts to only share the best bits, the response has tailed off to a whimper.
Perhaps people have got fed up with my proclivity, but I think it more fundamental:
- They don’t have the time
- They have stopped showing up
- There is no business case to the material (there is only so many ways to say the same thing)
- People are bored with social media
- The content is dull.
As a consequence, it is unlikely that I will share very much in 2013. Instead, I will be focused on creating my content and sharing where appropriate.
It’s not that I am egotistical, but I can’t justify the time constantly looking for material and getting no feedback both from my followers and the authors.
Note: There are a few exceptions to this rule:
And anything of significance, and not necessarily in my own purview.
Sorry if this goes against the social media grain, but I think it about time I tried something different.
Working with me
I am available for speaking, consulting and coaching on all things social media, excellence and brand you. Please feel free to email me at juliansummerhayes@gmail.com or contact me on 075888 15384.
In the market in which you work, Julian, I think the problem is one of prioritisation..there are a LOT fo things firms have on their plates now which are very high priority to them – COLP and COFA, compliance generally, trading conditions, threats from new providers of services.
At the moment, the focus is relentlessly short-termist. However, there is a second and fundamental issue: the wave of information that has to be swum through. The issue here is that there is so much stuff that unless it is valuable and pertinent, it is ignored…that means targeting (but then we’ve always espoused that).
Thanks Joe. I’m sure you are right, but I think content plays so little part in the day to day lives of most lawyers that sharing has just become a waste of time.
Have a great 2013, and catch up soon.
Best wishes
Julian.
Hi Julian, it’s interesting what you are saying! I don’t think it’s anything to do with the quality of your content. My general experience is this in the social media world:
1. I think blogging has reached it’s peak. It’s tailing off. There is too much content and we humans haven’t developed the skills yet to filter properly.
2. There is so much hype around how social media can solve our problems and frankly, that’s rubbish. Most people wanting to buy what we do are really not interested in whether we blog, how often we tweet or whether we are on Facebook. They want to know how we can increase revenue and improve engagement with people! They simply want that.
3. We are moving back to reading content that has gone through the professional publishing process and accessing that in traditional media titles! If we write in Wired, there is a kudos attached to that which is far more illustrious than having our own blog.
4. Finally, I think many bloggers are giving too much content away. What I mean is that you and I make our living from the ‘how to.’ No point in divulging and sharing that or else we would eventually be living in cardboard boxes.
IMHO I believe that there is this utopian view that sharing is the way forward! In some respects that’s true but in reality too, it’s not all its cracked up to be. The business world is still in a huge state of flux and transformation. It hasn’t quite caught up, has the time or sees the value in large amounts of content.
I’m stopping my blog in the New Year as it has little value to my clients! In the future I will only write for publications and others blogs who have far better reach and penetration than I can ever achieve!
Hope this is helpful…..as you say better to spend your time where it’s appreciated and people are prepared to pay.
Ann
Thank you. For me, I have been too easily seduced into thinking that by following what others have (supposedly) done on-line that I, too, would reap the rewards. I realised some time ago that I was getting no engagement from my shares, and it felt wrong to keep heaping stuff on others which in a lot of cases I wasn’t reading properly to know if it was of use to them. From now on, I will focus on my content and a lot of my material will remain under lock and key until I am ready to release it. And even then, it may not be in electronic form. It’s interesting what you say about your blog. I have changed the focus of my blogging, and, as much as I may be criticised, I write because I love to write and not just because I think others will want to read it. This may sound counter-intuitive but I couldn’t keep up the momentum if I thought I needed to ‘please’ people all the time.
I hope you have a wonderful break, and look forward to catching up in January.
best wishes
Julian.