Don’t work without a system
Although it’s easier to see the connection between creating media and art, code too is an art. Managed chaos is required so they can all work well together: each creative process should work within a framework with defined ways of going about it. A lot of it maybe uncharted territory so at the very least, clearly communicate the big picture.

Don’t set unreasonable goals
This is worse than setting no goals at all. Stretching the team too far guarantees that Monday through Friday, everyone’s simply showing up to put in their time and go home. That attitude has eerie ways of showing up in online communication and people have a second sense for these things.

Don’t implement changes lightly. Or slowly
The only thing we know about change is that it will come. We don’t know how or when, but we do know it will happen (for example, blogs are now officially “old school”). Think hard before you adopt a (small or large) change. If you do decide to accept it,  go after it like your life depends on it because while you were thinking, someone else started going for it.

Don’t get greedy
The effect of a well executed idea has a way of multiplying in significance, but it’s also the same thing with mistakes. Dream all you want, but make sure your focus is on what can be achieved in the short term (along with the lessons you’re going to be learning constantly).

Don’t assume you can “catch up” later if you get off schedule
In the same vein, don’t expect you’ll stay ahead of schedule later because you’re ahead of schedule now. In fact, you’re probably better off without a schedule altogether. You’re dealing with people and they won’t always keep to your well-organized schedule, no matter how great your intentions are.

Don’t take shortcuts or relax standards
I’m going to assume you know all about this so there’s not much to add here.

This is the 3rd, and last, post on what it takes to have successful social media campaign (you can read the 1st one here and the 2nd one here).

1. Create & follow a Social Media Campaign Plan
Obviously it is important to plan out any project before starting out. At the very least, establishing a basic idea of what you hope to achieve means it’ll be easier to keep everyone involved on the same page.

(In a similar vein, don’t overdo the planning or it’ll end up hurting more than helping. Be like water.)

2. Empower campaign personnel
Who manages your communication channels? What tools do they need? Do they work in an environment that actually helps them work better? Thankfully, the tools needed to run social media campaigns are well priced (read: virtually free) and you don’t have to break the bank to get a top notch toolkit.

3. Minimize red tape
Bureaucracy slows things down, which is always ugly. Always. If you’re starting from the top, a successful social media campaigns will require contributions from a wide variety of people (design, writers, customer service, marketing, PR and a host of other little pieces. Please think carefully before you clog the channels of communication with unnecessary (and pesky) obstacles.

4. Establish baselines & manage changes to it
“Social media campaign” is just a fancy term that basically amounts to allowing people to communicate with others online. Because the keyword in that sentence is people, there are certain goals you cannot establish as requirements because people can (and will) make up their minds for themselves. Social media isn’t a magical pill that will change minds in 2 days, 6 months or even 5 years. Nothing in real life does (except maybe fear, but that’s another story).

5. Take periodic snapshots of the campaign’s progress. Replan if necessary
Things happen: a new tool comes out you can’t get into (just yet),  the “competition” comes up with a better feature, etc… In other words, real life happens and you’re better off learning from what did or didn’t work right now. Make sure you don’t go overboard on this one. Points #3 & #4 are your guiding principles on this one.

6. Re-estimate size, effort & schedules periodically
Yes, this is related to taking campaign snapshots (#5 above) and although they are similar on the surface, reestimating or replanning without first finding out why you need to do so waters down the effectiveness of your great re-organizational effort.

7. Foster Team Spirit
Content is king only when people enjoy it so pay attention to how happy the team creating the content is. Google provides world class food, 37signals give their employees credit cards and others use the time tested “Thank you” to keep the team spirit alive. Regardless of how you choose to do it, just make sure you are doing it.

This is the 2nd of 3 posts on the general framework of a social media campaign. Read the first one here and come back next week for the last post. Better yet, subscribe to our RSS feed and get posts automatically delivered to your RSS reader.

With context and patience, you can navigate the hurdles of even the most “stressful” life. Whether you’re a CEO, janitor, laborer, or stock broker, we all have career stresses at varying levels. Some more than others. And this doesn’t take into account stress from families, finances, relationships, deaths, moving, etc…!

I think and write a lot about stress. I think it’s probably because I’m always stressed out. I wake up to 50 or so e-mails in the morning, handle calls and internal and external meetings in the mornings, and then work through projects and problems in the afternoons and evenings. Even in the evening and over the weekends, my mind is still consumed with work, whether I’m in front of my MacBook or not. It’s not that I’m complaining or impassioned about my work, it’s that I’m passionate to a fault, passionate to a point where I feel like I can’t breathe sometimes without the weight of work on my chest. It’s part being the owner and CEO of a busy small business in a down economy, part the cost of high-intensity projects.

My life drives my work and my work is driving my life. This year, I’ve been working round-the-clock to reduce stress and to nix avoidable stressful elements and activities out of my life. Whether via time management, additional resources, narrowing focus, or saying “no” to certain projects, the goal has been to filter what comes in so that what comes out is the highest quality from the right paradigm. Why does it seem that though there is light at the end of the tunnel, stress is still as prevalent as ever?

There’s certainly some things that are unavoidable. Deadlines. Employee illness. The economy. In my opinion, you have to put your head up and dive right in to the task to chip the bulk of the stress away by sheer force. Other times, you have to prioritize stresses, dealing with the biggest problems first. And still other times, you have to call on the troops or step back to gain perspective on the situation.

If you’re a high-strung individual, a perfectionist, struggle with OCD tendencies, or always feel stressed out, don’t just try to shoot for vacations or allocate time for doing nothing at all. It doesn’t always work for me and may not always work for you. Instead, funnel your energy into a distracting and rewarding activity. Maybe hanging out with some friends over drinks, visiting a theme park, or sky-diving. The point is, funnel your energy towards exercise, activities, and distractions when you need a break. Otherwise, you’re time spent “relaxing” and doing nothing will turn into you sitting on the couch feeling even more overwhelmed and held by a downward spiral of negative energy, while your pile of stress feels like it’s growing by the minute while you’re not doing anything about it!

If you have stress in common with me, let’s both take solace in that we can overcome and persevere. As humans, we have a remarkable ability to supersede our own fears and worries. Stress and worry are byproducts of passion, commitment, values, and hard work. It’s our natural response to help us elevate to deal with problems. In the words of Devlyn Steele of ToolsToLife, “remove ‘problems’ from your vocabulary; problems are simply opportunities.” Opportunities to get a new job, step up to the plate and earn respect, get involved in a better relationship, or learn something important.

Don’t just take my advice, here’s a few more ways of reducing your stress: 1, 2, 3, 4

-RB