Get your Social Media Offsets here…

I spent the day moving stuff around the house in preparation for the arrival of our son in (hopefully) late March. It was an exercise that felt somewhat like arranging deck chairs on the Titanic - no matter how much you try, you just can’t fit 10 pounds of shit in a 5 pound bag - especially when you are reserving a little extra space in the bag for all the shit that is yet to come.

But, I found that I had an incredible feeling of accomplishment at the end of the day, even though I am no where near finished and will be right back at it tomorrow. Then tonight, I was scanning tweets on the most excellent iPhone Twitter app, Tweetie, when I saw Jeremiah Owyang’s statement:

How profound, I thought… that pretty much sums up the difference I was feeling between the gruntwork of moving bookshelves and rugs around today versus the somewhat “meh” feeling I get from a lot of the social media tools I use.

In fact, I think it is this feeling that sometimes prevents me from really, fully engaging in social media. To be honest, sometimes I look at all of this stuff we’re doing, whether for ourselves, our clients or for social good and feel like I would be accomplishing more with a hammer in my hand.

Someone else must feel this way besides @jowyang and myself. Therefore, I am announcing the opening of the first (I hope) Social Media Offset fund.

It works just like carbon offsets - if you spend (or waste) a lot of time in social media, just purchase a Social Media Offset and your detrimental activities will be offset by a person performing some sort of meaningful manual labor, such as painting the nursery, weeding the garden, or washing the car.

Hmm… what’s the best way to get this thing started?

I’ve got it! Let’s use social media to raise awareness and generate funds!!!

Oh hai, Motorola Q…

There’s a new sheriff in town:

The Problem With Pimps

I participated on a panel discussion for the Publicity Club of New England last night with three other folks - @ajgerritson, @diannahuff, and @tweismann, with moderation services being provided by Kel Kelly. Overall, it was a pretty good discussion, with social media cases provided in the areas of B2B, consumer products, small biz and services.

Kel Kelly has some energy. She’s clearly passionate about the world of new media. She’s also not afraid to speak her mind. Inside of 20 minutes, she referred to social media as “crack” at least 4 times. The other outstanding metaphor Kel used was this: “Don’t be a pimp.”

Of course, she was referring to the way lots of PR people treat their relationships with the media and their clients. Her point was that you can’t use social media simply as a tool to spout off about your client and whatever they are paying you to promote, and expect anyone in the social media world to take you seriously (or even keep their mouths shut about how pathetic you are.)

So I got to thinking… why wouldn’t you want to be a pimp? You get to hang around with a bunch of seemingly attractive clients… err… women, and get a cut of the action when their customers… umm… take advantage of their “products” and “services.” Then, there’s the clothes…

The reason: Pimps don’t add value. They take a pretty common asset (ahem) that is out there for anyone to access, peddle it as exclusive, or as the best thing since sliced bread. Only the truly desperate are there to listen and react.

In the end, the folks who don’t need your services, those who are watching in disbelief as you practice your “craft,” will be busy laughing at your clothes while they forge strong, lasting relationships with the media and consumers.