Re-Tooling Your Social Media Career

So its been a year, maybe two, since you opened your twitter account, embarking on your new career as a social media expert. You started your blog, went to the trade shows, handed out business cards and even spent that one day last April calling three local businesses to explain how you could help them with their Foursquare problem.  Three calls, three replies:

“What’s for square?”

“Who is this?”

“Are you ordering a pizza or not?”

And we haven’t heard too much from you since then. I’m thinking maybe you’re making some changes in your five year plan. Or maybe you’re thinking about what someone told you a long time ago, but in case you forgot, here it is again:

Social Media is a tool, not a career.

You see, the people who use social media to successfully build a career understand that it is just a tool. People like Chris Brogan, Chris Voss, Darren Rowse, Guy Kawasaki, and even Scott Stratten, all have something in common: they all have other skills besides knowing how to set up a twitter account.

To illustrate this, consider a carpenter. A carpenter can use a hammer to do things like frame houses or build cabinets. But they also have other tools they know how to use, like saws, nail guns, belt sanders and drills. They also have experience in building things people want. Few successful carpenters  go out and buy a hammer, create a website, and print business cards with the title “Hammer Expert”.

You don’t have to go back to MLM

Fortunately, all is not lost. The experience you’ve gained as a self-proclaimed social media expert has given you the experience you would need to go into other, even more profitable, lines of work. You don’t have to go back to The Trump Network. Honest. You could buy yourself a hammer:

Or you could use the experience you gained in between tweets, to branch out into a new, even more exciting field of work. Everyone seems to play Farmville on Facebook. Even if they don’t, they can certainly refer you to several friends who do. You have the experience, and they don’t always have the time to play. So why not sell your services in this hot niche?

Or perhaps you could consider using your experience to help other social media experts:

Or you could take the writing skills you sharpened through your time in social media and go into a more creative line of work, like writing. You can use my business card as a template.

Okay, writing might not be the wisest direction. Maybe you could give social media another year… or two.

Related posts:

1. Women Rule in Social Media
2. Outside of the Matrix – Social Networking 1.0

Tagged as: social media