I was having breakfast the other day and remembered the old story about Bacon and Eggs; the Chicken is involved but Pig is committed.
The act of committing yourself to something is defined as pledging and/or completely engaging yourself in endeavor.  It can be very easy to mistake enthusiasm for a project as dedication, often times we just ‘get involved’ in projects and fall short of seeing them through.
Three years ago when I started Finger Candy Media, I had no idea what I was doing. Actually, I understood marketing, promotions and advertising just as much as anyone else who has been in the business for over 15 years; but initially I only courted the idea of a Mobile Marketing company. I did the research and the math but it just didn’t add up to what I thoughtwere my strengths. I had been a Non-Traditional Revenue Specialist, which means I invented ways for stations to make money that didn’t involve using ‘Commercial’ inventory. As you can imagine with only 60 minutes an hour and only 12-15 minutes of that time to sell commercial inventory, we had to “think outside the spot.” Essentially, I had been creating sales opportunities with web initiatives, event planning/marketing, streaming, loyal listener clubs and eventually MySpace.
Understand, the basic concept of any advertising/marketing campaign or promotion is the right message, to the right people and the right amount of times. That is simple enough, right?
Using Social Media and Social Networking to accomplish productivity goals is exactly the same.
The key is to figure what your message is, who you are targeting and how to get in front of them. (I would bold this : )
Working with others on their marketing is always a challenge.  Having the gift to be able to help them see who they are, who their best consumer is and how to reach them is an art (and science at times). As a consultant it’s your job to look from the outside in, make recommendations and often times, manage the actual project. It is always easiest when you determine expectation right away thus avoiding misunderstandings later.
When it comes to Social Media optimization plans I decided to make it easy on myself and others with the “Get a G.R.A.S.P” model.
Goals-what are you trying to do?
Reach-who are you trying to reach?
ABCs-how does the aesthetic match the goals and reach plan?
Sociality-what is your message?
Promotion-how are you going to move your plan forward?
Now what are you doing to move your Social Media optimization plans forward?
Are you just ‘involved’ or have you completely and wholly COMMITED?
Are you  a Chicken or a Pig?