What is this secret weapon? This secret weapon not only is free, but it’s available on mobile, desktops and it’s a weapon that every person reading this has access to and can use today! Give up?
Screenshot Awesomeness!
Also known as… Print Screen or Alt+Print Screen or for mac CMD+Shift+4 or if you have a smartphone your camera app!
Now before you stop reading as you think this is a joke…. let me share some uses cases and experiences where screenshotting not only won over my bosses but also motivated me to tune out the haters!
Have you ever asked yourself: “How do I show value and validate what I’m doing today is important, so that leadership gives me enough time to implement my long-term strategy?“ For me the answer is easy “Screenshot when Awesomeness Happens!” Sounds too simple I know, but when you add up multiple little moments of awesomeness creating a “portfolio of awesomeness” not to be confused with my “portfolio of oops’s”, this portfolio can be a powerful response to your boss or even the motivation you need to get through the tough times.
What should I screenshot and Why?
- A Thank You Tweet saying what you did
- A Motivational Tweet
- A blog post mention
- A Thought Leader mention
- An Influencer “Quote” RT
- Something your competition does great or something they do dumb.
I could go on forever but for me if I’m not screenshotting small wins a couple times a week, I’m not doing a good job listening or I’m not providing value to my followers. Why would you screen shot these little sometimes meaningless wins. Because a single Facebook comment isn’t that powerful when answering your bosses question about Social Media ROI but 5 FB comments 10 Tweets and a Linkedin Email all showing customers talking about what they did and why their decision was impacted because of a social media will be just the ammo you need to make management happy, allowing you time to accomplish your long-term strategy and goals.
Social Business or Employee Advocacy Programs
Screenshot internal notes or comments that highlight increased productivity, collaboration or even employee morale! With social business solutions focus is on collaboration and open communication and often its hard to get leaders to buy-in but when you screenshot an excel document that was updated and collaborated on by 40 employees and show the leaders that screenshot explaining that if this wasn’t done within your solution the leader would have had 4o versions of that same document in his inbox, he will soon be your biggest fan not because you said it will help him but you showed him.
Personal Branding:
When I was looking for management buy-in of a personal branding and social selling project I pitched the idea and was approved but management let me know that they didn’t think it would work in our industry and they weren’t sure legal would approve. Rather than fight this battle with trivial social media data and generic use-cases I focused on businesses and leaders within our industry that not only were doing something similar but also were doing it within our community and with our potential customers. By not saying “Everyone else is doing it” rather showing multiple real examples this hard proof not only won over legal and management but led my boss to ask me to work with him on building his personal brand story!
Don’t write it down or think you will remember it, why you must Screenshot when Awesomeness happens!
You might be asking: “Why not just write these things down?” For me there are small elements that can only be captured with a screenshot because you don’t know exactly what you might need to reference in the future. Such as: Time & Date of engagement, Tool used to engage, Time it took to respond, Hashtags used etc. I ‘ve also implemented tools such as Evernote Web Clipper, SnagIt as well as utilizing the @IFTTT app to automate the organization of my screenshots. But rather than focusing on the tools and adding steps to your workflow, keep this simple and make this something that is easy to do on a daily basis so that when you need that pick me up or need to respond to the bosses “what have you done for me lately” comment the wins are right there waiting for you! Don’t forget that when in a bind every smartphone has a camera that works great for documenting and capturing those moments of awesomeness!
Change is tough and although I’ve embraced the idea that for me change is my passion and what I love to help others embrace, it isn’t that way for everyone and the battle often feels lonely.
I recently wrote an article titled: “Hey Social Media Managers you’re not alone on that pony! Please Don’t Give Up!” which as many of you know when working in digital and social media or in any role that requires you to lead and teach change, the fight can be exhausting and never ending. If you follow me on twitter (@iSocialFanz) I often use the hashtag: #HatersGonnaHate to remind myself and my followers that you will always have people that will say you can’t or that will fight against the majority and yes we all have dealt with our own trolls but the key is tuning out the haters and focusing on those small wins to keep you motivated and inspired knowing what you’re doing is not only worth it, but something you aren’t willing to let others stop you from accomplishing!
Too often we focus on learning, studying and over analyzing our failures but we don’t match that same focus when we have small successes.
So I challenge you to screenshot the good things that happen not only in social media but also in life and when you’re having a bad day or need inspiration, those screenshots of awesomeness are right there to keep you motivated and to remind you the small wins and successes far outweigh the tough times!
