GreatLeadersServe.org has now been live for 12 months. It’s been more fun than I would have thought, and I sure have learned a lot. This post is for any of you who are curious regarding what I’ve learned thus far. For the rest of you, I hope you’ll check back in on Friday.
My hope is that by sharing a few observations from my journey, it might serve those of you who are either considering joining the world of social media or those of you who are already in the game but fighting a steep learning curve. The following are not in any particular order and should not be considered “insights” – just some things I’ve learned.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday come around fairly quickly. I was given strong counsel in the beginning -- I needed to write 3 posts a week. I’m still on that pace. However, I’m questioning the merit of this frequency going forward. (I’d love to know what you think about this.)
I don’t write very fast – I read a challenging post by a very smart lady named Becky Robinson about the value of a “12-minute post.” I’ve not learned to do that yet. After 157 attempts, I’m not sure I ever will. It takes me 6 – 8 hours to get three posts live.
My friend, Randy Gravitt, writes a great blog stressing the importance of integrity for leaders if we desire influence. When I told him I was thinking about starting this site, he asked me what two things I was planning to give up so I could invest the time to do this with excellence. I’m still trying to decide what to give up.
I learned early, I would need help to do this site well. I selected a designer to help create the site, a developer to actually make it work, and I’ve worked with several talented people who’ve taught me how social media works. I still write my own content for the posts, but rather than have my wife fix the punctuation and grammar, I now send them to someone else. I should have paid more attention in English class.
Finding the right image for each post often takes longer than writing the post. I know this may sound strange, but it’s true. There are two reasons this is happening: I decided I wouldn’t “borrow” images. I look until I can find an appropriate image I can purchase. Second, as a photographer myself, I think the image matters – a lot!
I’ve been humbled by the response the site has received. Both the qualitative and quantitative metrics have been remarkable to me. Just a couple of stats to substantiate my amazement - over 600,000 page views and numerous individual tweets have been re-tweeted to over 400,000 people – thank you!
As I begin year two of this adventure, I want to say thank you for your encouraging words. Thanks too, for sharing the site and its content with those in your sphere of influence. My desire is to serve you. I know many of you are diligently attempting to become better servant leaders - I consider it a privilege to be on the journey with you.[GLS_Shield]
