Many of you are probably familiar with the Technology Adoption Lifecycle, which demonstrates how different waves of users welcome new tools at different points in time. Some people love gadgets, and want to be among the first to have them. Others prefer to wait until a product has proven its worth before they purchase it. I believe that this framework can just as easily be applied to an idea, in this case social media. Let’s take a look at how social media adoption parallels product adoption:
Social Media Classifications
- Innovators. Those who have a strong brand and do not need much social networking to secure a new position; social networking is their exclusive search technique
- Early Adopters. Those who use social networking early in a search and network every day
- Early Majority. Those who hear that social media works and will try it as a supplement to more traditional job searching techniques (i.e. job boards and directly applying for positions)
- Late Majority. Those who use ¨traditional¨ job search techniques and dabble in social networking as a test but feel they need to because everyone is talking about it
- Laggards. Really do not like the idea of social networking, prefer the tried-and-true ways to find a job
When you are either passively looking or actively looking, where do you find yourself on this curve? Now be honest, we would all like to be in the ¨Innovators¨ or ¨Early Adopters¨ categories but that just isn’t realistic. Most of us will find ourselves in one of the ¨Early Majority,¨ or ¨Late Majority,¨ or even the dreaded ¨Laggards¨ category.
Given where you think you are in this curve, pick where you want to be. Once you figure out your target, then plan on how to get there. Yes, plan - otherwise the chances of getting to that position are slim.
How might you improve your position?
- Do the personal brand worksheet to uncover what makes you uniquely you
- Now that you know how to compellingly talk about yourself, spread that message by making yourself visible online
- Grow a relevant LinkedIn and Twitter network and start tapping social media to find and secure new opportunities
I recommend reading blogs like Mashable to keep up with the latest trends. Investigate if any may be right for your personal brand. You cannot be everywhere, nor should you be on every single site. Investigate the value of each site and consider your options. Have fun with it, even try it out to see what you think and then cancel your account if you don’t think it will work. Test the waters!
Here’s one final tip: start thinking about using video in 2010!
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