One of the challenges in our ever more connected world is that social media is one, full-on, constant coffee klatch.  The party’s on, whether you’re ready or not. Sign into Facebook and all your friends might know you’re there … and ready to chat.  Sign on to Gmail and Yahoo mail and the same thing happens and the next thing you know, you might be involved in two simultaneous chat sessions as you’re trying to clean out your inbox.  And nothing much good is going on.

One of the blogs I follow, Freelance Switch, had a great article last week about how to use social media and protect your focus all at the same time. Here are some of the lessons to learn:

1. Have a plan
2. Track your time
3. Maintain fueling stations
4. Take breaks
5. Delay reactions

…and here’s a link to the entire post. Do you have a way to manage the social media firehose? I want to know. Pass them on and I’ll share them with everyone here.

Lucky winner!

In celebration of our new and improved website, we sparked word of mouth buzz by directing people to our Home page and asked them to become a Facebook Fan. Then on January 20, we randomly drew Erika’s name from more than 300 fans.

What else would you like us to give away in a future drawing or contest? Hardworking marketers always need caffeine, so perhaps a Starbucks or iTunes gift card? Maybe a fun office item? How about a free session with one of our writing/PowerPoint/marketing/social media experts? Post your suggestions here.

Ah, don’t we all wish problem-solving was this easy?

If you haven’t embraced the Chat instant message function on Facebook, you are missing a huge opportunity to stay in front of clients, colleagues and friends — and even save days of phone tag or email exchange. This Web 2.0 tool has become a “secret weapon” for our team.

For example, when a new project request comes to High Tech Connect, we mine our database and typically find 2-3 dozen candidates to screen. But if we glance at the people currently online on Facebook, we may see a name that jogs our memory about a skill they have or a colleague they know. Then before looking up 36 phone numbers or crafting 36 coherent emails and waiting for replies, we can simply ping someone via Chat: “You still consulting?” “Ever done PR for a wireless startup?” “Written many pharmaceutical white papers?”

And sometimes we need to ask a quick question to a busy client. Catching them on Facebook at 10:20 pm means they’re still awake and can probably handle a one-line query about interview times or purchase order approvals. But we always follow the rules of the instant messaging road: don’t bug people unless you really need to ask a question, if they don’t respond they are away or busy, and always keep it quick and to the point.

Obviously, chat does not replace live phone calls or detailed emails, but in this economy with overworked clients and under-utilized consultants, the shortest distance to connect them can be right there on our Facebook Chat screen. So, if you see us on Facebook, ping us any time. We’d love to Chat. )