image courtesy of CatherineKaputa.com

I prefer “new media strategist” or “social media strategist.” Those both sound reasonable, and that’s what I’ve been telling people lately. What are the best and worst social media job titles? Are there any reasonable choices down in the list below? (I believe there are a few good ones). Which ridiculous ones am I missing? Please let me know in the comments section below. I’ll add good (and bad) ones to the list.

(Note: the Twitter handles you see next to some of the names are not necessarily the job title that person holds. I’m just giving credit to the individuals that offered me that particular name idea)

Social media strategist
New media strategist (my preferred self-descriptor)
Social media expert (many provided this one)
Social media specialist
Online media specialist (the great Court Sloger’s job title)
Social media consultant (how could I have forgotten that one @suebmoe?)
Social media director (Thanks Ken Earley)
Social media maven
Social media ninja (@Nick314 wants credit for this and cried about it on Twitter a bit, so here you go)
Social media sensei
Social media samurai
Social media genie
Social media guru (many offered this one, including @PrincessGraceUS and @courtsloger)
Social media community manager
Social media planner
Social media editor (thanks @ericasmith)
Social media coordinator
Social media missionary (so sorry, forgot who gave this one to me)
Social media vixen
Social media rockstar
Social media magician
Social media alchemist
Social media jedi
Social media sniper
Social media guerrilla
Social media commander
Social media Vulcan (I suppose this could also be “Social Media Klingon” or “Social Media Cardassian”
Social media evangelist (thanks @JennaPet)
Social media geek (thanks @Gerrytonic)
Social media influencer (thanks @RobustWineBar)
Social media wizard (thanks @KimGlickert)
Social media whiz (or wiz)
Social media sorcerer (thank you @alglatz!)
Social media honey badger (@alglatz again)
Social media concierge
Social media black belt (makes Six Sigma people throw up in their mouth)
Social media honcho (courtesy of @RickyShambles)
Social media hotshot (thank you @reverendfitty. I consider you to be one lol)
Social media scientists or Socialsphere scientists (thanks @MoRandazzoMB)
Social media curator (thanks @megtalla)
Social media genius (thank you @AuthorsEmporium)
Social media analyst
Social media proselytizer (thanks @JennaPet)
Social media zealot (thanks to @DrDeadline)
Social media czar (yes! @theharryadams)
Social media worker bee (thanks @TheLunaLounge)
Social media aficionado (thank you @kirstiehamel)
Social media maverick (thank you @jacqsays)
Social media chump (I came up with that one, obviously as a joke)
Social media maniac (I had this in my Twitter bio for a brief time. I’m better now)
Social media champion (thank you @mizzoudavis)
Social media drone (a lame one I came up with)
Social media monster
Social media stud
Social media dictator
Social media engineers (thanks @ricardosstl)
Social media unicorn (not sure about this one @jeremywaite, but you win anyway)
Social media wrangler (thank you @itsjuststarla)
Social media overlord (thanks again to @itsjuststarla)
New media dude (@joshuaarnao loves this one)
Social media coach (Thanks @Daman)
Social media monkey (courtesy of @citylifematt)
Social media Lord or digital lord(thanks @kenrearley)
People herder or social media people herder (thanks to @jaceanderson)
Social media nerd (good one @gbussmann)
Social media phenom (good one @ow_a_hand!)
Digital interactionist (@suebmoe)
Social media borg (you will be assimilated)
Social media socialite (@MitchInThomWest)
140 character jockey (no way. yikes. Thanks @Igloo_Ad)
Social media dragon slayer (found it here)

(I got the idea for this post from this article, which also seems to be located here.)

Hmmmmmm, maybe I should have just used this website to come up with ideas – The Social Media Job Title Generator

This is an email I received from Martha Stewart’s company. If you can’t read it, you can click the picture to make it larger.

1. The email’s subject line portends serious problems ahead. Interruption of online access!

2. BUT…. we have some exciting news to share! Huh?

3. Martha Stewart is now posting for stock photography shots.

4. Oh, and by the way, Mother’s Day is coming up, but we’re taking all of our sites down for maintenance during this most crucial time of year, so don’t try to access your info on the sites. We know Mother’s Day is important and that we can be a huge resource to you as you prepare your brunch or set your table, but the sites must come down anyway. We’ll put them back up right after Mother’s Day. Sorry, that’s just how the IT maintenance schedule ball bounces.

The elements of this email all seemed just a bit incongruent, so I thought I’d share. I respect Martha Stewart and her business empire. This email just read very strangely, and the business decision to take the sites down over Mother’s Day seems like a mistake. Do you agree?

I like this TV ad because it tries to capture the full range of communication outlets that now contribute to the development, dissemination and reach of information.

What of Rizzo Tees now? I’ve had a few people tell me they’ve noticed a change in my content output over the last year. They say I’ve moved away from t-shirt promotion and more towards discussion of new media strategy. I believe they are right. I’d say my job at Falk Harrison has a great deal to do with that. Finally, a job that I can enjoy!

Rizzo Tees remains in business, tees are still in stock and people are still buying them (especially the bacon ones). But my interests have changed in important ways. Listen to the podcast below to hear more about the direction I’m headed.

Click here for the 5-minute podcast.

I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.

The grisly details (before they delete the post). Thanks to Scott Stratten for bringing this to our attention.

Thanks again to Angela Hutti and Fox 2 TV for having me in. This time we discussed the social media phenomenon known as Pinterest.

A link to the story on Fox 2′s site is here, and you can follow me on Pinterest here.

Managing people is truly an art form. If you have ever had a team of people working for you, you know how challenging it can be. However, when you get the right team of people together and you’re able to teach, motivate and inspire them, you can move mountains.

I would have preferred to brainstorm about this for weeks and provide a longer, more complete list. I’ll have to save that for the book, I guess.:-) I felt like getting these six thoughts up on my blog right away. To wit, here’s an incomplete list of six tips on dealing with people.

1. Stop beating around the bush. People (men especially) hate begging for answers. Clear, concise communication aids in team-building. However, keep in mind that bluntness, rudeness and honesty all occupy the same grey area. Do your best to pick the right shade.

2. Don’t bother telling people to “just relax” when they’re upset. It’s not helpful. It only makes it worse. For you, It may be a time to say nothing. Listen to and absorb the venting. That’s how you can help. Bob Burg touched on this yesterday.

3. Smile. This goes SUCH a long way. Even my 7 year old has discovered this. She has noticed how the smiles she directs at people change their demeanor towards her. And she likes it.

4. Stop interrupting others while they’re talking. Even if it’s banal blabber, they desire to tell you this stuff. A person’s stories are important to them. They want you to have perspective so you know where they’re coming from. When you interrupt someone, you disrespect them at a deep level. This is hard for me. I have a terrible short-term memory and must blurt my thoughts out before I forget them. If I’m sitting with a pen and paper (or iPad and stylus), I’ll jot the thought down so I don’t forget to mention it. If I am with someone I’ve known for a long time, or if I’m having a heated discussion with someone, I just can’t wait to talk. I have to work hard to resist the urge to interrupt.

5. Follow your own rules. This goes not only for managing people that work for you, but parenthood as well. You’ve heard “leading by example” a million times, so I suppose this is the 1,000,001st time. It’s that important. Breaking this rule kills teams. An example: you run a company and throw a tantrum because your employees never show up “on time,” even though the work day has never had an official start time. So in a tizzy, you set 8:30am as the official start of the day – be on time from now on! And then you casually show up the next day at 9:45am. Boss, you can’t do that! This happened at one of my previous jobs, and it made it increasingly difficult to take anything the boss said seriously. It was predictably unsettling.

6. Are you capable of walking in another man’s shoes? Can you truly see things from another’s point of view? If we as humans could do this, we’d likely eliminate half the wars we fight. While that would decimate the defense industry, it would keep more families, friendships and teams together. Even in difficult situations that seemingly require an immediate decision, try to take the time to discover what motivates others. Not only will this help you make the most reasoned decision, but it will better prepare you for the next time a challenging situation arises. For instance, from a business perspective, I can say this: the goal of a business negotiation should not be to defeat the other side, but to work together for mutual benefit. That more properly sets both sides up for deal 2, 3 and so on.

Leave a comment below and give me your tips 7, 8, 9 and 10!

All joking (or nonjoking) aside about his legal troubles from a decade past, let’s be clear: Ray Lewis is a better motivational speaker than you. Watch the video above and tell me you didn’t stand up and run through a brick wall. People like Tony Robbins eschew the “motivational speaker” label, and I suppose that’s because some public figures have conferred a tinge of sleaziness on it. For some reason, certain motivational speakers don’t have our trust. However, I like listening to people like Ray Lewis, Tony Robbins and Gary Vaynerchuk. If you hear truth in their powerfully delivered messages, you may be motivated to clear your head and achieve something greater than you ever thought possible.

Note:
1. Ray’s speech is short. It’s not ten minutes of rah-rah. He speaks for a bit longer than a minute and thirty seconds.
2. He didn’t have to curse to make his point. I like cursing, but it is not necessary to be effective.
3. He is speaking to basketball players; he’s a football player. Nevertheless, his message carries across different sports and, for me, even applies to business.
4. His opening sentences cleared their heads. Those young men may have been nervous before this game. He told them to forget everything else, consider that there may be no tomorrow, and asked them what that would mean for today.
5. He then made them believe that, facing a tomorrow that wouldn’t exist, they would actually think about the man beside them and not themselves. TEAMWORK. I thought it was brilliant.

p.s. Stanford won the game, and went on to win the NIT Championship.

Let’s hope it never gets this bad.

“Go march yourself! Down to Chase Bank!”

“Toyota Tacoma, starting at under $16,000.”

Thanks to FOX2now and Angela Hutti for having me on to talk about my favorite photo app, Instagram. I hope to come back and do it again.

(Link to the video on Fox 2′s website, in case the embedded video above doesn’t work)

And in the irony of all ironies…

Instagram of @rizzotees and @angwxgrl talking about @instagram. instagr.am/p/IjrXSRzcoD/

— Michael Tomko (@michaeltomko) March 24, 2012