We’ve all done it … glanced at the opposition’s websites. Marvelled at their social media, squinted at their dazzling banks of awards and accolades.
When I’ve felt a little envious, my own internal dialogue has always come straight back with this reply: concentrate on your own game, do what you’re good at. And just don’t worry about the rest.
This leads me to a confession.
ProseWorks is pretty poor at social media (preparing this Linkedin piece takes me to the frontier of my knowledge). And in all our 20 years, we have never applied for any awards. That, perhaps, is a little odd given that one of the jobs we do for clients is the writing of award bids – so it’s not as if we don’t know how.
I suppose I’m plagued by an old-fashioned sense of humility. I can’t really convince myself that others are much interested in what we have to say about our work. We simply stand by every edit and piece of writing we do and we’re happy to be judged on that. Self-promotion isn’t our thing.
I used to feel that perhaps my personal reluctance to squeeze myself into black tie and schmooze through those ceremonies was a failing. Surely, I thought, as a creative agency we should be oozing confidence with lashings of brash cutting-edge and up-and-at-it dynamism.
But a good while ago, I decided to accept that this quieter approach is just the way that I, and ProseWorks, do things, and stopped beating myself up about this.
Human media not social media
Social media may not be our forte. But we are good at what I call human media. We commit time to talking to customers and listening to what they need and want. We find that both productive and successful – which, after all, is the very destination that social media work is aiming for.
I’m not knocking agencies who take the other path. I’m sure they would agree with me that it has to be about what looks and feels authentic, and every agency should do what’s right for them. I’m just saying that, after twenty years, I know what works for us. Getting stressed about what to post on an ever-growing number of social media platforms isn’t on the list.
So, the take-away of this rather confessional blog is that no individual or organisation is perfect. Acknowledge your weaknesses, but don’t worry about them.
Remain authentic and concentrate on your strengths, and you’ll be fine.
Photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash
