Recently I had the pleasure of interviewing Kevin Palmer from the popular blog, Social Media Answers. As a true social media “genius” in every sense of the word, I benefited much from his advice and thoughts. Enjoy.
Liveliness: animation and energy in action or expression – Definition of spirit
Do you remember your first experience with the internet?
I remember one of my friends getting on Prodigy when I was like in 7th or 8th grade. Really the only thing we did was use chat I think. Wow, thanks for making me feel old in the first question… Prodigy… Holy crap.
How did you get involved in social media?
Is it okay to admit I dabbled with Friendster? Anyway, I really didn’t get really involved in social media until MySpace launched. I worked at Sprint as a technician and one of the guys I worked with would not shut up about it. Personally I thought the whole site was horribly stupid and pointless, then he told me that you could meet women on there and I immediately created a profile.
I started blogging on there thinking my friends would read it and it beat having to always call and email them letting them know what was going on with my life. Well none of them did, but a lot of strangers began to. My blog took off and became one of the most read blogs on the site and at that point companies started talking to me asking me to help them out with social media strategy. At that point I realized there was something to what I was doing. Really for the longest time I thought I was just writing poorly written humor posts. It inspired me to go to grad school for digital media study and really learn things from a technical and sociological perspective.
What is it about social media that ignites your drive?
Social media makes the world smaller and allows people to connect on a whole new level. If you were a model train enthusiast in rural Idaho twenty years ago the only way you would be able to share your passion with people is to drive to the nearest shop or show which probably only happened on occasion or through a niche print publication. Now you can quickly find a niche social network or a group on a major site where you can engage in discussion, share various types of media, and connect to people that share your passion. That excites me so much.
How often do you check your emails?
I am totally inefficient, if I am in front of the computer it is open and I respond as things come in. I need to break that habit. If I have to code or really have to concentrate I am getting better at shutting down my email to concentrate.
For bloggers, what’s most important to remember in terms of social media skills?
I firmly believe that social media, search engine optimization, and design all act as the legs of a stool.
Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. I firmly believe that social media, search engine optimization, and design all act as the legs of a stool. If your blog is weak in any of those three areas it isn’t going to be successful or your efforts are going to wasted on some level. Try to have a cursory level of all three areas and don’t just concentrate on social.
How can others become more efficient in their online tasks?
Create a routine. After you experiment with different tools find a few that you like and create a routine around how you use them. Over a period of time you will become efficient on how you execute your routine and you will begin to save a lot of time on daily tasks.
What are your top 5 favorite sites?
I spend most of my time in Google Reader, Gmail, and Hootsuite. They bring together my work and personal interests and help me kind of keep a balance during the day, between Hootsuite and Reader that is how I consume most of my content. After those three sites I am kind of a sport addict and spend a little too much time on ESPN and Deadspin.
In what ways do you believe social media will change this year?
The thing is most people and businesses are beginning to dip their toes in and use social media.
Wider adoption and better location based services integration. It cracks me up how many “social media experts” are saying that “x” is dead or over or that they are sick of whatever site. The thing is most people and businesses are beginning to dip their toes in and use social media. I talk to businesses as small as a college bar and as large as Fortune 500 companies that are complete messes around social media and how to use it. This industry is really in it’s infancy, it isn’t peaking, it isn’t over…. It is still crawling along.
What advice would you give to the beginning blogger & social media hobbyist?
Don’t get discouraged if things don’t immediately happen for you. Finding your voice and building an audience isn’t something that happens overnight for most people. Sticking with it and enjoying what you are producing if 1 person or 100 reads it is important. Also if you are looking to do this for monetary reasons shut off your computer and go sell Amway or something.
If you had one hour of free time, what would you do?
I would probably sit around shocked that I had an hour of free time. Actually I just moved to Portland a few months ago and feel that there are tons of restaurants I haven’t had a chance to try yet… I would check out a new place to eat.
About Kevin
Kevin Palmer is the Online Director of Internet Marketing for The Clymb, a Portland based outdoor goods private sale network and Vice President of Emerging Media for Convertiv, a Boston based Digital Media consulting firm.
