No one can ever do everything they want to do -- and really well -- simultaneously. Period.
The feminist rally cry "you can have it all" is a bunch of crap. There simply are not enough hours in the day to be the best boss, the best wife, the best mother, the best friend, the best sibling, the best contributor to society -- all at the same time. OK, I've changed my mind: You CAN have it all, as long as it's not at the same time, in small bits, and you don't want too much out of any one activity or role.
The same is true in communications campaigns. No company -- even large ones with large resources -- ever can do everything they want to do at any one time. Too many times, the people in charge choose to do a "little of everything" instead of a few things really well, choosing NOT to choose or prioritize in favor of being able to check off all the activity boxes.
Stop it! Stop not choosing, not prioritizing. Choose a few things to do really well -- things that generate real traction or support among smaller constituencies, so that you can build on it over time to reach your goal.
A few articles/blog posts brought this home today. Brand Narrative -- a new firm led by Jonathan Simpson Bint -- has an excellent post today which leads you to two more excellent articles both on social currency. Ben Paynter's story has excellent visuals that tell the story really well -- I love me a good visual! These stories are all about social currency -- that the number of people who follow you doesn't matter as much as how they feel about you and what you do with them do.
There is a critical resource minimum to activity -- the absolute minimum you must do to get something done well. Once you reach that minimum, and you start having success, you must then choose: do more of this good thing or add a new activity? If you don't have enough resource (time, money, stuff) to do the critical minimum to the next activity -- resist the urge! Add depth to what you're doing -- you will get more out of this than trying to do something without what you need to get it done right.
Fewer activities done well will yield a MUCH BETTER RETURN than more activities done poorly.
Or as I like to so eloquently say, Do less of good, rather than more of crappy.
