"But the troublemakers were as bizarre as they were inescapable... There was the mysterious tent urinator, who found a way to pee on the side of another man’s tent..."

"... every night for six straight weeks (and whose identity is an as-yet uncracked case). The man who always took photos of me changing flat tires to send home to his wife, because 'she was never going to believe that a woman could do this.' The woman who had never ridden a bike before the trip. The daily hitchhiker who 'didn’t do climbs' and thumbed for rides up hills. The racer who wanted everyone else to ride farther and faster each day. The relapsed gambling addict who snuck into town every night and couldn’t be trusted with group funds. The sexual harasser who hounded me daily with lewd comments unfit to print. And in every group, there was always one person who tried to rile up a mutiny because he wanted out of the cooking rotation. It was hard to know who these people were in their daily lives, when they weren’t pushing their bodies to the limit and sleeping on the ground. I had to imagine that the mysterious tent urinator wasn’t similarly taking out his frustrations on a coworker’s office chair. Maybe all that misdirected rage could be chalked up to exhaustion, homesickness, and electrolyte imbalance?"

From "I Loved Bike Touring—Until I Got Paid to Do It/Seduced by the idea of turning my hobby into a paycheck, I led bike tours across the U.S. throughout my twenties. As I learned, some passion pursuits are best left pro bono," by Caitlin Giddings (at Outside). Excellent illustration, by the way.

"The devil has two strategies: the seduction of worldly promises... self-realization, careerism, and worldly success...."

"... and when this fails... there is humiliation, there is rage.... His pride is so great that he enjoys destroying with rage.... May the Lord give us the grace to be able to recognize that spirit that wants to destroy us with fury and when that same spirit wants to console us with worldly appearances, with vanity.... May the Lord give us the grace to discern the path of the Lord, which is the cross, from the path of the world, which is vanity, appearances, window-dressing."

Said the Pope, in Rome, where the coronavirus rages, though this homily seems to speak to people who are enjoying good times — self-realization, careerism, worldly success, vanity, appearances, window-dressing. But that gives it special effect: Those things you used to enjoy were never good for you, and if you are forced to relinquish them, well, you ought to have given them up on your own.

I don't know if the Pope connected these thoughts to the coronavirus, but I note that the word "quarantine" originally referred to the 40 days Jesus spent in the desert tempted by the devil. There was a temptation to worldly success:

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.”

So, when you are in your quarantine, you may long for all the vanity, appearances, window-dressing you have given up. The response from Jesus was:

"Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'"

"The coronavirus is putting remote work to a gigantic test, and at a totally unprecedented scale."

"Throughout China, Italy, Japan and South Korea, workers have been on lockdown. Last week, the same happened in Seattle. Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft and Google all told employees there to remain home.... In fact, remote work isn't always possible. Fewer than half could do so at least some of the time, according to one Gallup survey. Hourly workers don't get paid if they don't work, and those in retail, manufacturing, or health care usually must be physically present to work.... 'I don't believe people are as productive at home'...."

From "Laundry Between Emails: Working From Home Goes Viral In The Time Of Coronavirus" (NPR).

Are Your Social Media Expectations Unrealistic?

Humans have always had a desire to socialize; the herd mentality. In the Bible, as soon as the world repopulated after the flood, they gathered together to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis, chapter 11). So it's no wonder social media took off! And, soon businesses realized they could speak to the masses directly and started social media marketing. But, are your social media expectations unrealistic?

When I speak to business owners, they don't totally understand the value and importance of social media; but they know they need it because it's all the buzz. So they figure they'll get someone that uses Facebook in the office and he or she is their NEW social media expert!

When they learn it's not working, they want to hire a pro for $500 a month and can't figure out why they can't find anybody. Finally, they get upset because their e-mail is not overloaded with prospects who want their product, one month into their new strategy. Sounds familiar?

So let's look at some key points: the value and importance of social media and what are realistic expectations.

The Importance and Value

In a study conducted in 2009 by Eric Qualman, author of Socialnomics, it was learned that 76% of Internet users trust more what their peers have to say in social media about a brand than what advertising or Internet searches say; only 14% gave Google and advertising prominence. What this means for you is your public will go to Facebook, Twitter, Google+ or sites like Yelp and Delicious to find out about your product or service. The question is, what will they find?

Will they find nothing, except the few people that may give their opinion based on what they've heard or read from your competition? Or, will they find people who have read some of YOUR blogs, interacted with YOUR representative and saw the replies YOU posted to other's inquiries? More importantly, will they find your information intriguing enough to follow your blog?

You see your blog will allow you to share your expertise, build credibility and trust, and get them to like you. Quite frankly, people buy from people they like and your blog shortens the sales cycle, because you don't have to tell them what you know and are good at - they already know.

Plus, you can provide customer service in plain view, eliminating other inquiries because they already saw the answer and, more importantly, that YOU CARE AND ARE RESPONSIVE! What value do you place on THAT type of PR?

Realistic Expectations

If you think you can take just anyone that knows the tools but not the strategies and tactics, and trust them with the image, positioning and brand of your company in social media, then you probably think that buying Microsoft Publisher gives you an in-house advertising department.

You want someone who is a GOOD writer that can capture your voice and essence, and can learn your business. You see, you will direct your message, but the social media professional will project it with impact, but personably. After all, people come to social media to be entertained, informed and helped. This cannot be done with automation!

You see, social media is part science and part art. The science is not ONLY knowing the technology, but understanding marketing strategies and tactics. The art part is being able to communicate it well and knowing which old-school tactics are not applicable to this new medium. This takes time to develop and a good social media professional is worth the investment - whether in house or outsourced.

Finally, unlike traditional marketing, just because "social media marketing" has "marketing" in it, it's not measured the same way. Understand that social media is about engaging people, building a relationship and fostering followers that trust you. Now let me ask you this, if you just met someone and in no time they reached for your wallet, would you trust them? But a person that you came to know may propose something and you would be amenable only because you trust and like them. The same applies to social media.

Understand that the consumer took charge! No longer is it a one-way monologue through marketing and advertising that is isolated to the one person reading the newspaper. Oh No! There are millions and they speak to each other. If they don't like your approach, they will make it known.

And, let's not forget the other values of reduced customer service cost, the shortened sales cycle, the positive PR and YOU having editorial control of your message. No watering down by some editor behind a desk at a newspaper who may have an agenda or limited column space. No sir, you post your message completely and submit it to article banks, indexing directories and through interactions with your public.

So really evaluate your strategy, look at your budget and make the proper accommodations and ensure that you are well represented. After all, the days of the 6:00 O'clock news with 24 hours to react are long gone. We live in real time and you want to make sure your message is ON TARGET!