What you can learn from Britney Spears (not parenting skills, obviously)

The Internet was all atwitter last week about an online job posting for a social media manager for Britney Spears.  While some people thought it newsworthy that Britney has a social media manager, estimates are that Britney Spears Inc. rakes in about $9million a year for the star and the overall Britney Spears industry grosses between $120million to $150million annually.  A company of that size in a fan-based business that didn't have an online component would be reckless, so the hire makes sense.

What I found useful about it is that it summed up nicely the skill set and tasks most people should be looking to in 2009 as they execute their budgets for the year.

Take a look at the job posting.  Let's hit the highlights of what some of the key skills are to manage an online presence:

Marketing: You know how to tease important details out of your web analytics reports, like being able to tell which types of visitors (search, direct, paid media, or referral) generate sales/donations for you, and how much it costs to acquire them.

Advertising: You can manage a Google AdWords campaigns, dream up new keywords, and incorporate them into your site's content.

Creative: You generate new ideas (contests, quizzes, etc) to engage your audience.

Editing/writing/production: A little bit of a writer, editor, and a touch of Photoshop is required to get content from idea to posted piece.

Comment moderation: A light touch that allows you to keep the most extreme elements of a community in line without appearing heavy-handed.

Although most websites need other skills, these are a core of those needed to really run an effective website.  If you don't have an active program that attacks each of these five, then please give me a call to discuss getting on track in 2009.