A while back I decided to take a break from social media. I was trying to define its value back then so I thought if I quit, I’d realize what I lost – if I lost anything at all. Upon my return, I realized the obvious: social media is what you make it. The perceived value is different for everyone depending on how they use it. Since then, I keep coming across blog posts from industry experts that showcase how to find the value in your social media network. The problem is that many of these posts view value from the perspective of only one type of user. Most fail to mention the importance of understanding value from the perspective of the majority of users in social media.

I believe most people fall into the description of two types of users in social media. For the purpose of this post, I’ll refer to them as Consumers and Providers. Consumers are users that probably started out in social media because their friends/family were there. They were joining into a social conversation, consuming and spreading information in an open dialogue with the community for no major reason other than to be a part of the conversation. Consumers make up the majority of people using social media and the value they get from it comes mostly from the people they follow.

Providers are users that join in social media for a purpose. They are usually marketing types looking to spread the word on their product/service/organization. They understand the power of the referral. When we have a need for a product, and a trusted friend or family member makes a recommendation on a specific brand, we’re many times more likely to buy the brand that was recommended. For this reason, Providers strive to increase their follower counts with Consumers. They know that when a Consumer believes in a product, they’ll talk about it and recommend it to others. Because of this, the value of social media to a Provider is in their follower network, not necessarily in the people that they follow themselves.

Make no mistake, I understand there are many users out there that are a mixture of both Consumer and Provider, but I believe the majority fall into either camp, not both. This is why the dollar value of Facebook is measured in billions. Mark Zuckerberg and crew recognize what the Providers know: to get the most bang for your buck in social media, you need to be able to get into the conversations of Consumers. Facebook’s 700 million users are almost all Consumers.

Many of the blogs written by industry experts talk about how to find the value in your network but fail to mention the importance of understanding the value of social media from the Consumer viewpoint. They showcase great tools for measuring the effectiveness of your messages and following its reach but rarely explain why the Consumers you want to attract, would ever follow you. Perhaps this is why most Providers know they need to be in Facebook, but many still don’t quite understand how to capitalize on it.

I’m no social media expert and I certainly don’t have all the answers, but in general I believe that Providers can benefit a lot from simplifying their social media marketing strategy to focus on helping their customers. People (Consumers) prefer to do business with those that treat them well and listen to them. By serving those that follow you, your message will spread and your Consumer follower count will grow naturally.

What is the value of social media? It’s actually pretty simple. If you’re a Consumer, the value is exactly what you make it out to be. -That’s not a cop-out answer. Truly, whether you’re using social media channels to find out about current events, post pictures of your lunch or just keep up with your friends, only you can say what the value of that is to you. For my personal use of social media, I found much of the value for me lies in being able to see a constant stream of new information from sources that I wouldn’t have otherwise discovered.

If a Provider wants to find the value of social media, they first need to find out what they’re solving for by being in social media at all. Is it for lead gen? Recruiting purposes? Improving brand recognition? Find the reason(s) you’re in social media and it will be simple to find the value of it. Also, understand that value may not be a dollar amount (finance teams that dole out money to marketing teams hate to hear that). Certainly, you can put a dollar amount value on a clicked link from a lead gen campaign, but there is great value in just listening to your customers talk about what they like or don’t like about your product. Volunteered information can be driven back into the business to change or enhance products for the better, which could lead to higher sales, longer customer retention, more referrals, etc. It would be tough to find an exact dollar value of that volunteered information, but without a doubt, it’s valuable.

So, again, what is the value of social media? You tell me.

It’s mid February. Two months ago I had knee surgery and two weeks after that my wife and I had a new baby girl! Today, it’s time to post my plan for 2012 and get started.

At this point, my knee is still a little weak and stiff from the surgery but I have no pains from the area where the meniscus had been torn. Right now, it looks like the surgery worked! I have been cleared to run, but I don’t feel comfortable putting that kind of impact on the joint just yet. Rehab has been a little inconsistent for me and has been dependent on how tired I am from the night before with the baby. -Admittedly, I’m not the one doing most of the work at night, but even so, I’m not getting the kind of sleep I need for fast healing. In the last week, however, longer sleeping hours started to get more consistent so I got back on the bike (on the trainer) and ramped up the exercises for my core (abs, lower back and hips) and legs.

My plan for the rest of 2012 is pretty simple – get back into competition shape for the half Ironman in Austin at the end of October. There are a couple of other olympic distance races I’d like to do during the summer, but my focus until mid July is all about building my aerobic base back up. That means lots of low heart rate  biking, swimming and running.

The ultimate goal I’m working towards with this plan is to qualify for Kona in 2013. I want to come out of 2012 with a solid aerobic base and healthy legs (knee) so I can really gear up training for Ironman Texas which will be in May, 2013. That’s the race I where I want to qualify. And, I not only want to qualify for Kona, I want to try to win my age group! That’s a pretty tall order just coming off of knee surgery, but I know my work ethic and I know how quickly I can build myself back up coming off a break. With a healthy knee, a great aerobic base and a solid plan, I think I can do it.

So, for the next few weeks I’ll work the trainer on the bike, keep building up my core and work towards putting my running shoes back on. This is how qualifying for Kona and winning my age group at Ironman Texas in 2013 begins.

Please be patient for it to download, this is an HD video and it’s about 3 minutes long.

*Edit* Having some issues with the iPad version of the site. If you’re viewing from there and the video doesnt run, here’s a link to the video on YouTube.

That said, I’m not going to immediately jump back into training for an Ironman, at least not directly.  My right knee is injured pretty badly right now so in the short term, I need to focus on healing it and getting my body back to a point of healthy balance and strength.  My wife is also pregnant so in about 6 months we’re going to have a new little baby to take care of – not exactly a great time to commit to the training schedule for an Ironman.

So what am I going to do?  The next 6 months I’m going to focus on healing the knee and doing a lot of functional strength training with things like yoga and pilates.  I’ll add in some biking and swimming for good measure, but I wont be following a training schedule.  I’ll do my best to eat healthy but I’m not going to stress myself out if I eat a slice of pizza or two one night or a bowl of ice cream another.  These next 6 months are all about recovery – both physically and mentally.

My family is priority number 1 so I wont commit to another training schedule until things are at a point where it’s safe to do so without risking divorce (haha).  I can’t deny my desire to race in another Ironman though and have decided the next step is to work towards qualifying for Kona.  Family permitting, the general plan at this point is to work up to qualifying at Ironman Texas in 2013.

Between now and then, I’ll heal my knee and race in a few Xterra triathlons (my mountain bike has missed me).  Then slowly work up to the training schedule for the next Ironman and every day I walk into my closet I’ll look at the finisher medal from Ironman Texas and enjoy the memories from the first half of 2011.

The 20 week training schedule to qualify for Kona begins in 547 days….

Triathlon is something I’ve grown to love over the last few years and have constantly day dreamed about the idea of training full time and competing at a professional level for a living.  I have no misconceptions about the amount of hard work this will take. -Not only the hard work that comes with training 30 – 35 hours/week, but the hard work of building a list of sponsors that can support me and my family.

Rackspace has been really great to me over the last 4+ years and I am extremely sad to leave them. The culture there is as close to “family” as a business can get and I will miss everyone there tremendously.  However, I feel I must pursue my passion for triathlon and make a go for a Pro career while I’m still young and physically able.

With this announcement, I start my work today on working to gain sponsorship and connecting with a full time coach to begin a new training regimen. I’ll continue to train towards Ironman Texas for May and will announce my Pro race schedule for 2012 after consulting with my coach over the next few months.

So, ready or not, here I go!  Today will be a day to remember!  Happy April Fools Day!

This past week started off with severe stomach cramps so I took a few days off to rest, then at the end of the week I started feeling a pain in my left shoulder. I’ve been involved in endurance training plans for many years but it seems my body is just now beginning to adjust to the frequency of workouts that Ironman requires. Today, my shoulder is better and stomach pains are gone so hopefully that means I’m getting stronger. Onward with week 4!

This is where I’m going to completely change topics instead of writing a second, separate post. Feeling a little crazy today….

Today Encoding.com released a new service called Vid.ly. It’s awesome! It solves the problem of not being able to view a video based on the browser you’re using. For example, iOS devices can’t run flash. Everyone with an iphone has had the experience of visiting a site with video that doesn’t play due to not having a flash player on the iphone. There are a handful of popular browsers out there and most of them are at odds with each other over what type of video format to support.

Using Vid.ly, you can upload your video in any format you choose and they will provide a link (and embed codes) for you to share the video with others. No matter what type of browser they use to view the video, they will be able to watch it. This might seem very simple – and it is – and it’s awesome! Just had to share! Here’s a test video uploaded to Vid.ly earlier today:

3Bars are 100% natural, vegan, wheat and gluten free, kosher, cholesterol free, organic, GMO free, low in sugar, diabetic friendly and trans fat free. All of that, and they still have about the same amount of calories, carbs and protein as the Zone Perfect bars I had been eating. The other two bars being reviewed had some things I thought I’d like, but both had things I didn’t like. One has to be stored in the refrigerator and the other didn’t have as much protein and was pretty expensive. I decided to order a box of the Blueberry Blast 3Bars online.

Click the image to download the review published in Triathlete Magazine.

The problem I found is that they are crazy addicting. I blew through a box of 15 inside a few days using them as a supplement to breakfast, pre-workout fuel and for post-workout recovery. The times I ate them immediately prior to a workout, I never had any stomach problems (some foods don’t digest easily during an intense workout) and found they were a great source of energy when eaten in pieces on long rides/runs.

Next I tried the Tropical Tri 3Bars. Full disclosure – I only bought a box of this flavor because the Blueberry Blast was out at the time. I really liked the Blueberry 3Bars and had no interest in trying the others. However, just like with the Blueberry, I was very pleasantly surprised with the Tropical Tri 3Bars. Doesn’t taste like health food and is just as addicting. I completely believe these bars are based on cookie recipes – they taste too good to be something created in a health food lab.

So, what it all boils down to is this: they’re crazy healthy, they’re a great source of fuel for workouts or just as a snack between meals and they taste awesome! How could it get any better?

To order your own box of 3Bars, head over to Tri3bar.com or just click the image below.

One of the nice things about my fuel belt that holds water bottles is that it doesn’t bounce much. I can cinch it down and the waist band is thick enough and wide enough to hold everything in place. The Spibelt is very light weight and doesn’t hold water bottles so the waist band shouldn’t need to be as wide or as thick. Or at least that’s what I thought.

What I found during the race is that cramming enough gels for a marathon into a small elastic pouch makes for a really annoying run. The Spibelt bounced up and down with every step no matter how much I tightened the waist band. Since the waist band is so thin, it’s really only good for storing 1 or 2 very small, light weight items (I wouldn’t use it again unless I needed 2 gels or less). Too bad one of the selling points for the Spibelt is supposed to be it’s elastic pouch that can expand for just about anything you want to run with – and doesn’t bounch. Ha!

When I purchased the Spibelt I added on two bib anchors so I could fasten my number bib to it. This was mistake number 2. As the Spibelt bounced along, eventually the pouch started rotating on the thin axis of the waist band. The number rotated along with it. I was constantly unrolling the mess the entire time until the number ripped and I gave up.

So will I ever run with the Spibelt again? Maybe. If I had a run where I only needed a couple of gels and didn’t need to bring water bottles then I might use it again. Otherwise, the Spibelt is going to be sitting in a drawer for a while.