On becoming a dad almost two weeks ago, I thought it would be appropriate for me to post here to mark the arrival of our boy Noah Thomas and to reflect on an amazing experience.

So here follows 17 reasons why managing a social media program is like having a baby.

1. Everyone is an expert
2. It takes time
3. You can’t rush things
4. You are not in control
5. Make sure you have a plan in place for the launch
6. Be prepared to be flexible
7. You’ll need to draw on extra resources to pull it off
8. It’s highly likely that you’ll experience some pain along the way
9. There will probably be some late nights
10. Your involvement does not end at the time of launch
11. Results may not be as pretty as you would like
12. You have to accept this
13. It’s a long term commitment
14. It will be challenging and rewarding
15. You’ll learn as you go and make adjustments to your strategy
16. It will require significant investment
17. ROI may be difficult to quantify

I am sure that there are many more – please add in comments.

And here is Noah.  Ain’t he gorgeous!!

Tags: childbirth, labour, parenting, socialmedia, strategy