The other day I reasoned in a post that during the first 20 years of the internet, top careers emerged based on the technology itself.  I cited the path of “Oracle Systems Administrator” — but this can be applied to Cisco products as well as Microsoft, among so many others.

It’s important to begin at a high level and drill down on this subject because  history is worth learning from… bear with the review?

An inference is that the next 20 years will draw upon machine layers and we should expect careers to emerge that will ride atop the technology.   Heard this all before?  Doubt it?

To an extent the News Industry has already experienced these changes.  Reporting is no longer what it was 10 years ago.  Editing certainly has changed and delivery perhaps the most.

Businesses will experience a similar change.  In the past — a static web site with contact information was perhaps a sufficient, credible presence on the internet.  Periodic “refreshments” even “forklift” upgrades were funded and written off as “capital” investment.

The newly emergent role of Social Media Manager (see this link for an example discussion at top corporate levels) is a case in point.  We first came into contact with this Position Title in 2011.  Much has changed already.  In that time the discipline has evolved from simply curating, offering and managing content — to driving engagement.  In a future post, I’ll contrast a couple of examples.  But follow along with this perspective: Web Presence work for SMB consultants is evolving from “Project” work to “Subscribed Services.”

This means that a Corporate Web Presence investment moves more from that static asset category into one operating in EBITDA.  It’s a huge implication — and one that will require skill demonstrating value continuously.  Not just once in a while, and when the pain is so great the Company has to react (like do a forklift upgrade to a website.)

Social Media is being developed by the big Channels as much as search was colonized by Google.  You’ll notice that Google has taken Social Media very seriously.  They’ve developed competing products.

So in a future discussion, I’ll delve into where the opportunities lie. But to summarize — the near term situation is “Break – Fix.”  And the longer term involves sophisticated strategy and management of client Web Presences.  And in there — is a next generation of services for SMB IT Consultants.

Also in a future discussion — what the heck is SMO?  Social Media Optimization?  Against what metric?!