Memorial Day LUV: Get Social with U.S. Army and National Guard!

 In honor of Memorial Day, I'm highlighting of some social media sites that show the lifestyles of U.S. Army and National Guard troops in today's social world.

The U.S. Army is invading Pinterest!

LOVE THIS PIN! Source: http://pinterest.com/pin/157837161910914462/

According to a recent article from The Atlantic Wire, the U.S. Army seeks to reach a broader audience via Pinterest. Below is a quote from the article explaining the intent:

"We saw that would be a way that we could potentially reach an audience that we don't normally reach with our other platforms," Major Juanita Chang, Director of Online and Social Media for the U.S. Army told The Atlantic Wire. "We know pinterest is highly dominated by women... A lot of people that follow the military are men because that's the majority of the military. We want to connect and reach out to the female population and maybe the Army spouses and family members -- the people who wouldn't have any other reason to follow the military otherwise."

I'm honored to live in a country where our military leaders not only serve and protect our country, but have a pretty awesome social media strategy.

Speak no evil, hear no evil: A lesson for Facebook Page Managers

So I realize that I have not updated by blog or written a new article in a LOOOOOONNNNNGGGG.... time. Over a year to be exact. That makes me a bad blogger. Good thing I'm not putting my career on the line, based on my blogging frequency.

Checking in on my blog page reminded me of a lesson I have been practicing lately as a Facebook page manager: If you do not have anything good/ fascinating/ amazing to say on your social media channel, it is best to not say anything at all. People do not share crap. It is a fact. People share amazing.

Think about it...what is the last video, picture, song, etc. that you shared on a social network? What was it that evoked an emotion in you to make you go out of your way to tell others?

Be the Robin Hood of your Social Network

Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. You can do this as well, with your networking contacts.

I view the quantity and quality of my connections on social networking sites as pieces of gold. The more connections I have, the more personal brand wealth I have and the more people want to connect with me.  The secret to successful networking is to spread the "wealth" and put some "gold" into the pockets of your contacts. 

I am fortunate enough to have met some great people while attending professional events, mixers, and conferences.  Here are just a few of the things that I have found to be successful through networking online and offline:  

When you meet someone at a business event: 

• Always get a business card and immediately follow up with an email within 48 hours.
• Connect on social networks- search their name on Facebook and LinkedIn and send them a request to connect. They almost always will accept.  

Know when to kill the Beast

Social networking can become overwhelming with all the different social sites available. I personally have profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Blip.fm, Flickr, AAF Nashville’s ning, Digital Nashville’s ning, and a few more that I have signed up for in the past. That’s a lot of socializing to keep up with! I try to remain active on all of them. The frequency varies- some multiple times a day, some once a day, some weekly or monthly.

Have you ever played The Sims video game? The Sims are characters that you control through the game, but in order to keep them “alive” you have to feed them, make them talk to friends and neighbors, you even have to make them go to the bathroom- or they will “die”. There is usually a prompt in the game that tells you what they are lacking and allows you to manage their “health”. Unfortunately, our social networking profiles do not have prompts to let us know when our social networking skills are dying.

Interaction and frequent activity are essential to building your successful online networking community, no matter what social networking platform you choose. You must feed the monster that you created, or it will die.

The boy who cried wolf

Everyone knows this story by now, the boy cried “wolf” too many times when there was no wolf at all. Then, when the wolf showed up, no one would listen to him because he had mislead them so many times before.

Let this be a lesson to those creating content for social marketing purposes. If you spew out a bunch of crap just to have content, people will stop paying attention. This is also true with where you put your content. It should be just as strategic and targeted what you say, as where you say it.

Here’s an example:

Company X has created a video that shows how their new plastic egg container keeps eggs safe while being transported. They posted the video on You-Tube and created a Facebook fan page. The five people in the company’s marketing department have sent “suggestions” to their Facebook friends to join the Facebook page. This is fairly common for companies just starting out with social media. Once a week, they post the video on their Facebook fan page and promote the locations where they are going to be doing demos at local grocery stores.

The problem: Their Facebook fan list is not growing and sales are not rising. That’s because they are sending the same message to the same people, who aren’t necessarily the target for what they are selling.

things to ponder... I tweet, therefore I am or I am what I tweet?

Yes, it’s true- I get a little “high” from the flattering retweets and likes on Facebook. It makes me smile to see comments from my friends and followers when I have posted something I think is hilarious. I even feel encouraged when I make a status update about something I am pondering and want a second opinion about. So, does this mean that I am addicted to generating a response? Children act out to get attention. Could social media be the platform for adults to get the same effect? Everyone has a human desire to be liked and accepted. How much is too much, though? There is a fine line between too much information and social networking for amusement.