Is Your Social Media Content Like Bad Coffee?

The Story

A few years ago I was driving along the Appalachians in North Carolina and pulled off at a rest stop.  There was a group of old, retired Marines giving out free coffee to weary travelers.  OK, it wasn’t a precondition that you be weary… it was just free coffee.  So I grabbed a cup, made some small talk, left a donation in their jar, and went on my way.

Picture taken from Appalachian State University. It’s of the Blue Ridge Parkway. Beautiful country.

About half a mile out of the rest stop, I had some of the “coffee.”  It was terrible, like it had been strained through dirty laundry.  I cursed the Marines under my breath (I’m allowed to do this.  I had my fill of bad government coffee while deployed on an aircraft carrier in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, alongside many Marines) and tossed the rest of the coffee out the window.

So What Is The Point

Yesterday I wrote about the dangers of rushing out to jump on the social media gogo-train without having a good overall strategy.  Once you do, then what?  You don’t want your content to be like those Marines’ coffee -- it looks like real coffee, and the person giving it to you looks trustworthy, but once you get down to substance, it can really suck (sure, I’m eloquent).

When you are ready to unleash your content into social networks, be sure to follow this advice, at least:

1. Be genuine. Don’t blast people with some perfectly worded PR message.
2. Be ready to respond to criticism. They are going to vent, better they vent to you. Just don’t be a jerk about it (what do I mean? Google “Nestle Facebook”).
3. Don’t think that just because it is free, you can strain it through your dirty laundry.

I'll admit this is a succinct post, and I'm not going to act like I can tell you how to publish great, engaging, or inspiring content.  The point is, in the social networking realm you'll be serving up content in an environment where everyone is a discerning connoiseur.  Don't sell yourself short.