Don’t Put All Your Social Media Eggs in One Basket

As a former (decade long) technology journalist I think it’s very important for people to understand that it is important to not put all your social media eggs in one basket.

Always be aware that social media tools are ever-evolving. This is one of the reasons I don’t ever like being called a “social media expert.” No one can really be a social media expert, because even if you live this stuff 24/7 (which sometimes it feels like I do) you’ll still not be ahead of the developers of these tools and the new options or frameworks they are building with them.

While you don’t have to be an expert to benefit from social media, a key thing to remember is, “Your content is not a fad, however, the tool you use to deliver it might at some point be one.”

If you look at MySpace and how its usage has evolved and then significantly dropped – you will also find folks who put all their efforts only into MySpace and are now left holding the proverbial empty MySpace bag. They are trapped by MySpace because they put all of their efforts into that one “next greatest thing since sliced bread” tool.

As Dr. Seuss says, “Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.” (from – “Oh! The Places You’ll Go)

With social media, it’s doubly important to incorporate a good balancing act at this time when all the major players, Facebook.com, LinkedIn.com and Twitter.com are at their highest competitive market and hope to differentiate themselves. This will prevent you from getting trapped holding a less than useful social media basket.

Take things one step at a time. Don’t put all your social media eggs (efforts) into one tool. Don’t push all your fans, partners, customers to one platform and whatever you do, don’t throw out the traditional tools for communication that you use as well.

Don’t shut down your website, if you have a thriving e-newsletter keep it going. The greatest thing you can do for yourself long-term is to consistently produce good content and then use it to empower community both offline and online.

And remember, “Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.” (excerpt fromOh! The Places You’ll Go!)

Great thanks to Jennifer Robenalt too – as we talked about this today and she and I will be talking more about it next week at our panel for the Texas Governor’s Conference For Women. (Follow them on Twitter @TexasWomen) We are very humbled to be a part of such a stellar event.