Many of you know that I am a wanna-be farmer. If you add up the various animals we cater too you would find a list that I believe would make Noah proud. Starting in the house we have one Pomeranian, one Yorkiepoo, two cats and one beta fish. As we venture to the backyard the fun begins with three chickens, a family of deer who like to hangout and eat chicken food, an occasional family of turkeys, and whatever other furry critters make their way onto our property – including the neighbors.
One
of my favorite things to do when taking care of my little farm is observe my
three chickens; Chicken Little, Chicken Nugget, and HENrietta. They are so
funny, cute, and creative. Often times I’ll pull up a chair and let the chickens
wander around the backyard while I watch them and giggle. Sometimes I feel like
I can relate to all those famous pigeon tamers in NYC. While observing my
chickens I’ve realized that many of the things they do that make me laugh,
smile, or question their motives – can be applied to social media marketing.
Below you will find a few things that my little urban farm has taught me about
social media marketing.
When in doubt, pluck it out. Everyday my chickens spend a
portion of their time stretching their wings, grooming themselves, flapping
around, and occasionally plucking out a feather or two. I don’t know if they
pluck it because it was irritating them or because they were feeling cannibalistic. All I know is that when I’m
working on content for a client if I compose a tweet or status that I think is
on the border of offending or giving the wrong message – I delete it. Calm
down, I realize that censorship is the death of all things Internet and this
statement goes against all things cool, edgy, and hip…but pissing off your
audience or leaving an offensive status up just to be cool – kills sales. When
in doubt, pluck it out. Come back to it later and see what you think.
Don’t be scared of the poo, it’s part of life. Recently I advised a friend on
his chicken purchase and told him how much I loved having my little flock in
the backyard. I told him about the eggs, the clucking, and funny things my
chickens do. I assumed since chickens are wild animals he would also understand
that chickens poop, pee, dig, and sometimes die. My assumption was wrong when
he notified me how frustrated he was with his chickens because they poop a lot
and are a lot of work! Shocker chickens poop too? Poop doesn’t
seem to bother my chickens though. In fact when one of them shakes off a doo
the other chickens don’t even notice. They pass on by – why? Poop happens.
Don’t be scared of the crap you’re going through, it happens. Don’t be scared
when Facebook changes again and when another social networks launches – it will
happen and you will adapt.
When it’s raining look for worms…don’t just
complain. Right
now it is pouring outside and my chickens are looking for opportunities that
the rain brings – worms. Everyone else is complaining that the rain is coming
and my chickens are looking for opportunities. Lesson learned.
Watch for an open door at all times. To say that Chicken Little is an
escape artist would be an understatement. That rascally little bird is always
ready to jump ship and scurry out the coop door as soon as it opens. Often
times my wife and I have to chase her around the backyard trying to convince
her to get back in her run. She is always ready for opportunities and seems to
have a plan. Seems like there’s a lesson in there somewhere.
Give back and people will love you even more. My chickens poop, peck, bite,
fight, dig, smell (sometimes), run, make noise, and disobey – but do you know
what they do that makes it all worth it? They give back in the form of yummy,
rich eggs that feed my family. How can you give back? At Social Impressions we
give back by giving a portion of our income away every month to various
nonprofits. What can you do to give back? You’ll be amazed by what you receive
in return.
I
hope my chicken wisdom has helped shed some light. I’ll end with one final bit
of trivia:
On
what side does a chicken have the most feathers? The outside.
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