Social Networking for Moms: Lessons from the Boardroom

One time in my life i was actually very clued into social media, social networking, how to turn on a computer, etc...  However, I never thought that that world would collide with the new world I'm in today being a Mom.  And i also never imagined I'd start a blog that had nothing to do with my "corporate" life, that i'd actually use a twitter account without being under duress by the demands of a company, or that I'd be going through the process of writing my own book.

Anyway, this post isn't about me. It's actually about all the other PEOPLE i hear promoting themselves as well via social networking.  Prior to becoming a mother myself, i spent many years working in tech marketing - and as a result, I was deeply entrenched with the world of social media.  But today, as a stay-at-home-mom I'm kind of amazed at how some of the same things are happening in the mommy-sphere as are happening in the boardrooms.  In the corporate world, so many industries are desperately trying to jump on the social media bandwagon, trying to understand how things like Facebook, Twitter, Ning, Friendster, Digg, etc... can all work for them - or if they actually CAN work for them. And there's a huge sense of urgency around this need-to-know - NOW!

What i find interesting is that the same thing is happening in homes where there are stay-at-home-moms just dying to 1) share their stories, 2) connect with others who are similar, and 3) are possibly looking for just a bit more use of intellect than what goes on between us and our 1, 3, or 6 year olds...

So, for those Moms out there looking to build and promote the brand that is YOU, i just wanted to share a couple of the resources that once worked well for me - taken from the corporate playbook that can help you learn how to better market yourself using social media.
Charlene Li - founder of Altimeter Group, author of Open Leadership, Coauthor of Groundswell
Brian Sollis - defining the convergence of media and influence
Jeremiah Owyang -web strategy, social media and web marketing
And while that's only a list of 3 names, each of these resources will take you down many paths to uncover many other resources in this realm.  Good luck and i hope it's helpful.

Now that entry is about the most marketing stuff my poor little mommy-mind has thought about since April 29th, 2009 when my son was born!  Time for some Saturday sunlight!