Making mistakes isn’t necessarily a bad thing. First off, you always learn more from a ‘not-so-great’ moment. In fact, chances are that if you’ve ever made a mistake you’re highly unlikely to repeat it. Second, you don’t have to make your own mistakes to learn from what you should or shouldn’t do. You can learn from other peoples’ mistakes too. Looking at mishaps that others have made can teach you what pitfalsl to avoid and how to circumvent similar situations.

Social media has put a spotlight on mistakes and makes them  available for the entire world to see. When those trip-ups come from recognizable companies and big brands they can become glaring examples that the rest of us need to learn from. Here’s a run down on social media mishaps that your company should refrain from making:

1. Stale Content

The Internet is a gigantic growing web of information and if you’re not regularly contributing to it then you’re missing out on opportunities to connect with interested people. It’s important to post fresh and original content on a regular basis. Without it, your fans and followers may wonder where you’ve disappeared to and venture off to graze in greener pastures. The trick with content is to understand how much or how little you should post. Take the time to learn about what your audience wants and then get ready to update, share and engage.

2. Combing Business And Personal Accounts

A major no-no is meshing professional and personal social media accounts with one another. Keep the highlights of your Las Vegas weekend between you and your friends, not you and your clients. If you’re considering social media to promote your business brand make sure to create separate profiles on each platform.

3. Little To No Monitoring

Awhile back some hackers cracked into Amazon.com and caused all books written by gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) authors to disappear. Needless to say, many people were infuriated and they took to social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter to voice their frustration and upset. This included creating a hashtag on Twitter that was used to funnel the disgust directed toward Amazon. Because Amazon hadn’t reacted quickly enough people believed that they deliberately removed GLBT materials from their site. Lesson learned – make sure to monitor what’s being said about your brand and company routinely.

4. Cloning Strategies

Each social media site has a unique following. Getting to know and understand who the audience is and what they like is what will help you shape your social media strategy. A cookie cutter approach is not the way to go. What works on Digg probably won’t work on StumbleUpon and what works on Reddit won’t necessarily work on Mixx. Tailor your strategy to each platform before you implement.

5. Inexperienced Representatives

One of the more recent social media firestorms occurred between Nestle and Greenpeace in early 2010 on their Facebook Pages. Supporters of Greenpeace staged a protest against Nestle for using palm oil from deforested areas in Indonesia. Unfortunately, Nestle’s social media team demonstrated a lack of tact, maturity and professionalism by posting glib and sarcastic remarks. The defensive exchange spun out of control. Whomever you choose to serve as the social media mouthpiece for your company should be a trained professional that recognizes one of the golden rules – you don’t insult your customers.

6. Illegitimate Friending

In September 2009, restaurant chain T.G.I. Friday’s launched its ‘Woody’ social media marketing campaign. They used a supposed out-of-work actor who claimed that he was the biggest T.G.I. Friday fan and that if he could get 500,00 people to fan his Facebook Page then T.G.I. Friday would give away a free burger to each person who fanned him. What people didn’t know was that Woody wasn’t a real person and that the challenge wasn’t an actual cause. People felt betrayed and outraged when they learned the truth. On this same note, don’t run out and attempt to acquire fans in mass. It appears spammy and fake. Take time to get to know your followers and cultivate relationships with them that will be long lasting.

Do you have any other corporate social media mistakes or stories that you’d like to share? Post below. We’d love to hear from you.

We’re only human and that makes us all less than perfect. Couple that fact with social media and there’s the potential to make a few errors along the way. Mistakes are simply a process to show us how to do things better. Learning what works and what doesn’t is how success and failure are measured. Rather than repeating some of the more common social media mistakes that people tend to make, it’s easier to know what they are ahead of time so that you can avoid making them yourself.

1. Missing a Blog

You absolutely need a blog if you’re going to engage in social media. Without one, you won’t have much to promote other than your website. Unless you’re planning on updating its content and design on a daily basis, a blog is the next best thing.

2. Confusing Personal & Professional

If you’re launching a social media campaign or even a social media presence for your business, product or service, it’s important to keep your engagement as such. You shouldn’t tweet or post questionable or offensive material that friends might find amusing. Clients or customers may find it in poor taste and it can end up portraying you and your brand in an unfavorable light.

3. Promoting Selfishly

True, the main reason that you’re involved with social media it to create awareness about your brand, but it’s not the only reason. Shamelessly selling your own services isn’t what brings people together in social media. Distribute and share information from different outlets by spreading on to others. Be a resource and not a salesman. It will take you far.

4. Mass Fans & Followers

The best things in life are free and they’re earned. Social media takes time to build fans, followers and connections. Take it one day at a time. Build a relationship with each person. Let people get to know you and reciprocate the favor by getting to know them too. Slow and steady wins the race when it comes to social media following.

5. Disappearing From the Scene

If you’re going to embark on a social media adventure, be prepared to stick around  through the thick and thin. Too often, people launch their social media efforts full of ambition, but suddenly go missing in action. Tweets stop, blog posts cease and information in general comes to a crashing halt. Be committed and consistent. Social media means daily interaction with your peeps.

6. Not Having a Plan

When you decide to build something – a car, house, prototype, whatever – you need a blueprint. The same thing is true for social media. You need a roadmap to guide you on your journey. Having a plan doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone. Create a working document that is flexible enough to bend and move with your social media goals and objectives. Revisit it often and make changes and adjustments as necessary.

7. Connecting Your Profiles

Chances are that you’ll have a social media presence on more than one platform. Make sure to connect your profiles together and promote them on your other platforms. Show off a LinkedIn badge on your Facebook page. Put your Facebook URL on your Twitter background. There are plenty of social media tools available that can help you integrate your profiles with one another.

What are some of the other social media mistakes that you’ve made or seen other make? Share them with us below.

Starting up a blog is pretty simple, but maintaining and cultivating a following for it can be a bit more challenging. If you’ve got the ambition to begin a blog, invest some time and thought into making it a solid one and cover all your bases. Whether you’re launching your first company blog, beginning one for a client or setting up a personal blog spot for yourself, avoiding some of these common mistakes will give your blog a fighting chance in a sea of many.

1. Not being consistent. You don’t have to post multiple times in a day. Leave that to the news sites. You should try to post on a regular basis. Without fresh content, your readers will move on to greener blog pastures. Give your fans something to read and try to do it weekly.

2. Forgetting your subscribe button. Syndication feeds allow your subscribers to keep track of your blog’s new posts and updates. Make it easy for your readers and passers-by to follow your blog with a simple click. Blogs that aren’t prominently displaying an RSS button are missing out on potential fans.

3. No promotional efforts. Your blog is an extension of you, and perhaps, even your business. Market and promote it just like you would for any other product or service. Integrate your blog into your social media profiles. Sync your posts with social media status updates to Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. Bookmark some of your favorite blog posts (don’t bookmark all of them or it will come across as being to self-serving and spammy).

4. Lacking persistence. The world’s top bloggers didn’t find themselves there overnight. It’s taken them years to build a following, establish a blog persona and produce content that their blog audience relates to and identifies with. Don’t compare your blog to others. Focus on bringing new and timely information to your readers that they’ll appreciate and want.

5. Not having good headlines. The headline of your blog post is what people will see and read first before anything else. You don’t need to make it clever or catchy. Be succinct and summarize exactly what you’ve written. Less is more when it comes to blog headlines. Try to aim for less than 10 words.

Writing a blog requires time, dedication and patience. Blogs are a great way to interact with others and build wonderful social connections. This is especially true when you create a well-written post that resonates with others. It’s a rewarding feeling to receive feedback on how your post has been received, as well as how it’s perceived. Stick with your blog and don’t give up.

What are some other blog mistakes that should be avoided? Please share and add below.