How My Weight Loss Can Help You Flex Your Social Media Muscles

This is what is hiding under the Blue Gurus shirts you always see Mic wearing.

December 27th, 2007 is a day I will never forget.

You see, I’ve always been a big guy, but I got my annual physical in June 2007 and was crushed to find out that, at 36, I had reached the highest weight I’d ever been at in my entire life.

So as December 27th, 2007 approached, I had gone through a few months of inconsistent workouts, doing a better job of watching my diet, and just generally living a healthier life. But after the Halloween candy of that October, the turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes of that November, and the holiday parties, eating and drinking of that December, I decided on December 27, 2007 that working out every week was going to become a part of my life. I had to make a change and not just for a few months, not just to try it out to see if I could lose a few pounds, not just a quick short-term fix. No, working out was going to become a part of my life… for the rest of my life.

So I dove in and read article after article about foods that were good for me, foods that were bad for me, telling me to make sure to eat a good breakfast every day, more fruits and vegetables, drink more water, eat 5-6 smaller meals every day, mix up your workout routines to “trick” your body, and on and on and on.

Of course I’m human and over the last 3 years I’ve had my ups and downs, emotionally, mentally and physically. There have been weekends and vacations where I didn’t work out and my diet went to hell. There have been winters where I just couldn’t get myself out of bed and instead I cuddled up to some comfort foods, football and a fire.

But you know what I NEVER did? I NEVER quit working out. And I NEVER will. Why? Because even though the scale moves up and down, even though sometimes clothes feel like they are fitting better and sometimes feel a little bit tighter, even though there is so much health and exercise advice out there that sometimes it feels like I don’t know where to start, even though some people say “hey you look like you’ve lost weight!” and most times people say nothing at all, what I know for a fact is that working out 4-5 times a week makes me feel better, has helped me drop over 40 lbs. from that all-time high of June 2007, feel healthier, sleep better, gives me more energy, helps me keep a positive attitude, gets my heart rate up, and allows me to still be able to enjoy life, including good food and the occasional cocktail (ok, I admit, The Blue Moose, which is a minute walk from my house, is a regular Thursday hangout. Hey, it’s $1.50 beers all day long on Thursdays, so can you blame me?)

So I know you might be thinking, “Mic, you’re a social media guy. Why are you writing about working out?”

Hey, good question, oh faithful reader of the Blue Gurus blog!

Jason and I say virtually every day “Social media is a marathon; not a sprint.” Businesses that want to be successful in social media can NEVER quit. This isn’t some New Year’s Resolution, “Hey, we’re going to do some social media for a couple of weeks and hope the sales start rolling in!”

You have to stay committed. You owe it to your customers. You owe it to your business. You owe it to your employees. You owe it to yourself. You aren’t always going to see tangible or immediate results, but you must never forget that social media gives you many results that you may never see or hear about. Just like the occasional person says “Hey Mic, have you lost weight?”, there are many others that never take the time to say anything.

The same thing happens when you post an article on your blog, or comment on your Facebook Fan Page, or make a comment on Twitter, or whatever your business is doing in social media. People won’t always tell you the impact your social media content is having on them, but it IS having an impact. And if you quit, or aren’t consistent, you lose that opportunity.

I always say “There are over 500 million people on Facebook, there are 75 million people on LinkedIn, there are over a 140 million people on Twitter. Do you think any of your customers are there?” Of course they are. And you need to be there too. Consistently.

So remember, as you struggle through your social media “workout” and navigating the ups and downs of incorporating social media into your business…..it’s a marathon, not a sprint. Don’t Quit. Keep going. Push through the tough times. If you forget to post an update or interact with your customers on Facebook or Twitter, get back to it. It must become a part of your corporate culture, a part of the DNA of your business. Just as there are no shortcuts to healthy living, there are no shortcuts to effective social media engagement.

Thanks for “listening” and for your continued support of Blue Gurus.

Time to hit the gym.