I’d also like to add something to the list, and that is to keep a collection of things that inspire you about social media. That way you can refer back to it and remind yourself of why you got into it in the first place.

Here’s one I like quite a bit: Mena Trott (of Six Apart fame) talks at TED about her love of blogging and the impact it has had on her life: http://bit.ly/pf1JA

Anyone else have social media inspiration suggestions?

I have another idea to add to the list: keep track of your own sources of inspiration. For example, there’s an excellent TED Talk by Mena Trott who co-founded Six Apart (the ones behind Movable Type, TypePad, etc.) about why she loves blogging and the impact it has had on her life (watch it here: http://bit.ly/pf1JA).

It’s things like that, along with a number of other quotes, articles, videos I’ve gathered that I can go back to in order to recharge my batteries and get excited about what I do.

I find a lot of value and reward from teaching what I know. Whenever you teach something, you master it. Helping others understand the basic fundamentals of social media, then watching them engage and succeed is something I enjoy.

I also like reading blogs and articles written from differing points of view. I’m philosophically and morally positioned differently from most of my immediate family. Reading what they publish and share helps me see things from a different perspective and appreciate the diversity in my relationships.

Thanks again for your thought leadership on this!
~Pete

Thank you for the article, I am not even using social media full-time but I have felt like you mentioned. I use social media to promote a local start-up footwear company Kuru Footwear and just last week I felt like despite all my efforts I was not getting anywhere. But I decided to digg in again and getting a some positive results was all I needed and I am back at it again.

Thanks for the inspiration . . .

Nathan