Last night, while baking cupcakes with my daughter, I realized something about social media.

If you’re not having fun or enjoying yourself when you post to your fan page, no one is going to have fun reading your updates either.

How many times do we post because:

  • we think we “should.”
  • it’s part of our routine.
  • someone told us that we need to post at least once a day, and so we do.

Elbow deep in melted chocolate, my hands sticky from stirring, I washed my hands, dried them on my jeans, and walked over to my netbook computer to update the fan page for my daughter’s cupcake business. I uploaded pictures and added comments.

I could feel the excitement and enthusiasm I felt about our cupcakes pour out of my fingers and onto the keyboard. I was overflowing like a fresh bottle of Coke. (And —I love Coke.)

But I don’t like flat coke. At all.

This morning I poured the last of a two liter into a glass. No bubbles. No fizz.

It’s not worth consuming. It just isn’t.

So I gave myself permission to pour the Coke down the drain.

If your social media updates have lost their effervesence, it’s time to give yourself permission to throw out whatever routine or formula is robbing you of the fun and passion you feel for your business.

Pour that flat Coke down the drain.

Then…

Return to your passion. What excites you about your business? What gets you out bed in the morning and propels you to work hard every day? Find a way to translate some of that passion and enthusiasm into your social media updates.

Infuse your uniqueness into everything you do. Forget trying to make your Twitter stream or Facebook page like everyone else’s. Improvise. Add your special flavor to what you do.

Share the love! Once you figure out what your passion is, share that with your customers. Show them — through words, pictures, and video — what’s exciting (and different) about what your business offers.

When you do, your excitement and enthusiasm for your business will flow everything you do.

Have your social media updates lost their fizz? What will you do, today, to start fresh?