Greg Verdino once said that hearing the word “viral” makes him want to throw up. Clearly I have a similar, albeit slightly more aggressive, response to the word “leverage” when used anywhere near “social media”.

Why this hulk-smash attitude you might ask? Well, what bothers me so much is that so many people are in such a hurry to leverage/monetize/utilize/monopolize/bastardize social media, that they don’t even stop to understand it first. And along with this goldrush mentality, comes a lot of people who are doing things really wrong.

In fact, the aforementioned Verdino likens it to putting lipstick on a pig. His main point is that maybe you should figure out social media before you work on social media marketing. I mean, honestly, did you run TV spots before you owned a set and watched a few shows? Probably not. Don’t let this be any different.

The good news is that it’s not hard to get into the space and learn the tools and tactics. I know it might seem daunting, but don’t worry. You can (and should) take it slow. Start with (my version of) the basics. People like Chris Brogan, Mitch Joel, Joe Jaffe, David Armano, Jason Falls, Valeria Maltoni, and Geoff Livingston are great resources. And people like Neal Stewart at Flying Dog, Scott Monty at Ford, and Frank Eliason at Comcast are already doing great work with social media.

The key thing here is that you need to be a participant. Get in on the ground floor. Crawl before you can walk. Be the tortoise not the hare. Float like a butterfly and sting like a bee. (Wow, one more metaphor and I might have passed out)

Either way, I still have faith that with patience and practice, we’ll all get a handle on this “social media” thing. But seriously, if I hear “leverage”, you still better duck and cover.