Social media professionals are starting to connect like the last Cheerios floating in the milk pond of a cereal bowl, and are coalescing into three defined segments:

You wanna be one of the cool kids in the marketing lunchroom? Then you damn well better have a blogger outreach program. This is a micro-PR concept in which you research popular bloggers within the context of the client you are trying to promote. More often than not, you want to share a product or service with the blogger with the intent of getting a positive review or mention.

Ah, yes – the freedom of being a freelancer. The carefree life of the consultant. The pain-in-the-ass clients who pay late. With the exception of ravenous otters gnawing on your extremities during a dip in the ol’ swimming hole, nothing sucks more than waiting for an invoice to finally be paid. Sure, patience is a virtue. And politely standing by without making waves will maintain a good client relationship.

So you intend to hire a social media professional. You come to the point in your marketing where you understand that you have too many social channels, too much conversation occurring and too many metrics to follow to make any sense of it. Consider this a measurement of your marketing growth. Five years ago, to staff for this position seemed ludicrous and something that you would just train for internally. Now we see that this isn't simply a necessity within your business, but an opportunity to serve your customers in a much better and engaging way.

I joke about everything, having said that, I also want you guys to have as much 'actionable tactics' as I can muster. Therefore, here's the biggest brain-dump I could put together on the 'hot as a firecracker' social channel of Pinterest. So let's give birth to this thing and move along!

Don't go at it alone Integrated marketing requires more than one channel. That's where the "integration" comes from – duh. Look at your advertising campaigns like a theatrical performance; everyone plays a part to tell a much larger story.

In the life of a professional advertiser, web/mobile designer, integrated marketer or creative director, there are few things more intimidating than preparing and pitching the first round of creative. It’s kind of like being a football coach who is designing plays for a big game – but with a lot more caffeine.

Now that we've covered the basic methods of identifying topics, it’s time to get down to the nitty-gritty. This can be tough work, but I don’t mind getting a little messy. I’m like the Mike Rowe of trend hunting – but without the contract to pimp Ford trucks. Maybe you have a gut feeling about something that might be a trend. Before you unleash your mind-dazzling observations on the community, put a little more thought into exactly WHY you think it is a trend. There's a very fine line between a genuine trend and the herd mentality of mass adoption.

Currently we are a three-feline family: two Siamese brothers named Ricky and Bobby, and a ragdoll/shorthair mix named Niko. I've also had a tabby and a polydactyl American shorthair. What does this mean, other than all my furniture is scratched, and I can't walk out of the house wearing a suit without meticulously using a military-grade lint roller?

Do you want to be one of the “social glitterati?” Do you want the admiration and respect of the impressionable masses that follow your every post, Tweet, update and check-in? Then pay close attention to this list of social media mistakes you should avoid:

There's no chronological order to the countless mistakes that I've made over the last twenty years, nor I'm sure the same will be said for the next twenty years. Many of you will look at this list and laugh and think "what a fool." Others of you know that this industry, having been building site since 1994, had no rules, no manuals, no "best practice," just a lot of us 'winging it' and hoping we would make something great.

1. Have theme music for when I walk into a creative pitch. I've given this some thought and while Slipnot's "Pychosocial" might be apprapo, I think that AC/CD's "For those about to rock" is a timeless treasure that all clients can bond with...

What makes Social Standard Operating Procedures (SSOP) different is more the how-to aspect of the position. What is the baseline of responsibility of the position. This also sets valuable performance indicators for your HR staff to measure the talent of a given employee. And much like all situations have a sliding scale, it gives everyone involved in the process a barometer by which to work by. I will say the caveat to a SSOP is that there are so many variables to digital social communications...

In a day and age where more content is generated in a minute on Facebook than a year virtually a decade ago, I see publishing a book as tired mediocre into the foray of 'perceived credibility'. Much like the psychological phenomena of 'social proof,' it seems that you're only invited to the big-boy table if you cranked out a few boxes of dead trees...