Author and entrepreneur Seth Godin once said that “Marketing is no longer about the stuff that you make, but about the stories you tell.” Even for those folks who’ve never so much as heard of lead-gen or nurture programs, the importance of relevant content and compelling narrative has never been so necessary as it is today — especially because the digital sea is brimming with the wreckage of too many voices with far too little exposure.

Social media has had an impact on both business and people’s personal and private life. The impact on business is not as massive as many people assume, but this does not mean that many businesses have not adopted social media, as it is a free resource after all. Here are a few things that social media has taught us all.

Editor’s Note: At Scoop.it, we are equal opportunity and support learning and  entrepreneurism of all stripes. This article is written with a female audience in mind, but we believe the core messages and takeaways apply to all people. 

Women start businesses at one-and-a-half times the national average. And, although women now comprise roughly half of American workers and earn nearly 60% of university degrees,1 only 24% of the people heard or read about in print, radio and television news are female.

As you’ve undoubtedly discovered during your time as a professional, it’s not just about what you know — it’s also about who you know. There are people out there that can make your dreams come true by exposing you to the world in ways you never imagined or give you access to markets you didn’t think you could reach.

The communication of knowledge and ideas is intrinsic to the human condition. Our earliest ancestors had a rich oral tradition, through which they passed on what they knew about the world, often across great distances. Our systems of communication have evolved and matured, from those oral traditions to the earliest cuneiform writings and all the way up through books and newspapers, to radio and television. With the advent of the modern age and Al Gore’s gift of the Internet, we’re now able to share our knowledge, ideas, and lots and lots of cute pictures of cats, around the world in less time than it has taken me to write this sentence.

Whether you are trying to be a successful entrepreneur, parent or friend, it’s wise to calibrate your knowledge meter. How much knowledge is too much? Is there such a thing as having too much knowledge and if so, how do you know when knowing too much actually hurts you, rather than inspires you?

A few nights ago, I was sitting on my couch about to get down with a bottle of wine and some Netflix. I grabbed my phone and opened the XBox SmartGlass app, which basically works like a virtual game-slash-remote controller. As I was mindlessly scrolling, my dude and roommate — an audio engineer — walked in with his iPad, frustrated and annoyed that this new interface app he’d downloaded allowed him to create and manipulate different sounds, but didn’t automatically sync up with his main program, or allow him to save audio files to Dropbox.

Curation, the purposeful filtering of Internet content, is a hot and disruptive trend.

I love this “secret of adulthood” by Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project: “Happiness doesn’t always make me feel happy.”

If you aren’t engaging your customers online, your business is missing out on a huge opportunity to generate sales and gain valuable new customers. Creating and maintaining an online presence isn’t easy. You can quickly become overwhelmed or waste money on unsuccessful outreach if you don’t approach it in an informed, strategic manner.

One of the hardest things about becoming the “voice” of an organization is figuring out what in the world to say. Do you promote your group endlessly? Do you send out fun links you think your constituents will enjoy? Do you talk to your fans and figure out what they want? Well, the answer is yes to all the above. However, it’s very easy to fall into the trap many other organizations do and either promote the heck out of your mission or refuse to talk about yourself at all. Both tactics can result in you missing out on customers, constituents or funding and even chase your current followers away. So how do you find a good balance?

NOTE: Eric is talking about the non-profit sector, but these rules apply seamlessly to for-profit operations, personal brands, and enthusiasts.

There are currently around 1.5 million non-profits registered in the US alone, with total contributions amounting to just under $300 billion. But while many charitable organizations do spend more than 66% of a donation on their actual mission, it is a rare case. Perhaps more importantly, donors have very little control over their money and how it gets used, or to what end.

We are more than just shoes! Zappos is a service company that just happens to sell ________. These are two statements that sit at the core of everything Zappos is, and guide Zappos as a company that continues to innovate. As the Social Community Manager of Zappos, I want that answer to be clothing, fashion, snowboards, footwear, cookware, bedding, and so much more. But Zappos is typically associated with 2 things: Footwear and great customer service.