With Thanksgiving holiday coming up next week, and Christmas just around the corner…one usually finds that many companies will disappear all together from social media. It’s understandable how this can happen, employees run off to their families and get caught up in the holiday spirit, but let’s not forget to feed the bird while you are away. Now don’t get me wrong, family time is important time, but consider this, if you have down time, so will your prospects… and a lot of time, that down time translates to online time. So here are 6 ways to keep the bird fat while basting the turkey.

One. Designate, then delegate. If you are small or medium business that already has your employees involved in your online community, ask them to contribute over the holiday. (Hint) Having a little incentive to do that will also help.

Two. Set a schedule. Designate at least 20 minutes each day to find, connect, and contribute to your community. This will show that you are actually in the driver’s seat for your brand and just because it’s the holiday, doesn’t mean you lose control.

Three. Don’t be afraid to get a little personal. This one is tricky because you don’t want to get too personal, like say tweeting about how bad your wife’s turkey turned out, but giving a little high level info on your do-abouts won’t hurt either.

Four. Try to set your conversations on auto-pilot. You can accomplish this by explicitly asking for comments and feedback on the stuff you post. Once the conversation gets going on its own, you won’t have to ignore your family the entire time.

Five. Take the time to learn about how your competitors approach “down time”. You should always be learning about your competitors and the holidays are no exception.

Six. Don’t get consumed. I said keep a pulse, but don’t let it consume you. Your family demands just as much time as your consumers so ignoring them may not work out too well for you.

In conclusion, showing your consumers that you are always ready and able to listen to them, even when “the man” closes business, will show that you are in the driver’s seat for your brand and will give you a major competitive advantage.

Don’t forget to visit our Facebook fan page to drop your 2 cents @ cornersix.com/facebook. Enjoy your cranberry sauce!