Ryan Goodman, Ranchhand & Social Media Hero

Over the past few months, I’ve done several posts about some of my social media heroes. I have a lot more to go. But recently I sat down to write a post for the AgChat Foundation’s website and realized I was writing a lot of the things I should put together explaining why Ryan Goodman, a Arkansas ranchhand @AR_ranchhand actually, is one of my social media heroes.

The post for AgChat is about  how a farmer can get a chance to write for CNN, so I’m going to use some of that post here. See, I’m one of the folks who watched as Ryan got a chance to write for CNN’s food blog ‘eatocracy’!

Yes, our friend, the person behind the AgProud blog and Facebook page, Twitter’s @AR_ranchhand, Ryan Goodman wrote a piece for CNN’s food blog “No Bull – what a cattle farmers wants customers to know”! I bet some folks had to wonder how it happened and are wondering if that sort of thing can happen again. (Editor’s Note:  The screen capture at left was shot Tuesday, July 3, 2012. It shows Ryan on CNN.com with his second article for eatocracy “No bull – start a conversation with a farmer.” I am so proud , yep, I’m #agproud!)

What Makes Ryan So Special

Ryan created this opportunity by being himself and being available on a regular basis. Opportunities don’t just happen out of the blue. So if you want to dissect the steps involved, here’s what I see makes Ryan so special:

• Puts himself out there in conversations and groups — A couple of weeks ago, eatocracy had a post about gestation crates, and I asked some farm friends what they thought of the piece since I am not a livestock person. The discussion about the post helped me think through various ideas from others and in the process, Ryan thought about things, left honest comments and contributed his experience with a really balanced objective.
• Engaging with people whether or not opportunity knocks – when Ryan participates in a conversation, he does it from a place of honesty never just trying to get the big light to shine. He was making a difference before he caught CNN’s eye and he will continue to do just that.
• Built an incredible content base – Ryan actively engages with people throughout the week and has been doing that for years. He has multiple venues online and in real life. I have to say if people reading the original post clicked on Ryan’s name, he had linked it back to his website AgricultureProud.com. Doing that, a blog manager or reporter would see an established ability to have conversations on topics about food and farming.
• Offers expertise, don’t pretend to be an expert – You can tell, Ryan knows his stuff and is interested in talking to others about the topics. He participates in an open honest dialogue without trying to make people think that what he says is right…. he’s just sharing information and having conversations. He offers his expertise without talking down to anyone.
• Celebrates other’s passions and successes – One of the things that draws people to Ryan is his joy in celebrating the passions and successes of others. Whether its giving people a stage from which to tell their story through guest posts or taking a photo now and then to send a friend (yes, he has done these things for me and lots of other folks!) That builds his network.

Social Media Hero Status

All of those things that make Ryan special, also make him a social media hero but there are a few more things too I’ve seen in the past few years. He’s got a lot of irons in the social media fire and keeps each of them moving along steady and true. Here’s at least some of the places you can find Ryan:

•  AgricultureProud.com — Ryan started the Ag Proud blog to celebrate the great story of those involved with all aspects of Agriculture. He uses this site to share other people’s stories about what they love about agriculture, what he’s learned from others and more. He’s got several series he’s done here including an ag proud series of guest posts from people in various areas of agriculture and  a postcard quest where he’s asked people in various states to send a postcard with ag facts on them (he’s still missing some states so check to be sure yours is included!).
• The Facebook page: “I am Agriculture Proud” – is a great way to network with others that are interested in sharing their great stories, photos, and blogs to tell why they are AgProud. And if you are proud of being part of the farming & ranching community and on Facebook, what are you waiting for?
• Youtube channel: AgProud –I share my activities, experiences, and some interesting facts about my job through video. Be sure to look at my list of subscriptions to view channels where others are sharing their story. Send me your link to add your page to the list.
• Sitting in the Pasture is Ryan’s personal blog. It’s where he tells his story on a regular basis. He may share a video of a beautiful day out on the pasture or some tips on Texas country music or his latest undertaking in physical training for a big event.

Previous Social Media Heroes:

• Danyelle Little @TheCubicleChick is One of My Social Media Heroes! — It has been a little while since I did a post in my social media hero series, but this weekend I was clearly reminded of one I needed to write up. That’s because Danyelle Little and her Show Me the Blog conference has rocked my world again. Yeah, I know I wrote about the conference […] Continue Reading
• A Social Media Hero With a HUGE Heart & Great Hugs @JeffPulver of #140Conf – I’ve written about Jeff Pulver before — he’s an integral part of my post about the faces of #140Conf Small Town and Monday’s #140confDM.  And while I talk a bit about Jeff in those posts… you don’t really get the feel for the guy cause all of that was within context of the conference and lots […] Continue Reading
• Creating the #BlogChat Community Leads to Hero Status for @MackCollier, Darlin’ – Writing that headline was fun. Blogging and social media have to be fun for me, cause this blog is a personal passion. I have no interest in “monetizing” my blog (I hope all the scammy folks who send weird messages will read that). I have a great job where I get to do communications.This blog […] Continue Reading
• The Farmer Who Broke My Twitter Sound Barrier @FarmerHaley – I’ve talked about how I came to be on Twitter before but what happened after I got on…. not sure I could have anticipated that. Within a few months of being on Twitter, the tweeting agricultural community was clearly as a great source of information for me. I can still remember when I broke the […] Continue Reading
• Who Convinced Me To Sign Up For Twitter? @Kath_Manning That’s Who – In doing this series highlighting some of my social media heroes, its hard to decide what helps someone reach true hero status. But its clear to me, that one of my colleagues, Kathleen Manning aka @Kath_Manning has to be on the list. Its really pretty funny to think about that first day so long ago. […] Continue Reading
• Social Media Hero, Farmer & Blogging Coach Judi Graff aka @farmnwifeA lot of the people who are involved in agriculture and who write blogs will probably recognize the social media hero I want to highlight this week. It’s Judi Graff aka @FARMnWIFE. There are a lot of reasons she is a social media hero to various people, but I get to make the list so […] Continue Reading
• Who Are My Social Media Heroes? Hero #1 is @ArveyColumbus – Recently, my friend Cheri Albritton (Twitter’s @ArveyColumbus) wrote a blog post asking if you are a social media hero in the making. She was nice enough to point to me in her post. That was awesome to see pop up in my email! I decided to do at least a short series of posts highlighting […] Continue Reading