This post originally broadcast on iMediaConnection:

I have the pleasure of meeting with a lot of brands who are looking for ways to take advantage of trends in social computing. What they feel like they lack is direction and assets that they can use as social currency. The funny part is, a lot of these assets are in the brand trash can.

What do I mean? Here are a few places to look for social media treasures you have the basic ability to share right now:

Digital Assets

This is a broad one, I know. But so many companies are focused on making processes as efficient as possible, they don’t even realize that many of the by-products of this process are in fact content that people would love to see. If part of what your company does is digitize assets for use in production, you’ve probably got a wealth of digital inventory right there, ready for use.

One great example is old brand designs. Pepsi just sent a bunch of old branded cans to bloggers hoping for the magic to happen. But those assets in and of themselves have interest to an audience. All those old logos and ad design work is retro and reflective of someone’s personality. If Mad Men can do it, why not you?

How people differentiate themselves at your office

Everyone likes to make their workspace an extension of their personality. They decorate everything: from their cube walls to the machines they operate. These are valuable clues, as the items people use to adorn their workspaces are a metaphor that can easily be extended into the social networking space. Everyone’s Facebook or MySpace page starts with the same basic template. What can you give your brand audience that makes decorating that space easy and socially reflective?

Your enterprise system

Seems like the most boring place on earth to look for brand affinity, but it’s one of the best. You hold all kinds of interesting information about the habits and purchase cycles of your customers. Why not provide a little bit of this information back to your audience in a way that they can learn something from and share with friends. This is something Google does exceedingly well.

Google has a myriad of data products, from Analytics to AdWords — but in each, they’re only ever showing a sliver of the information they collect. What fuels the brand is that they share just enough enterprise information to keep you coming back for more.

What are the bits of information in your enterprise that you can share back in a non-sensitive way? My bet is that a few statistics, refreshed regularly, are a tremendously appreciated utility for your audience.

What do you think? Join the conversation in the comments section below, by emailing, or on Twitter @mleis.

Related posts:

1. Four Critical Social Media Readiness Questions to Ask First
2. A Participation Framework for Social Media
3. Social Media is Direct Response
4. The Three Colorful Circles of Social Media Strategy