Your Guide to Team USANA During the Games

It appears athletes are getting settled in Vancouver — check out their tweets — for the 2010 Winter Games. The upcoming Olympics are creating a buzz around here because so many world-class, USANA-sponsored athletes will be competing in Vancouver.

Members of US Speedskating, USA Luge, Speed Skating Canada, Biathlon Canada, Cross Country Canada, and Great Britain Short Track Speed Skating, as well as a handful of individual Olympians all trust their health to USANA.

The 2010 Winter Games begin this week with the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, Feb. 12. Competition begins the following day with several events of interest to Team USANA fans. Speedskating, biathlon, luge, and more are all slated for Saturday, Feb. 13.

We can't wait to cheer them on! And we hope you are excited to show your support as well. To help you do that, here is a brief overview explaining how What's Up, USANA? will be your source for Team USANA news between now and the end of the Games.

1. Daily Information: We will provide daily updates with who, when, and why to watch throughout the Games. If a USANA-sponsored athlete wins a medal, you'll read about it here. It's information you can share with your own social networks, so we encourage you to visit often!
2. Exclusive Content: USANA correspondents will be in Vancouver at times during the Games sharing their experiences with blog readers. Alan Bergstrom and Dave Wentz are scheduled to offer tidbits of information, as are Belynda Lee-Tjandra and Jeremy Lunt. Olympic gold medalist Jennifer Azzi will give readers an inside look at the Games and its athletes. Look for her posts the second week of the Games!
3. Team Spirit: Team USANA athletes are representing all of us in Vancouver. We'll share their accomplishments and stories, but we hope you join the conversation as well. Let us know how you're enjoying the Games by commenting on blog posts, tweeting your thoughts, and updating your Facebook status.
   

When to Watch?
Be sure to visit the Team USANA page on USANAtoday.com to download your very own Viewer's Guide (here's a link to the English version) so you can plan accordingly during the course of the Games.

Additional Resources
While What's Up, USANA? will be your bread and butter for all things Team USANA, don't forget to check these other sites frequently:

• USANA Athletes on Facebook: Become a fan to show your support for not only Winter Games athletes, but all athletes who believe strongly in USANA.
• Twitter: Stay informed with up-to-the-minute news from @USANAinc. It's also a great place to read what others are saying. We'll be re-tweeting often.
• Olympic Athlete Twitter List: If you want a first-hand glimpse at the experiences of USANA-sponsored Olympians, be sure to subscribe to this list. Also, please let us know if we're missing any athletes.
  

Full Speed Ahead!
Though the Opening Ceremonies are still days away, check out these Vancouver-themed posts courtesy of your USANA social media team:

• Capitalize on Team Spirit: Tips and insight to help generate excitement throughout your social networks during the Games
• Fun Friday Video — Office Games: We return with an all-new Fun Friday Video to test the "athletic" abilities of three USANA employees. See who took home Gold, Silver, and Bronze.

As you might remember, USANA athletes performed remarkably well in the 2006 Winter Games in Torino. We expect this year's Team USANA to show the world exactly why they trust their health to the world's top-rated nutritional supplements.

Go Team USANA!

Fun Friday Video: Episode 10 (The Office Games)

Along with the rest of the PR and social media staff here at USANA, I am happy to announce that we are back with an all-new Fun Friday Video!

As we were brainstorming ideas on what would be a great topic for out latest adventure, we couldn't help but think of the upcoming Winter Games in Vancouver. So, what a better idea than to have our own sort of Olympic competition — Fun Friday Video style, of course.


How do you keep up with each of the athletes you may be asking? Very simple. Stay logged onto What's Up, USANA? through the end of February and we'll be sure to keep you updated. In addition, if you're on Twitter, be sure to follow the list USANA Athletes we've created and to search for our official hashtag through the games, #TeamUSANA.

We're so excited to cheer on our athletes this year. We're so excited that we're back with a new Fun Friday Video. And we hope you are excited about all of the above.

As always, we love feedback. Please send me an email or leave a comment below if you have a great topic for a Fun Friday Video or have anything you want to share about Team USANA.

USANA Social Media Tip #6: Capitalizing on Team Spirit

In a little over a week, millions of people from around the globe will turn their attention to one of the world's greatest sporting events.

The 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, which begin with the Opening Ceremonies on Feb. 12, promise to showcase elite athletes competing against the best of the best.

It's a special time, one in which the world comes together to celebrate perseverance, determination, and athletic achievement.

USANA's Athletes
We at USANA are fortunate to be associated with dozens of athletes who have trained extensively to compete on sport's most impressive stage. An event such as this, which possesses enormous international appeal, is a great opportunity to let others know why world-class athletes choose USANA. And social media is a great way to spread the word.

For the latest Social Media Tip, I wanted to give you an inside look at what we'll be doing during the Games and share a few thoughts as to how you could use various bits of information to generate excitement throughout your social networks.

Team USANA
Collectively, we're referring to our athletes as Team USANA. These competitors, who push themselves to the limit each time they compete, trust their health to the world's top-rated nutritional supplements. And nearly 100 of them will be in Vancouver.

The impressive group includes athletes who will be competing in speedskating, biathlon, luge, skiing, hockey, and many other winter sports. USANA will be in Vancouver sharing exclusive content, photos, and videos with What's Up, USANA? readers.

Alan Bergstrom, vice president of customer service, and Dave Wentz, CEO, will be on-site during a portion of the Games, as will a special guest-blogger who will provide one-of-a-kind insight. Stay tuned for details...


But how do you use social media to help generate excitement for USANA and its athletes before, during, and after the event? Here are a few ideas...

Before the Games
You may have seen several stories, originally published on USANAtoday.com, that we posted on our USANA Athletes Facebook Page. The "USANA Olympic Spotlight" stories provide an overview of the six Vancouver-bound USANA-sponsored teams — US Speedskating, USA Luge, Speed Skating Canada, Biathlon Canada, Cross Country Canada, and Great Britain Short Track Speed Skating — as well as a handful of individual athletes who will be competing for various teams.

Share these stories on your own Facebook pages or send out a tweet alerting your followers to keep an eye out for these athletes during the Games.

• Example Post: What do US Speedskating and Biathlon Canada have in common? Their athletes trust their health to USANA. As do many others... Message me to find out why or take a look at http://www.usana.com.
  

During the Games
The 2010 Winter Games run from Feb. 12-28, which gives ample time to schedule "viewing parties" with friends, family, co-workers, neighbors, etc. Use social media to help facilitate the arrangements as well as build excitement leading up to the event.

1. Check out the Viewer's Guide, available in multiple languages on USANAtoday.com (or in English here) and see when USANA's teams/athletes will be competing.
2. Create a Facebook Event for your viewing party and invite away.
   

3. Order your Team USANA logo gear for the big night. Why not order a few extra BlenderBottles® or beanies to give away as prizes throughout the party?
4. If your viewing party is centered on, say, a US Speedskating event, be sure to mention how USANA's been the team's official supplier of nutritional supplements since 1999. Oh, and throw in how the team's all-around coach, Derek Parra, won a gold medal in the 2002 Winter Games and is a strong supporter of USANA.
5. Tweet a few times during the party. Take a group photo and post it to Twitpic for your followers to see (don't forget to use the #TeamUSANA hash tag so we can see it and re-tweet).
   
6. Be careful to not turn the party into a sales-y business meeting. Keep it an informal get-together where there may be casual conversation about USANA.
   

Other ideas...

• Keep up with the Games so you always have an appropriate Facebook status or tweet ready to go.
  
• Link to third-party news stories about USANA-sponsored teams and athletes on your Facebook page. They'll be written about a lot over the next few weeks.
  
• Post the latest What's Up, USANA? blog to your Facebook page, adding your own personal comment about how cool it was to watch USANA's athletes compete. We'll have some special guest-bloggers on the ground in Vancouver who will add extra oomph to the posts.
  
• Re-tweet information from @USANAinc (or send your own tweet, making sure to use the #TeamUSANA hash tag).
  

After the Games
Whew! What an amazing two weeks. Congratulations to all the athletes who represented USANA so admirably! That's a feeble attempt at creating a Facebook status update for immediately following the Games.

You'll do better, but my point is to let your social network know how USANA's athletes did competing against the world's best. Chances are a few of the names will be well-known, providing even more credibility and wow-factor. I'm sure we'll have medal counts, a recap, etc. to which you can link and share.

Also, consider directing folks to the athletes section of USANA.com. It explains exactly why USANA is the choice for many world-class athletes.

Obviously these are just a few thoughts and I'm sure there are plenty of other great ideas out there. How are you planning to use social media to generate excitement during the Games? Please feel free to post your ideas in the comments.

Go Team USANA!

Please let us know how you're using social media in your USANA business. If there are topics you'd like discussed in these Social Media Tip posts, feel free to send them our way and we'll do our best to incorporate them into future posts.

The mentioned athletes are either distributors or dedicated users who have received compensation for their partnership and/or complimentary USANA products.