Posts Tagged "social media"

Walking the courageous path

Posted by Keith on Feb 2, 2012 in Social News | 4 comments

First of all what do I mean by the courageous path? Well let me say that this post was inspired by Hillman Curtis and a piece he wrote, you can find it here, in it he talks about leaving the path most people recognised him for and venturing down a new one, which was pretty scary to say the least as this guy, if you have never heard of him, is at the top of his game.

For some of us the courageous path never really presents its self or if it does it can be a very real disappointment in lots of different ways and on many levels.

If you have ever gone down the courageous path then you will relate to what I am going to share with you. If you haven’t, I am pretty sure you have but don’t realise it yet, you will identify with some parts of it!

Social Media Talk

Posted by Keith on Jan 18, 2012 in Events, Social News | 6 comments

First off thanks to everyone who made it today I hope that you all had a great time and got a lot out of it?

As I said throughout the talk I would finish off the post with some of the key points we discussed.

So here we go, no particular order, just as I remember them:

• Remember if you don’t try social media you will never know if it will work for your business or not?
• If your behind the sofa or reading this through your fingers, don’t worry a black van won’t appear outside your house and drag you off for putting an update on Twitter
• Don’t be afraid of negative comments, use them to make you and your business better, more efficient and ultimately stronger. They are out there so you might as well respond if you can

Being a Thought Leader, Guru or Expert

Posted by Keith on Nov 13, 2011 in Social News | 0 comments

It’s been a while since my last post but work has dictated this unfortunately, what am I saying, work is great, demanding but great!

Anyway I was looking through my Tweetdeck account the other day and was really surprised just how many “Social Media Experts” there are out there at the moment? Before I go any further this can relate to just about any expert, thought leader or guru in any field!

They seem to be like daffodils in the spring, everywhere!

Now don’t get me wrong I think it’s great that people and businesses are embracing social media in a big way and quite quickly given how long this medium has been around but I asked myself how can people learn all this so quickly to try and sustain a business when it’s clear they have or have had other jobs and skills and then try and sell it on to other businesses?

Let’s face it not all businesses are the same and they dictate different needs for different scenarios so you have to be prepared and ready for anything when introducing social media into a business.

Experience is the key to selling your services as this is the main component when a client decides to take you on, so if you have been a bus driver, nothing wrong with bus drivers by the way, for the past ten years and taken up social media in the last twelve months or so then chances are you will be playing catch up with the rest of the ‘experts’ out there.

Now I am not saying for one minute that it isn’t the case and that people cannot learn this stuff in record time but when a prospective client looks at their website and more importantly their bio, more often than not they will ‘pass’ when they see the length of time they have been offering social media as a service.

So is it the case that they don’t state how long they have been involved in social media and wing it? Well they can but I wouldn’t advocate it as they can become unstuck very quickly and find themselves back on the buses quicker than you can say ‘Blakey”!

So what can the newbie do? Well there are two things, there are loads of things actually but I will concentrate on two of the main ones for now:

• They can battle on and learn as much as possible in a short a space of time hoping that someone will hire them, and they will, maybe just not quick enough to sustain a business. The other problem with this scenario is that while they are learning chances are they are not earning, especially if this is their full time job!
• A much safer way of gaining that all important experience is to partner with a design company or agency where there will be a steady stream of work that they can get involved in? This will allow them ‘find their feet’ while they are still learning? Chances are the company in question will not have the relevant skills and their addition might just be the key ingredient. Plus their chances of earning a crust are greatly improved and I think it’s always better to work with others while they are learning as lots of ideas are floating around making it very inspirational and motivating.
• I know I said I would only give two but here’s a free one. What do they charge for their services? This can be a little daunting for the newbie, do they charge what everyone else is charging or do they work out their own rate? Decisions, decisions, its never as easy as you think?

It seems that a good many ‘new experts’ retweet up to 70% of other people’s stuff on a daily basis, nothing wrong with retweeting, I do it myself if I find something interesting enough, but if you are going to sell your services as an expert then the majority of thoughts, help and advice have to be ‘your’ thoughts and ideas on how to use and get the best out of social media and not someone else’s as its very easy run out of ideas and more importantly credibility as they are not seen as original. If you are not original then what’s the point?

So please don’t take this as a ‘dig’ at new social media experts, its not meant that way. But if you are starting out take this as the first bit of advice for the start of your journey and hopefully you will have a sustainable business giving fantastic help and advice to other businesses who will be glad to exchange money for your knowledge.

The follow up post to this will have a little more meat on the bones on how does the ‘newbie’ become a social media expert, thought leader or guru so they will get hired? I just need to dust off some of the stuff I learned years ago, yes most of it is still relevant today

Photo credit: Meet the Media Guru

Creating ‘Sticky’ Content – Part One

Posted by Keith on Sep 16, 2011 in Blogging, Tribes | 0 comments

So how do you connect with your Tribe and keep them coming back to your blog time and again? Sticky Content!

It’s a simple term but most bloggers get it wrong and do you know why? Well first off most blog posts are just too long, I don’t know about you but after a few paragraphs they have lost me if I don’t find it resonates with me and it takes a lot to get me back.

Small can be best and keep it engaging and in your voice, by that I mean it must come from you, the idea might have started somewhere else but the story must be yours.

Here’s an example of what I mean:

I was walking through town the other morning on the way to the office, I had picked up my coffee and was just taking in a beautiful warm sunny morning when a guy came up to and said “You used to be at school with me in Pillar house”, our school was in sections back then, and he continued on with his story reminiscing about what we used to get up to before I even had the chance to tell him that he was at least two years below me a school and we were in totally different houses, I was in Ulpha!

This didn’t matter one bit because what it did do was build up an instant connection, bond, rapport, whatever you like to call it. We ended up talking as if we had known each other for years and in fact we did have a connection, we went to the same school and we did know some of the same people.

What this proves is that people will come to you, they do want to listen to what you have to say, so use social media in the same way and build up your connections.

Here are a few of my thoughts on achieving this:

Use your voice – this is easy to say but really difficult to achieve, sometimes when I write a new blog post and send it out to my Tribe, sometimes I will get an email or a comment to say something along these lines. “Keith before you get to the ‘meat and tatties’, tell me something nice first, I want to hear about you and what you are up to and then tell me about your service”. The point is remember you are speaking to real people, this isn’t just selling, this is selling to friends, your Tribe, so treat them with the respect they deserve and NEVER take them for granted.

It’s Not About YOU!

Remember when writing you blog post its about your Tribe, NOT you! Yeah I know sometimes you have to give them what they need but the rule should be them and always use inclusive language that everyone gets.

Tell Stories:

We all have experiences, stories to tell, and these must be used in your writing. Tell them about your challenges and your fears as your Tribe can relate to this, as they will probably have the same challenges and fears themselves. This will engage your readers and have them coming back for more.

You Tribe are a fickle bunch and keeping them happy is a fulltime job but once you have that connection, that bond this lays the foundation to build a fantastic and long lasting relationship where they will love your content and services this will keep them coming back for more.

Over the next few weeks I will be adding to this post and will give you some great tips and thoughts on how to keep your Tribe happy and coming back for more.

Remember we are conditioned to take content is small chunks so keep it that way.

photo credit: chatirygirl

Goal Setting and why you should!

Posted by Keith on Jul 14, 2011 in Social News | 0 comments

Why should you set a goal or goals? Well this can be the first pitfall, don’t set too many goals or you probably won’t reach any of them!

Why set a goal? - Set a goal to give you focus, to avoid frustration, and I think most of all, to understand why you’re blogging and using Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Is it to keep in touch with friends? Is it to promote your business? Or is it to build a reputation of expertise? Goal-setting is always explorations of purpose, so take the time to explore don’t rush this part or you will lose focus on what it is you want to achieve.

What goal should I set? - Don’t be stuck with the thought that the only the numbers matter and the number of readers, followers, friends, subscribers, and viewers you can get is what counts, it doesn’t. How about connect and chat with a new person every day or writing a great article for your blog every week are worthwhile goals to set yourself.