Tips
15 Tips and Howto’s to Empower your Social Media Career
15 Tips and Howto’s to Empower your Social Media Career
1. Hang out!
Meet people outside the Social Web. You’ll engage with them by meeting them personally in real-life. This is goal of Social Media. isn’t it?
2. Be an entrepreneur
Start things, try, fail, make things happen, make business, set up social media initiatives, create needs, anticipate trends, trust in your gut…
3. Screw it, let’s do it!
Life spent wishing is life wasted
4. Manage your Social Media Time (idea by ChrisBrogan)
In order to engage, connect and interact with the community, you need to set up a social media policy, which allows you to manage your social media time, not for the sake of your time, but for creating the perfect relationship between the community and you.
- Reading/listening: Spend 2/4 of your time reading and listening blogs, posts, updates, comments and so on…you’ll have a full understanding of what’s going on in your community, not to mention learning, thus gain insights and expand your knowledge, which is always great!
- 1/4 Commenting: How do we expect people connect with us if we don’t reciprocate? We just expect comment from other people, but what about themselves? If we do so we’ll build a trust-based relationship with our audience and suddenly, we’ll realize that we’ve influencers and “high value partners”
- 1/4 Creating: And the last one, create content, your content is important and is also essential to get you known – I’m not talking about quality and relevancy, we assume that – but at the end is auto-promotion, so my advice is promote your content 1 time for 20 times you promote others’ content.
5. WOM is your best friend
Nowadays, the WOM is the best marketing ever. The good news? In Social Media he’s our best friend, let’s see how we can make an effective use of him…
6. Social Media World
Offer social media platforms to collect feedback and at the same time-sharing and interacting.
7. Learn to say thank you
Say it! Do it publicly and please, customize your message, avoid mass untargeted messages.
8. Connect!
Connect your audience, create your tribe, start with a small group of people first. It’s a hard and slow process, it requires consistency, transparency charisma and imagination. But, let me tell you, that when you start seeing the results, it’s worth to make this effort.
As SethGodin says, you don’t need a keyboard to lead, you just need the desire to make something happen.
9. Network
Hell, yes! We’ve not talked about it yet! Build a network, join social media associations or communities as Social Media Today, Social Media Marketing, word of mouth marketing association, third tribe marketing, mashable, techcrunch, adictos al social media, social mediopolis, life hacker or inbound marketing to name a few.
In all this groups, there’s a great amount of information exchange about social media and other related subjects. These are fantastic places to get in touch with what’s hot in social media, upcoming trends, but also to connect and engage with other professionals, enthusiasts and even businesses. Here, in Social Media, the opportunity has no name!
10. Breakeven point
Find you breakeven point – between professional and personal life. Establish beforehand which platforms are going to be for professional use and which ones for a more personal and private use – if you think you may have – In my case, I use Facebook for chilling, bragging, whining and so on with my people, I like to know what are they up to. I’m afraid, but unless I know someone who had me as a friend, I’m not going to friend her/him. However, they can always find you on LinkedIn, Twitter, foursquare, blogs…Does it make sense?
11. Multi-task
Be ready for being a multitask, owning your own Social Media brand, working as a freelance for big agencies, setting up synergies for collaborating in bigger projects, working for big brand, travelling, giving business talks, teaching Social media classes, posting regularly, commenting every single interaction, helping out others, having friends, family and even girlfriend/boyfriend…It’s OK to have 30 or 40 windows opened, it’s OK to have 100 passwords, is ok following and managing 10 communities, is Ok Posting each day in 5 or 8 blogs…at the end you are a Social Media Rockstar, right?
12. Always IN
Forget vacations, I said that because with Social Media you always should be on the top of the wave, doesn’t matter if it’s with a laptop or with a smart phone, always IN
13. Plan for failure
As we said before we’re on the gates to a new world, so there’s a lot to discover, learn and win. Nevertheless, as we don’t know what’s going to happen, you’d better have a plan B, C D and even E. Have always a contingency plan.
14. Your Spark
Everybody has a spark, if we take it from the foundation that we’re all different, and we won’t find another person identical to us. Then, as everybody has something that makes her/him unique – call it the Spark – You’ve one, Did you find it? Yes? How would you apply it? Is your Spark the ability to connect with people? To be open-minded? Catalyst for change? Heretic? Leader? Think about how you can use your Spark to boost your Social Media rock star Career…
15. Attitude
Did it mention before? A strong willing attitude for being remarkable, following your dreams or make a difference are sings that you are a social media rock star and if not, no worries, you can learn them, nobody is born being social media rock star.
You
What’s your opinion? What other tips would you add to the list? What’s left?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 1 so far )40 Tips on Social Media for personal branding
Let’s move on, and talk about how we can boost our brand – either personal or business – using social media. I’ve gathered some powerful concepts that I’ve learned through this all this years. It’s been showed that they have worked for people really well – and hope for you too…I’m going to give you 40 tips for empower your brand using social media.
40 tips on Social Media for Personal Branding
- Be authentic: Each of us is completely different from the other, don’t communicate in lousy and boring way, don’t settle for good enough and do it for the best, be what you really want to be without imitate others. Sure you know how, right?
- Your identity: Did you find it? Nice now Stick with it everyday of your life!
- Share: Share, share…Sharing what can be from interest of others – It shouldn’t need to be your content, but others’ – will grant you with a respected voice that people will listen. Consequently, your public will start to see you as an authority in your field.
- It’s not about you: Not about me, neither about us, It’s about them…give them the voice, be empathic, try to focus on what they want form their own approach, not yours. Suddenly, everything changes! Surprise?
- Be Friendly: Think that every interaction give you the opportunity of being remarkable, how would you act?
- Start local: Before attempting to be the king of your country, try to be the king of your own place! Do you get the idea?
- Always practice the golden rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”, easy, isn’t?
- Realign yourself: Be what you want people see. Align yourself and don’t lose a single opportunity to market yourself!If I would like to hire you and we’ll see each other everyday, how would you act?
- You are the same: Transparency, probably the most important characteristic, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in front of the laptop or not, think in it as an extension of you. The more human you are, the more people will follow you.
- Never quit: Really? Don’t be everything for everybody, quit what doesn’t make you happy – and what doesn’t give you any money – You’ll say, what about what you said before? Stick with it and don’t quit! It can work sometimes, but…Do you remember the macho-man saying: “Winners never quit!” Screw it! “Winners quit all the time. They just quit the right stuff at the right time”
- Best Marketing ever: Your crowd, they have more power and influence than our brand, difficult to understand, but essential to assume. If you want to use them, you’ll get disappointed, instead they’ll use you, best thing to do, join, melt down and team up with them.
- We can do it: Attitude, there’s no bad skills, but bad attitudes, remember that people see you as you are – even if you are behind the networks – the only way we truly engage with people is having the right attitude
- No Sales pitches: If you do that at first sight and with everybody, you’re dead man! The first step is engaging, after they’ll come to you, if they see us interesting, of course, they’ll buy from us.
- Build Credibility: Build a relationship, be interesting, listen, support your people, help them, talk with them, share with them and you’ll have it!
- You’d better take a seat: It’s gonna be a long journey, it doesn’t mean that because its social media it is going to grow faster – bigger yes – but not faster.
- Focus on make a different in your community: Understand your community, know what they want and focus on what they expect from you – and what not – Do all of this, without asking nothing in return and before they’ll ask you. if you make a difference in their life you’ll be indispensable, and you know what it means, right?
- Set up your goals: short/mid/long-term goals as a strategy plan
- Coolhunter-trendstter: You should know what’s going on in your industry…What or Who Will Continue to Shape our Social Media World? The faster, the better…
- Privacy: be careful, Privacy is unbreakable, for them: don’t spam others with your messages, even if you think they’re interested in…for you: take this game seriously and think of you as a brand, keep what should be private, in private – forget permissions and control what people publish and say about you. If it’s not public why do you publish it? Think in how what you do in Social Media can impact on others – and on you –
- Keep your profiles consistent; Customize your profiles and updates to align with the values and uses of each social media platform – but at the same time, keep up a common theme through
- You are the brand: It’s hard to build a reputation if you keep changing, If you don’t switch your personality from time to time, why should your brand do it?
- you are your brand: And as you’ve grown up and developed skills, traits and abilities through the years, your brand requires a similar kind of development.
- Help: Help help help, no matter if it requires some time (not all your time) it will pay off for sure, you’ll have your reward
- Human Relations: remember, It’s all about human relations. Connecting in an honest way can bring in new supporters for your product or brand.
- Commitment; Everyone talks about passion, but commitment takes into account, if you’re committed you’ll success or at least you’ll will be respected and trust by the audience,
- The brand called you: Be consistent with the tone and approach, so all your profiles feel like you. Don’t forget people use social media to connect with a real person. Develop an identity you’re not only proud, but also you can stand behind.
- Be human: Think about the image you want to present. We use to act one way around in different situations, with the boss, our girlfriend, our best friends…even if we’re the same person.
- Productivity: Set a time to focus on your community, plan and put your efforts on keeping a regularity.
- Give: Create stuff that interest others and give it for free, it’s the first step to gain visibility and exposure
- Take care of yourself: Be aware about what people say about you. As you use monitoring tools for your clients, use them for you too!
- Reputation: Your reputation is built in what you do, what you get and how you get it. It’s important what people say about you, but more important is what you say about people.
- You’re not: Don’t try to be everywhere, realign the social media platforms with your strategy and goals
- Know your community: Know who is your audience and give your tribe what they want from you differently in each platform. Customize their need according with the target.
- Listen: In order to be understood, understand them first, truly understand them! Listen what they have – and want – to say, perhaps you’ll find that isn’t what you thought it was…
- Expectations: Clarify what you expect from your audience. Remember that you’ve build credibility on them, so they trust in you, don’t fail them
- Don’t be a real pain in the ass: Hey! Give them a breath, give them time to digest your content, it doesn’t matter if you share, create or comment it. Build a logical timeline where you interact with them and give them plenty of time between interaction.
- SM platforms; Identify each social platform, know its target and look for the ones that best meets your needs, then set up goals and milestones for each of them
- Leverage: This is about leverage! People can help you to get you known, but they’re busy. If you want to make a great start, I’ll recommend you listening and commenting their posts
- Dislike: Honestly, not everyone is going to like you. You’d better accept it.
- Shut up and do it: Social Media takes commitment and so doing a little often is a better way of getting results and not showing up sometimes. Remember: if you only show up some of the time, what does that say about you?
Does it makes sense? What other tips would you add to the list?
What Twitter can Do for your Small Business
[tweetmeme source=”Israel_Garcia”]
I recently talked about the suitability of twitter for every message/event/channel in a UK forum, saying that Twitter isn’t a tool or platform, but a communication medium, which has the power to create conversation instead of the typical “noise”, leverage millions of people with just 140 characters and all this in real-time. Therefore, if we find our audience, create relevant content, adapt it to them and finally shipping, and delivering it properly.
Nevertheless, what I missed – and Jonathan N reminded me in Social Media Today’s LinkedIn group – is that Twitter seems to have a lot of benefit in helping businesses reach out for finding customers. And as he said, it is an adventure too! – heck, let’s explore it! – There’s no doubt, that Twitter will be suitable for every form of communication we intend. If you are still thinking what twitter can do for your small business, here I you’ve a brilliant post from P2W2 series by Chaitanya. It talks about what Twitter can do for your small business and gives you plenty of examples of how does it.
Isra García - Human Media Beyond Social Media 