10 Days to a New You (Social Media-wise)

It’s the time of year when we are all looking ahead at the months stretching in front of us and planning just what we do when.  Thoughts are already on booking holidays, bikini diets and sporting summers.  Likewise now is a great time to take a look at your Social Media (or consider it if you haven’t got anything going) and make some changes.

Here’s a simple 10 steps that can transform your Social Media, and they only need take a day each to get started.

1.  Create a Plan

It sounds simple, but it is the crucial 1^st step to improving your Social Media performance.  Take some time to consider what you want to happen in 2012.  Think about your target audience, top customers, your market, your competitors and what you want to achieve.  If you have existing Social Media channels review these, what have you done with them so far, how have they performed, what could you have improved, what lessons have you learnt.  Your plan for 2012 should be simple and most importantly take a realistic account of things like the time you will commit to Social Media in 2012 and how you want to measure your performance.

2.  Create a Knowledge Bank

However knowledgeable we are about our subject/business/hobby we still need a super source of information and expertise to fall back on.  By identifying key sources of fresh information on your market/area of expertise and doing simple things such as creating email folders, favourite bookmarks and any number of ‘notes’ systems.  Simple tools such as Google alerts can deliver daily feeds of information in all kinds of formats without you having to search.  Use these tools, create a knowledge bank and you will have a constant stream of fantastic information to help your Social Media efforts.

3.  Learn all about it

There are many tools of Social Media and though you won’t be expected to know how they all work intimately it is certainly in your interest to get to know the tools and how they work.  Take some time to learn how each one works individually, it will help you when you look back at the plan you made in step one.  One thing that may help with this is...

4.  Get Advice

Let’s face it there are now almost as many Social Media ‘experts’ out there as there are users of the tools.  This isn’t a bad thing, as many can ensure you get the results you need quicker and without the many mistakes they will have spent time making.  A good Social Media adviser will be able to simply outline the tools and consider your business objectives to direct you to the best tools for you.  LinkedIn isn’t going to bring your £1 stall thousands of sales a day, and equally Facebook may not suit your niche manufacturing consultancy.  What is crucial is that the experts give you the guidance/coaching you need to feel comfortable with Social Media.  In fact that is a great thought, find a Social Media coach not a know it all ‘Expert’.

5.  Who are You?

Your online persona is the single most important component in your Social Media.  Developing this persona is the starting point for all your subsequent activity.  That isn’t to say you need to suddenly become someone else.  However, there are degrees of yourself you can develop, show or not show and this will dictate the kind of messages/conversations you have.  People you interact will quickly get a feel of who you are and what you stand for.  So make some time to decide what it is you want this to be.  This may even follow the persona of your company brand.

6.  Be A Helpful You

It is vital that your online persona is you.  Social media carries transparency at it’s core, it thrives on real people having real interactions.  So interact, be genuine, be authentic and most importantly be helpful.  You will quickly find that other users of Social Media will be drawn to you if you are helpful, polite and genuine.  Your online persona is you, and people need to know there is a genuine person there behind the screen.

7.  Stand Out

Have you considered how your various Social Media sites look?  Have you got the standard template for your Twitter background?  Is your Facebook page just a boring old photo?  There are millions of users of social media and finding a way to stand out is tough.  However, there are ways to make your profile stand out that much more, or at least be memorable enough.  You should also look at ensuring a consistency across the various sites/tools.  People should know that it is you wherever they find you.

8.  Connect with the right people

The best way to get to know what works in your area of expertise is by finding leaders and key influencers in that same area.  Spend time searching for them, observing what they are talking about, how they are interacting.  Join in conversation where appropriate and before you know it you could be getting your own share of interactions.  Take time to research who the leaders and influencers are that will most benefit you or your business. It’s all well and good being followed by half of the local college, but just 1 influential follower more than beats 500 ‘messers’.

9.  Interact

Social Media is about interaction.  That means two things, the first is being interactive with your various networks.  Reply to tweets, comment on blogs (especially written by influencers), join discussions on LinkedIn, use hashtags, post questions, and if someone asks you a question give them an answer.  Secondly, look at even more interactive ways of communicating.  Try creating videos (vlogs), presentations on Slideshare, podcasts and webinars.  All of which create an even stronger bond between you and your network.

10. Get Publicity

We aren’t necessarily talking a PR campaign to promote your twitter feed.  All around the internet are many influential bloggers, media contacts and digital media writers.  Take some time to identify some of these people and think about how your business or a specific piece of news fits with them.  How can your expertise or company help people, or even better, make life easier for them to do their jobs.  Get writing articles, How To’s, blogs, press releases basically anything that shows off your expertise.  Having these to hand when a relevant issue breaks means you can swing into action before others.  Providing great quality means they’ll see you as a good person to know.  Also, think about how events impact on your area of expertise.  When a newsworthy event happens, be the first to react with a thoughtful piece.

There we have it, 10 simple steps to creating a more impressive social media presence.  Ok some of the steps may require a little longer than a day, but by making a start on each activity you will quickly find your social media presence improving.

Overcoming Writers Block on Your Blog; 3 Tips

What’s the first thing you did this morning when you switched your pc/laptop/tablet on?

I’m guessing you checked your emails.  Or at the very least scanned the total in your inbox to see by how many it had increased since yesterday (or earlier this morning if you were burning the midnight oil).  Am I wrong?
Ok, so if you didn’t check your emails I bet you went straight to your favourite website or some other ‘habitual’ place.  Don’t worry I’m not watching you, nor am I the new Derren Brown, it’s just something we all do.

Let me ask another question.  At some point over the last week how many times have you had an opinion about something?  Quite a number I would hazard a guess, and equally how many times have you thought ‘I should write that down’?  I have and I suspect I’m not alone in these thoughts.  I sometimes worry I’m having a seriously high number of ‘senior moments’ for someone in their thirties, such is frequency I forget what it is I was going to write.

However I’m beginning to realise that the reason for what I politely term ‘bloggers block’ (and impolitely harangue myself about) is more to do with the habits I’ve formed over years of working at a computer.

So some simple tips to overcome bloggers block and make a start on that company/personal blog you’ve always wanted to write:

Start your day different

We all need to check emails, after all it could be a new sale, a customer that wants a reply or 10% off at Krispy Kreme.  But how about for once, maybe only one day a week you (horror of horrors) switch your machine on and instead of going straight for the emails, you pause open Word or some other writing programme and get writing.  Don’t worry if you haven’t got a clear idea of your article, just the process of ‘brain dumping’ your thoughts on a subject can make things a whole lot clearer.

Get some inspiration

Sometimes you’ll have a fantastic idea on an article you want to write.  Other times you’ll know what you want to say, but you’re missing some bits.  Don’t despair, get the thoughts down you’ve had and then have a search round.  Try searching for your subject, check a couple of books, maybe send a tweet out and ask your followers their opinions on the subject.  Sometimes the very process of searching can be enough to formulate your article in a much more coherent way.

Fresh Air

It’s amazing how many times we have our best ideas when we don’t mean to.  Generally that means we are doing something else entirely.  Having a shower, working out, sat on the toilet or even having a bath (it worked for Archimedes) all seem to be favourites for eureka moments.  Rather than sitting at your machine, putting yourself under more and more pressure to get an article written, why not put your coat on and take a little stroll in the fresh air.  Even if it’s rotten weather, the process of concentrating on something entirely unrelated can get your subconscious creative juices flowing.  At the very least you’ll be getting away from your screen.

Writing a blog is a fantastic tool for promoting and growing your business, it is all about consistency and content.  Unfortunately we all get caught up in our work habits and forget that masterpiece of an article we wanted to write.

So to use some poetic licence on a programme I do remember from my youth I’m going to ‘Turn off my email and do something less boring instead’.  Why don’t you.

Teaching the Big Boys a Lesson

It isn’t often that Oldham Athletic could be considered able to teach the goliaths of Liverpool FC and Manchester United FC a lesson.  As many a teary-eyed watcher of the (now perennial) League One club will testify, they’ve done it on the pitch once or twice over the years.  Though many of those watchers will undoubtedly have more grey hair than most, indeed some will have even less hair than a pre-transplant Wayne Rooney it is that long ago. Certainly off the pitch the Latics have nothing to teach the giants of the English game, until now that is.

Sitting in a full Anfield on Friday night, the long suffering Oldham fans gave a performance that even outshone their hard-working heroes on the pitch.  Full of verve, songs and no little humour, the kind of humour football crowds at their best produce on a weekly basis.  The highlight being the singing of ‘What a waste of money’ to big money signing Andy Carroll who proceeded almost immediately to score for the 1^st time at Anfield this season with a fine finish.  Not to be put off, the fans immediately switched in a breath to ‘You’re still a waste of money’, to grins and giggles from around Anfield, even on the pitch.

At the other end of the ground it was a different story, with the Kop uncharacteristically quiet throughout the game.  Save of course for at least one individual who, minutes before Carroll’s scoring appearance, reduced Oldham defender Tom Adeyemi to tears with an alleged racist outburst.  It was a sad end to what had been up until the incident a good old-fashioned FA Cup tie. 

In the stands around the ground it was unclear what the holdup was for, but something had clearly happened between the young midfielder and a section of the crowd.

Coming so close to the Suarez affair, the man himself was in the posh seats on Friday night, it was clear the incident would grab the headlines.  Sure enough within minutes of the end of the game reports of statements being made and arrests were across the full spectrum of media.

It is not a position Oldham and their non-existent team of PR people find themselves in often, ever in fact.  Yet from those first post-match minutes to four days later the sleepy League One side has shown more sense, decency and maturity than either the reds of Liverpool or Manchester. 

Oldham as a club were quick to condem the action, there was no speculating, no mention of anything other than the fact that an incident had occurred and reported.  By ensuring the relevant parties were made aware of the incident, including Tom’s parent club Norwich, they gave Tom their public support.  In private, the club staff, his team mates and fans all rallied to Tom’s aid, showing him equally tremendous support.  By these actions alone, Tom knows he has the full backing of the club.

Liverpool’s PR machine also quickly leapt into action, rightly condemning any such action and delivering the reassurance that every effort and support would be made to investigate.  They followed this up with a more significant statement 3 days later to apologise to Adeyemi for the hurt he was caused, whatever the subsequent outcome of police action. 

Oldham, with a quiet dignity have since thanked Liverpool for their actions, and made it clear they hold the ‘fan’ and only them responsible.  Of course it is always easier to maintain such dignity when you are the ‘wronged’ party, but the way Oldham have handled the incident has been classy.

Contrast this with the debacle that followed the Suarez/Evra incident where certainly Liverpool and to an extent Manchester United have played on tribal divides and the historic rivalry between the clubs to exacerbate what was a sad incident.  Much has been spoken about the PR disaster that was the Suarez shirts at the Wigan game and subsequent comments.  In fact sadly some commentators have suggested the Adeyemi incident may have been sparked by the arrival of a team many Liverpool fans see as being from Manchester.  There were unsubstantiated rumours at one stage that the perpetrators against Adeyemi were wearing the same Suarez shirts.

Whatever the outcome of the Adeyemi incident, it is clear is that the Premiership giants could do a lot worse than take a leaf out of the PR playbook of a tiny League One team.  After all, getting these incidents sorted out and ultimately removed from the game should be the aim.  Quiet dignity after the event, but not during the event should be the mantra.  Adeyemi didn’t remain quiet during the event and for that he above anyone comes out of this with dignity. So maybe it’s time for to look beyond clubs and just do what needs to be done.

Mum...I'm in the paper!

So the power of social networking shows itself.  Just 48hrs after returning to this very blog and sending the update on my Twitter account (@simonbrooke) I've entered the world of social commentator.

Lancashire Business View magazine, top lancashire business publication read my latest posts and have now featured it on their e-bulletin update. To see a copy follow this link http://www.lancashirebusinessview.co.uk/news-details.htm?news_id=73 . 

This is a great example for one of the best lessons I've learned over the past 15months of being an entrepreneur...you are a trumpet so make sure you blow!  Ok, that is a little silly, but the old adage is certainly true, always blow your own trumpet, particularly in these tricky times.  And the other thing is - always say yes (ok maybe within reason).  It is amazing in this age of social media how quickly your voice can be heard and promoted. So don't be shy!  If you have done something, plan on doing something (that you can talk about - no revealing secrets early), or even have an feeling that something is 'good news' talk about it.  And don't think that you need expensive PR to do it, its promotion not a black art.  (though I should say at this point that professional PR are brilliant if used right - mwah pr bods x)

So tell your story, we need more good news stories - the more positive stories that are out there, the quicker we'll see us normal folk back on a natural high.

We learn so much from each other, from people we can relate to, people in our situation, people who provide us with a living example.  So why not be that example, then you'll be making the call 'Mum...I think I might be in the paper over there, can you go and get a copy please, no I don't know what it is we haven't put it out...put it on the fridge next to that finger painting from 1984'.