The Social Media Journey
It’s all about YOUR audience
Aug 25th
I am lucky enough to be involved and instrumental at the idea stage of social media strategies & campaigns for my clients. Laying the right foundation before venturing out with your brand online is crucial to your online success. By just having a Youtube, Twitter and Facebook account is not enough, they need to be used strategically as a way not only to communicate with your customers and prospects but also as a way to listen and learn from them.
Most companies nowadays have set up their social media accounts but do not seem to have much of a plan to get from A to B. When I start working with someone whether they have a social presence or not I like to take it right back to the beginning and ask these four very important questions;
- Who is your audience?
- Where are they?
- What are they saying and what do you want them to say about your brand?
- What will add value to them?
By asking these four questions it starts to make you think more strategically and wider about your social media output.
- Who is your audience?
Knowing who your audience is sounds obvious but have you honestly written it down and clearly defined who they are?
For example; Not only do I use social media as a way to connect with future clients but I also use it to stay connected, learn, collaborate, gain feedback and to also help others. So in effect I am not just tailoring my output to suit new prospects but to also start conversations to stay connected and to surround myself with people that give me good advice and feedback while producing content and giving my time to those who could learn from me. So I have a huge potential audience that I need to reach out to and touch and only then when I add value to them do they decide to join my network.
Even though most companies go online to build their brand and to drive new business they forget that their audience could also include sponsors, share holders, board members, fans and influencers. Gives you something to think about hey?
- Where are they?
Now you know who your audience is, you then need to find out where they are. You cannot always expect your customers to come to you or your website. You need to be a part of their conversation on their turf and provide them with information in the way they are willing to receive it. Once you know where people are talking and sharing you then need to build a consistent presence where people can rely on you to be there and to participate.
An analogy that I use when explaining this to people is; when you are fiends with someone you do not just pick and choose when you want to talk to them and how often and you certainty do not talk to them in corporate jargon. Its all about speaking the language that they understand while being consistent and being there for when they need you, in return you will attract loyalty and trust.
- What are they saying and what do you want them to say about your brand?
Spend sometime at first just observing from the sidelines and figure out where you can add value, help and advise. Take note of their language and what they talk about most. Listen to what they say about your brand or industry and ask yourself what would you like your customers, influencers and prospects to be saying about you?
- What will add value to them?
With knowing who your audience is, where they are, what they are saying about you and knowing what you would like your brand to be you now need to provide them with value and the tools that they need to do this.
Put yourself in every audience members shoes, If you was a customer, prospect, sponsor or fan what things would you like to hear and what would add value to you?
From there you can than decide what content you will produce and how you will communicate. You will understand the value of your audience and not see it a a channel to broadcast but as a medium to add value and listen. You can then come up with a flexible strategy that will give you the results you need to connect with your audience online that is not short lived but has longevity.
The worlds #1 Sucksess Guru
Aug 24th
Introducing Guru John Popolini; I witnessed GJP take to the stage at an event about 4 years ago and I knew right then and there that he was going to be the next big thing in Edutainment! At the same time I also meet his agent Steve Trister who has had quite a journey to say the least with the worlds #1 Sucksess Guru. In this blog you will hear from GJP where he will being sharing his Ultimate Sucksess Equation. Brace yourself (no pun intended!).
I’ll get straight to the point, because I can. Why? I hear you ask. Because my name is Guru John Popolini (GJP), the worlds #1 Sucksess Guru. The reason why GJP (thats ME) is a Guru, is because I had the genius to put the word in front of my name. Giving me instantaneous messiah-like status, “Guru” John Popolini.
Today I’ll be sharing with you my Ultimate Sucksess Equation (USE). When is use USE, I use it because it underpins everything I teach and stand for as a guru. I don’t expect you to understand the equation because for one, you are NOT a guru and two, you are living down No-Hoper Street right now. Only those who live in Sucksessville, can start to begin at the beginning to truly begin the understanding of what it means.
So here it is. Now take a deep breath and commit to your sucksess.
The Ultimate Sucksess Equation is …. SUCKSESS = SUCKSESS
I want to make it simple for you. Think of an an apple. The green fruity fruit. An apple = an apple. An apple has within it the seeds to grow an apple tree. The apple tree then produces more apples. Thatʼs how sucksess works! Sucksess has within it, the seeds to Sucksess. So when you succeed to seed the seeds of sucksess, you will grow a tree of success seeds, and your sucksessfulness, will grow in and out of proportion, to your seediness.
WOW, AMAZING, GENUIS….. are all the words you are thinking right now!
If you followed this one equation in your business, your personal life and your non-business/personal life, I guarantee and you have my GJP 100% guarantee on that (no guarantee) that you will become a richer (more money) and fuller (put on extra sucksess pounds) person.
The great news for you, is that I am coming to the United Kingdom of England for one night only. Monday 29th November is “Sucksessville 2010 - The Edutainment Event of the Year”. You NEED to be at this event, click here to buy your “Pass out of No-Hoper Street”
God Bless…….. ME
Guru John Popolini
Twitter – @GuruJPopolini
Check out my amazing Facebook page
Being yourself is more than enough
Aug 5th
I’ve always found it hard to hide my personality and for those of you who know me well you can probably understand why. As a young career woman and someone who has always wanted to be successful from an early age I was very aware that there was a ‘right’ way to conform in the business world.
I will never forget an interview that I had with a recruitment consultant called Ben who asked me to come into the office for a more formal interview before recommending me to his clients. We sat on a sofa (actually very informally) and I talked about my past experiences. We got along very well and even started to laugh about my achievements in sales previously where I was always top of the leader boards against a hundred salesmen. After giving it the large Ben then asked to see me in action, my heart sank as I’d actually not sold in a few years. He looked around the office till finally he set eyes on my oversized black bag. He said ‘sell me your bag’. The relief slowly washed over me as there was one thing I knew a lot about that was all things bags and shoes. My pitch went a little like this…
A black shiney timeless bag, never out of fashion and always unique. It goes with anything and everything and can be as little or as overstated as you wish with the right attire and a smile. Who would not want this bag?
Ben has since told me that this was one of the most memerable meetings of his career and he will never forget Becky who made him want to buy a man bag 
It has always shocked me that one of the main reasons an employer would hire me was that I always left a lasting impression by not only having the skills required for the role but I’d also fit in well with the other staff and would bring some well needed energy.
I was always known for energising the office and was highly motivated to achieve great things. I aspired to be the best and enjoyed some light hearted office banter along the way.
Because of my enthusiasm and obvious work ethics it was never long before I was ready to progress my career to the next level. As soon as I was mixing with more senior leaders I was no longer allowed to be me but a clone of all those around me. What had made me different from the rest before had now been stripped away and I was told if I wanted to progress I had to start acting tougher, staying later (I worked 12 hour days already) and to stop having so much fun.
Even though I worked hard and took my job very seriously I often found myself feeling very dissatisfied. I learnt very quickly that if I was not enjoying myself then I could not perform at my best. I was actually exhausted from pretending to love my job and pretending to be someone else. I was always chasing my next promotion and felt no real drive after a while from working pay cheque to pay cheque. In fact once the fun had left the building it was not long after that I followed.
I have always been lucky enough to understand where my strengths and weaknesses lay (after learning from experiences) and that in this case if I was no longer passionate or having fun then I was not going to be successful and achieve great things.
Feeling a little lost while slowly loosing my self-belief I started looking at successful business people around me whom I admired not just as a business professional but as a person as well. I was invited round for dinner with Penny and Thomas Power (owners and founders of www.Ecademy.com) and Penny said something to me over dinner that really struck a cord…
” Becky, being yourself is more than enough, you just have to find something that is right for you and makes you happy, follow your heart”
As cliche and poetic as it sounds I knew then and there that I was going to start my own business doing something I love and doing it as me.
Since then I have attracted some fantastic people into my life who like me just the way I am. I’m lucky enough to work with people who quite frankly I do not need to impress. I work with integrity, professionalism and still encompass all the great attributes that I have always had but I have re-acquired my right to be myself and that has not only made my new business start to flourish but has made me very happy.
Someone who I admire for being themselves is Brad Burton the MD of 4Networking which is the fastest growing networking group in the world. He is also the author of the book ‘Get Of Your Arse’ which I read in about 2 days as I could just not put it down.
Take a look at this video where Brad also shares his views on being yourself in business.
Brad does have the Marmite effect but I absolutely love him!
…but isn’t Social Media just Facebook?
Jul 21st
One of the most common and repetitive questions I get asked when I tell people what I do is “What is Social Media?”. I love nothing more than the challenge of converting someones thinking from “but isn’t that just Facebook?” to “Oh, we need Social Media for our business”.
So here is my secret formula (or my social media pitch) which when conveyed to a willing audience is done with passion and conviction, so make sure you have lots of that before testing this out on colleagues, friends and family members
Social media is being social using the power of media…. simples!
Social Media is all about real converstations, engagmnent and exchange of content online. It’s the likes of Facebook, Twitter and Youtube that enables us to have these conversations with real people in real time. This level of content sharing and online engagment is not only happening on these well known platforms, in fact it encompasses the whole of the WWW. as conversations are happening all over the world with no limits.
So what, why is that good for business??
I think everyone will agree that being able to offer a successful service or to make an amazing product starts by understanding your audience. Being able to understand prospects, customers and even inflencers in your industry is key to the success and longevity of any business so building the right brand is key.
As a consumer, being able to trust the brand or the person you are buying from or recommending is vital.
So how do companies build their brand online in front of the right audience or market?
Nowadays people like to talk to real people and not people stuck behind a companies brand who are full of corporate jargon. Social Media platforms have been designed to help users share, discuss and engage in real conversations with like minded people. By doing this you build real relationships which gives companies that use this in the right way the likeability factor. In turn this builds trust increasing their brand positively and awareness with their audience. Once a consumer trusts a company they are then far more likely to use, buy or recommend their services on to others and in the process tell other people online who know, like and trust them.
How do you get to this point where all your customers are saying lovely things about you and are buying lots of your products?
Well that comes down to being able to integrate social media in to your over-arching strategy and your ability as a person or company to build long-standing relationships.
To build a relationship with someone you need to be yourself, give out helpful advice when necessary and be able to listen. Using social media is no different. Being there for the person on the other side of the keyboard consistently and without the sales pitch agenda (and without talking about yourself all the time) means you will become better connected and they will naturally want to buy or recommend you. It’s all about building the right brand awareness for you and your company. Don’t forget, relationships do not happen over night this is something you have to work on and continue to offer value and support to them even when it looks like you are getting nothing in return.
After a while you will attract a network of people who like to listen to you and the advice that you give. They start to get to know you and like you and your network grows. You start to have your own online personality and tone of voice which is a reflection of the real you and the values of which your company upholds.
Ok, you now get how to build these relationships online but how do you leverage that to increase sales and build brand awareness on a wider scale?
Let’s say you launch a new product or service, you now have this wonderful pool of people who are your online network ready to listen to what you have to say. This is not to say everyone of your followers is going to buy from you or know the right person to pass on your details to. They are there because they have chosen to be and not becuase you have forced a letter through their door or sent an unwanted email that ends up hitting their spam folder.
Another way to leverage your social network of contacts is to get them involved with your ‘go to market’ strategy. Ask them what they would like you to produce as an offering, get their opinion and make them feel like they are a part of the journey with you and that you care about their opinions.
Times are changing, people are changing and the way business is being passed is also changing. We have entered into a world of connectedness and transparency and the old corporate way of marketing you and your business where people read from scripts and hard sell pitch just does not work anymore.
Use these fantastic online tools to your advantage, follow best practices and be free to be yourself. Have fun growing your online community and approch each action without an agenda. Feel free to meet people offline as well as online as this can only strengthen relationships and can open up a whole new world of opportunities. Build a strategy to incorporate your daily business activies in with your social networking and you will find that you end up with a better understanding of your customers, prospects and partners and they start to better understand you.
Imagination is key; the story of YO! Sushi, Simon Woodroffe
Jul 11th
I have heard Simon Woodroffe speak on many occasions and everytime I see him take to the stage I learn something new. At the ‘KPI’ day I was frantically writing down notes as his presentation provided so much value and was rich in content. It was also nice to learn a bit more about Simon’s journey and the highs and lows that he has experienced along the way.
Simon started his professional career by becoming a stage designer for rock shows and Live Aid after leaving school at the age of 16. With wanting more out of life Simon purchased the Tony Robins DVD box set (worth £200 at the time) to find another path in life. After completing the course he found himself completely motivated and decided to make a tape for his walkman with all his goals on and decided to go for a run. At the time Simon could usually run no more than a mile but on this day with his goals playing over and over again Simon ran the whole way around Hyde Park. The feeling of achievement was so powerful that it nearly brought Simon to tears and taught him that you can do anything as it’s all in the power of the mind.
With his drive to succeed Simon decided it was time to kick start his business idea of a revolving sushi bar (originally with girls in black PVC miniskirts) without any start-up capital. Conveyorbelt Japanese food has been going since the 1960’s but had never made the migration to Europe. Simon Woodroffe started YO! Sushi in 1997 and despite its popularity he was heavily in debt. Woodroffe went to his largest supplier and asked them for extended terms to pay off his debt and sat down with the CEO with a belief and some ignorance in terms of the seriousness of this meeting. He said that he had large corporate sponsors backing the restaurant such as BA and Sony but in fact they had only ever donated a very small amount. Simon jokes that he had put their company logo in the shop window as stickers to give him some credibility and it worked as he did manage to get the money needed and make the deal with the supply chain. Over the moon Simon decided that he was going to go out and have a few drinks to celebrate. On his way home and slightly worse for wear he decided to go to a ATM machine and see if the money had gone in to is account. He queued up in an orderly fashion waited his turn. Once he had got to the front and with a small queue still behind him Simon typed in all his details and waited for his bank balance to appear, when it did, with all the zeros and more money than Simon had ever seen in his life he turned to the guy behind and said ‘cop a look at this, if someone ever tells you that money does not make you happy then they are lying”.
Simon Woodroffe went on to open many other YO!Sushi chains and even appeared as a ‘Dragon’ in series one of Dragons’ Den. He has now launched a number of hotels under the Yo!Hotel Brand and received an OBE on 17 June 2006.
I like Simon’s openness, honesty and wiliness to share his story. He is real and inspirational and proves that stepping far enough out of your comfort zone where you are forced to swim can pay off in big ways. As well as learning about Simons Journey I also picked up some great business tips.
My top 10 tips from Simon Woodroffe
- Do something you are passionate about
- Make sure you surround yourself with ‘like minded’ people. You learn more from those around you
- You will get alot of rejection when in business so make sure you go out and ‘hit the rejection target’ as this will not only build character but it will also provide you will more opportunities and increased likelihood of reward.
- Put yourself in the customer’s shoes. You really need to understand the customer experience to be successful. People that fail to take themselves out of the mix often miss things and end up disconnected from their audience.
- You need to create the WOW factor, make people start talking about you by being different
- Figure out what you are good at then spend 90% of your time doing it.
- Being able to let go of the ‘power’ in your business is the hardest thing but will be the making of your business if you chose and trust the right person.
- There is never a good time to start a business, it’s only right when you’re ready
- You have to just believe all is going to be OK. At the end of the day you still have family and friends
- People buy from people not only that they like but who believe in themselves
Simon put alot of his success down to having a great imagination and believes his lack of education where he could not see the process meant he took more risks. Fear can actually be a very good diver and the emotion of starting a business for most serial entrepreneurs is addictive.
