Tag Archives: Conversations that matter

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How to Build A Social Media Audience By Creating Conversations that Matter (to them!)

I often work with clients who desperately want to increase their brand exposure in the social meda world and are stymied when it comes to understanding how to do it.

The very first thing I want you to realize, memorize, and repeat is this:

Without an audience I have no voice, no presence; no power

This means that your brand’s message does not even have the opportunity to touch people if you are not consistently generating more likes, awareness, and user engagement.

So how do you do that? 

If you are using the social web and want to increase your exposure than you must begin by building yourself an audience so that you may be seen, interacted with, and over time purchased from.  Here are a few steps I want you to consider before you go out seeking your audience.

Answering these will help you understand where to go to find your audience – yep, that’s right, in the beginning YOU find them… not the other way around.

  • STARTING CONVERSATIONS:  What “conversation” are you trying to create with users? It doesn’t matter if you are a writer, a consignment store owner, a sticker collector, a lawyer, or a stay-at-home mom- everyone who has a brand or voice is wanting to engage people in a particular “conversation” that is at the very heart of their passion or offering. 

For example:  If you are consignment store owner, the conversation you are wanting to create with your audience might be about:

How to be thrifty, stylish, and connected.

So what do they get out of it? ( always be thinking this way!)

  1. Learn how to cultivate an amazing wardrobe or furnish a house on a shoestring budget while Introducing newbies to all of the amazing ways consignment shopping can be used to enhance lifestyles while spending less.
  2. Be a part of a large and growing community of followers who love consignment shopping,  and become aware of resources that will offer you endless value! Post interesting products, updates, articles, how to’s, and other great ways to make their lives easier and more affordable without sacrificing style.
  3. Learn how to use various pieces/ styles and DIY ideas and tutorials that will give you a fresh look, and make you feel like a million bucks!

So… this is a conversation worth having for MANY consignment shoppers – right? You can see clearly- what’s in it for them.

ok, great… now… how do you begin to find them and start building?  For the purpose of example I’m just going to keep it simple and use two social media platforms but this will give you an idea of how to begin.

  • BEGIN WHERE YOU ARE:  Start by identifying social media platforms that make sense for your brand. For example;  Pinterest is a visual pin board where users can pin images and posts of their interests.  If you are a lawyer, this is not going to be a good investment of time for you because images are not the best expression of your profession.  If however, you are a consignment store wanting to “expose” an audience to your brand then Pinterest is a perfect place to begin.

Some potential pin boards might be:

  1. Vintage Style: (Pin all kinds of vintage style ideas so that women can begin to re-pin looks that you think are important or relevant for style) How to wear belts: Ok, raise your hand if you have no idea how to wear belts?  This is a great pinboard resource to have!
  2. Repurposed Furnishings –  Perhaps you don’t sell furniture  but it’s still a great resource for your audience because chances are if they enjoy consignment clothes shopping, they would also enjoy consignment furniture shopping.  REMEMBER: your goal is to be a resource to keep your brand top of mind, and to give your customers a sense of your own style, and offering.
  3. Repurpose Clothing: Show her how to update her style with a quick DIY tutorial.
shirt

Example: DYI Use mens dress shirt to update your cute summer style

  1. Blog posts: Pin posts that other bloggers have written about style, consignment shopping, special events, or promotions  (Begin searching on blogging platforms for style bloggers and using the dashboard pin download, you can pin almost any content you find to an existing board)
  2. Special Promotions Board:  Create a graphic coupon for $5.00 off in store – and pin it. This incentivizes users to follow the board so that they will be aware of seasonal promotions, coupons, or special events.

    coupon2

    Example: Pin a saving’s coupon with an expiration date to shop at your store or take advantage of a special service discount or offer.

As you fill your boards with interesting content and resources, you will find that as users “search” on things that interest them- your boards will now become available for them to “follow” – it’s wise at this point to begin searching on the same and finding individuals who have created pin boards that are aligned with your message or “conversation.”  Eventually as your following grows, you will find that your voice, and your ideas do as well.

Facebook- begin where you are; 

If you have an existing Facebook account, then try leveraging this existing audience by requesting that they “like” or follow your new business page.  You can do this on your facebook admin page through the toolbar where it says “Build Audience.”

It’s a two way street: One of the most difficult things for my clients to remember is that there are two sides to facebook:

- The side where you post on your own page
- The side where you comment on other business pages by “using your business page” to engage with like-minded businesses.

In addition to inviting people to follow and “like” you,  it’s critical that you search for local businesses to “like” that can help spread the word about you. As you work to develop a “familiar” online voice with them, you will find that they refer you or mention you in posts to their own audience.   Here are some other businesses you might want to search on and like, so that they might potentially help spread your “conversation”:

  • Local Chamber of Commerce, clothing stores, grocery stores, community centers, bakeries, etc. 
  • local and national style bloggers, DYI crafters, design/home decor companies, etc.  This is where you will find and share content with your own audience.

Mention a local business in your post by using the @ sign in the status bar, and this will hyper link their own page so that your audience can also like them, and so that the company you give the “shout out” to, might also respond in kind- introducing YOU to their own audience, further growing your audience base.

Stop Being so Selfish!:  I’m joking- i know you are not selfish, but all of us tend to be a little one-sided about our own needs so one way to really get attention is to truly help another business.

So, just like you have a conversation that matters to you, so do other businesses. Each time you engage with another company is an opportunity for you to help spread their message as well.  By taking a look at your local businesses perhaps you can find one aligned with your own message in some way.  For instance, perhaps you notice that Joe’s Bakery is posting about a special offering for every Tuesday that gives 20% off all baked goods. It’s likely to think their message of value and savings and good food would totally appeal to your audience, so you might target a message that piggybacks on Joe’s by offering a special announcement and tagging the bakery.

Now that you’ve generating more awareness and likes about who you are and what you offer, it’s time for you to think engagement.

  • KEEP THE CONVERSATION ALIVE!:  Each time you post, share, tag, or otherwise shout out on behalf of another business you must always be aware of how your audience is engaging with your brand. 

Always  acknowledge a comment by responding, and encouraging them to interact.  Get to know them, and try to learn more.

Users who engage with you are the exact people who usually become your ADVOCATES.

Advocates are the users who start to mention you, talk about you in social circles, and want to “share” your content with their own audience.

Like attracts like - and in the social media world, birds of a feather truly do flock together, which means that it’s likely that if a user “shares” your page with her friends, it’s because she has friends with the same or similar interests that will thank her for the introduction.

Building audience is critical for any brand, and is easy to do, once you get the hang of it.  Don’t get discouraged, and just continue to go back to the thrust of this post:

  • Start a conversation that matters to your customer
  • Create and share content that helps convey your message
  • Find other likeminded or local businesses to “like” and align with
  • Begin where you are and leverage existing audiences
  • Engage and keep the conversation alive, get to know users, and share content that your users will find useful and share worthy with their audiences
  • Don’t give up, this can take some time- it does not happen over night, but it sure can happen, and be incredibly effective.

For extra credit, or additional assistance, just email me if I can help you identify your unique conversation. As always please comment… I’m a junky. 

Revelation: The Bucket List

It’s so healthy to dream….

For a long time-  I forgot to dream.  I had structured my life to be so hectic and overwhelming that I was finding no time for dreaming… I had become quite cynical and resigned and started viewing dreams and aspirations as “having my head in the clouds”.

There was no room for possibility.  My life was to get up and work, do the check list of tasks, get the groceries, kids fed and clothed, car washed, calls made, errands done… exhausted and uninspired go to bed and sleep a dreamless sleep only to wake up and do it all over again.  Some insane machine inside of me was driving me to distraction- they were everywhere, and I let my life be managed by the chaos- living life as if it were a life sentence.

Making the decision to stop the madness and get to the root of my unhappiness has sent me on the journey of a lifetime.  I had to take inventory of all the aspects of my life that were making me miserable- all of the things that were getting in the way of my enthusiasm for life.   It took brutal honesty… and it was not without a tremendous amount of pain.

  1. I stopped drinking ( not forever, but for a period of one year) Everyday when I would come home from the hectic pace of my day ( Running my company) I would immediately open a bottle of un-wind and drink a few glasses.  I began to  replace the need to drink with a long walk at the end of the day and I’d listen to music or an inspiring pod-cast or book as I walked. This would get me just as relaxed and sleepy as the wine and so I found I was able to have more stamina at night- read to the kids, do some journaling… etc.
  2. Once the wine or alcohol was not there to take my discomfort away I was forced to BE with my emotions.  It took me a while to hone in on these because I had numbed myself.  Overtime I began to realize that I had a lot of undelivered communication in my life.  I had been withholding communication from my husband, my friends, my co-workers.  It was time to create conversations that would help shift my reality.. and so I did. Again, one of the most difficult things I had ever done.  Being honest about the state of my world and coming clean about the things I had done or not done to achieve the landfill I had before me was very difficult for everyone because It meant I’d have to talk about things that were happening ( and might have been happening for years) and open “Pandora’s Box” and as a result… relationships that were toxic or had become toxic either ended or transformed as a result of these conversations.
  3. I started journaling and writing more authentically.  I once believed that I could not be honest in my own writing! What if someone read the things I wrote? !!! I laugh now to think that I would write as if someone else might read it!  So i wrote everything… the pain, the joy, the regrets, the anger, the outrage.  Getting it out and on paper helped me to identify other things I wanted to shift.
  4.  I got myself a good therapist that my insurance covered and for $20.00 a week – she helped me talk through the things I wanted to change, and the emotions that trapped me.  She helped me look at modes of behavior that were no longer serving me, and helped me understand my unhappiness and even befriend it.  She recommended articles and books to read to help me along my path, and most importantly encouraged me to “dream.”  What’s that? I remember thinking… as I had no idea how to believe that a different reality was possible.
  5. I began to make small adjustments in my life ( and some very big ones) that would support me in living with more consciousness and compassion.  I started to actually take time for myself… pedicure, a walk along the water, a meeting with an old friend, a day trip…  talking about and sharing where I was at with the people around me I knew I could be safe with… without judgement (there were not many).

It’s been almost four years since, and on the one hand I can’t believe how long it’s taken to feel good again, and on the other I can really see how waiting any longer could have been incredibly detrimental to my health, my children’s wellbeing, my carrer , and most importantly my own sense of self.  When you have been unhappy over a long period of time it begins to become toxic to those around you.  Your self hatred turns to depression… no way to live.

I used to see people use the term “Bucket List” and I’d say… who needs one of those?  I get now that it’s like dreaming… being filled with inspiration to actually do things that are outside of your daily life and routine and are part of larger aspirations you have for your own life.  When you are filled with unhappiness and self loathing.. you can’t really achieve that.

So here I am Four years later realizing that there’s a lot of living to do! Things I want to experience and aspirations I want to have realized.   I’ve started my very own bucket list!

More to be revealed….