Building relationships online - an interview with Rebecca Stanisic

I've been trying to do a lot more video this year and this week I tried a new type - the interview video!  

Rebecca Stanisic, from A Little Bit of Momsense and RebeccaStanisic.com agreed to let me ask her about how she has successfully built relationships online.

Rebecca started online with a personal blog and has since not only successfully monetized her blog, she also acts as a brand ambassador for several companies and helps other companies manage their social media.

As someone I have personally witnessed have so much success building relationships online, she was the perfect person to sit down and chat with.

If you enjoyed this video, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel and to like the video, as well as leave a comment here or on the video! Let us know what you have found works well for building relationships online.

What is your content worth to your audience?

How often do you like a page or follow a brand because a friend (or friend of a friend) has recommended/liked it? Or because you like to support local businesses? I do this a lot, as evidenced by the 1,007 likes I have on my personal Facebook profile. The same goes for businesses using Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. I connect with businesses on every platform.

However, I see that many businesses don’t understand how to engage or add value to their audience. Here are three ways to tell how your audience (potential customers!) will receive what you have to say.

1) The Value Test

Put yourself in their shoes : Imagine you are the customer and you are following your business. Would you want to read what you’re sharing? How is it solving a problem or offering helpful advice/tips? 

2) The Engagement Test

What is your call to action? Do you include some opening for your audience to respond? Is the content you’re sharing something your customer will want to share with friends/followers?

3) The Sell Test

Social media is about building relationships. By adding value and engaging, you begin to establish a rapport. That rapport leads to a relationship and can ultimately lead to referrals and sales. Start with a sales pitch and you’ll lose your audience fast.

The Bottom Line

Social media isn’t a magic bullet that will solve all your marketing worries. It takes time, effort and careful attention to get results. Put in the time and don’t resort to shortcuts.

What else would you say to a business whose content needs a value boost?

It's all about them: Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)

Karen and I recently went to Las Vegas and attended New Media Expo.  

One of the themes that came up over and over again was that it’s really all about your customer, not about you.  By providing value to your audience, they are going to value you. Customers who truly value you spead your word for you. 

I’ve been noticing a lot of great examples of people, businesses and bands who have been doing a great job of this.  I want to highlight a bit about who they are what they’ve been doing as a series to demonstrate the power and beauty of putting your audience first.

Dana White - UFC

Dana White is the President of Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).  He and his partners bought the dying business in the early 2000s and in the last ten + years have turned it into a success beyond imagining.

At the core of their success is their belief that they couldn’t be where they are without the fans. Dana White, as president, always makes sure the fans are well taken care of - and a lot of the time, he takes care of them personally!

Twitter

White takes the time to talk to his fans directly on Twitter, with no apologies for his opinions or language.  (Granted, given his industry, there is certainly something to be said for the fact that his audience would accept this a lot more than many others would.)  But either way, what he does that is so important is that he is consistently authentic with his audience. 

Not only can you see that @danawhite is a regular user of twitter, you can see he engages with the fans on a regular basis.  He is known for giving away tickets and prizes on twitter, and always having a team in place to monitor what is being said on Twitter, especially during a fight.

There were two especially notable examples of the kind of above and beyond that he exemplies. 

Oops!

What happens if you accidentally tweet out your cell phone number? If you’re Dana White, you own the mistake and you ANSWER THE PHONE.  

What could have been an incredible blunder ended up being really great publicity because White was willing to take the time to talk to the fans.  He took calls and answered questions and the popularity of that actually caused him to do it again, though not with his actual personal cell phone number again. :)

What happens if unhappy fans are tweeting about their seats at a fight? If you’re Dana White and you realize a group of seats ended up blocked by equipment giving the fans a really bad view of the fight - you immediately send people to move that entire group of people to new seats.  Better seats.

Creating the best online experience for fans possible

UFC livestreams fights from their Facebook page, they let (encourage!) the fighters to be on Twitter engaging with the fans and Dana White vlogs, giving his fans a great view into behind the scenes of UFC.  They are willing to go above and beyond to stay on top of new technologies and give their fans the best experience they can. There are apps, there’s an online community - they are everywhere they can be.

I may not be a fighting fan, but I’m a huge fan of how they operate! Check out a bit of what they do and leave me a comment telling me what you think, and if you know of any businesses that go above and beyond to build relationships with their fans the way that UFC does.