#6 What I learned at summer camp

This past week I went to summer camp for grownups - more specifically for, "Makers, Entrepreneurs and World Shakers."

It was held at a kids' summer camp with all the summer camp experiences - arts and crafts, cabins (there were 12 lovely women in mine) without heat, cafeteria meals, bonfires and talent shows. 

It was amazing. I had such a wonderful time. I met incredible people and I came home feeling changed, for the better.

In this week's podcast I highlight some of the things that really struck me at camp. Things that aren't directly related to social media, but that apply to how we need to think about our businesses as a whole and how we deal with our communities and messages.

Find your community

Marsha Shandur of Yes Yes Marsha and I

I've talked about the importance of figuring out who your audience is and the need to be willing to niche yourself, but more than ever camp reminded me just how amazing it can be when you really and truly find a community that is tied together by joint values.

When you let yourself create a space that is not for everyone, then the people it IS for feel even more comfortable and connected to you. 

Create experience

While most campers started their day with Yoga and meditation I stuck to my coffee but sat reflecting on all that I was learning.

Knowing what you want people to feel and experience when it comes to you, your business, and the content you share is an important part of marketing and creating a great business.

Every moment that I was at camp I felt fully immersed in the experience they created for me. It was impressive and delightful. Speaking of which...

Delight

Jonathan Fields, who started the Good Life Project and spoke several times during camp inspired me more than I ever could have imagined. He endeavours to create delight and is entirely successful at it. 

It is my goal over the next year to create more delight in and with my business.

Harness your fear

Point 3 of Jonathan's 10 commandments is around fear and he said something that I will never forget. He asked people to think of what it feels like to have butterflies in your stomach when something scares you and then to imagine all that you could do if you could harness those butterflies.

That statement might have been the most impactful statement of the entire weekend. (I'm harnessing them right now as I share a drawing of the statement I made post camp.)

Going to sleep away camp for entrepreneurs was an epic experience for me. I learned a lot and I hope some of the thoughts I've shared from my trip help you too.

Links & additional resources

Camp GLP

Yes Yes Marsha - who I adore and you should follow her. Her claim to fame is that I was the first subscriber on her mailing list (no wait, I think that's my claim to fame, but yanno, I'm spinning it here)

Jonathan Fields talking about turning Fear Into Fuel in a Tedx talk

Social Media Simplified on iTunes

#5: What is live streaming all about and should you care?

Episode five is all about live streaming – the hottest tools out there, why you should be paying attention to them, and how to use them effectively for your business.

What live streaming tools are out there and what are they being used for?

1.    Meerkat is a mobile app that enables users to do live video streaming over the web service Twitter, sending video to their Twitter followers.

2.    Periscope a live video streaming app for your Smartphone developed by Twitter. It tweets out to your followers that you are live and your video is stored on the app for 24 hours so your followers can view it later.

Both Meerkat and Periscope are great for spontaneous, brief broadcasts.

3.    Blab: Used on a computer; multiple people can live stream at one time. Participants appear in a cubes and can interact with one another live on the air. Blab is a good alternative for Google Hangout, especially if it is recorded and fans are given a URL to view the recording later.

Blab is a great way to showcase various experts or conduct an interview style broadcast that is of interest to your audience.

4.    Facebook is introducing live streaming – this is currently only available for verified public figures right now, but it won’t be long before they are offering this service to everyone.

What is the value of live streaming for my business?

There is a lot of value in live streaming:

-       Easy to use

-       Informal information sharing

-       Feels genuine

-       Allows you to show things without having to create something fancy

-       People don’t expect professional level video quality

How can I use live streaming effectively?

Here are a few tips to make your live streaming experience a positive one:

1)   Let your audience know ahead of time that you are going to be broadcasting: Having your core audience in attendance is a great foundation in which to build a new audience especially because they are more inclined to participate if the broadcast is Q&A style.

2)   Create a broadcast that can be used again later: Download and save broadcasts that you feel will help your audience now and in the future. You can create templates for uploading Periscope videos to YouTube.

3)   Don’t get distracted by the 'hearts:' If Periscope is your tool of choice don’t get distracted by the hearts fluttering on the screen or the sometimes-inane comments that may appear. Focus on the questions that fuel your broadcast and if you miss something good that you catch in the replay, don’t worry about it – use it for a future broadcast!

Links & additional resources

Meerkat

Periscope

Twitter

Blab

Facebook live streaming

What is Periscope and why should I care?

Social Media Simplified on iTunes

#4: Should your business have a Facebook Page?

Episode four is all about why your business should have a Facebook page and I also share tips on how to make Facebook work for you!

Who is on Facebook?

Facebook has over one billion accounts and is the social network we hear about the most often. It may not be the right place for every business, but if you’re going to invest time and effort into a social network, Facebook is the best place to start because more than half of all Canadians online are on Facebook.

What is the difference between a Facebook profile and page?

Your Facebook profile is where you share personal thoughts and information with family and friends. Only an individual can have a Facebook account – not a business or company. A Facebook page is where people who want to come and get your business information and updates in their Facebook feed by hitting ‘like’. People who like your Facebook page can’t see your personal information – just what you post on your Facebook page.

How do I set up a Facebook page?

Setting up a Facebook page is easy. Simply visit: https://www.facebook.com/pages

• Choose your correct category; for small business choose “Local Business or Place”
   
• Fill out the pertinent information i.e. category, business name, etc. and once done click, “Get Started” and follow the step-by-step instructions.
   
• For questions and complete guidelines on how to set up a Facebook Page visit: https://www.facebook.com/page_guidelines.php

Facebook updates their guideline page frequently, so it’s a good link to save for future reference.

What are Facebook insights?

A Facebook page will give you extensive statistics that show you whether or not what you’re doing is working, which is necessary to know before deciding whether or not to keep investing time in certain activities.

Insights give you access to interesting information such as who ‘likes’ your page, where they are from, how old they are and what time of day people are viewing your page.

What are Facebook Groups and how are they different from pages?

Facebook groups are different than pages in that they are more like forums where everyone can participate and comment on a more equal footing.

Facebook groups are a great way to build community outside of your business page. They can also be great for committees or as a value add for clients, especially if you offer online courses.

Do I have to pay Facebook in order for my posts to be seen?

It used to be a lot easier for people to see your Facebook content, but over time this has changed. Why? Because of the sheer volume of content being posted. The average person has over 250 friends and follows 100 pages. There is simply too much content for people to see everything that is being posted.

The average percentage of fans who will see your posts is generally under 5%.

What is the Facebook algorithm?

Facebook’s algorithm is designed to make the Facebook experience as personalized as possible for every user. Their goal is to show you content that you want to see. The more you ‘like’ or comment on specific posts by pages or people the more likely you are to see more of that kind of content. The same works for what other people in your network are ‘liking’ on commenting on; you are more likely to see content that a lot of people are engaging with than other less-engaged with content.

How often should I post on Facebook?

At least daily, but if possible even more. Have a schedule and automate using themes and categories. What kind of content should I be posting on Facebook? Post or share content that provides value. For example, give your audience tips, recommend products, and share articles about successes. Engage with your audience by replying to comments as quickly as possible. Give value by educating, entertaining and empowering. Try different kinds of content until you find what works best for you and your audience.

Links mentioned in this post

How to create a Facebook Page

Facebook Page Guidelines

How to schedule your Facebook content

Lara Wellman Facebook Page

Social Media Simplified on iTunes

#3 Do you show up well online?

Episode three focuses on how people perceive you based on what you are putting online about yourself.

What is personal branding?

According to Wikipedia, you can define personal branding as the ongoing process of establishing a prescribed image or impression in the mind of others about an individual, group or organization. Personal branding often involves the application of one's name to various products.

Personal branding is important for someone whose business is built around his or her name, such as myself: Lara Wellman Digital Marketing. It is important to think about how my business, my business name and myself are interconnected.

Why is personal branding so important?

Whether or not your business name is the same as your personal name, you are still linked to your business’ reputation. People will Google your business and, more than likely, they will see your name attached to it. In the eyes of a client or customer, you are your business.

How do I find out my personal brand?

1)    Browse incognito: because browsers are designed to find content that is most relevant to you, if you Google yourself you are more likely to come up with more hits about yourself than someone else would, since your Browser knows you are interested in you. To prevent this you need to browse incognito, here’s a link to a tutorial to show you how on various web browsers: http://www.7tutorials.com/how-browse-web-incognito-all-big-browsers).

2)    Ask a friend: Ask a close friend to Google you and report back on what they find out about you. You may be surprised!.

At the end of both of these activities, take notes of what you find out about your personal brand. Is the information online telling people what they should know about you?

Create general guidelines for yourself and your business outlining what you want people to think about you and your business based on what is online. For example, are you okay with images of your children or other family members being online? What about complaints? Do you tend to post negative comments on Facebook or other website? Remember, those are searchable online and are representative of you and your business.

How do I make the right impression online?

What kind of information do you want people to find about you and is any of that missing? Fill those gaps! This means filling out your LinkedIn profile, and being cautious with personal posts on any social network. It's very important to think of anything you post online as having the potential of being seen by everyone. Think before you post!

This includes professional images – including headshots. If you are a professional and want people to take you seriously then a professional headshot will help you achieve this. Before you meet with a photographer think about what you want people to think about you when the see your professional headshot? Write down these keywords and bring them with you to your photo session. This will help ensure that your professional photos really speak to what you want people to see. Then keep this in mind with every photo you post – it’s okay to be fun and quirky if you are comfortable with people seeing that photo (now and in the future) and know it may connect with your audience somehow.

Remember, the more new, compelling and relevant information that you put out there, the more the old stuff will be slowly pushed down and out of Google search. So, create content that reinforces what you want people to know and think about you and then work to maintain and manage your personal brand online.

Links mentioned in this post + extra resources:

How to browse the web incognito: http://www.7tutorials.com/how-browse-web-incognito-all-big-browsers).

Blog post: Personal branding 

Blog post: How to make sure people know enough to want to connect with you

The carrot onesie :)

Episode 2: Twitter

Episode two focuses on the social media network, Twitter: how it works and whether or not your business should be using it.

What is Twitter?

According to Wikipedia, Twitter is defined as:

An online social networking service that enables users to send and read short 140-character messages called "tweets". Registered users can read and post tweets, but unregistered users can only read them. 

How does Twitter work?

Twitter users can share messages that are 140 characters in length. Users can also share images as well as videos up to 30-seconds long.

Basically, people follow your Twitter account, which means that the content you “tweet” gets pulled into their Twitter stream. Tweets show up in chronological order so the chances of people seeing your content depend on when they go online and if your content appeared (and was noticed by them) as they scrolled through their Twitter stream.

Some users follow a lot of people on Twitter, which means content moves quickly and depending on how many followers they have, people may miss content shared by the people they follow.

What makes Twitter a great tool for businesses?

Twitter is more than just telling people what you had for lunch. Conversations are a huge part of the magic of Twitter.

You find your audience and you have conversations with them. You can have conversations with people you never would have had the opportunity to have conversations with anywhere else and this not only includes your audience, but also thought leaders in your industry.

Twitter has amazing potential for relationship building – I’ve made great friends and have also found great clients through Twitter.

What is a Twitter handle?

A Twitter handle is the @ symbol followed by the person’s Twitter name i.e., my name is @larawellman. When you put someone’s Twitter handle in a tweet they will have that show up as a notification in their Twitter account.

What is a hashtag?

Hashtags are a great way to follow a conversation or event that is being tweeted about. People use the hashtag symbol “#” followed by the word, and when users search for a specific hashtag i.e., #SocialMediaSimplified every tweet that uses that hashtag appears in a list.

When should a hashtag be used?

If you’re having an event and you share a hashtag, people will start talking about your event using that hashtag. This is great because people start to follow each other, and it makes it easy to find other people who have similar interests.

To be a part of the conversation and to expand your following, you should be tweeting and paying attention to hashtags at events you’re at or events of interest to your audience.

More Twitter Tips

 Create lists

Once you find the right people to follow add them to a list, i.e., Lifestyle Bloggers. Put together a list of industry experts, businesses you support or want to help, and users you want to interact with. By creating these “channels” you make your time on Twitter more efficient.

Look at other people’s lists

To find out what lists a specific Twitter user is on go to their Twitter page. Right above their tweets you’ll see Tweets, Following, Followers, Favorites and Lists. Click on lists. You can also just go to twitter.com/username/lists. Once you’re on that page you’ll see the lists that person has created. Below their avatar on the left you can switch that to “member of” and then you’ll see all the lists that person has been added to.

From here click on the list and then on the left hand side under the name of the list click on “members.” You can now easily follow people from this list.

Don’t read it all

People have a tendency to think of Twitter as an Inbox. Instead you need to think of it more like the radio. Just pay attention to what you see while you’re there, but don’t be afraid to close it and return again later.

Use DMs for private messages

Don’t broadcast your personal information on Twitter, instead use the private DM (direct message) feature to share personal information. You can only DM someone who follows you.

Links mentioned in this post + extra resources:

Lara Wellman’s Twitter

Twitter Lists

Blog post: How to create Twitter lists

Blog post: Managing Twitter with lists

Episode 1: Instagram

The goal of the Social Media Simplified podcast is to introduce entrepreneurs to online tools that can grow their business. This episode focuses on Instagram. Instagram is an online tool that most small businesses should be using, but aren’t – yet. 

What is Instagram?

Instagram takes pictures and short 12-second videos and shares them on a variety of social networks including Tumblr, Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, and so on. 

People can like or comment on a photo or video shared on Instagram.

What makes Instagram different?

Unlike Twitter and Facebook, you cannot share or re-post Instagram content without using a third party app or physically copying and reposting.

It’s a visual social network with its own unique following. It’s a tool where you share images and tell a story.

What businesses should use Instagram?

If your audience is younger than 30, then your business should be on Instagram. Younger people are spending less time on Facebook since their parents and grandparents started joining it.

To determine if your audience is on Instagram simply ask them. Casually connect with them via Facebook, in person, on the phone or through e-mail marketing.

Visual businesses, such as florists, restaurant owners and artists – if you sell or produce a product then you should be on Instagram taking incredible pictures of that product.  

What do you share/post on Instagram? 

Think about what you want your customers to know and then figure out how you can capture and share beautiful images that support that message i.e., what you sell, how you can help, how you can give value.

If you have a blog, such as I do, (my blog is Kids in the capital), share things that relate to that blog. We share things such as what we’re making for our kids to eat, silly things they did, and craft ideas.

You want people to know what kind of products you produce and how they can be helpful. Share images of finished products and explain how they’re used. Instagram has a lot of space for accompanying content; so don’t feel like you can only write one sentence. 

Tell the story of your turn around times, exciting new launches, and include links to clients and celebrate their wins.

Instagram Tips

- Links in Instagram posts are not clickable, which is frustrating for business owners looking to link to a specific product or call-to-action. 

- Instead of having the link in your Instagram bio directing to the homepage of your website, change it whenever you want to direct people to a specific product or page. 

- Instagram isn’t about selling; it’s about sharing and building community.

- Use hashtags. Hastags are how people find new accounts and Instagram content to like and follow. Try at least 4-8 hashtags per post. Experiment and see what works best for your content. 

- Tag other people you think would be interested in your post. This works well with contests, i.e. tag a friend who would like a specific product, etc.

Links mentioned in this post:

Kids in the Capital

Lara Wellman’s Instagram

Kids in the Capital Instagram