Category Archives: Social media

There is life beyond the scroll

Attempting to white-knuckle the task of beating the algorithms to stop or slow down your use of social media is doomed to failure.

The facts are clear if you think about it.

These mammoth tech businesses have armies of the brightest minds working against you as their business model.

Their job is to hijack your attention and keep you coming back for more, over and over again. And they do it so well.

The attention on Instagram, for example, and the seemingly non-stop growth of that attention, transcending age, gender, and social barriers, is off the chain.

Willpower alone is not enough. The algorithms are too strong, too smart, too skilled at keeping you fixated. Our psychological weaknesses as humans are being exploited.

To overcome the alogorithms and move on with a full life, cut them out.

Delete the apps from your device to eliminate that instant fix from your phone.

Reclaim that 2 to 5 to 15 to 50 minute block that you’d spend scrolling inside the app, using it for something practical instead.

Challenge yourself to make this change work. Your mental health and your ability to be productive will thank you later.

Scrolling away productivity: how social media is eating away your day

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Scrolling is a death spiral. Anything you’re working on disappears from your mind. The plot gets lost.

All that replaces the work is someone else’s life or a product you don’t need. Those best bits of the lives of others, served up in that never-ending fire hose of content.

We all get blasted by it. Anyone who says they haven’t – they can deal with it, it’s under control – is not being truthful. It’s like being on a water slide. All that can stop you once you take off is the smash into the pool at the bottom.

The remorse after any amount of time spent scrolling is hard to take. I put Instagram back on my phone about one month ago. Already I can feel its hooks are firmly embedded. I’m in, posting a little and consuming a lot, just they way they like it.

And, boy, do those five minute blocks add up. Between YouTube and Instagram I’m averaging nine hours a week. The waste of that amount of time is tangible. It’s painful to see the facts, whatever level of control I imagine I have.

The challenge is to now do something about it.

Take your own audit of how the scroll affects you. The results might spur you on to some positive changes. If you can go from consuming to producing content, for example, putting those scrolling hours to good use, things could be different.

The benefits of showing up online

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Social Media is responsible for all of the worst things that happen in the world today – or so you would think if you pay attention to the news media.

The truth is quite the opposite in many cases.

There will always be those who hide behind their keyboards and spread hatred from the relative safety of their sofa. These are also the people who think that spamming is a clever and profitable way to spend their time.

I’m more interested in the positives of Social Media and feel there are many. Here are a couple, specifically based on a mini project I’ve been doing daily on Facebook:

Firstly, you develop confidence from learning new skills.

Writers have to work harder at brevity, keeping posts short but effective at the same time. Artists and photographers have to work out new ways to stand out from the crowd.

Lawyers also ask me how they can demonstrate to their clients how they solve problems rather than tell everyone how amazing they are (their favourite thing in the world).

Next, you can make new connections and build an important new kind of network.

Being part of old school face-to-face networking groups has its place. Being part of a fun, fast-moving and thriving Facebook Group can be just as good, if not better.

The connections and friends you make in these Groups online can carry over into real life, too.

Not everyone behind a keyboard is a weirdo. Talk to them and work it out for yourself.

And, finally, the more you show up, the better things will be overall.

I’ve been making a Monday to Friday Facebook Live called ‘Showing Up’ for my community and I’ve had some interesting feedback.

It has started conversations, created a few discussions and plenty of laughter.

It’s also helped me to reconnect with a few old contacts who tend to stalk more than participate.

But, most importantly, it’s got me to spend more time in a place where I wasn’t giving my best and that’s important for me. I’m an expert in this stuff and I always need to be at the sharp edge.

Is your main message clear?

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I’m constantly looking people up online to find out what they’re all about. I might want their help, want to work with them, or just want to see who they are and what they do.

Half the time, I see what I want and don’t have to scroll too far. But the other half can be terribly frustrating.

How clear is your main message?

When people land on your profile (and you’re in business, whatever that might be) they need to be able to work out quickly and easily what you do and how to work with you.

If they have to dive deep, click through a couple of pages and do a tonne of scrolling to work out what you’re about, the chances of them moving to another page are high.

Signposts work really well.

Some sites have ‘who are you and what do you want?’ buttons right there on the front page. They can be confronting but they make it easy for the user to find what they want. This is what matters most – it’s all about the user.

Even profiles on places like LinkedIn matter when it comes to this.

Use the headline and the ‘about’ info to make it clear how you can help people and you’ll get better results.

Be specific and do it with purpose and the enquiries you get will be from the right people.

What would I do if I was a retailer today

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The post-coronavirus world is starting to take shape. Here in Australia, shops are reopening and cafes and bars are now allowing 50 people inside. There is still the danger of a resurgence of the virus but we have no incoming travellers without a quarantine period and this seems to be doing its job well.

Retailers have been hit hard these last ten weeks. Here are a few of my ideas for them to boost their businesses and use free online platforms and tools to get it done.

The steps for retailers in the post-Corona world

Firstly, their Social Media profiles need to be put to work. Posts should be daily with offers for new customers and special offers for existing customers. All profiles should be checked over to make sure contact details and ‘about’ sections are up to date and on point.

Facebook Messenger is the ideal way to deliver offers online with high engagement levels – 80% open and 40% click-through rates – and I would be working to build my own chatbot to automate customer service as a minimum.

I would hire a comedic writer to create funny blog posts with a true sense of humour to increase the attention on my posts. Two funny posts on top of the offers content would work well. The funny writing should also be used to email my existing customers once a week to keep them engaged and updated.

I would use Instagram/Facebook Stories and TikTok to create video content every day. All of the attention is on video right now and I would use it to attract new followers and highlight the daily offer.

Every Saturday and Sunday would be ‘bring a friend’ day and there would be a voucher for everyone who turns up for them to use on another visit based on liking the Facebook page and subscribing to the chatbot.

And finally, I would say my prayers every night and be thankful that I’m still in business while many have already gone.

Write for one person

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The phrase, “Everyone’s a potential client”, was quoted to me last week and I immediately replied, “To those who don’t know how to sell”. All the evidence I have at my disposal from a few years of sales is that you can’t sell successfully to everyone, even if you think it’s possible.

Write for one person

Writing to an audience of one makes your content so much clearer. Your messages don’t become a fog of phrases attempting to catch everyone’s eye. You start to write as if you’re in a conversation and the writing becomes more readable as a result.

If you get to know the person you’re writing to, you can also tailor your message to be as helpful to them as possible. If you know what they find hard and what they enjoy the most, you can serve their interests and immediately become more useful to them.

I write my weekly emails to a person I’ll call ‘Malcolm’. He’s a small business owner and a solopreneur. He’s had a mixed background in both corporate life and the arts and the business he now runs is focussed on training people in a very particular skill. We’ve also done some work together, both as clients of the other.

When I write each email, I ask myself if this is something Malcolm would find useful. I also think back to the conversations we have had and aim to add to those conversations through each email. And when I add a sales message to the email or a call-to-action, I always consider if the offer is something Malcolm would find interesting.

Think about how this concept applies to you and the messages you send out. Who’s your Malcolm?

Share your best stuff

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There is fear around when it comes to sharing your ’secrets’. The stuff you do that gets results. The best stuff you have to offer.

I often hear from clients, “oh, there’s no way we can put that out there.”

My reply is always a challenge to this.

It comes down to time.

I’ve spent four years now creating content about my subject, Social Media. If someone took the time to watch my hundreds of videos on Facebook and YouTube, my daily LinkedIn posts and articles, and signed up for my weekly-ish email, they wouldn’t need to work with me because everything I know is in this content.

It’s all out there because I want potential clients to see the best from me.

The tips I’ve shared, the advice I’ve given and the stories I’ve told about experiences with clients is out there and it’s all free.

And the reason why it doesn’t cause me any problems is that my work is saving my clients that magic ingredient we all have not enough of – time.

The content is giving people a taste and I want this taste to be something they want more of.

I want them to get a practical tip, work on it themselves and get success from it. I’m then ‘top-of-mind’ as the person that helped them out and solved a problem for them.

And when they want more help, the chances of them coming to me are much, much greater.

They don’t have time to do it themselves and the work we do saves them lots of it. They also don’t have time to review everything that’s out there already from me.

When they see a post and it’s something really helpful and useful, rather than something I’ve just dialled in to make sure I’m showing up, it will be remembered.

And then when they need more, they’ll pick up the phone.

Play the long game

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The news headlines showcasing Trump’s latest tweet or the acquisition of another firm by Facebook can take us away from the reality of Social Media for brands everywhere – it’s all about people and it takes time to make real connections.

When I talk to business owners they often want to know how to use Social Media platforms to get maximum attention on their brand in the shortest time possible.

They’re looking for their revenue to rise off the back of a couple of quickly written posts with a magical call-to-action in the final paragraph.

Yet we all can agree it’s true that a conversation is where you get to know someone better, and you won’t get to know anyone at all unless you have a conversation with them in the first place.

That’s why my answer to them is that they have to see Social Media as a long game.

It’s a game that involves as many conversations with your connections online as possible in order to build trust in your brand before generating sales.

This not only answers their question, it also embeds the true sense of what Social Media is all about – making connections with real people at scale over time, creating trust in the brand and building a loyal base of followers who buy your products and services.

Our job is to do this for our clients every day. And, if you’re marketing for a brand, it’s your job, too.

What I want a Social Media Expert to know and do in 2020

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Here’s a list that could work well as a checklist when looking to hire someone to help with Social Media for your business.

There are a lot of people offering Social Media services because it’s a ‘hot’ sector right now.

Businesses that traditionally don’t play in this space – web and graphic designers, for example – are adding it to their list of things they can do to help you, but beware.

Some are amazing and have tremendous skills and experience, but there are a vast number who should be avoided at all costs.

Here’s the list:

Their own Social Media profiles are excellent examples.
They show up frequently creating helpful, informative content.
They are not ‘post and disappear’ merchants – they engage online and do it all the time.
They are on the main platforms – Facebook, Instagram, Twitter (yes, Twitter), LinkedIn and YouTube – and have live platforms with content posted in the last few days.
They do the work themselves rather than offshoring it to keep the costs down.
They have decent numbers of followers because they have been online and creating content for a long time.
They use a mix of content – writing, video, audio and images.
They have excellent testimonials and recommendations (Facebook, LinkedIn and Google especially)
They value their skills and charge appropriately. (If prices seem cheap, the services usually are, too.)
They don’t claim to know ‘everything’ on any specific subject.
They can help to identify ideal clients and position brands the right way.
They know the difference between a blog and a website.
They know how to listen online and spot key trends.
They understand how to interpret data and use it to improve results, especially on websites and working with written copy.
They have basic how-to knowledge as well as strategic ability.
They’re not afraid to make public predictions about where Social Media is going.

I’m sure there are more things but this is a good plcae to start.

Please use this list as a guide and add to it wherever you like. Also, let me know where you think I may be wrong and leave a comment. Thank you!

How fast does Social Media deliver results?

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I get asked a lot by clients about how long it will take for Social Media to ‘work’. In most cases, this is roughly translated as ‘how fast will it make me money?’.

The golden age of online influencers and cheap Facebook and Google ads are long gone. The days where you could buy a keyword on Google for pennies on the dollar and then run ads against it for days are also nothing but stories we tell ourselves as marketers to remind us of those halcyon days.

It’s a lot tougher today in a world where attention online is the holy grail and those who have it are extremely reluctant to give it up.

Today It’s about making a wider set of strategies work. Engagement with potential customers one-to-one works well once trust is built and the rewards for this are huge if you can stick at it for long time periods.

Let’s pick this last sentence apart a litte to make the point here…

Engagement

It rules the day online. ‘Post and disappear’ is so over and those still practicing social media this way are the ones to avoid. Have you ever sent an email to an info@ inbox and then never hear back? This is the ‘post and disappear’ crew at work in their natural habitat – set-and-forget.

One-to-one

This is the world of messaging apps. Facebook has its own, Messenger, and it’s a real killer for increasing open rates and click throughs, e.g. how effective your marketing is. LinkedIn, Instagram and everyone else also give us these tools to play with and this is the way we love to interact today as humans. Even Google has a messaging service for businesses to receive messages straight from customers in ‘search’ mode, so it’s now a must-have.

Trust

This is where the winners win big and the losers stick to leaving piles of leaflets in coffee shops and running small ads in newspapers and magazines nobody reads. Trust is built up over time and it comes through giving huge value to your audience in all of your content. If you can give your followers a practical tip that will help them make more money or save time, trust will come. We at Fit For Social spend all of our time doing this as a brand every single day for all of our clients.

Long time periods

Here’s the big ‘punch in the face’ for those who want quick returns with no real effort: it takes time and effort. In some cases, there is little reward or payoff directly attributable to your social media content for months and months. Miss out any of the pieces of the puzzle I’ve just broken down above and the clock will keep ticking. Audiences are testing brand promises made online every day and if your brand makes any it can’t keep or rushes too quickly to the sale, it’s a black mark. These black marks can also add up fast. The switch back to someone we already trust, or who’s engaged with us multiple times through Messenger or email with an offer or special deal, takes place in seconds.

It’s a long game. The stories of quick cash and big things happening in a matter of hours or days are definitely out there, but be wary of how much work has gone into it behind the scenes and how it can translate to a business like yours before you put it to the test.

Those who understand what it takes are clear on this and are reaping the rewards after they’ve ticked all the right boxes for their customers over months and years. If you can adopt this mindset and are willing to knuckle down and do the work, your customers will thank you in all the ways you’re looking for when the time is right.

Practical Steps To Bounce Back From Lockdown

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We can’t avoid the problems that this COVID-19 situiation is causing for us all around the world and the pain of the families of those who have died or are suffering at this moment can’t be understated.

Taking a few practical steps to stay active, physically and mentally, right now is a good place to start if you’re feeling significant stress or have lost your source of income, for example.

But there are also some specific things that you can do in this period to come out on the other side of it in a strong position, especially when it comes to your business or your own personal brand online.

Show up

Do everything you can to help those around you in your online community in whatever form that takes. Zoom calls, Facebook messages, phone calls, whatever. As much action spent on this in the coming weeks will be remembered by those who needed a pick-me-up or a happy face on the other end of the line.

Posting helpful tips and advice to your community also makes a lot of sense. Demonstrate your expertise and the depth of your skills and experience as much as you can.

Work on your profiles.

Take some time to audit every profile you have online today. Does it accurately reflect who you are and what you do? If it’s LinkedIn, are your contact details correct? Do you need an updated profile pic? Go through every one you have and make sure they’re all tip top.

Self improvement

It’s a great time to do some learning. Courses from top universities around the world are free on sites like Coursera so take the first step and sign up for something that can take your skills to a new level. And if you are looking to make a career change or have hit a roadblock in your career, this is the time to road test a few new subjects.

We will all come out of this process in a different way, but be sure to do all that you can to move yourself forwards during this time and keep a positive frame of mind. Let’s hope it’s resolved soon enough!

How clear is your main message?

Stop making noise

The steps for retailers in the post-Corona world

Write for one person

Engagement

One-to-one

Trust

Long time periods

Show up

Work on your profiles.

Self improvement