(Steve Holmes)
Firstly, just a little bit of background, my Dad has been involved in an Australian service club called Kiwanis for over 40 years, and yes I have admired the many friendships he has developed over this time, many are his best mates.
I have also been inspired by a Financial Adviser called Graham and seen him develop a very successful career over 15 years through his association with a club. I recall the day Graham started as an adviser and the day he retired, but on the day he retired, I asked Graham how did you achieve this level of success? He replied that he attributed his success to the people he met in his club. But Graham said, “I never asked for a cent.
When I heard that I story I started to get an appreciation for what had occurred.
Members of that club got to know Graham as a person, much like the mechanic or the plumber in the club. They also got to like Graham, and he developed a trusted relationship. People are smart, they soon work out what you do without the need of having to tell them over and over, for Graham the relationship was now backed by trust and the rest is history.
The know, like & trust journey, is the establishment of your personal brand.
Why does it sound so simple?
In a service club or a charitable organisation we naturally adopt a mindset that we are there to help and to add value to the people around us, with social media we are often told that it is something we need to do, so we get involved and start publishing content. Can you pick the difference?
We can certainly miss a few important steps, can’t we? So why should people care about what we are saying? Or why should people care about what we are posting as content? Importantly, how do we attract an audience?
The simple answer is remembering how you attracted friends in the past.
On any particular day, one of your friends might ask you to come along to service club, which certainly happened more years ago than it does now. Having said that you decide to go, and you rock up not knowing anyone apart from your mate.
Over the course of the night you might have a drink and get introduced to one another person, then share a meal, and you happen to sit at a table of 4-6 others, so your network of conversation is now starting to expand, much like it does with social media.
But it goes further than this doesn’t, over a period of getting to know your fellow members you eventually get to know all the people in your club to a point where you may even step up and take a leadership role, like being the president of the club.
Becoming a leader
Here’s where you get to shine because you are now more visible in the way that you offer your help and expertise. There is now a level of respect established, and members are getting to know you even more about you, like you, and trust you.
Can you see where I am going with this? Being a leader on social media is simply wanting to help others and taking a leadership role within your community.
In many service clubs once you become a President you start to network with other clubs and their leaders, once again expanding your reach or value nationally or even to international communities.
If the conversations you were having were all about you and you were taking no interest in what anyone else has to say, your new friends would get pretty tired of your company.
I am pretty sure we have all been on the receiving end of conversations like that, and we all know how we felt. So, I challenge you to think this way about social media and even help others, because they simply may not know what they are doing wrong.
Social media tips:
- Be yourself: use your voice and personality
- Select 1-2 platforms and do them well
- Be regular: daily or weekly
- Start conversations: share with a comment or question
- Business to business marketing: decision makers are people too
- Be transparent: but take the issue offline
Happy sharing 🙂
Steve Holmes
