I had a lovely meeting with a lovely lady this week. We were talking about the need for a social media mentor – she’s in a great place for me, she knows that blogging and sharing is really important but needs a little help and encouragement in turning that knowledge into practice.
I know it works
I’m a little bit further along that journey. I’ve known the importance of blogging for years and I’ve been doing it on and off. For 2014 I decided to put more process into it and, so far, I’ve managed to write a blog every week. And I’ve found three new clients through those posts. How great is that?
But I hate the word
You see, that meeting in a little coffee shop in Whitstable was very different to one I had late last year in an office in Faversham. Bear with me here, I’m not just sprinkling keyword dust with these towns – there’s a perception that obviously people who meet in coffee shops in trendy, artsy places are going to be bloggers and that people who “have a real job” are not.
And the chap in Faversham said pretty much that – he saw blogging as the realm of the vain, egotistical and opinionated. He’d obviously read some of my other blogs.
He’s probably right in a lot of cases, but he’s being deceived by the word.
Blogging for business is about writing relevant, interesting content about your business regularly. If you call it a newsletter, a press release or an advertorial, it turns it round. That’s perfectly normal business practice.
Social Media is just another media
But it’s cheaper, faster, easier and more effective.
Don’t get caught up in the difference between social networking and social media – one is playing around on Facebook and Twitter all day, the other is promoting and growing your business.
And don’t get turned off by the terminology – the fancy words are for geeks like me, it’s the process and the return that is important for you.
I want to be your Social Media Mentor
No, this isn’t the ego taking over again. When I say social media mentor I don’t mean guru. I don’t know it all, I don’t do half as much some people out there. But I know what is working for me and I have loads of ideas to help other people.
By helping other people I actually help myself – it gives me ideas and it motivates me to practice what I preach. That doesn’t mean I’m going to do it for free, but the initial consultation fee is just a coffee and a bit of cake*… all you have to do is contact me.
* biscuits may be considered
