Aren’t you tired of reading the same old social media tips?
Something like this…
- 5 ways to get more comments.
- 10 ways to get more comments on Twitter.
- Or how about, 21 ways to get more comments and increase your twitter following at the same time.
Allow me to curl up in the fetal position and wave a white flag.
Social media is a great thing and it has no doubt changed the way businesses run and people operate. But we’re living in an increasingly noisy online world where around every corner a new blog pops up offering tips to maximize your social media experience.
Do the tips work? Some do, but most don’t. Why? Because there’s always more pieces that go into making a full pie.
Tips aside, there’s one thing that without a shadow of a doubt social media truly is.
Social media, the ultimate ice breaker?
Social media is the ultimate icebreaker. Not convinced? Here’s a real world example.
Let me take you back in time.
When I was a social media and blogging fledgling (Yes I’m a Star Wars fan), I ran into this blog called the Hustler’s Notebook. The blog was all about personal development and self-branding written in a way that resonated with me. It instantly became one of my favorite blogs to read and engage with.
JK Allen, the blogger turned published author turned entrepreneur, did an amazing job of developing a great community around the topics he covered. His posts often received 100’s of comments and he had a nice following on Twitter.
Needless to say, he was someone I wanted to learn from.
I started commenting and his posts (all of his posts). I’ll be honest with you, I first started commenting to build up links, but that soon faded into an “I have to comment because the post is so damn good” type of commenting mentality.
And No I didn’t leave the famous “great post!” type of comment. I left comments (my own as well as responding to other people’s comments) that gave value and built conversation.
I then started engaging with him on Twitter. After months of engaging on Twitter he had a good idea about who I was (vice versa) at least on the digital frontier.
And then the true power of social media reared its head.
One day, I received a tweet from him asking me where I was from (it was published on my Twitter profile). I let him know and low and behold he grew up in the same area that I was from and still had family living close by. This was around Christmas time and in fact he and his wife and kids were heading to California for the holidays.
I jumped at the chance to do an in person meet.
We set up a day to meet and to make a long story short, I met his wife and kids at a local Starbucks. We chatted for quite awhile about different projects each of us were working on.
As I’m writing this, we still keep in touch and do regular Google+ hangouts to catch up and bounce ideas off one another.
I tell you this story because it shows you the power of social media. If you look at it as a way to actually build relationships, you unlock its true power.
If it wasn’t for social, chances are I would’ve never met JK.
What’s next? Now, it’s time to show you how to leverage social to build relationships.
Social Icebreaking
In a series of posts here at under30ceo, I’ll be exploring two networks (from my own experiences) that are ideal for breaking the ice and taking the online to the offline.
Two networks that will build up your personal brand and make face-to face encounters a bit easier. As an aspiring entrepreneur, veteran entrepreneur, CEO, or person looking for that extra oomph in business this type of networking is important for your success
One more thing…
It’s important to take actionable steps, so after every post I will give you steps you should take as soon as you get done reading.
To start things off, here’s your first task:
Say this out loud: I (insert your first name), promise myself that I will take action and not read this series of posts just because it’s new content. I will use the advice given here to the best of my abilities and will celebrate small success.
Jeremy Brown is a self-proclaimed social media dissector and is the creator of the video game site, Varoonix. Throughout his digital life, he’s been a blog starting, entrepreneurial minded, social media junkie that may or may not need to go to a BA meeting (Blogaholic Anonymous).
