011 Focusing Only 1 Social Media Platform + When To Start A Podcast
In this livestream, we dive into why focusing on a single social media platform and knowing the right time to start a podcast can streamline your business efforts.
This episode covers the impact of choosing one social media platform to amplify your business reach without the overwhelm. Plus, find out if starting a podcast is the right step for your brand now or something to plan for down the road.
This presents an approach for business owners to streamline their digital marketing by focusing on one social media platform where their audience is most engaged. By channelling energy into the platform with the best potential reach, you reduce overwhelm and build consistency without spreading yourself too thin. The discussion highlights how even just a weekly post can create visibility and act as proof of your ongoing business activity.
Additionally, this episode explores podcasting as a long-term investment for businesses that have established their foundations. Rather than jumping into podcasting right away, listeners are encouraged to consider starting with guest spots or limited series, testing the waters while refining their voice and brand presence. If you’re ready to commit, give it a go—but don’t hesitate to make adjustments as you go. Whether you’re considering a podcast or sticking to social, remember: it’s about building relationships that lead to lasting connections.
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00:00 - Introduction to the livestream: Social media and podcasting focus
05:00 - Exploring the benefits of sticking to one social media platform
10:00 - Assessing your target market and finding the right platform
15:00 - The challenges of managing multiple social media platforms
20:00 - Deciding if a podcast is right for your business stage
25:00 - Building consistency across chosen platforms
30:00 - How podcasts can serve your brand long-term
35:00 - The benefits of a limited-series podcast
40:00 - Ways to build authority through podcasting and guest appearances
45:00 - When to transition from social media to a podcast
50:00 - Creating a content strategy that integrates social media and podcasting
55:00 - Wrap-up and key takeaways
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1:20
zo G'day, everyone and welcome to this week's video confidence connect with your host, Zoe wood, the video confidence coach, that's me. We are here to help you connect the dots between your personal brand and your video marketing here at the video confidence coach, you can watch this live stream, either live or hashtag replay on LinkedIn and YouTube. I'm looking to expand to other platforms, but we're kind of like scoping out the waters and see what people want or need. We are here at 10am Australian Easter standard time every single week, here is my weekly opportunity to help people strive and achieve and kick goals, essentially, with their marketing, especially their digital marketing. I do work very much with people who have personal brand and just want to grow their personal brand. But I also work with small business owners, particularly women and non binary folk who need to stand up and show up. I was about to say I almost went into a friend of mine's tagline, there, stand up, show up and be there. What I meant to say is, I am here to is a weekly opportunity to answer any comments for follow back to anyone who I have talked with during the week, saying like they've asked me a question and I haven't been able to get back to them. This is my hour as a chance to respond back. And I also take this opportunity to record a couple of podcast episodes, or essentially just an hour to answer any of your questions, and I think I said that multiple times now, Zo I might be a little bit tired. It's been a hell of a week, so we're going to get right into it. If you have any questions, comments or thoughts or topic ideas that you have for podcast or future live streams, make sure to comment below, and I'll respond to them either during the live or after. And you can find out more information about what we do at Vcc dot training. We are gearing that up, and that is going to be fully launched by the end of November, because I have people who are disappointed in me if I don't before I officially begin today's live stream, I would like to acknowledge and pay my respects to the wadawurrung people of the Kulin nation, the traditional custodians of the land in which I conduct my business, I pay my respects to their elders past and present, and I stand with the traditional custodians of these lands in working towards a more equal future. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to face discrimination and disadvantage due to our country's colonial past. I stand with them in their fight against injustice, always was, always will be Aboriginal land. And for today, what I like to do at the start of my live streams to give people a chance to log in and comment as we go through today, I'd like to just let you know what we've done this week at the video confidence coach. So this week was very much a busy professional week, but also a little bit of a busy personal week. So as some of you may know that last week, we had a Geelong podcasters event lined up for last Friday afternoon from one to 3pm at Cafe go. And unfortunately, I had to cancel it to focus on family and now that that matter is still going, but it is less pertinent, so I've got a little bit more time to actually focus on working in and on the business over this past week and continuing weeks forward. But in saying so, just because I canceled the October event, and thank you so much everyone for your well wishes and understanding. So it's not always going to happen, but that's why we have the contingency plan for just in case something like this comes up. I've got the flexibility to be able to inform people before they say, make their way into town or make their way from what they're doing to the event that, unfortunately I wasn't able to host that day. We have our following and last Geelong podcast is event on November 22 Friday, November 22 2024 wait when I say last, I don't mean last ever. I mean last for the year, last for the 2024 last one from the year on November 22 from one to 3pm at Cafe go, which is just on Bellarine Street, just in the Geelong CBD. So if you are able to make it, it would be awesome to see you there. And do not worry. We plan to host a numerous amount of events next year. We're just going to definitely, what's the word? We're definitely going to change stuff up. You'll definitely see a lot of if you are following or I, if you are a podcast, or even interested in podcasting, and you are in the Geelong and Bellerin region, which is where I'm located. And I do a lot of work networking and support and charity work down here in Geelong. So if you do see me, say hi, I'm very obvious. I'm a big blue bitch, as I have been called by even saw my clients positive or negative. Take it how you like. What I mean by that is so the Yeah, Geelong podcast is the last one for this year will be November 22 and then next year we're going to get a whole brand refresh. We are going to be gearing up for a couple of virtual events, essentially, very much dictated by what the group needs, or what the podcasters and potential podcasters in our group want to do and want to achieve, is what we're going to do our best to help them achieve. So if you have, if you are part of the group or want to join the group, you can find us everything. You can find all the details on VCC, dot training, slash, Geelong, dash, podcasters. Geelong, if you are unaware, is G, double, E, l, o, n and podcasters. So you can find all the information, including our Facebook and LinkedIn groups and email list and our regular weekly podcast to help you get on track with your podcast. So essentially, there's a whole thing on that side that we do at the video confidence coach. But other than that, we've had a very busy week. We attended, I think, session four or five with Donna Morrison of mentor my success, who is running the accidental Leaders Program. And this week, we discussed narcissists, and that was very interesting to see in a group of other leaders, and accidental leaders, as some of us are. It was very interesting to see that people didn't realize that Nas that narcissists were a thing, and there was a term for it. The reason that I bring that I bring that up is because I guess I'm just I've been in I've dealt with narcissists in my life, but I've also been in the leadership and people space. So it kind of feels like you're not on the internet, are you? So it was really nice to get their perspectives and get their feelings, and be able to put a lot in a lot of their feelings and past experiences into words, and then we were able to break down, how do you go about leading a narcissist? How do you go about essentially managing, but how do you go about leading or managing a narcissist within a space where you don't have control, not necessarily to get rid of them, but they're not going they're not going up. They're going down, if you catch my drift. I also attended a virtual networking event, so for all the ladies that I met there, hi, don't worry. I'm not going to poke and prod you too much. I've got a couple of questions that I will answer in today's live stream that were mentioned during that session. I've also went to my accountant. So if anyone is a small business owner in Australia, as a solo entrepreneur, was it called a sole trader. As a sole trader, you have got until May next year to get your previous financial year in order. My accountant would like to stress that it's better to do it earlier, but also, whenever you have time and money and the funds to get everything ready. I am fortunate enough to be out of state in my business, where I have a bookkeeper and an accountant, I see my accountant once a year. We have a nice chat, and my bookkeeper, I have a lot more contact with every month. And to be honest, when it comes to that part of my business is really, it is a really lifesaver. That was mainly one of the major stresses for my business. I could get the money in, but I couldn't manage it, or I couldn't, like, keep the thing, keep the track of things, so that the government would be happy with how things had gone. So thank you Glenn and thank you Roy, for all your hard work. Are ready for the next financial year that we are currently in, that we are definitely well in. So just a reminder for those who are in Australia and you have not put your tax return in, sorry, I have not done your tax or any of your accountancy highly recommend that you do. And if you need to reach out to me, and I'll put you in touch with people who don't cast judgment, they just help you get the work done, because that's what we need. And the last thing that I'm going to touch on before we move into the podcasting sessions today, but also just a little bit of a rant that I have in mind, so feel free to brace yourself for that one. I would like to ask a question for those who are watching or watching us in the replay, do want to hear or read about or see a breakdown of local Geelong networking groups. Now, of course, for those who are outside of our area, I apologize, a lot of my work, especially over the past couple of months, has been very Geelong ified, mainly just because I have been ramping up my efforts, not just with Geelong podcasters, but with a lot of networking and other opportunities that I had down here. A couple of my major clients are very much Geelong based over these past couple of months. So I've very much been in the focus where, for example, most of my clients are spread around Australia, spread around.
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You know, I got a couple in Geelong that are nearby, but a lot of my clientele are Australia wide. Over these past couple of months, most of my clients have been Geelong based. So it's this kind of refocused moment. Refocused my mind when it comes to focusing on Geelong issues. And the reason that I bring this up is because I have a lot of people coming to me saying, hey, Zo you've been networking for 15 years, and you've been networking in Geelong for 15 years. What are your recommendations? And of course, we have a discussion of like, okay, what exactly do you want out of networking? Now, of course, a lot of people would immediately say, I want leads zo and I'm like, sure that's that's not how networking works. Off the bat. Let's scale, scale down the needs bit a little bit. Because networking, the old adage of it's not what you know, it's who you know, is very prevalent in business, and especially in regional business. And for those who are listening, I'm putting in big air quotes there, because Geelong has been rapidly growing and continues to rapidly grow. We are the largest regional city, or I think the second regional largest city out in Australia. So outside of the Gold Coast, which, for those who are not in Australia, the Gold Coast, you might well know, is just below Brisbane, just below Brisbane, and in Queensland, in that top, top right area of Australia. And it is fairly large because it's a tourist town, it's a very yeah, there's a lot of things backing it up, compared to Geelong, where, yes, we do have a very healthy tourism industry, but when it comes to the amount of growth that we're having, we're not a regional town. We have not been a regional town as long as I've been alive. We have not been a very regional town. I have been to regional towns. I have stayed in original towns. I have worked in regional towns, and we are not that though. The mentality of a lot of the people who have lived here, who have lived here for many decades, people who were born here, and that is me included, also have this tendency of being very clicky, being very LinkedIn. And I'm not talking about the social media platform. I mean buckling down and not wanting to make new changes, not wanting to take risks, not wanting to take initiatives and talking to new people, and networking is a risk, because you're talking to people where you're not entirely sure, maybe who they are, or their background, and also you're not sure of who they know that you know and zo is, I'd say realistically, I know people that are least one to two clicks away from other people. So when it comes to networking, I very much enjoy going into a room having no idea who anyone is and talking. It's just my personality. I'm very much an extrovert. I enjoy talking to people when there is a very clear objective in mind. So say, for example, when it comes to, for example, going into a family gathering or a bar or something, I'm like, I don't exactly know what to do with these people, because you could talk about anything. When you go to a networking event, you are there to talk business. You are talking business. You are talking business related things. It's a lot more streamlined. It's a lot more straightforward. There's a lot more of a goal to it. I'm not going to go too much more into this, but if you are interested in a regular update that I have so I'm going to have a blog post that will just regularly have Geelong networking groups. The opportunities there are in Geelong for networking as a business, both Zolo, small and medium businesses, and the pros and cons of each how we feel about each of those opportunities and platforms and. Yeah, very much, which is, I'm not going to very I'm not going to outline, like, Hey, you shouldn't spend your money here. There's just very much a case of, I've been to networking opportunities that were very much pitched to me differently than what they turned out being, and it was clear that, like, I wasn't really welcomed in the space. I wasn't taken seriously. Okay, I can spend my time elsewhere, because time is precious. Time is a commodity that we're unable to triple X, quadruple X, unlike profit. So I want to spend my time reasonably, and to do so, I need to make sure that I'm investing my time and my energies into things that, for example, I would say, realistically, majority of my clientele at the moment are from networking opportunities that they've I've networked with someone they it would make it very clear of like, what I did and how I helped people. They talked to a friend, their friend reached out to me, and, you know, we started working together, a couple of my clients now that I've had for over five years are from networking opportunities, are from people that I've met. And yeah, it's not what you know, it's who you know. And I'm sure there are plenty of people who can do the same work as me that could maybe even do a better job than me, but I'm putting myself in the room. I'm taking the risk of stepping in front of people and making it work for me, and also following people up. Make sure you follow people up, especially when it comes to networking. So we are going to, oh, I am going to take a break and take a drink water so I can calm my voice down, And we will get started On Today's first podcast. You
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zoo, social media the bane of our existence. I'm saying that with all the positivity that I can possibly muster, and I'm not talking just as a marketer here. Welcome to the video confidence coach, cast with your host, Zoe wood, the video confidence coach, connecting the dots between your personal brand and video marketing. Now, let's get started with today's podcast topic focusing on one social media platform. Now I'm sure you may have heard of this from other podcast YouTubers or other platforms out there that you consume as well as us. I would like to thank you for listening to our podcast today or watching us if you're watching us on Spotify or on YouTube. I'm going to compile myself a bit here when it comes to social media, very much when it first launched, I was in school, and it very much took over because it was this new, interesting, engaging thing, and had progressively gotten more ubiquitous over time. Now, social media has become gotten to the point where people are stepping away from it, are instinctively not spending their time there. And of course, these big behemoths of companies, these social media platforms, are panicking and doing their best to try and keep people on the platform so they can advertise more. They're going to do their best to try and keep everyone on and when it comes to your work as a business owner, unless marketing your business is a hobby for you, it can feel like a slog. So using social media to promote your business, and that is the goal when it comes to the work that you're doing while you're on social media in the first place. Yes, there is the connection that you get from interacting with fans or with potential customers. There is the opportunities as a business to advertise and reach those potentially new clients, or maybe people who have heard of you, or even people who you've worked with in the past, or who have purchased from you in the past, they can be reminded of your existence and go, oh yeah, I really weren't liked. You know what? I bought from them? My services from them? Oh, I should hire them again. All right. I'll look into it. That prompt that acknowledgement. But when it comes to using these social media platforms to organically reach people, that has become less and less achievable over time, just because of the amount of the amount of stuff that is on these platforms, because it is what a lot of people see, especially who are starting out in the business as a free marketing tool, and that's because it is like you're not giving up any money up front. You're not paying for a billboard, you're not paying for leaflets, you're not paying to acquire email subscribers. Just yet, it's a fairly easy, straightforward you could set up a page from your account or set up a profile, usually within five minutes. They make the process relatively straightforward, but as I mentioned before, unless you are marketing your business as a hobby, like you're doing it on the side, social media can seem like an absolute slog, and I was talking to a fellow business owner. I felt a new business owner this week who launched a couple of months ago, and she saw that I did digital marketing, that the podcasting and the live streaming, and we had a chat about social media and just how over it she already is, despite the fact that she launched her business a couple of months ago, and she divulged to me that she was kind of already on the way out when it came to social media in general. And I don't want to bring you on a downer if you are working on social media and it is working for you, like you have processes in place. You have the way of thinking about it, you have a consistent posting schedule, like you've got all these things in place, probably from years of trial and error. Congratulations. If it's working for you, awesome, great. Keep up the good work. But if you are starting new, it can be very much a specific system task. Of pushing that boulder up a hill. Please be it. Please let it be Sisyphus, pushing that boulder up a hill just to have it rolled back down again, and you to just brush yourself off and do it again. It can feel very much like a hard slog. And as I was talking with her, it was becoming very clear that she had signed up to all the social media platforms that she could think of, and then didn't really have any way of managing them and also being consistent with them. So my after our chat, my objective asked my objective question to her was, why do you need all of these social media platforms. Oh, because all the competitors are on them. But why do you need to be on all these platforms? Because people are looking for all of my stuff on all of these platforms. Sure, like, again, I'm not denying any of these responses to my questions, but I'm asking for you in all of the work that you're doing, the amount of time and energy, and, you know, money that you're putting into getting posts created and generated, and putting into these feeds for these social media giants, just to have them be gobbled up and be seen by like, three, four or five people, and looking at her stuff, it wasn't a case the content was bad. She was learning really fast on ways to incorporate video to really stand out in her particular niche that she was doing, and what she was she is doing and the thing that she focuses on. She had a really clear idea of her customer market. She had a really clear idea of like, who these people were and why they were there. And I said, marketing is not a one and done thing. Marketing is something that takes a hell of a lot of time, and there's a reason that it's a section of your business, like, there are many facets to what you do in your business, marketing, getting people into your funnel, into your business, to be aware of what you do and purchase from you and trust you enough to purchase from you. I should say that is that is a section of your business that is part of your business. And unless you are focus camera, trust me. You love me. Thank you. Apologies for those who are listening. The camera needs to focus on my face. These platforms are going to do their best to accumulate as much data as they can, and with the work and effort that you're putting into it, I ask, what is the social media doing for you? And I ask you as the listener or watcher of this podcast, what is your social media. Doing for you, and then subsequently, what is a priority for you when it comes to social media. And what I see when I what I mean by priority is not just, oh, what platform or what type of content are you doing, or what are you talking about, I'm not talking about the minutia of that. I'm talking about when it comes to social media and your priority for it, where does it sit, and my recommendation for every single business out there, no matter what you do, no matter how much lead traction, or maybe even money that you get from people signing up via social media platforms, your website should be your top priority. Your website is the platform that you can control, and everything feeds into it. Everything that is your platform, that is your consistency, that enables you to say and do whatever you you know, whatever your business is about, and there's very little repercussions, because it is your website. My second recommendation for not every business, but most businesses, especially the ones that I work with, who are coaches, personal brand, you know, speakers, and essentially, a lot of people who have a mission for what they do. That's who I work with. My second recommendation is the under, very closely underneath that is your email list. Is email marketing, because you own that list. You are constantly going to you are constantly engaging with these people on a weekly, fortnightly, maybe monthly, basis. And these are people who have genuinely shown interest in the work that you do to the point where they give you their email address like they've already said, I like what you do. Here is my email address, you know, give give me all the details and information about you, and then, maybe then your social media should come third, because again, as I've as I've mentioned in other previous podcasts, feel free to listen to those or check out on the website, VCC, dot training, slash podcast. You can find out more just by searching regarding social media.
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When it comes to that social media is rented land, the these platforms are designed to hold attention and make money. That is their prerogative, and as the small business owner trying your best to be seen by the people who are going to like you, trust you, know you, and then eventually buy from you. To be seen on these platforms is very crucial. I understand. That's why I don't completely disheart people or completely dissuade people from getting off social media altogether. But when it comes to social media, spreading yourself too thin is a recipe for disaster that goes for all aspects of your business, not just social media. And if you know so much, or you have worked so hard on acquiring the people that you want in your business, who love you, who rave about you, who give you word of mouth, which are is honestly a lot more a lot more lucrative for your business than just social media posts alone. Your social media should be a fairly low priority, because it is to bring awareness to your brand awareness, to your business, that is all it's doing. And yes, you can, for example, the pros of social media are as follows, that there are people still on them, and there are a lot of people spending a lot of time on them. People are be you know, if you want to be seen, you got to pay to play. You can use like, you know, their AI, because they're very much pushing that because, of course, they're tech businesses, they're going to push AI generated ads. Most people on these platforms are more likely to watch and lurk than interact, because interacting means that they're going to get more of it. And depending on the work that you do or the services or products you provide, some people will just be like, Oh, I'm looking for something kind of in this realm right now. Oh, I will like this post, and then the algorithm will feed me more of this type of stuff. And with the rise of what I like to call soloed social media platforms and realistically, feel free to check out my previous podcast about my 2020, 2030, predictions when it comes to digital marketing, to learn more about that with the rise of groups. So So Facebook groups. You know, Reddit, these types of platforms. Forms that are specific niche groups that people are electing to follow, to, you know, agree to all the rules and engage with other like minded people who are interested in the stuff that they're doing. And again, that's not saying that ads will not find a place here. They're definitely, they've definitely found a place, and they will be constantly integrated, but that will definitely change the way that you use social media, because there is a tactic, to be perfectly honest right now, is people create a post in Canva, post it up once a week, and then that's it. And unfortunately, when it comes to being seen on social media, that is not a strategy being seen on social media. Requires you, as the brand, to engage, not just with the people who engage with your post, but like, for example, if they comment, you reply back. If someone likes something, you know, you engage with those people. It's not just that you need to go into groups and answer people's questions. This takes time and energy. You need to make sure that you are keeping an eye on your competitors on these platforms. What are they doing? What can you do differently? Not the same? What can you do differently that'll help you stand out from them, because if people are finding your competitors, that means that they are in that realm of looking for someone like you. So now, of course, for those who may know me, I don't exactly call competitors competitors. I usually call them collaborators or potential collaborators, depending on the work that you do, but when explaining concepts to people, it's better just to use the words that people are more familiar with. And if someone is looking for something most of the time using if they're on a social media platform, they're going to look for going to look for what they need. Your competitors are going to show up, and you should be there too. So in regards to everything that I've discussed so far in today's podcast, when it comes to social media, and I'm going to reiterate it again, it is an awareness tool. It is the thing that is the easiest, quickest thing that you can do that is at the top of your marketing funnel. And a marketing funnel, for those who may be unaware, is essentially picture an upside down triangle with the point down the bottom and the wider part up the top. The top part is the easiest awareness stage. And then they slowly go through the stages. This is a potential customer, by the way, they slowly go through the stages of being aware of your brand, maybe seeing a couple of posts of yours, maybe hearing you on a podcast, or maybe coming across your website in a recommendation feed, whatever it is. And they slowly move down these different air, these different stages. Now, of course, every business is different, but most of the time, these stages are building the knowing factor, the liking factor and the trusting factor to the point where they go on your website, and then that's pretty much a whole entire other funnel, but to get people onto your website so then you can track who they are, depending, of course, there is a lot of there's a lot of data issues at the moment, so tracking might be slightly an issue, but to get people to your website, where, again, you have full control, and then from there, getting them to buy from you, and out of everything that I've just described, that entire process Social media is one tiny little blip up the top. So as I was, you know, talking with this woman, and we discussed like, it's really it's clearly causing you stress, it's clearly causing you overwhelm. And if you know your customer so well, and I say this with all sincerity, why do you need to be on those other platforms? What is the platform that they are going to be the most active on? Therefore, you should be active on there too. For example, the people that I work with, I put a lot more of my effort into my LinkedIn presence. Why? Because when people are looking for marketing and branding of the caliber and scale of the people that I work with LinkedIn is the place that they go. They, you know, lurk, for example, LinkedIn is notorious for people who lurk in the background, people who just look at posts. They watch them all the way through. They watch your videos all the way through. But they don't like they don't, you know whatever those other emojis are. They don't comment, they don't share, they don't tag, they don't they don't do any of that, but they are definitely engaged in what you do. And when you see them out and about in email lists, on other podcasts, again, wherever you come across them, again, they will remember and recognize you, because again, they have worked in the background. So for example, with the work and the clientele that I work with, LinkedIn is my priority. LinkedIn is the work that I do. So that entails everything else that I do regarding social media. I build everything for LinkedIn, and then everything else follows. I use tools to schedule my social media so I don't have. Have to do a lot of the legwork. And again, I build my platform, I build my content, I build my descriptions, I build my wording for a LinkedIn audience, I am moving into all of their additional features, like newsletters and articles and all of these other things where previously I wasn't really engaging with before, but because I'm getting actual leads, hot leads and tractionable leads from LinkedIn, that's where my focus is going to be. I still have other platforms, which may seem quite hypocritical coming from me for this podcast episode, but because I'm not starting out, I have been in business in my life for 15 years so far, and I've been running this business for about eight years, I'm at a point where it's not overwhelm and stressing me to have other social media platforms, but I still use my strategies to focus on LinkedIn first and then everything else, follow, following. And for her, we did, we broke down, and we had a bit more of a discussion about who her type of target market is, where she gets the most traction, where she gets the most bang for her buck, and where she should put her focus in, not necessarily that she needs to delete these other platforms, not that she needs to get rid of these other social media platforms. I do not want to stress do not delete these other platforms because you need to secure the name that you have for your brand, but point people to your website. Point people to your platform. And in her case, Instagram was the best place for her. Point people to your Instagram. There's you'll have no idea how many tiktoks I've come across that point people directly to their Instagram and say, Hey, if you want to watch more of me, follow me on Instagram. If you want to engage more with my content, follow me on Instagram. There are so many
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people that I follow on YouTube who, again, point people to their Instagram as a way of collecting the followers and keeping them engaged. Now, if you've got that follow intact. I would definitely recommend pushing people more towards your website if you've got that follow account. But some people, you know, when they go onto a website, there is an element of risk and like, I don't exactly know what I'm going to get, and if there's no way to keep in contact with you very easily and seamlessly, especially when they go to the front page of your website to, for example, joining an email list, they're not really going to do it. And again, having that option for people who I want to be aware of you and can see you using a social media platform, especially one that you're investing your time in, is a good idea and a good, straightforward plan going forward again, to limit the amount of work that you have to do when it comes to marketing your brand. So breaking it down when it comes to finding out, and I want to stress when figuring out that one social media platform, do not just go with the one that you have the most followers on, because it could be the case that maybe your Facebook book, your Facebook has the most, you know, followers or likes, for example, but you've been on the that is the platform you've been on the longest, and it is getting, like very little traction now. So what do you do? Well, first of all, you think about who exactly you're wanting to target, and actually think about, where are they found? Where are they interacting, where are they communicating? Where are you going to find these ravenous fans, people who are going to love what you do and then give you so much word of mouth? Where are these people located? So then from there, when it comes to social medias, then being able to go, okay, and then look at your analytics, so your insights, you can find these in the Settings page, usually on on any of the social media platforms that you're looking at. And look over the past month, look over the past couple of months, and see what has been the most popular type of content, but also just regularly see how many people actually engage with what you do, not necessarily see what you do, but actually comment, actually post, and then from there, once you've got this information, you can start you oh yeah, the last thing I forgot to mention was that what platform has actually generated you leads. And if this does not apply to you, that's okay. You're working through it. What actually, what platform has actually given you leads when you've worked or when people are purchased from you. What have you make sure that you have at the checkout stage a simple questionnaire like, you know, less than two seconds of Where did you find us? Here is our, you know, top five places where you would find us. Click Done, submit, and you will have that data to be able to use, to be able to understand whether or not the work that you're doing is. Are worth it and say, for example, if it gets to say, you know, you decide, okay, I'm going to focus on LinkedIn, because that's where my people are, and that's the work that I'm going to do. I'm going to invest my time with putting LinkedIn first. And if I've got the time and energy to post on other platforms, I will, but I will link everyone to my LinkedIn. That's what I'm going to do. So you do that for six months, you gotta see what happens. You're going to make sure that you're actively commenting and engaging, you're responding to posts or comments or groups that are related to what you do, you're actively engaging on the platform, and then you're going to see results, I guarantee, like you're putting in that effort and energy that you were spreading across 510, different platforms, you're now centering in on one, and you've given yourself a really clear metric in the sense of, you know, I want to give myself six months, and if I do not get at least two leads, at least One that I can convert, then I'm going to reevaluate, get to that point and then say, for example, okay, it's been six months. I've gotten maybe four leads, but none of them have been hot. Okay, let's look at the analytics. Okay, the analytics for the amount of work and time and effort that I'm putting into this platform is not really giving me the return that I need. I've also six months in a business can also change quite a lot. Alright, let me re evaluate. And then from there, if you want to move to one of your other platforms as your focus, then do it again. Make sure that you let people know. Hey, you know LinkedIn people. Hey, we're going to be doing a lot more posts on Instagram. If you want to keep up to date, make sure to follow us on Instagram. You know, follow but again, the amount of effort that you're putting across many will be more beneficial if you focus on one. And one thing that I do want to stress before we finish today's podcast episode is what keep this in mind when you work on the marketing for your social media platform. You do not owe let me start that again. You do not owe loyalty to a social media platform. You do not owe loyalty to any one social media platform, you can post the same piece of content across every platform, and that is where your focus should be, because if something is not working for you, you pivot, you change. And when it comes to social media, as I mentioned before, envisioning that funnel, visualizing it in your mind, the tippy top, the little point down the bottom and the wide part at the top, social media is a tiny little blip at the very top of that funnel. It is good to be present. It is good to engage with your community. It is good to answer questions on social media and post, I would say minimum once a week, because, and I'm going to say this now for a lot of businesses that I work with, the social media is used, ultimately, as proof that you're still in business, that you're still working. People check your Google and Bing listings to make, to check out your open hours. But also, and this is not just for I want to stress, not just for actual brick and mortar stores. I want to stress this is for all businesses. People want to check that you're still in business and you're still doing your thing, and that's what social media does. It's a clarification and check that you're in business, but also gives people an insight into the work that you do to if they should continue researching anymore. Their studies have shown that people research decisions more. And if you, for example, get a recommendation from word of mouth, you say, Yes, awesome. What is one of the first three things that you do besides searching them up online, two maybe looking at the reviews. Now, these can be reviews on, say, Google reviews, Facebook reviews, you know, any of those particular platforms that have specific review recommendations on board, depending on the industry, of course. And third is you check out those social medias, of course, on your preferred platform of choice, and a lot of people, and this is anecdotal now, not study wise, is people check when was the last time you posted? And say, for example, when it comes to my business, I am not exactly an arbiter. When it comes to post it consistently. I do try my best, but sometimes there's like, months where I'm just like, social media is not a priority for me. I'm going to focus on my website. I'm going to focus on my email list, social media. I'll get to it. When I get to it, it's okay. But when it comes to yourself, and you've got the capacity, especially if you're focusing on one platform, you. To have that consistency for yourself, to have the same post, same message, same description across all your platforms to spread awareness and bonus points, if you can do it using a social media scheduling tool, you go, your buffers, your latest your metricals, your Hootsuite, all of these other places where you can just again post the same thing across multiple platforms, not necessarily to get hot leads, just to show people that you are still in business. And for the people that I predominantly focus on, these are your personal brand builders, your coaches, your speakers, your marketers, your women and non binary folks in FinTech is kind of a little bit in the area that I'm in now. But I'm also happy to pivot these people. Just need to be aware that you're still doing what you're doing, that you still show up online, and to do that, you need to be able to focus. So I hope in today's podcast, I've been able to assuage your fears in not having to be everywhere at once,
46:10
putting your focus on one platform, and if you've got the capacity to post on other platforms, awesome. Do it if you don't, again, just funnel people to your website, funnel people to the platform that you are going to be spending the most time on. And if you have no qualms, if you have no energy for social media, then set yourself a bare effing minimum. What is your bare minimum? So for example, my BFM, when it comes to social media, is that, and this is not client work. I want to stress, if you're a client of mine, this is not for you. This is for my social media. I spend 30 minutes a week on my social media. That is my minimum, and that 30 minutes can be spent, you know, LinkedIn, commenting, engaging, checking out other people's work, checking out, you know, whatever I need to do, but that's my minimum. I could do more awesome, but I can also just, can just do my 30 minutes and making sure that I engage with people who are going to be fans of mine, or people who are already fans of mine, making sure that I engage with them and show them support, especially with people who are going to give great word of mouth referrals. You
48:25
Hey, everyone, not this is not a podcast episode. I just wanted to check in with everyone and answer any comments that I've had. And yes, I have been aware that there's been a couple of bots in the chat, and don't worry, I've muted them and gotten rid of them for us. Thank you so much for your patience. On that front, when it comes to, for example, I've had at least three people at the moment who've been, I don't want to say bugging me, but people who it's clear that they aren't actually doing it. It's clear that they got a bot, so a artificial intelligence doing the work of like, engaging with all my posts. And it's very not unsettling, but because the same stuff every time, it's very clear, it's like, okay, you're not a human being. You're not even interested in the work I do, and you're clearly just utilizing information that is very out of date. Sure, whatever. Have fun. You can do it. So thank you so much for everyone who's keyed in with that, the thing that I wanted to do was to answer some questions that I've had over the week, and I can then use this answer in, say, social media or in my email list or on my website, being able to answer common questions that I have about the work that I do and the question that I had. Now, of course, all of these questions and my answers can be elongated in to, you know, podcast episodes or longer form pieces of content that go really into the depth of the answer. But I've had a couple of people when networking this week stay when. Is the right time to start a podcast. And for those people who are in business, who are building a personal brand, who are starting out when it comes to podcasting, I would say it's more of a two to three year thing when it comes to starting your business, to be honest, there is a lot of other things that you need to worry about when it comes to both yourself, but also your brand in general when it comes to building it and a podcast, though it may be useful, is not necessarily going to demand the returns that you need in those first two to three years of your business. A podcast is very much in the same realm of promoting yourself and your business as networking. Networking is not necessarily going to guarantee you money, guarantee you leads, because networking is about connecting with people, and that's the same thing with podcasts. So when it comes to podcasts, on your marketing, if you're, say, two to three years in, you're fairly comfortable. You're you know your cash flow is going okay. You're paying your debts, you're doing your things, and you've got the capacity to start showcasing yourself and your knowledge and trying to be that authority in your particular niche or space. A podcast is a great spot for you. It is a great opportunity. It is really easy to start, especially if you're only focusing on an audio only platform. And if you are a yapper, to be honest, most of the people that I attract are yappers. We like to talk, and like the talk. So for those type of people, a podcast is great. If you are not a yapper like me, and you would prefer to write things down, going with a blog post, going with an email newsletter, going with the text first format. And if you are neither of those things, we're probably going to have to find another option for you when it comes to containers, formats that we can put your knowledge in. And again, this is all voluntary. A podcast is voluntary for your business, and when you first out, first, first start out with a podcast, I highly recommend doing a limited series. A limited series is a podcast is a series of, you know, 20 minute conversations, either with another person or just with yourself. Now, of course, this will take time and practice to put into place and having this be, say, 12 episodes. So then once that 12 episode period is done, you will have learnt a lot, you will have grown a lot, you will have gained a lot of confidence in the work that you do, and also how to speak to a microphone, to a camera, to however you want to do these podcasts. And because it's a limited series, it has a purpose. You have a really clear goal. You have like 12 episodes that you need to fill, and you have a really clear audience member or type of customer or type of listener in mind, so that when that 12 is done, if you're doing really well and you're enjoying it and it's awesome, you can continue going. You can make the limited series an ongoing series, and then if you get to that 12, you hated the experience, you hated the time, you hated how it made you feel. And by those 12 episodes, the reason I sit at 12 is because eight is the usually when people just get tired and give up podcasting in general, get to that 12, and if you absolutely hate the experience, maybe podcasting isn't for you, it isn't for your brand, it isn't for your business, then that's okay. You're going to stop there. It's going to be a limited series. It's going to do what it needs to do. It's going to, you know, help you gain customers and leads into your business over the next 510, 15 years, the longevity of a podcast and a podcast episode is very, very long compared to, say, for example, a Facebook post, which is like two seconds, maybe even three, depending on the day. So when it comes to a podcast, it's always nice to have that idea in the back of your head again, give yourself that opportunity to focus on other areas of business, to be a little bit more grounded in what you do before moving into a podcast area, not necessarily that you need to avoid it entirely. Guesting on other people's more established podcasts is always a great place to start, and allows you to, you know, take some take some risks of engaging with other people, engaging with other business owners and other people in your particular niche. And then in that opportunity, you can build up your confidence on having interviews, talking with people you know, being the go to person in your particular niche, the authority you're building. That authority you can be guests on other podcasts. And then after those, say, two to three years, you're comfortable about how your business is going. You're comfortable about the cash flow that you've got going, and you've got the hour or two a week that you could invest in, you know, starting your own podcast. Then. Great, awesome, beautiful, because you've already practiced with other people. You've already know what you're on about. You're very clear about who you're trying to communicate and who this podcast is for. Then you can start a podcast. Then awesome. So whatever plan or whatever option you want to go or do going forward, a podcast is a great opportunity, and it's also not something that you need to hold forever, like marketing and trialing new things in your business. You're not always going to stick with it forever. A lot of people were, you know, utilizing advertising specifically on Twitter, and they thought that that was going to be a sure thing for the forever, for the rest of time, and then, well, I think we all know what happened there. So when it comes to marketing your business, the idea is to bring awareness to your brand, to get people in to your website, or a place where you can control it, control the message, and control the the output, and get people to buy from you. That's what that's that's what you're doing. And podcasting definitely falls into the trusting factor of the marketing that you do, that you do. It's definitely a very long term thing, and it's not a very quick if I market, if I start a podcast, I'm going to be rolling the money. It's not a very quick fix thing. So hopefully that has answered your question. It was a bit of a Lommy, as it always is, but I am definitely here for you. I would like to finish today's live stream. Thank you so much for everyone who has asked me question this week. Have questions this week. I always get them down in my little notes, so then I can reply to you in this live stream and cut up a couple of these sections and then send them to the particular people that I asked the question, and I'm able to just send them a link to this with little time code down the bottom, so I can just be like, here is the answer to the question that You gave me. Yay. Thank you everyone for today's beautiful live stream without any sort of hiccups whatsoever, which compared to last week, I must say, is a very nice change. We have had a couple of weather phenomenons happened, but I think it's rather chill now. Thank you again, and I'll see you next Week for the video. Confidence, connect. Bye.
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Who is your host?
Zoë Wood, your Video Confidence Coach connects the dots between personal branding and video marketing. Helping women and non-binary folk in small business, find their way in the world of marketing their passion without the energy drain.
Find out more about how to grow your personal brand with the power of video right here on vcc.training
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