Focusing on how social media can transform your business

This is great interview by Larry King.

I want to break down the part where Larry asks the social media guru Gary Vaynerchuk "How do we use social media to help our business?".

I'm going to do that FEEL4 style, by using a path. And yes, I do occasionally elaborate by adding my own spin on what is being said.

FEEL4 PATH - GARY VAYNERCHUK

how social media can transform your business

FOCUS

I am focusing on how to use social media to transform my business and I am starting this path right now.

ENERGIZE

I feel energized to do this because I have a HUGE yearning to see my business figures positively increasing. I cannot wait to see my website analytics showing thousands of people are using my website and buying my products. I cannot wait to afford to book a holiday with my fiancee. I want to see the look on my son's face when I tell him I am handing over the reigns to my billionaire empire on my retirement. I just love the feeling of being successful..... Okay for those of you who know what step 2 of FEEL4 is, this is all about listing out what things relating to achieving your focus are things you desperately want to see. By the end of listing them out you should be feeling unstoppable, knowing nothing is going to detract or stop you from engaging with the actions needed to achieve your goal.

ENGAGE & LEARN

I am engaging and learning the following things from Gary's advice:

1. Gary says to understand that "social media" is a slang term for the current state of the internet. In other words, if you have a business you should be taking social media very seriously. History always tells you the future, so when businesses thought TV was a fad and it wasn't, you should take that lesson learnt and use it to realise that social media is the next big thing.

2. You should consider that the likes of Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and Snapchat are like different channels (compared to TV channels: Fox, ABC, BBC etc). The important thing is to understand the "context" of the "channel" you are using. So when story telling about your business you must be aware to post different content from one channel to another.
People underestimate context of each medium
3. Avoid being too blatant about putting out a message to "buy my stuff - buy my stuff". Basically instead of a "do-this do-that" attitude you should be looking to provide "VALUE". This means instead of "buy this now" you should be looking to create posts and content that solve a problem or simply add value by way of the knowledge you share, bring the audience into your business' world by getting them to trust you, to appreciate what it is you are providing them. And once you have their trust let them come to you to pay for more services and products from the company they have come to love.

4. Be aware which social media channel you choose to send out your message. For example although Twitter is still popular, it kind of lost a lot of traction with people to the likes of Instagram and Snapchat (Note at the time of reading this Twitter may have turned itself back around!). So if you are looking to do a marketing campaign it may be worth you assessing where to place most of your budget to get the right target audience to react as you want them to react. To also make sure there are enough of them reacting to bring you the level of business you need.

5. You are never too old to start using social media. The stats show that more and more over 50s are taking to using technology and it is enabling society to feel younger.

6. Don't be afraid to throw into your business goals something extravagant. Be ambitious with your goals. Reach for the sky. Why not plan to be the biggest brand in your field by the end of the year. It may be somewhat challenging but it will focus your entire work ethic and results to being amongst the best in your industry... and clients will notice. That means repeat business and free word of mouth advertising.
Tips for jump-starting a business, what are the three most important things to keep in mind when starting up
7. Number one, cash is oxygen, you must realise that money is hugely important, be practical. Number two, know your strengths, are you a salesman, are you the accountant, do you have financial strength or HR, sales or operational strengths - know this! Whatever you are best at, do that, and surround yourself with others who have strengths in everything else. Lastly, number three is look for the white space. Meaning where are people not marketing and story telling where you can. Again be smart about which channels to jump to that suit your business brand. What is the white-space in your sector that nobody else is filling?

If you only knew:

More viewers questions from Larry to Gary....

A: What's the best piece of advice you ever got?

Gary's dad pulled him to aside at the age of 14 because he was full of crap and trying to sell anything to anyone by any means. His dad told him that where he and his family came from people only had one thing, their word.

B: Did you ever get any bad advice?

Gary said he gets bad advice every day. The lesson learnt here is just be aware, don't always assume advice is 100% going to work for you, do your due diligence before committing.

C: Is there a company we should be paying more attention to?

Music.ly which since the interview has merged to become TikTok. According to Wikipedia "TikTok is an iOS and Android social media video app for creating and sharing short lip-sync, comedy, and talent videos. The app was launched in 2017 by ByteDance, for markets outside of China. ByteDance has previously launched Douyin for the China market in September 2016.".

D: What was your biggest business failure and what did you learn from it?

The fact that Gary spread himself too thin. When he first burst onto the business scene he launched a book, started several business, basically he did too much. During a day he realised that you only have so much energy and focus (yes FEEL4 fans yet another reference to the intrinsic nature of the steps). It is best to give certain projects your attention to gain maximum results.

E: What industry is on the verge of exploding?

Virtual reality. The key head start your business can take right now is to plan ahead. Try and think how you might be able to get into this area. For example, if you are a Real Estate agency why not start videoing your houses in virtual reality so people can walk around the house whilst miles away in their own home.

F: What industry is slowing down or dying?

Television and advertising is in deep cr*p.

G: What businesses should we be paying attention to?

Jeff Bezos of Amazon is the single best entrepreneur of this century, including Steve Jobs.

H: What's the best success story you ever heard?

His dad came to the USA with nothing. That's a great success story.

I: What part of the world is exploding in business and commerce?

Africa.

J: Which young entrepreneur is impressing Gary?

Gary thinks Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook Founder) is grossly underestimated and might even take the crown from Jeff Bezos. Also Evan Spiegel of SnapChat is impressive at the age of only 25.

K: Where does Gary see himself in ten years?

Hustling!

L: When do you know you are ready to start a business?

If you are asking that question you are probably not ready.

M: How do you run a social media outlet without it feeling like spam?

This pisses Gary off all the time. Basically do not "be like spam". Create value driven content. If you want to be less selly then be less selly! Act like a media company instead of like sales person.
If you liked what Gary had to say then his book is worth a read:



I hope this information has helped you on your journey to transforming your business.

Author: Cn

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