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MA in Creative Entrepreneurship: Marketing yourself using social media

University of East Anglia 22 November 2011


Emreteers 2007 2011 Kathryn Corrick

Agenda
TODAY Review of your blogs Marketing yourself ! Thinking strategically Networking Pitching Review of the last three sessions

Review of your blogs

I was thinking about today and I came across this guy

http://cyriak.co.uk/blog/?p=214

His name is Cyriak Harris. Hes an illustrator and animator. He makes amazing stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch? v=jX3iLfcMDCw&feature=player_embedded#!

I came across him via someone I know on Facebook

I immediately shared it as I thought other people would enjoy it too

I then watched more of his videos. I think theyre great pieces of art (they also make me laugh). I wondered who *is* this guy?

I then went about finding out, and got to his site.

Lets have a look at it http://cyriak.co.uk/

When I was browsing the site (and dont forget by now Id seen a few of his animations) two things came to mind:
1. I want to meet this guy oh he lives in the UK! 2. Someone should hire this guy note to self: if Im working on possible projects to remember him, or even suggest him to possible agencies.

It was a happy accident. But hes used his site and packaged himself well, so that if something like that happens it increases the likelihood of someone responding. But most importantly his stuff is good.
So, how can you do this for your own work? Making the most of your activity online so that it gets the response you would like?

Strategically, how do we put that together?

Business goals - what are you trying to achieve? Communications and marketing strategy Online strategy
Page

Emarketeers 2007

A very simple process and framework for developing your strategy


Review your current presence What are you trying to achieve? Who are you trying to have a conversation with? Where are the places those conversations and interactions happening? How are you going to begin? What are you going to say? What resources are required? How will you measure success?

Review and benchmark


Review your overall online and digital presence benchmark
Website(s) Email newsletter(s) Mobile

Review the social media sites and technologies being used by your clients/customers.
Benchmark Learn how to use the technologies and the nuances of how to converse Identify influencers and evangelists for you sector/product mainstream media, bloggers, groups, individuals?

Some important principles

History of the network effect


Theodore Vail presented the concept of the Network Effect to Bell Telephone in 1908. Hed noticed that if one person purchased their telephone service and they wanted to call someone else, that person would have to purchase that service as well. He understood that an individual s network of friends and family could be affected by that person decision to use a service.
h"p://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Network_eect.png

Therefore the network effect is the effect that one user of a good or service has on the value of that product to other people. When the network effect is present, the value of a product or service increases as more people use it.

How to strategically consider the network effect


Understand your network as an individual/organisation - online and offline Who knows who, what sector and how, who do they know? Who do you contact in different circumstances? How do messages spread? Identify key companies/individuals

h"p://inmaps.linkedinlabs.com/network

How might you use this for your own blog or website?
Example: An artist created a blog a few years ago. It is updated fairly irregularly. Few people ever visit and comments are extremely rare. No one has contacted them via the site. Whats gone wrong? Answer: the content of the blog is of little value to readers as is not written/produced with them in mind. The artist doesnt not link or connect with other blogs, or talk about the site in other places, it has not become part of a bigger network of people discussing the topics. They also forgot to add a contact page, or explain how they worked or or what they offered possible customers/clients. Solution: more regular posts, more crafted to the reader (client/customer/ peer), connecting in with other conversations, business activity, blogs, or addressing genuine customer/client needs. Add Contact page. Sell/ explain how you can help a client/customer. Be in other places where people might find you connect those presences to your website like Cyriak.

The network effect: example


@keithurbahn posted his speculation on the emergency presidential address about the death of Bin Laden, a full hour before it happened. He had 1,016 followers at the time. But as Chief of Staff, Office of Donald Rumsfeld, Navy Reserve intel officer he was trusted and had authority. Result: the rumour and Tweet spread quickly across Twitter.
h"p://blog.socialow.com/post/5246404319/ breaking-bin-laden-visualizing-the-power-of-a-single

So, why do some messages spread whilst others dont?


Quality not necessarily quantity of network connections Authority Trust Persuasiveness Perception Timing (Zeitgiest) Humour Luck

Other reasons why your content might not get shared


Your customers/clients might not trust you Your customers might not care about your brand Content is boring people like to share and entertain People are more likely to share something they are passionate about from causes to interests to looking good People share to build relationships and social capital People often look for validation credit, recommendations We share things to get opinions, and ideas Youve misunderstood your audience People still share through email they find it more personal (ensure you integrate your email strategies with social media)

http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/9-reasons-why-your-content-is-not-shared-on-socialnetworks-new-research/

Example: The difference of humour Note the number of views

Which leads us to Networking


Online and in real life

Top tips
Where do the people you want to meet or have as customers/clients/peers hang out? (events, co-working spaces, networks, pubs, cafes, clubs) Find out and try to understand whats important to them If appropriate/possible go there (be it online or offline) Get to know the space and the nuances/etiquette Talk to people, or get introductions via someone you know who knows them Have a business card Be findable on LinkedIn or relevant networks optimise how you explain your work there

Sounds simple but I know just doing those things can take:
Courage going out of your comfort zone Research Time and effort New skills in listening and small talk Remembering to follow up afterwards Being willing to sell/promote/talk about yourself which can often be the hardest thing to overcome

One thing that can be useful in those circumstances IRL

Be able to explain what you do in a few words less than a sentence. Then be able to expand on it a bit two sentences Then be able to expand on that a little more the 60 second elevator pitch This takes some thought and practice.

Exercise: pitching

create In pairs second a 60 for your pitch partner.

Quick look at optimising your presence on LinkedIn

Exercise: optimising your website

rs take a In pai k at each loo bsites. ther s we o uld they How co proved? be im

Overarching framework

Listen & research Engage & participate Be findable Be interesting Be useful Make it shareable

Dont be shy

Review of the last three sessions


In pairs: think about all the things weve learnt over the last few weeks. Have you learnt anything specifically that youd like to talk about or share? What will you be putting into action? Any final questions or comments?

Thank you
Kathryncorrick.co.uk Twitter - @kcorrick Email: admin at kathryncorrick.co.uk

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