Tag: social media

Do not let the numbers blind you

By that I mean all the numbers on your social media accounts do not matter as much as you think they do. What would you do if tomorrow the platform you used disappeared? A huge amount of people would be in very very bad shape.

For example you may have a lot followers on your accounts. But you know it is so easy for someone fake being popular. Especially when they think having a lot of followers matters. I for one have learned that connecting with people is what matters. You should be replying to comments and etc.

Never feeling as if you are above people who take the time to view your content and etc. Because they took the time out of their day to interact with you. I tend to take the time to value those who do such a thing.

If you have not been valuing the people who follow you and or share your work its time to do so. Also whatever industry you are in and no one knows you its because you have not fully intertwined yourself with those people.

So stop pretending to be popular with whatever numbers you have and no interaction whatsoever with your content. If you have 1000’s of followers but no more than 10 likes its obviously you either bought them and or just did follow trains. You thought taking a shortcut would have helped but it did not help at all.

Taking shortcuts do not last when it comes to building a brand. How long as a company do you think a company that was just starting out would last if they pretended as if they had customers and made it seem like they were selling 1000’s of products when they really were not. People value honesty and even more now. So remember this you can only fake it for so long and eventually you’ll be found out.

Why I stopped Caring about Followers and Focused more on the content

We all know those who want to be seen as famous or popular with tons of followers on their social media accounts. The impression that I get is that the people are forgetting the content is whats most important. Also I also like to have the correct mindset and let the people know I appreciate them for taking the time to follow me and etc.

One thing I like to do is surprise them by checking out what it is that they are doing. This is as if I am connecting with them on a more personal basis. I also do not like to follow people just for no reason. The misconception about it being a numbers game is very wrong. Well lets get this straight there are people behind those screens (not unless you buy your followers or just do follow 4 follow).

When I stopped caring about how many followers I have I feel my work and approach improved to connecting with people. Because the connecting is whats most important. I also took the approach about putting out better work each time. At times  feel when I post something “what the hell was I thinking posting that?” then I say “I could’ve put more time into it”.

The reason is I do not want to waste anyone’s time who decided to hit the follow button. Because I made the dedication to go above and beyond what other people who use social media do. A lot of people just get followers and only post things about themselves and never reply or converse with those who they follow and etc.

When your following starts to grow it can be a little overwhelming as if you’ve got to be someone who you were not previous. By that I mean you feel you have a standard you have to live up to. Well first off you should remain the same way that you have been. Just that over time you have to continue to improve. Because we all want to improve to get better and better. When we notice that we are improving its all worth it.

So stop focusing on getting so many followers. The way that you get followers is by posting regularly, connecting with people in your profession and talking with them. Then its really just keeping up when no one is watching or you’re not getting likes or subscribers. You have to learn what you have to do and put in the work. Nothing is going to happen overnight so if you think its going to be overnight you’re in the wrong game.

Gaming Meerkat

If you do not know what meerkat it is a platform similar to periscope. Meerkat is a livestreaming application where you can broadcast to the world. But there are things that are not allowed on there and one of them is nudity. If you do plan to use meerkat there are somethings that you have to take note and I’ll explain the darkside to you of meerkat and how people find a weakness in a platform and use it poorly.

Well on meerkat if you become very active on there and a regular part of the community you will become familiar with people and the regular streamers. I will be the first to admit I am having more fun on meerkat than I would periscope. What I like most about meerkat is the comments do not disappear, show and tell and the cameo feature.

On meerkat you will notice there are people who are gaming the system that needs to be improved. The system is a point based system. The system gets abused every single day. There are people who go around liking and restreaming and following everyone. The reason they follow everyone is so as soon as that person is live they can be the first there to like and restream and then leave.

Liking and restreaming on meerkat gets a person points. The more points you have the higher you can go up on the leaderboard. The leaderboard is basically like a scoreboard for sreamers on meerkat. Some people got there through hard work and others got there through gaming the system.

The way that the meerkat points system reminds me of how youtube had to redo their algorithm when the reply girls found a weakness in the system. So meerkat needs to get on this and re arrange how the point system works. The points feel as if its basically a game and a rush to get to the leaderboard.

When you find a weakness in any social platform I do not see it as building longevity. More or less you are looking for a short term gain. This short term gain is one that will not last. The reason it will not last is because you are not creating a strong connection.

The way I go about using meerkat  is I will like and restream the people who I like. Sometimes I will just like their stream if I do not feel its worthy of sharing with my followers. Then I stay in their stream and participate. By participating and sharing your voice you are getting to know the person. You are having a conversation with them. If you don’t think you have the time to do such a thing then you have to rethink your strategy.

So with all this said if you are or if you do plan to join meerkat just know there are people who game the system using like and restreaming. The point that people do it on meerkat is pretty sickening and for some its an addiction of habit. The main reason is the leaderboard. If they get high up on the leaderboard they’ll be happy. But my thing is I don’t care about being on any kind of leaderboard if people do not know who I am through a connection I took the time to create with them.

Because at times I have thought about throwing in the towel with meerkat and moving to periscope. But the time I have put in with meerkat and knowing a lot people and making a lot of friends there it would be stupid to throw it all away just because of an action done by people. If you join a social media network become a part of the community don’t just take advantage of the system and bring it to its knees.

Why your Followers Don’t mean anything

Follow Me

Many people get having a mass amount of followers confused. You may have people whom you see go around following tons of people but never really interact with them. One of the main places I see that happen is on twitter. Because like I learned from Gary Vaynerchuk your followers don’t mean shit if you don’t talk with them.

Connecting with others is a main thing I feel that a majority of times we forget to do so. The term social in social media seems to have been forgotten.  There are ton’s of people who you can speak with that you will feel as if you and them lived in the same town you would be great friends.

Show people that you care to take the time to speak with them. Because more or less they would love to chat and get to know you. Social networks have allowed me to meet some great people and continue to do so. The thing is to not get lost in the aspect of being seen as a person who doesn’t give a shit about anyone but themselves.

A good example of that is someone who you see that will follow you and then unfollow you a couple days later. The person will be following 100 people with 10,000 followers and do what the first sentence said. People have a desire to be seen as a popular person or a person of importance. When actually they are someone you and me may have never heard of.

So to end this whatever social networks you are on spend time actually connecting with whom you follow. Your network will grow stronger and more trusting. Plus it will make them appreciate you more and vice versa.

Web 2.0 Expo NY: Gary Vaynerchuk (Wine Library), Building Personal Brand Within the Social Media Landscape

 

This is one of the first Gary vaynerchuk speeches that I ever seen. Gary Vaynerchuk has helped teach me how to develop a brand within social media. One of the many things that I learned from Gary is to work hard and get in the trenches.

When we start out building a brand within social media we feel as people don’t give a shit about what we are doing. Always remember to keep going no matter what and the more you care the stronger you can be.