Welcome to the first in my new series of interviews, 3 Questions About Social Media.
What is it about?
It’s very simple and straightforward. I’ll be talking to people who are avid and successful users of social media for their businesses.
I’ll ask them 3 simple questions about how they use social media for their businesses.
All this will be no theory, just facts straight from the practitioner’s point of view.
There won’t be any techie talk either. I’ll create a separate video about the technology I use to create this series, and I promise it’s nothing advanced or even sophisticated (spoiler alert: it’s my smartphone). For any questions and discussions, join us in my Facebook group VideoforProfessionalServices.
And now, the #3Questions interview with Jay Blake:
(The text is not a verbatim transcript but slightly edited for the written word. No content was harmed in the editing.)
Jay, thank you for making the time for the 3 Questions About Social Media. You are a Networking Ambassador. Just for clarity, could you, please, briefly explain what the networking ambassador is?
In simple terms, business networking is about building relationships.
But I talk to people about networking as being a little bit like bookkeeping.
If, for example, you’re one of those people who really enjoys keeping all of your receipts, then getting to the end of the month and opening your bag of receipts, sorting them out, doing all of the things that you need to do to be an expert bookkeeper, then you shouldn’t outsource it because you love it too much.
However, there are those people who going into a room, as I will this afternoon, with about a hundred people whom they may or may not know. Then stand around making small talk, taking the business cards from those people with whom it’s useful to build additional relationships. And, finally, going back home or to the office and putting the cards into the CRM system, then having the one-to-ones. If all of that stuff feels a bit like bookkeeping to them, then they should get somebody who loves to do it for them.
And that’s why companies and individuals choose to have me as their networking ambassador.
Because I go out for them and do that thing that they either struggle with or actually just want more of.
Great, thank you. Now I also finally really understand what’s behind your business.
Jay, I have seen you online for quite a long time. You’re an avid and successful user of social media. What is your most engaging, your most effective social media platform for your business?
For my business, I would say that LinkedIn is probably the most active and most engaged platform, although I also actively use Facebook. And I use Twitter as well.
For me, it’s those three. Whether that says something about my age… Well, depending on who we talk to, some people are more Instagram focused or more into Snapchat.
But for me, I would say primary LinkedIn closely followed by Twitter and Facebook.
You said you use these for your business. As your networking for others, do you use other platforms for them?
To a degree; though the majority of the work that I do is face to face.
But there is a certain amount that I do online, and that can be LinkedIn based or utilising Twitter and Facebook for other clients.
I know that you already use video, and I’ve recently seen you up your own video production for your own business significantly. Why?
Because it’s about time I ate my own medicine.
Like you, I’ve spent a lot of time being very passionate about the power of video.
And for a long time I have said to people, you need to be making more use of it. And I got to a place where I decided, 2019 was the year.
I needed to get to a position where I’m aiming at five videos a week.
I’m aiming at one of those being an interview style video and four of them being just myself talking to camera.
That’s what I’m aiming for. I’m not there yet.
But I’m also very conscious of thinking about where those videos are going, and of creating videos that are for that audience.
I think that is really the crucial point; not just creating videos for the sake of creating videos but creating videos that speak to the audience you want to talk to.
Very briefly, I don’t want to go into technology. I just would like to ask you how you produce your videos, in rough outline?
We come from the two sides of the technology Street. So all I will say is, I use an Apple iPhone to capture the video, and I then use iMovie, which makes it very simple for me to edit it on the phone and create it.
So, within 20 minutes of having an idea about what to talk about I can have a piece that looks fairly professional, has got a few little bits of titling on it, and it’s ready to go out onto LinkedIn or whichever channel I’ve decided I’m going to create that video for.
Thank you. I think that’s an invaluable tip because we all have smartphones: I use a Samsung, you use an iPhone. And this whole series is shot on the Samsung. It’s very easy once you know a little bit how to produce it, or you can get help.
Now, the next question: What are your 3 top tips for others who want to use social media?
It’s not about broadcast, so it’s not about creating material for the sake of it.
It’s about creating material that is engaging, it is about creating material that gets people to want to bond to it.
And it’s about making friends. If we utilize social media in a way that is building relationships and making friends, then actually people will want to work with us. Because we want to work with people whom we like. That’s why I’m here.
Wonderful. Yes, and I appreciate also that you make the time for this.
So really, it is not just talking at people but talking with them, having a conversation online, be it with text, be it on video, and addressing their interests.
And I would also say, don’t post and run.
There are lots of people who decide they are going to post, and maybe even decide that they’ll do it in a semi- or entirely automated way. So, once a month, they sit at their computer for their morning or their hour or however long they’ve said they would, so that they can tick their social media box and then they run away, and they go: I’ll look at it again next month.
Well, this is not going to work because if people see your thirty second post a week on Tuesday and don’t get a response to what they say until next month because it’s not your morning for your social media, then it won’t work. It’s not a broadcast medium. It’s a conversational medium, so use it that way.
Yes, I agree. Once you have posted something, hang around your laptop or your phone for a while, so when responses come in you can respond immediately. That significantly increases engagement.
And now the bonus tip: if people want to get in touch with you, what’s the best platform or the best way to contact you?
The best way to contact me is to connect via LinkedIn or via Facebook or via Twitter.
My LinkedIn profile is jayblakemarlow. It is the same for Facebook. Or if you want to connect with me on Twitter, jayblake_ .
If you want to find out a bit more about what Networking Ambassador is about, I’m at networkingambassador.com.
Jay, thank you very much for your time and for being on #3Questions.
You can contact Jay Blake on
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayblakemarlow/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JayBlakeMarlow
Twitter: https://twitter.com/jayblake_
Website: https://networkingambassador.com/
To discuss and ask any questions about any of the issues raised in this interview, join us on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/videosforprofessionalservices/
