Evan Carmichael and a co-host argue entrepreneurs should pick one or two platforms where their customers already are, not chase every new network. Match the platform to your strengths: YouTube if you like being on camera, Twitter if you prefer writing. Claim your brand name everywhere to block squatters.
Simply Say writing in, how many social media venues would you suggest an entrepreneur engage in, especially as companies like Facebook, Periscope, Meerkat, Blab, and so on make their entry into the market?
It's a great question. We hear that one a lot. So I think for social media, you know, there's so many great platforms that you can use, but it can get overwhelming really, really fast. And I definitely don't think that entrepreneurs or anybody should feel obligated to be on every platform that is in existence because that's just unmanageable basically at the end of the day. So just kind of pick one or two to kind of get started. Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, start with the big ones, YouTube, to kind of just get familiar with talking to a social audience and just getting a sense for each platform. Maybe even just getting started with one or two to really, if you're really just getting started, And just get more familiar with whether or not that platform is even right for your business. Because like Evan said, there are certain things that, you know, video might be better for your business. Blogging might be better. Twitter might be better. It really might take some time for you to test out different platforms, see what works, see if you are getting the engagement that you want, see if people are asking the right questions, if they are interacting with you, if they are going back to your website. Really take some time to sort through each one and then make a decision at the end of the day to see if it's really right for you.
I know it can be super stressful as an entrepreneur because we have all these things we have to run in our business already. Now, I just figured out Facebook, now I need to know Meerkat and Periscope and Blab and Snapchat. And it can just seem overwhelming that a new thing opens up and now you have to learn it. I think marketing 101 is you want to be where your customers are. If your customers are on this platform in a big number, then that's where you want to be. I thought Twitter was stupid at the start. When I first got onto it, people were talking about their cats and what they ate for lunch, and I'm like, I don't have time for this. I'm running my business. I don't need to share what I'm eating for lunch. Good for you guys, but it's not for me. but I got my name anyway because you want to make sure nobody kind of takes your name and squats on it and does something with it. Then I just did a search and I found that people were talking about me and talking about my website on Twitter and I wasn't a part of the conversation, which is not good, right? Like, even if you're not going to be active in the platform, you want to at least recognize your champions. You want to thank them, you want to, you know, say Show some appreciation, and so they're gonna do it again, ongoing, because that's gonna encourage them to want to keep doing it. And so step 1 is figuring out, are my customers here? What's the demographic? Does it line up with who I'm trying to sell to? And if it does, then you should consider looking at it. And if it doesn't, then don't worry about it. Snapchat skews really young. Are you selling to teenagers or are you selling to senior citizens, right? Figure out where you wanna be. I would overlay that with what are you really good at and where is your passion, right? So if you are great on camera, like we talked about, you're great at writing, you can leverage those talents and those skills and that passion to create amazing content. So YouTube is my favorite platform because a lot of entrepreneurs, you guys are all on YouTube, and I love being on camera as opposed to other forms of writing or doing interviews and speaking. That matches up best for me. And I'm on the other platforms, but I'm most engaged on YouTube. And so if you can combine those things, where's your audience and what are you good at and want to learn more about? Wherever that intersects, that's where you should be.
