How to Market Your Business: Helping Your Team Represent Your Brand

As a business owner or manager, it is so tempting to want to get back to normal. But I hate to say it. Normal is a setting on your dryer. I believe that we are in a whole brand new era. And in this era, we are in a low trust, all-time I think low trust era. We must be different in the eyes of our customers in order to start building some of that trust back. And that's what we'll be talking about today on Marc Haine Live. Welcome to this episode. This is where small business owners and entrepreneurs pick up core skill sets to help them create the jaw-dropping, show-stopping experiences that their customers and their employees deserve. I am your host, Service Expert and Master of Experiences Marc Haine. And thank you so much for tuning in. My guest for this episode is digital conversationalist Andrea T. Edwards. We will be talking about what social leadership is and specific steps that you can take to leverage social leadership so you can be the differentiator. But we'll get to that in just a moment. In the meantime, feel free to be part of this conversation. You can go ahead and subscribe to this program. And if you go ahead and ring the bell, you will get notified whenever I bring you some fresh new content. It's worth your while, I think, to subscribe. But heck, that's just me. And while you're at it, go ahead and share this podcast if you know somebody who could benefit. I was recently speaking with a colleague about the lifting of restrictions where I live. We've already eliminated the need for proof of vaccine and stuff Starting next week, we will be eliminating the mask mandate altogether. March 1st. My colleague was saying that in spite of the government having confidence that we can get back to normal, she really has no intentions of stepping back to where we were. She told me that, Unless I know for sure that businesses are taking our safety seriously, I'm not taking the chance unless it is essential. I'm not going to restaurants or mass gatherings. I've lost an aunt and an uncle to this damn thing. I am not losing my mother. So, this brings me to our Question of the Day. As we enter this phase where trust is at an all-time low, what are you going to do to stand out and build trust with your customers and become the brand of choice. As I mentioned, my guest today is the Digital Conversationalist, Andrea T. Watson. Andrea is a certified speaking professional and has worked with some of the world's largest companies. She is a change agent, provocateur, author, and passionate communication specialist. Her newest book, Uncommon Courage, tackles some of the biggest issues that I think we are facing and follows on the success of her first book, the multi-award-winning 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile. Andrea, welcome to the show. It's so nice to have you.

It's so great to be here. Thank you so much for having me.

Before we get into today's topic, could you just dig a little deeper into what you do for your clients?

So, The Digital Conversationalist was a brand that I set up. Oh, that's 4 or 5 years ago now. I've been working in content marketing, then before that marketing services which basically became content marketing and originally in PR. I worked and wandered all around the world doing this, had a wonderful time. But I kept seeing the disconnect. Content that companies were creating couldn't be successful unless the employees were out there sharing that content, right? But it was bigger than that. So I set up the Digital Conversationalist and You know, Dolly Parton says timing is everything, and I think I got my timing right. And it's all about helping leaders of business as well as the entire team— the sales team, HR, marketing, everybody— to work out how they can own their voice and go out there and be a champion for themselves first, company second, on the social media platforms that they enjoy. And obviously LinkedIn's a critical part of that. I'm very focused on B2B companies.

That's my Your newest books— your newest book rather sounds enthralling. Can you tell us a little bit about what it's all about?

Well, I'm based in Thailand. If you don't know, my accent is Australian. I'm obviously not Thai, but we were the first country out of mainland China to be impacted By COVID, we had the first lockdown in the world. So, we went into the shock of that moment earlier than everybody else. And so, I don't know if you remember those times. It was a very strange time for all of us. But there was a few weeks where I think everyone was just sitting there and we were just stunned. And once I sort of came out of being stunned, I did what I always do and I read everything I could read. But I also, I went back to these 50 wisdoms that I did for my 50th birthday, which was on the 1st of January, 2020. So just before everything sort of locked down, I got a party in and it was a good party. And I got the transcript from these videos and I just thought, these are words that could help people through this time. I could see people just expressing such fear, such anguish. I knew that I've lived in 5 different countries. I've been traveling the world for more than half my life. I know that I have a perspective, a unique perspective that I think can help people really sort of overcome the fears and work out how they can do the work within to find that peace and contentment within themselves even in hard times. There are 7 core topics in the book. Self-awareness, so really digging within and sort of understanding how you think. Self-empowerment, so a lot of us really disempower ourselves. You know, the thoughts that are in our head are disempowering, those sort of things. I talk a lot about that. Empowering others, which is a big part of my message. I've got this concept I call the giving economy. When you're on social media, spend as much time raising other people up as you do spending— spend putting your own information out there. You're part of the giving economy by by doing shows like this and giving guests your platform. External influence. So this is a really important one. There's a lot of external influences that we have in growing up with our parents, our cultures, our religions, whatever. Social leadership obviously is one of the core topics. Career thoughts. So that's very sort of philosophical, especially for this time. What do you want? And we're seeing a lot of people reflecting right now. And the final one is a big passion for me is climate courage. And it's just having the courage to really step into the time that we're in right now and stepping into your voice and going out there and being an agent of change because we need everyone to step into this time. So it's wide. It's getting amazing feedback from the professional reviewers. They're saying it's unique, which I like, but in a positive way, not in a negative way, because we know that unique can be bad. But yeah, so, you know, I call it a book of hope. for challenging times.

Wonderful! I love it. To your point, this whole catalyst started 2 years ago almost to the month now. We're about a month away from when we saw the lockdowns, the 2-year anniversary for the lockdowns. But our jurisdictions are now starting to reopen. And it seems to be that this is the pattern all over the world even though we're not out of the woods yet. But as I mentioned in the opening, trust seems to be at an all-time low. What are businesses lacking now as we enter this next phase?

I was really happy to hear that you wanted to talk about trust. So Edelman released its Trust Barometer just a few weeks ago. And so we are in the cycle of distrust. And the two— so Edelman, I don't know if you track Edelman's Trust Barometer. It's been going for 22 years. It's my regular January read. And it tracks 4 organizations, establishments. So it's the media, government, business, and charitable organizations. And business is trusted, the charitable organizations are trusted, government and media are at an all-time low, and 60% of the, of the population are instantly in, in a place of distrust. So before you even open your mouth, they don't trust you. So, you know, trust is really at the cornerstone of social leadership, of leadership, of participating in the world today. The earning of the trust and the keeping of the trust, because that's not something that you can guarantee. So, you know, being a person of deep integrity at this time, being a person of your word, man, you know, if there's a time that you wanna be that person, it's now.

Yeah, since last year, you mentioned this thing about business. Businesses are still being trusted a little bit. But we've had a lot of talk since this time last year about the Great Resignation. This time last year, they were expecting that people come July would start resigning. That was the pattern. And of course, it fulfilled that mandate. Is what you're talking about part of that? Like, is this Great Resignation part of this low-trust environment that we're in now?

We're seeing all sorts of points of view on the Great Resignation and I'm finding it a really fascinating discussion. I was in Boston during the dot-com boom and bust and the boom times were amazing.

Yeah.

But when the bust happened, whoa, people got hurt. If you hadn't built that credibility in that time, you weren't getting a chance, right? I think we are in a A really interesting situation, very similar to that. We think— okay, so on one level, yes, the Great Resignation is happening because people are becoming more introspective. They're thinking about what's going on in the world. They're looking at their family. They're spending time with their family. They're not rushing. They're not— the mania has stopped, you know, because we have literally been in this manic growth. growth phase for decades, but we're also seeing that this manic growth phase is actually starting to affect our ability to live on this planet, right? So, you know, we've got to stop and reflect and go, wait a minute, what the hell is going on here? You know, what's the right decision? We want to spend time with our families. But what concerns me about the conversation around the Great Resignation is when companies lose the control of the employee, they change. So they've wanted to automate, they've wanted to bring in robotics, they've wanted to do all of these things, but they haven't been able to do that because you've got to keep employing people. That's part of the deal between, you know, business and government. You employ people, pay taxes, you know, all that sort of stuff. So companies are going to change the way they do business, and they've been changing the way they do business for the last couple of years. And I think this is going to further accelerate it. So we could actually be in a situation where maybe there's not going to be any jobs to go back to, or maybe people are looking at really different paths. They're just completely transforming. You know, people are going— they're learning how to be yogis, they're learning how to do meditation and how to teach it, you know. So it's a— it's a— I think it's a much bigger conversation about complete societal change. And is trust at the core of that? I think There was a great article I was reading in HBR where moral injury is something that employees have been struggling with. And this is when your boss asks you to do something that's against your moral values. So that sort of treatment of employees, people are saying, I'm not putting up with that anymore. So there's so many dimensions to this one. And I think we've got to keep our eyes open. This idea that we're in control, it doesn't last. It never has.

And so, it's just because you use that word, you said businesses are losing control of their employees. And then, what's going through my mind is, had they actually ever really had control over their employees post-1990?

I think in a lot of ways, like we think that we've been— we think we're free. Technology has freed us, but we've never worked harder. We've never worked longer hours. We've never felt more pressure. And that's what these 2 years has sort of made us go, whoa, wait a minute. Do I really want to do that anymore? Is that the life I want to lead? So, you know, there's a lot of things, a lot of forces coming together. And I think it's important to, you know, I'm watching people, you know, they're like, they're crowing about what's going on, right?

Yes.

They're kind of snickering at businesses and I'm like, you shouldn't do that, you know, because those people often find themselves without jobs in the long run. So, you know, be respectful. It's a time of great change and you've got to make sure that you're placing the right bets.

It's being respectful but also being caring of others as well. You know, when you think that like the statistic is like 90-something percent of our economy is driven by small businesses. We want to make sure that we support these small businesses. But it's so interesting now that this idea that we're flipping now and people are saying, you know what, we've now seen a different reality over the last 2 years. I mean, I look back and I have a Popular Science magazine from the late '70s that said that by the time the millennial came, that we would be in a paperless society and around a whole— because of the way technology will evolve, we will be in the life of leisure. And that will be our center. And so, every once in a while, I like to drag that up and just yell at the magazine on how much it lied to us. It created hope that way, right? But now, you're absolutely right. I mean, people are looking into it. I think we're going to see a huge uptake of entrepreneurship as well as people start doing this.

Yeah.

I'd really like to define Social leadership. You mentioned it a couple times. I'd like to define it and why it's critical for businesses. And we'll get to that right after this.

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Welcome back! We are speaking with Andrea T. Edwards and we're talking about and wanting to tap into social leadership. You know, at the beginning of this talk, I was really having— or rather yesterday, I was having a talk with a colleague of mine. And she doesn't trust that companies will do what they need to do to ensure her safety. Is this a very real concern that you've seen? You did mention that the trust for businesses was a little bit higher than it is for governments and for the media. But what's going to happen do you think in the retail environment, the business-to-consumer environment?

I'm sitting here in Phuket, Thailand where 90% of the business is tourism and also the jobs, right? So talking to the hotel general managers right now, they're just doing everything they can, first of all, to make a safe environment. That's always been the absolute focus. All of us are going out for dinner, but we're all still wearing masks. We will all— we will still continue to wear masks. In Asia, that will go for a long time. So The trust in the business to provide the environment, yeah, absolutely no problem in the consumer space. In the office space, I don't want to be sitting in an office with anyone else for 8 to 10 hours breathing in the same air. But I think, you know, from what I'm seeing, especially in Asia, that focus on cleanliness and safety is definitely there.

Nice, nice. So, but it will be about building the trust and making sure that we talk a little bit about this. So, which kind of leads into kind of the core of what this episode's all about and this idea of social leadership of being able to give people the voice of the business but the voice of the employees as well. So, what is social leadership?

It's you. It's you amplified. It's what you stand for. It's what you care about. It's your passion. It's what beats from your soul. It's that message that you want to get out there into the world. So that you can make an impact and ripple out and create bigger influence in the world. Whether you work for a professional organization or it's just an individual entrepreneur, going out there and speaking up and putting your voice out there on the digital platforms, that's where the global conversation is. For the last couple of years, it's the only place the conversation's been, right? It's all about go out there and be of service to the audience that you want to influence. It's all about being of service because it's not about you. It's not about your achievements. It's not about your ego. It's about serving an audience and making someone's life better. You can do that by educating people. You can do it by inspiring people. You can do it by making people laugh. So if you've got comedic qualities, go for it. But it's about just being present with a message that you think is important for the audience that you want to reach.

Yeah, and that's regardless of the type of business that you're in. We're not just talking about people with audiences. I believe that we all have our audiences.

Absolutely.

We all have experience expectations and we all have an understanding of what we will get from a business. Has this become more critical, do you think, for business leaders now at this junction?

It's been critical for such a long time. There's a McKinsey report in 2013 talking about all the benefits that executive teams can achieve if they sort of unleash their executive teams onto social media. But businesses, they just really struggle with this idea. I mean, most senior leaders are sort of still so behind these protective PR walls. And, you know, the message is nuanced and shaped and massaged. Somebody else is creating it most of the time and it's not— that's just not what it's about. That's what the past was about and this is about really stepping into your voice. People say— I personally don't believe anyone should outsource their voice. You can get help, but this is you. This is your digital persona. It's about being real and it's about making mistakes. It's about getting it wrong sometimes. It's not about being perfect, but it is about just being really authentic. I know that's an overused word and everyone gets sick of the word, but it's at the core of being a great social leader. So it's more important than it's ever been. The problem is companies still only value the senior leaders' voices. It's a really, really big miss. If you look at the Edelman Trust Barometer again, CEOs are trusted, but they're not as trusted as the technical experts in an organization Or the wider employees. So, in a different trust survey, the 5 audiences who trust us are our family, friends, social media connections, bloggers, sort of influencers, and your colleagues. So, it's the people in your circle, right? So, every single one of us has a circle that we can influence, and you need all of your employees out there, you know, carrying Carrying themselves in a respectable way. You know, there's a story in the US that broke this week where the CMO of Levi's had to step down or was fired. Did you see that?

I didn't, no.

She spoke out of alignment with the company values. And, you know, and that's not— you know, when you live in a country that's a democracy, you have the right to free speech. When you work for a company, it's not a democracy. You've got to be in alignment with the company values. But everyone needs to be given the opportunity to have a voice.

Sorry. It's really ironic because what you were talking about is giving everybody this voice. And the past was that we used to massage the PR message. And that was, I mean, it's driven by litigation. It's driven by God forbid we should say something out of step. We want to make absolutely sure we're protecting the brand. So, we're not going to say this, this, or this. But we will talk about this, this, and this. By giving and empowering other people to have that voice, don't you end up with more situations like we had at Levi's?

Well, the situation with Levi's was— I found it pretty unusual and unique. It's not— at the senior level, it's unusual. Every senior leader knows what they can and can't talk about. I've worked with executive leaders from companies like GE, right? And so, Let's just say one of them had a passion for trains. They wouldn't be able to talk about that passion because the company buys trains. So, by doing that, they put the risk of some sort of share price impact and that sort of stuff.

Sure.

So, leaders know that there are things you can't talk about. But there are 4 categories that I have found that people want to talk about. So, the first is The people who want to talk to the customer. They want to talk to the customer issues. They want to share information that solves customer problems. So, your sales force, that's their sort of focus. And then there's another 30% and they're in their role. So, if they're an HR leader, they want to talk about HR. Or if they're a salesperson, they want to talk about being a great seller. So, role. Then there's another group that are the leaders or the mentors. And they want to inspire the next generation. And then— The final sort of 20%, they're the ones, they're the foodie bloggers, they're the ones that want to talk about spirituality and mindfulness. And all 4 of these categories are really, really valuable because they allow the people to really step into who they really are fully at work by honoring and respecting their voice on social media. Of course, you've got to be sensible. You can't just talk about anything, right? And like I said, it's got to be in alignment with the company values. But otherwise, you know, most people, we trust our employees to go and speak to our customers, our partners. But when it comes to social media, we say, we don't trust you to do that. And that just, to me, it doesn't make any sense. Why are you hiring them if you can't trust them? Which goes back to the trust conversation, right?

Mm-hmm.

You know, if you can't trust your people, they're on social media anyway. Empower them to be brilliant there.

Yes, yes. So interesting because I think you just mentioned it time and time again is this word values. Hopefully, when you've hired people, you've hired people who share your values. They might have different backgrounds and different diverse ways of thinking about things. But they're sharing some core values and that should be the guiding light, shouldn't it?

Yeah. You know, I always say every now and again, you'll go to a dinner party and there's that one person at the dinner party that everyone just wants punch in the face because they're just so annoying, right? But it's unusual. You know, the majority of people can carry themselves in a way that will earn respect and regard. Every now and again, there's a person that, you know, they just probably shouldn't be on social media representing your company. And it's not, look at me, aren't I fantastic? I've just won an award. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Your mum likes that. You know, you can do that sometimes, but just— Don't make that the centerpiece of what you're doing.

But when you say, hey, hey, hey, I won the award, you're talking about yourself. You're not talking about what's important to your customers.

Exactly.

It's so interesting. This is fabulous, Andrea. How can people get hold of you? If this is resonating with them, how can they get hold of you if they need to work with you?

I've got 2 websites and my social media handle is Andrea T. Edwards. So, andreataedwards.com is one website and my other website is uncommon-courage.com.

Nice.

That's where you can find all about the book. And both of my blogs are on the 2 different sites.

Love it.

You get the full Andrea across both. Nice.

Easy to find. Just watch out for time. Just watch out for the time difference because poor Andrea is up way past her bedtime right now.

I can do it.

That's awesome. As we mentioned, it seems like with the distrust, we have the misinformation. We have kind of almost this idea of weaponizing information. I just watched a week-old episode on one of the late-night things about Marjorie Taylor Greene saying the word gazpacho. And of course, then everybody makes fun of her because she mispronounced a word. We all knew where she was going with it. But it becomes this thing that the minute you make the slightest little mistake about stuff, Even on social media, people are jumping all over you. Do you have any suggestions for the audience relative to today's topic?

Oh look, we all need to just slow down, calm down, take some deep breaths. So, the first thing is read wide. Watch wide. Don't rely on one source of information. If you're just watching Fox News, you've got one perspective and you've got a bias. And it might feel good. But it's only one perspective. If you're just watching the BBC, it's only one perspective. So especially in times like this, we're going through the whole situation with Ukraine and Russia. Read wide, listen to all different perspectives, and go outside your comfort zone on a regular basis and face up to information that you don't want to face up to. I do it all the time, and I squirm when I do it, but I think it's really important to do it because you need to understand also what people are saying that you don't agree with, understand the words that they're using and the language that you're using, so you can You can't talk to someone who's in opposition to you if you don't understand where they're coming from, but also understanding the language that they use. And obviously, I'm Australian, I'm living in Thailand, I've lived all over the world. I have to come at— I come at the language from a different perspective anyway, right? Because different words mean different things, and I've been caught out a few times for words that I didn't think were bad that were very bad, especially in the US. But so the one thing is read really wide, and we have to work harder for information. And we can't blame the media if we're not working hard for information. The other thing is you've got to take the emotions out of this. There's too much emotion. Like, just 2 stories this year, right? Djokovic in Melbourne with his COVID situation. I don't know if you saw that. And then more recently, obviously, Joe Rogan. People are jumping in with their opinions so quickly, and they're so passionate, and they're so— and anyone who disagrees with them, everyone's fighting with each other. And it's usually your friends and family because you're on social media talking about it, right? Step back from it. If there's emotions rolling around, don't share. It's too early. Look at other perspectives. Really think about it. And then when you're ready to share, make sure you share from a really calm place and be conscious of the words that you use. Like, one of the words that I hate is sheep. Oh, they're all sheep. I think it's so— It's just insulting and it's so dismissive of people because people— the people that you're calling sheep are sitting there going, they're all being rolled up, right? So really be conscious of the language that you use when you communicate. And, you know, we need to bring people together. We don't need to create further division. And we've got to start taking more responsibility for that. If you don't know somebody and they're talking to you, they're abusing you, they're being horrible, just ignore them. You don't know them. Don't worry about them. There's a lot of people in weird places in the world right now. We've gone through a lot of stuff in the last couple of years and people are projecting their pain onto other people, even people they don't know. You know, the trolls, the angry men in the basement sitting in their underwear, mom's upstairs cooking their dinner, those sort of guys, right? You just don't— I mean, I'm a female. I've been on social media for a long time and I've had all sorts of nonsense come my way. But just don't entertain it. Block, just ignore it. Have a laugh. Sometimes I put a funny GIF up. Just don't be impacted by it. Just go in there with a really sort of level head that you're there to share a message and you're not there to create problems or fights. If you've got a strong point of view, you can't resist getting people responding to that. You expect them to talk to you with respect and you speak to them with respect. I have the most amazing conversations with people on social media who I've never met and we speak to each other respectfully even when we completely disagree with each other.

Absolutely.

And in one of my groups, I demand it. I demand respect because it's important. I'll respect you and I expect you to respect me. So, we need to play a different game.

Absolutely. It's all about perspective. I love everything you've said. This idea of read wide. Absolutely. That is something that I've been telling people forever. You cannot think critically until you're looking at both sides of an argument and be able to then question why do people feel this way or why do people say stuff like this.

Yeah.

We have gotten into a kind of culture now where If somebody says it, it must be true. And we've stopped digging into the sources of information, which I think is a shame. And part of it is, and I hate to point fingers, but I think social media is part of that. One of the examples somebody once gave me said that if you have a Muslim, a Jew, and a Catholic, and you're on vacation in Egypt, and you pick out your cell phone and you Google Egypt, the 3 of you are going to get completely different responses from social media.

Yeah.

And to me, that's a challenge. That's a challenge that if you're like you said, if you're on one side of the spectrum, you're going to get information that supports your belief systems. You won't get the opposite side. So, you really have to be intentional about it. And it takes energy. But what can leaders do when it's happening within their teams?

Well, I mean, I think you can manage the algorithms on social media better by Once you start reading wider, the algorithms will feed you more information. So, like, we can take more responsibility and, yes, it does take more effort and it does take more energy, but nobody wants to be wrong. Like, you know, when people are out there with a— what I consider a wrong idea, I know that they don't think they're wrong. So, me patronizing them or being angry towards them— It's not going to change anything. It's just going to make them stick their heels in because I would do the same thing, right? So, you know, when it comes to teams, I mean, you know, do you think misinformation within teams is an issue within— from a social leadership perspective? Is that what you mean?

Could it be?

Well, I mean, I suppose, you know, teams should know each other. Like, I think of the teams that I've worked with over the years. I mean, we kind of know where each other comes from and we're not— We're not demanding that we are all agreeing with each other. We respect each other's differences, but we create the space to hear everyone. So, I suppose that's what it's all about anyway with leaders is being more in tune with their people, which we're seeing a lot of examples in the last couple of years. And a lot of the reason people are leaving is because that hasn't been the case. Yeah.

I'd like to get into some key action steps that business leaders can take and apply to what we're talking about today. And we'll get to that right after this.

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Welcome back! Let us jump into some key action steps business leaders can take to apply what we're talking about today. Andrea, we have businesses out there. We have leaders out there now who are pulling their hair out of their pulling out their hair at today's new reality. What are some of the steps people can take to start this idea of applying social leadership within their realm?

Whatever it is, work it out. And it's really important. So sometimes you'll go into social media on LinkedIn and you'll see these people and they show up and they look like they're talking about everything, right? And you don't really know whether, you know, who are you? What do you stand for? So, work it out because that's the important thing. The next thing is be really intentional and purposeful about what you're doing and why you're doing it because that's what's going to give you wings. That's when people say to me, I haven't got time. I'm like, you have not got time. But it becomes part of you. It's part of your existence. So it becomes a big priority. Who's your audience? Who do you want to talk to? Be really clear in your mind about that because you can't talk to everybody. So when I talk about content marketing, social leadership, those sort of topics, I'm talking to business leaders and I'm really, really clear about that in my mind that that's who I'm talking to. It doesn't mean other people aren't interested in what I'm sharing, but be really clear. And then just, you know, we haven't got a lot of time, but Really go in there with a mindset of service. You're not there for you, you're there to serve your audience. Make sure that everything that you're doing is about that. I think a couple of things that everyone, I hope, takes away is we're all in the business of earning people's time today. So don't worry about numbers, don't worry about metrics, the vanity metrics, it's not important. If you've got 10 people— 10 people. One person, 50 people, 100 people whose life is better because you're existing in the world, then you're already doing something good. So don't worry about that. There's more people talking today than ever before. Everyone's jumped on social media in the last couple of years, a lot of people who weren't there before. So, but remember, we're all in the business of earning people's time, so what you share needs to be worthy of their time. And then the other thing is we're all in the business of earning trust. Participate knowing that you can lose trust so easily. Cancel culture is a thing. Slip of the tongue. It doesn't take much. If you wanted to have a quick start, another one is where should you be? Be where you enjoy, but if you're in business, you've got to be on LinkedIn. That's the 18 Steps to an All-Star LinkedIn Profile. I wrote that a couple of years ago. I'm about to republish it with some updates, actually.

Awesome.

The reason is because it's, to me, it's the most important social media platform for professionals. But be wherever else you're and be where your audience is. So I still love Twitter. A lot of people in Asia don't even go on Twitter anymore. I think it's brilliant. It keeps me connected to the audiences that I want to be connected to and the influencers that I want to be connected to. So is that a good start?

Beautiful, beautiful. Are there any cautionaries for the people who are getting into this now, they're learning some stuff, anything that we should be attentive to as we move forward?

Just pay attention. Go and find the people in your field or thought leaders in your area of expertise. Just go and have a look at what they're doing. Go and find some people who you admire and you respect the way that they're participating and just go and just keep an eye on them for a while. People are very nervous about getting started. I've picked up CEOs' fingers and pressed publish on their very first blogs. Everyone feels the same. A lot of people are very insecure. Why would anyone care what I've got to say? You know, so people are, you know, it's not an easy thing to start but the reality is you've just got to start. And when you get started, most people aren't paying attention anyway so it's a great time to make mistakes, to get it wrong because you're not really going to have the audience then. So just get started. Don't worry about trolls, don't worry about haters, don't worry about any of that sort of stuff, especially for the females out there and the minority groups out there. We've got to block them out and we've got to get more of us on social media so that we drown them out anyway. Just have fun with it. Don't take yourself too seriously. Most people are good. LinkedIn, it's very rare to have a negative experience on LinkedIn. Do your work, do your research. If you've got a crazy mind that's always thinking about stuff, it's the greatest gift you'll ever give your mind because you can calm it down because you're constantly out there sort of— you're finally expressing all these thoughts that have been rattling around in your head. So for me, it was one of the greatest mind calms I've ever experienced. But yeah, just don't worry about it. The insecurity, what do people— why do people care what I've got to say? Every single person on this earth has a unique experience that is worth listening to. Every single one.

Yes. Beautiful. Andrea, this has been such a valuable conversation. Do you have any last thoughts about what we're talking about today?

The digital landscape, the conversation that's happening there is being owned by bad actors and people who want to keep us divided. We need to step into this. Like, so many intelligent people that I meet who are stepping away from social media because they don't, they don't like what's going on there. There's people who've never ever embraced it. If you have something to offer the world, a point of view that matters, if you have solutions to the problem, the problems the world is facing, if, if we're missing out by you not being there, then I actually think you're doing a disservice to humanity. And I want to encourage you to get on social media and let's raise our voices and get some balance back. The world's out of balance. We can see it in the violence that's erupting all over the world. We can see it in the despair that's happening around the world. We've got big, big problems to solve and we need to get the balance back. And I think being part of the conversation is a contribution to helping get that balance back. So please come and join. Please come and join and be a social leader. Thank you, Marc. We need you.

I love it. Could you just remind everybody one more time how to get hold of you?

All right. So, andreataedwards.com and uncommon-courage.com.

Love it! Thank you so much for being with us today. I truly appreciate you taking time out to share your passion, your energy, and your knowledge. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it. I hope it's been useful for everyone.

It absolutely has. Why don't you let me know if this was of value to you? As always, my offer stands. If you would like 30 minutes of my time to brainstorm your business with you, why don't you go ahead and book yourself on my online calendar? The link is down below in the show notes. As always, I am at your service. And if you haven't done so yet, go ahead and subscribe to this feed. That'll give you first dibs whenever I bring you amazing people like Andrea Onto the show. And it'll help you create the jaw-dropping, show-stopping experience your employees and your customers deserve. My name is Marc Haine. I hope you stay safe, stay healthy, and dare to be the exception.