By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting (Pty) Ltd
I have of late been engaged with blogging and tweeting more and more on a daily basis and in some instances I have been both shocked and horrified at some of the comments that I have received and then on the other hand hugely amused and somewhere in the middle too - mildly irritated! I guess it all has to do with these 4 little words that I consider to be the most dangerous in the dictionary - perception, assumption, expectation and interpretation as they seldom meet reality.
To try and share some of the key points that I have learnt and perhaps defuse some of the reactions based on those four little words, let’s have a look at some of these tips here.
1. Be Yourself
The internet is not a stage or a film set where you play a part. It might seem like a great place for you to role play or indeed emulate someone else. The reality however is that if you are trying to brand yourself or your business, you will do more harm than good if you are not authentically you!
To add to that, why on earth would you want to be anyone other than you? If you are branding yourself, actually even if you’re not branding yourself, why would you want to be or portray yourself as someone else?
Be consistent as you brand yourself across the social media platforms.
2. People are just People
One of the things that I always talk about when networking is that it is not about whom you know, but more often about whom you don’t know that knows who you know. Quite a tongue twister I know but the reality is that irrespective of whether you connect with someone who has 10 followers or someone who has 10 000 followers, you have no idea who they are connected with.
You need to make every connection count and in order to do that you cannot discount people because they only have a small number of followers. That small number of followers may include someone who can take your business to the next level!
3. Say what you mean and mean what you say.
Now this one I particularly like!
You should never say anything on social media, not just twitter, but social media in general, that you are not prepared to defend in person.
Be true to who you are as a person, be true to your beliefs, be true to the topic and you will develop credibility and trust with your followers.
4. Keep it tidy
I know that I always talk about the “telling of the story” and keeping the message short and brief, or “tidy” as I like to call it, may seem to be a contradiction in terms. That said I still stand by both.
The reality is that if you have a one liner that people don’t understand because they have no frame of reference, it’s not going to help you in any way. In fact if your readers or followers are anything like me, it will frustrate them to such an extent that they will leave anyway.
True as that may be, the story does need to have a point and shouldn’t waffle all over the place. The story also needs to be entertaining and create pictures in the mind of the reader and leave a lasting impression.
On that note, check out the next post to receive some more tips.
Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za
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