The importance of intent

To think about where industry is going, you’ve got to make some shifts, you’ve got to make some changes and you’ve got to accept and adapt to the market.

Characteristics of an Entrepreneur

I recently had a birthday, and one of the birthday presents I got were some really cool cornhole boards with my company’s logos on them, and I’m very thankful for that. I also got this shirt that says: “Entrepreneur: someone who jumps off a cliff and builds a plane on the way down.”

That’s a really good description of what happens every day for an entrepreneur.

I was listening to a podcast earlier and a question was asked, "Would rather go first and make mistakes and possibly make less money or if you would rather go second, learn from someone else’s mistakes and possibly make more money?”

Really, the answer is that a true-bred entrepreneur is going to go first, at least more often than not.

And there’s always someone who has to go first. I mean, think about this for a second: Most of the companies you hear about today – Facebook, Google, Uber, LinkedIn – weren’t around two decades ago when I was finishing high school. They just weren’t there! I remember you used to have to get invited to have a Gmail account…a Google account.

Where Are Your Customers’ Eyeballs?

To think about where industry is going, you’ve got to make some shifts, you’ve got to make some changes and you’ve got to accept and adapt to the market. People’s attention shifts so rapidly that you have to be creative and intentional about placing your brand in front of them.

As I’ve studied social media and the practices of other companies, I continue to find that most small businesses are not taking advantage of this incredible phenomenon called social media. All of those businesses that are such big names now, they certainly take advantage of it.

For example, I had a church leader come to visit me recently to talk about social media and their desire to reach more people. I told them it’s very simple with social media focus on these in descending order: live videos, video content, images, news articles or blog links and texts. Utilizing and mixing up all of these posts are good ways to get people’s attention and can create an ebb and flow to your timeline so that people get engaged with it.

However, you also have to have intent. You have to be absolutely intentional about reaching your audience, about what you’re posting and what you’re doing every single day.

Why We’re Putting on a Social Media Summit?

That’s the big reason behind why we’re putting on this social media summit, called the SM3 Summit. The whole idea is that most businesses aren’t taking advantage of social media and we need people to understand the true power of it and to bring leaders and entrepreneurs from across the state here in Kinston for one day.

Once you accept that most people are on these social platforms, then you as a business owner, as an organizational manager and as a marketing director need to take advantage of it.

That’s why we’re trying to bring leaders into one place on one day. Consider it a deep dive to understand some of the best practices and tips with regards to social media marketing. And, like most conferences, people will learn from each other, including best practices that apply to their industry.

As entrepreneurs and as small business owners, we have to take risks from time to time because we’ve got to move faster than our competition.

A Piece of Glass

I know this is small and silly, but we recently put in a piece of glass between the engineering studio and the recording studio in our office. The separation between studio and engineering room allows for us to manage our broadcasts more efficiently, effectively and professionally.

That glass represents so much more than just a piece of tempered glass. It’s the beginnings of us having a full-fledged studio in downtown Kinston. The intent behind the glass is to increase our studio space and create a cleaner work environment for our audio and sound engineers. One should also have intent when it comes to your organization’s social media and marketing strategies.

There absolutely needs to be intent behind your daily managing of social media accounts. The cliche “National Day of” posts are only useful in small doses. And, the “throw mud at the wall” approach is lame.

I’d rather you not create a social media account than to be lazy in your approach. An effective social media strategy considers who your target market is, being self-aware and knowing what you’re good at, then designing a series of posts each week to capture your audience’s attention.

To learn more about the nine social media experts coming to Kinston on Saturday, Oct 5th, click here.