The #Gratitude200K Event Summary

The summary of the #Gratitude200K event which took place on the 30th November 2013.

#Gratitude200K

An interview with Michael Constantinides @MickyCost

The #Gratitude200K Event

You're invited to the #Gratitude200K Event - oh and I made a video for those who don't like reading ... See you there!!

Videos from #Tweet4SA

I have just uploaded the videos from the #Tweet4SA training session in Johannesburg.

I have divided the videos into 5 parts, which hopefully make sense.

Please feel free to ask any questions and I will attempt to address them either via the blog or by actually doing a video reply. So the challenge is to ask difficult questions that will challenge me and ultimately help the people who may have similar challenges to you.

Part One - Whats your Intention?

Part Two - The Basics and YOU

Part Three - Content, Followers and Interactions.

Part Four - Are One Night Stands part of your Strategy?

Part Five - Keep Calm and Realize Advertising has Changed

Our learnings from #Tweet4SA

Earlier this week and at the beginning of last week I presented a Tweet 4 SA event in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively. I have decided to make a summary of the Tweets so that you can get an insight and a glimpse into the learning that took place.

If you have any questions or would like clarification around any of these tweets, I will be more than glad to answer any questions.

Whatever we do, must have relevance with people. 

It's relevant when it's meaningful, leaving people better than we found them.

Rule 1:  Social Media is a conversation. Rule 2: Never forget rule 1. 

Don't look for ideas that will confirm your thinking, rather look for trends that will disrupt your thoughts.

The secret of success in Social Media is be consistent and add a few surprises, they'll miss the surprises if you not consistent.

Your bio should cover more than just your qualifications & job... share your interests, makes you more relatable and interesting.

If you have even 1 follower you are a leader, make sure you behave like one!

"There is too much talking in Social Media and not enough listening and learning." -- Brian Solis

There are pipes running between us all, we need ensure that we have good, clean content flowing between us all.

If you have any followers at all you are a leader! tweet and live that way! Be responsible!

“Creativity comes from a conflict of ideas” – Donatella Versace

Did you know that You Tube videos get 40x the results Websites do, if you don't have online videos you miss opportunities.

Be relevant! Feedback from your communities is authentic and better than from the 'experts'.

Don't compare your results to someone else's. 

You can never be another person, 

you can only be a better version of yourself.

Social Media is about creating forums and having conversations.

The speed at which you respond on social media has a direct correlation to how much you care for your clients.

You have a responsibility to people following you... They expect you to be consistent.

#ChangeMakers why are you waiting? 

"We need not wait to see what others do." - Mahatma Gandhi

I have included a image of the #Tweet4SA report, the full report is available at www.tweetbinder.com by entering the search #Tweet4SA (TweetBinder does not archive reports so after some time these stats will no longer be relevant)

My Top 10 Inspirational Sayings

I speak and often write, over the years I have found that some of the quotes have been used more often than others, here are ten quotes that I find myself using regularly.

1. Do you realise the power of just simply giving someone a hug? Try it! … Remember you need 5 hugs just to be normal!
2. Just be you, and if people don’t like it, well, that’s their problem not yours!
3. If you never let go of who you were, you will never reach the possibility of who you could be.
4. Let go of friends and relationships that are negative, let go of anything that does not add to your life and you will have life!
5. Sometimes you gotta shut up, swallow your pride and accept that you’re wrong. It’s not giving up, it’s called growing up.
6. Gratitude turns what we have into enough.
7. Listen and listen properly, sometimes the answers we have are not the answers they want to hear.
8. Realize we are not individuals, but unique creations with very specific gifts and strengths needing each other to live a fulfilled life.
9. True forgiveness is when you learn to forgive yourself, letting go of all bitterness.
10. If you aren’t making time to think about how you can simplify your life, you are simply wasting time.

Everyone talks about Influence and this I believe is what Influence is really about … It’s not about what interests you, it’s about what others find interesting about you.

Is Social Media a Cost or an Investment?

Recently I was asked this very interesting question … Is Social Media a Cost or an Investment?

What an interesting question,  firstly if we view it as a cost it is usually associated with discomfort and can be likened to the question whether tires on a car are a necessity (a grudge purchase) or a luxury (enhancing the performance, comfort and safety). When we Social Media as a cost, either as a financial cost or a cost of our most valuable resource time we will always begrudgingly expect an immediate return for our money or effort. Social Media we know is difficult to measure and analyse but when we expect instant results we will normally come to a conclusion that it is simply not worth it. Mainly due to the fact that we viewed Social Media as a cost.

Seeing Social Media as an investment on the other hand is totally different. A clever investor will always tell you that you cannot expect good returns in the short term, that the long term benefits of your investment is the return that you are seeking. These long term benefits are known as influence. So how then can we make sound investments into our approach to Social Media?

Here are 10 Points to help you make a better investment into your Social Media Influence:

1. Remember to follow your interests and in so doing attract the people who are interested in the same things that you are.
2. Never pretend to be something you are not. E.G. if you don’t know about birds don’t pretend to know but you can connect to experts in the birding field so that you can recommend those people to your followers, and more than likely will reciprocate by recommending you.
3. When interacting try as much as possible to add links to the material you referring to.
4. Remember a photo is worth a thousand words, if you say it is raining, post a photo. If you say it is a lovely day, illustrate the fact with a photo as to why you think it is a lovely day.
5. Try and post at least once a day,  and try to share or retweet at least three things that you find interesting with your followers.
6. Of course you may share much more but the most important thing is to BE CONSISTENT, if you decide for example to Tweet once a day, Tweet once a day.
7. Follow people back, like their pages and do the things that will be more social.
8. Be a social person that is professional at all times, not a professional person who is never sure when it is appropriate to be social.
9. Remember that you are a publisher, don’t say anything that you would not say if you were live on television, print in a newspaper or say on the radio.
10. Most importantly your effort will give great returns on investment if you see each connection as a valuable relationship that will connect you to the correct people, due to the investment you have made into these relationships.

Please share your comments and let me have your feedback, I would love to interact with you further.

Image courtesy of rajcreationzs at FreeDigitalPhotos.net