Tips for New CEOs on Developing a Social Media Identity
Give ONE tip for a CEO brand-new to tweeting/updating social media as him or herself.The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC recently published #FixYoungAmerica: How to Rebuild Our Economy and Put Young Americans Back to Work (for Good), a book of 30+ proven solutions to help end youth unemployment.Email your questions about best practices for starting up and/or manaing a small business to smbs@foxbusiness.com.
No. 1: Give, Give, Get From Erica Dhawan of Erica Dhawan Inc. and Galahads
Give to others, share as much information as possible related to your content and mission by others. Over time, your tribe will follow. Don't be afraid to mix the personal and professional--people want to follow the whole you!
No. 2: Two-Way Interaction From Richard Lorenzen of Fifth Avenue Brands
The most important tip for success on Twitter is to actually interact with other members. Many CEOs use Twitter as a personal billboard to talk about themselves. The most effective way of building a following and actually seeing success from social media is to make sure the conversation is two-sided. Talk to other users, share advice and actually create relationships. Interested is interesting.No. 3: Speechless? Share an Article From Doreen Bloch of Poshly Inc.
If you're not feeling too talkative, one of the easiest things to do is post a link to an article you find interesting. It gives followers insight into what you're inspired by. Plus, articles are an easy thing to save up—you don't need to post them as soon as you read them—so you can keep a backlog of content for when you're short on 140-character witticisms.
No. 4: Get Personal Now and Then From Nathalie Lussier of Nathalie Lussier Media
Don't overdo the personal tweets and social media messages, but remember that you're posting as a human being, and that most people prefer to do business with other human beings, not faceless corporations. So do share updates that are more personal every now and then, but make sure you're keeping it helpful and on brand most of the time.
No. 5: Provide Consistent Value From Derek Flanzraich of Greatist
Why would YOU follow you? If you can't figure out a compelling reason, then it's worth focusing on providing some kind of consistent value on some topic, obviously ideally in your company's industry. If you want to build the go-to company, become a go-to thought leader first.
No. 6: Don't Talk About Politics From Ashley Bodi of Business Beware
This is one of the topics you should stay away from especially when your tweeting for your business. There are way too many opinions out there about the topic of politics and if you are strong for one side, it could be a huge turnoff to people. It's just something you should not mix with your business if it doesn't pertain to what you do. Don't lose an audience because of one political tweet.
No. 7: Search is Your Friend From Kade Dworkin of Red Alert Social Media
One easy way to start to understand the value of Twitter is to run and save a search about a topic you care about. It could be a hobby, an interest, an alma mater -- basically, anything that matters to you. Begin to interact with people talking about their search term. They'll quickly see the business use case after doing this on a personal search term.
No. 8: Be Absolutely Authentic From Alexis Wolfer of The Beauty Bean
Fans and followers are interested in your social media updates because they want to know YOU. Be authentic and everything else will fall into place.
No. 9: Respect Your Critics From Kelly Azevedo of She's Got Systems
As you're sharing, it's inevitable that you'll get some critics, so it's best to listen, respond when appropriate and adapt. Being the leader of a community makes it hard to hide, so be authentic and real with fans and critics alike. For a recent example check out the feedback when Square's CEO Jack Dorsey (@jack) unveiled an army of 13 male interns and faced the question, "Where are the women?"
No. 10: Have a Conversation From Thursday Bram of Hyper Modern Consulting
If your Twitter stream or other social media updates is nothing but links -- either to your own company or to other people's articles --there's no proof that you're not actually a piece of automated software. Have conversations with other people out there, even if it's just to tell someone that you think their recent article was good.