Websites Are The Home Base For Business
By Cheval John
A person has just started a new business and they are looking to attract new customers.
They understand they don’t have the funding to buy ad space on billboards.
They understand one of the ways to market their business is by being featured on media outlets.
The first thing they might do is hire a public relations firm to pitch to major media outlets.
The only problem is major media outlets are not interested in them because they are not big enough.
It might seem like a good idea because major media outlets like CBS, ABC, etc., have major national reach.
It would be better if they would focus on getting featured on niche media because:
1. They Have Targeted Audience.
People who follow a niche media are passionate about the subject.
They invest their valuable time to follow what the reporter or blogger from the niche media are talking about.
2. They Are The Original Test Tasters.
If you have a product or service, they are willing to see what you are about.
They are willing to put their own reputation on the line because they believe that you are the real deal.
3. You Don’t Have To Go Through Gatekeepers.
If you want to reach out to major media, you have to pitch yourself to someone and convince them you have a story that will generate interest.
If it gets approved by that person, they have to pitch your story to their editor for the final approval before they could air it.
The biggest advantage with going with a blogger, all you have to do is pitch your story to them and if it is good, they will immediately write about it.
4. You Will Featured On Major Media
You might thing this is counter to what I am saying earlier.
It is not because shows from major media outlets are looking for content everyday because they have to fill in their time slots.
Most of the time they look at websites from bloggers/niche media outlets to find their story.
If it interests them, it will be featured on their shows and voila, you will be featured on a major media outlet.
For example, this person who is living in South Korea was featured in Black Enterprise website recently.
What was interesting: the story was first featured on a blog called,”Black Girls Learning Languages”
So if you are convinced about avoiding the major media when first starting out your business, here are some tips to stand out:
1. Have An Active Social Media Presence
Whether it is Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn, you have to be on there because most of your audience are on there.
2. Share Valuable Content
Do not blast out promotional posts only because that will give the impression you do not care about them, but only about making a sale.
3. Share Your Competition’s Content
If you find that their content resonates with you, share it with your audience.
What that does is let them know you care about them.
Even if they end up buying a product or service from your competition, they will remember you because you were willing to be a giver.
In the long run, you will end up receiving business due to your generosity.
4. Create A Website
Your website should be the main hub for your business because it is your real estate.
If you focus your business only through social media, it could end up costing you.
Social media is rented land and what we have seen over the years is algorithms being changed because the owners of these social media sites want the audience to stay on their platform as long as they can.
If you are a marketer and all you are doing is spamming the audience on the social media platform, they will run away.
And that is not what the owners of the platform wants.
If you have a large audience on the social media platforms and you base your business from that, when the algorithm hits, you lose a large share of that audience and your base revenue.
LinkedIn Is A Social Media Platform
By Cheval John
LinkedIn, which was created in 2003, is a unique business platform because it allows many of us to connect and build our network.
People can find podcast guest, post their skills, work history and other things that can allow them to find work.
It can also allow small business owners to find their ideal clients.
LinkedIn has also moved into the live streaming space recently.
Those who have a large following have access to live stream their events and shows.
I had written before about how to connect with people on LinkedIn by sending a personalized message.
It seems to me that they have taken the advice well as I have been seeing personalized invitation from those who I have not met in real life.
Though this is great, I have started to see a very disturbing trend: spamming
When I have seen the personalized invitation, I look at the person’s account and I then accept them.
A few days later, that same person is sending sales pitch in the messages.
I immediately delete the message and then disconnect with them.
When you send sales pitches after connecting, it shows:
1. You are very desperate
2. You just looking for a drive-by sale
3. You have not done your research.
Though LinkedIn is a business platform, you should not be selling to someone the minute they connect with you.
What you should be doing instead is building trust.
Ways that you can build credibility on LinkedIn
1. Interact with people.
If someone post something that is of value, you should share on their account how the article impacted them.
2. You can share articles yourself.
If you find an article that you believe will benefit your network, you should share it in your feed.
Even if no one comments at first, when you share articles consistently, someone might end up commenting and more than likely, end up connecting with you.
3. Write articles yourself on LinkedIn publishing platform
The LinkedIn publishing platform is still important despite what some might say.
It shows your expertise.
Plus, when your network see that you put a lot of time and effort in writing your article consistently, they will feel compelled to do business with you.
In their minds, they are thinking if you can give away all of this information for free, they will be willing to pay you to help them solve their pain points.
You can re-purpose your blog post on the LinkedIn publishing platform.
Just make sure to put a disclaimer saying: “This article first appeared in this blog”
To conclude, LinkedIn is not just a business platform.
It is a place where you can build valuable friendships.
One can argue that LinkedIn is a social media platform.
YouTube Are The Kings Of Live Streaming
By Cheval John
I have written before about how major media organizations are using live streaming to broadcast events.
Today have proven what we are going to be seeing for decades to come.
We have witness probably for the first time ever the bringing in of the new year from major cities around the world.
Previously, we would have seen reports of cities from around the world bringing in the new year after the event has occurred.
For us here in the United States, it brings a long yearning to see the celebrations of the new year especially from the new year’s eve celebrations in New York City on major television networks.
Many major networks brought us the live streaming from their location like the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC).
However, I have to give a lot of credit to The Telegraph, a british daily newspaper, who somehow managed to live stream the New Year’s Eve celebrations from around the world.
The good thing about this was there was not any commentary at all and no commercials.
We only saw from the party goer’s point of view the anticipation of the New Year.
For those of us who watch the New York City’s celebrations on a regular basis, we actually saw in real time from the participants point of view.
The live streaming of the New Year’s Eve celebration was broadcast from the YouTube account of The Telegraph.
Facebook Live is my favorite platform to live stream events because it is for my own community.
However, they are only allowed to live stream for up to four hours unless they have recently made changes.
I will admit YouTube are the kings of live streaming because their platform is video based from the beginning.
Plus, you can live stream you event as long as you want without any limitations.
I can say this year will be very epic and hope everyone will take stake in what we are about to see in the continuous evolution of social media.
Live Streaming “Stars” To Watch In 2020
By Cheval John
It has been 15 years since Facebook was launched.
One can argue that platform was the origins of social media.
Facebook allowed us to re-connect with people we have not seen in a long time.
Other platforms like Twitter (2006), Pinterest (2009), Instagram (2010), Snapchat (2011) has given us options to grow our brand and organizations.
I can say for sure, live streaming was the biggest creation this decade.
Smaller platforms like Blab were the early entries into live streaming that made social media more personal.
Blab basically allowed Twitter to grow indirectly because you had needed an account in order to use the live streaming platform.
When the bigger social media platforms entered the live streaming space, the smaller platforms either
dissolved or were bought out.
Now major media companies are joining in on the live streaming space.
Major League Baseball live streamed a few of their baseball games this year exclusively on their YouTube channel.
Cheddar successfully created their own non-linear channel using Facebook Live, Twitter and other platforms.
ESPN created their own live streaming platform, ESPN+ in 2018 which has grown to 3.5 million paid subscribers.
ESPN+ has allowed many mid-major universities to broadcast their games to a national audience.
I will delve deeper on ESPN+ in a future blog post.
In previous blog posts, you have seen a list of live streaming “stars” to look out for.
This list will be a bit different as I will include media organizations who are using live streaming to reach out to a newer audience.
For without further delay, here is the list of live streaming “stars” to look out for in 2020
1. Ai Addyson-Zhang
Dr. Zhang is the host of “Classroom Without Walls” a show which interviews educational and social media professionals.
Jessika is the co-host of “Magnet Marketers” live streaming media training
Mike is the co-host of “Magnet Marketers” live streaming social media training.
4. Kami Huyse
Kami is the host of Social Media Breakfast which meets the second friday of every month.
The event is live streamed on their facebook page.
5. France 24
France 24 is a media organization which live stream their news segments every half hour on YouTube
6. Bloomberg TV
Bloomberg TV has recently started live streaming their business news on their YouTube channel
7. Meisha Johnson
Meisha is a journalist who live streams on Facebook
8. Europe 1
Europe 1 is a french radio station that live streams their shows on YouTube
Starting 2021 On The Right Foot
By Cheval John
I knew that 2020 was going to be an interesting year because of synchronization.
I was thinking of the roaring 20s where things was booming in that era.
At that time, I decided to step out of my comfort zone and show my face more on Instagram.
I figured the best way to do this was to showcase my home workout routines put together by my coach, Monique Rondeau.
When I started working at the small hotel in 2018, I knew I had to started exercising again.
At that moment, I had to hire a coach to guide me.
And I saw a lot of fitness competitors on instagram and Monique stood out to me
So I had hired Monique because I had a hunch she would be the right person to guide me and started the workout routines she put together for me from May of 2018.
All of the workouts were from home because of the busy schedule at the small hotel which didn’t give me time to go to the gym.
I didn’t know this would be helpful because of the lockdowns due to the “pandemic”
It was not difficult for me to transition due to the home workout routines years prior.
The only thing that was difficult was doing my walking exercise around the hotel because we could not leave during the temporary lockdowns in Texas.
It was really inspiring to see how the majority of fitness competitors and non-competitors were able to convert a part of their home into a gym to keep up with their workout routines.
One in particular was Eden who did her fitness training in preparation for competition when it was allowed.
Once the competition occured, she ended up earning her pro card.
I honestly believe this year is the best time to start exercising because it will be beneficial for your health and indirectly for your career/business.
When people see you taking care of yourself, they will most likely want to do business with you because in their mind, they see you as responsible.
And if you need guidance, here is a list of personal trainers who can help you:
Janet Lynn West
www.janetlynnwest.com
Layne Norton
www.biolayne.com
Julia Marie
www.hammerfitness.com/coach/julia-marie
Stephanie Rutko
www.allanglestrainingco.com
Meagan Cormier
www.hybraletefitness.com
Nichelle Laus
www.nichellelaus.com
Magda Banas
www.blogtalkradio.com/vallanomedia (podcast)
Jean-Jaques Barrett
www.tulumstrengthclub.com
Michelle MacDonald
www.tulumstrengthclub.com
Tania Atkin
www.taniaatkin.com
Monique Rondeau (my coach)
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