Aaaaaah it's the generation of social media at it again! Despite our parents comments that Social Media is a distraction, it can actually be used to your benefit for so many business opportunities. I'm going to share how.
#1 - Drives Traffic:
Social Media is so helpful and easy to use. Advertising on social media can easily drive traffic to your blog, if you allow it to. Here's what you can do:
Share links to blog posts on LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram Stories
Talk about the blog on other platforms
#2 - Compound Followers :
Friends tell their friends, who tell their friends. Same effect as compounding interest except the people following you grows instead.
#3 - Followers come in packs:
Just like compound followers, followers also have friends. If you're anything like me then when you're really enjoying watching someone's journey online then you'll tell your best buddies. Then, the creator grows.
Here's My Follower Count for March 2022 vs May 2022:
March 2022:
LinkedIn - 58 Connections
Instagram - 797 Followers
Facebook Page - 155 Follows
Facebook Group - 35 Members
Twitter - 19 Followers
Tik Tok - 3,198 Followers
May 2022:
LinkedIn - 94 connections
Instagram - 1649 followers
Facebook -2,738 likes
Facebook Group- 460 members
Twitter - 75 followers
Tik Tok - 10,500 followers
As you can see, there is significant growth across all of the different platforms I use. I put this down to consistency and time. Both work hand in hand. With consistent behavior, over time, you will see results.
My social media accounts aren't perfect. I often have spelling mistakes or issues go wrong. The main idea is to be consistent and authentic so that your audience knows what they're getting and how much of you they're getting.
How Can I Maximize Each Resource? Social Media is an awesome resource to:
Grow your image
Grow a Brand
Direct People to your Shop
Advertise
Create an Online Community
Instagram:
Instagram is great for aesthetic photos and quotes. People love to share a good quote with their mates and it all links back to your page.
Tik Tok: I've had a lot of surprising success with Tik Tok and a few videos getting a lot of attention. Controversial Tik Toks always get the most heat! Give it a go!
Twitter: Twitter is a lot harder to grow on and you have to put a lot more effort in to growing on that platform. I just use it to write cute quotes for Instagram. If you have any tips for growing your social media platforms and aiding your business in the process, make sure to let us know in the comments below.
How can I make money using social media?
Social Media can be very lucrative if you have a large and engaged following. Here's how you can create an income through social media.
The way to make money through social media is through these things:
Ad Revenue
Affiliate Marketing
Collaborations
Sometimes brands will pay you cash to advertise their product and others will send you products to advertise them. Think about 'The Warehouse' for example, they might pay a famous content creator like Waiata Jennings $200 to make a post and tell her fans that she brought this 'cute tee' from The Warehouse for only $10!! The Warehouse makes money from doing this because Waiata Jennings has loyal fans who would buy that 'cute top':
Because they want to own the same top as Waiata Jennings; or,
Because it's a good deal.
Affiliate marketing is a little bit different where you have a discount code or sign up link which your followers/ fans can click. An example is using my sharesies link which adds $5 to your wallet, but also $5 to mine. I've had 80 people sign up to sharesies using my link and in turn had $400 added to my portfolio.
Lastly, collaborations are when you join up with a brand which is smaller than yours to help them grow. They might pay you money because they're going to gain exposure from working with you.
How do I get started?
Step 1 - A media Kit:
You first off need to make a media kit. A media kit is a word or PowerPoint document which tells other brands:
How much you charge for sponsored content: eg. for an Instagram post, story, ad in your podcast, ad on your blog
What your audience is eg. the number of followers you have, the engagement on your posts, the reach
What your brand is and what it stands for.
Step 2 - Send it around:
Once you grow your social media platforms enough, you can start approaching brands. Or, they'll approach you.
You can google a brands affiliate email address or sponsorship email address. If you can't find it, you can email their support email address and ask that it be forwarded to their sponsorship team.
In the email you:
Say who you are and what you do.
Attach your brand kit
Step 3 - Wait or Follow Up:
Once you've sent it. it can take some time for them to reply to you. Sometimes they ignore you. If it's been around 2 weeks with no response, I like to send a follow up email just to check if it's been missed. If they ignore this email too, it's probably a good idea to just move on.
Here's my Media Kit if you want an example to look at: