Social: Brian Wallace on #LinkedInLocal

Have you been to a #LinkedInLocal event near you yet?

It’s a grassroots movement - blessed, but not RUN, by LinkedIn - of networking events taking place all over the world.

I first met Rockland native (and current Midwesterner) Brian Wallace of NowSourcing at a #LinkedInLocal event in NYC, and he later brought me into an event closer to me in Spring Valley. In anticipation of my friend Pasquale Palumbo and me hosting our own first #LinkedInLocal White Plains event on Monday, April 1 (with more such events to hopefully follow), I asked for Brian’s take on the LinkedInLocal concept, as well as his top tips for ensuring a great #LinkedInLocal event.

Here are some of Brian’s top tips for throwing your own #LinkedInLocal event:

1 - Get A Great Venue:

Make sure it has good acoustics, spots to network, take pics, video, etc. 
Should have enough space for the size you plan on doing

2 - Have A Great Team:

Helping get speakers / moderators / MC / event space / food / social
Organize the team - make sure they all know their roles and what to say

3 - have enough time to promote:

At least 1 month
Use Eventbrite, but also promote on Linkedin through #linkedinlocal hashtag
Lots of the global linkedinlocal movement will also help - over 800 cities!

4 - deliver value to the audience:

This shouldn't be a crappy leadgen / sales pitch
Know how to explain the value of your LinkedIn network from a social / soft skills side as well as the latest and greatest tech / content trends happening on the platform.

5 - work together:

LinkedInlLocal is a grassroots movement and sometimes there may be multiple groups of people / personalities / locations.  It doesn't have to be a turf battle - work it out and make it the best that can be!

Social returns, with two of my faves!

It’s back!

In case you’re new here: I had a weekly FB Live show, Social, that started in April 2017. I relaunched it in mid-2018 as a pre-recorded show focusing on local small business owners… then dropped off after 5 episodes. Now I’m bringing it back in its original format: live, Fridays at 12 noon ET, with a variety of guests from across the social media spectrum.

My first guests of the relaunch were my fabulous friends Julie & Jen of DepICT Media in Wichita, Kansas.

Julie and Jen may look familiar: they’ve been on the show before, and I on theirs (twice!). They were also part of Road to Social, a group road trip in June 2018 centered around several Social Media Day events (including #SMDayICT, which they helped organize).

They are wonderful, they are brilliant, they are great on video, and they know their s#!t when it comes to social media.

Much like Christine Gritmon Inc. does in the Hudson Valley, DepICT Media focuses on the needs of small, local businesses in the Wichita area. A year after “Facebookpocalypse,” people are STILL talking about the algorithm shift, so we decided we’d talk about how the new algorithm actually opens up more opportunities for small business than it shuts down.

Businesses have gotten spoiled. Social media provided unprecedented access to consumers - and businesses got way too comfortable broadcasting with no obligation to actually interact with their public. The great thing about this, as it pertains to the algorithm shift, is that businesses who want to “set it and forget it” will fall by the wayside when it comes to organic reach, and those business who are willing to utilize social media to facilitate, rather than replace, direct interaction with consumers will more easily stand out among the crowd.

Be human. Show your personality! Show that there are actual humans managing your social media accounts (and your business!) rather than corporate talking heads spouting out sales pitches. Having a unique voice (even an unpolished one!) will help you stand out from not only your direct competitors, but also from larger brands, which often aren’t able to be as flexible with showing off their “human side.”

Community-building means more than collecting “likes.” Vanity metrics mean nothing; it’s not how many people are watching, it’s whom, and what they’re doing next. You want the right people engaging with your brand, interested in what you offer, and hopefully buying. The way to do this is by investing in creating a sense of community amongst your followers - whether by using groups, or simply emphasizing your local cred and charm - and making them feel like they’re a part of something, rather than just being another faceless transaction.

Finally, we learned that my husband really likes Wendy’s.

Check out our conversation below:

Please join me again on Friday, January 11 at 12 noon ET, when I’ll be speaking with Filomena Fanelli of Impact PR & Communications about using social media & earned media to establish thought leadership.

Social: FB ad targeting, live from Greece!

As I get in touch with more groups of entrepreneurs & social media folk online, I'm learning from people way outside the confines of Nyack - including this week's guest Georgios Chasiotis, who joined us live from Greece!

Georgios's company, Slide In, uses digital marketing to grow companies in a way that's sustainable - by building and nurturing relationships, not focusing on one-and-done sales transactions. Georgios offers some useful tips for how to put Facebook to work for this objective: building sustainable relationships with the right people who your company can offer value to. (Amen!)

A few of Georgios's key points:

Audience Targeting: Ensure you're reaching the right people who are actually interested in your product. Look at customers as three-dimensional people, with an array of likes and dislikes, and sub-target accordingly. Create custom audiences from your best customers, and target "lookalikes" who are likely to also be interested in your product. Finally, don't be afraid to exclude those clients who aren't what you're looking for (and vice-versa).

Ad Creative: Speak to your clients with the words they use, and make it clear that you understand their concerns. Try showing different ads to different groups. And when something's working, put all your money there - not to something that's failing to deliver. Don't waste time talking to those who aren't going to gain value from your message.

Full Customer Experience: Getting the sale isn't the end of it. Thank your customers, and ensure everything's going well with their experience. If you drop the relationship once the money changes hands, you're not going to get another sale - and you're not truly offering value, just a product.

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To put these tenets into practice for your business NOW, in time for the busy holiday season, join me next Friday in Haverstraw for my Facebook Audience Targeting Bootcamp:

In this active workshop, you'll gain deep levels of insight on your existing audience (and what else they're engaging with!), assemble your own custom & lookalike audiences, and create some highly targeted ads that WILL drive business.

Social: Jason Bay on nurturing LinkedIn relationships

I'm part of too damn many Facebook groups, most of them local. But when I heard about the by-application-only Badass Marketers & Founders (BAMF) group, I knew I had to go for it. Part of the group's value is in the connections: everyone involved is legit. That's how Jason Bay found me (especially after I was spotlighted as one of the group's most active members), and connected with me on LinkedIn. And, lo and behold, here he is on my livestream, telling us all about how to strategically connect with the right people, then develop and nurture relationships on LinkedIn!

Just a few of Jason's great tips:

• Fill out your profile - especially the picture and the summary.
• Don't worry about being on every platform. Be on the platform where the people you want to connect with are. (Jason's work is B-to-B, so LinkedIn works for him.)
• Groups can be a great source to mine for relevant connections.
• Include a personalized message when you try to connect with someone; give them context, don't leave it blank.
• Add value! Make sure people are getting something out of being connected to you.

Social: who are you?

Those of you who follow me on social media know I spent this past week at #INBOUND17, soaking up insights from HubSpot's assembled team of experts from both within & outside of the marketing realm.

You likely also know that I tend to live-tweet the hell out of these things - which is how I met Jessie-Lee Nichols of Impact, whose thumb is apparently even more limber than my own. We discussed our favorite speakers (a list which includes Michelle Obama, Rand Fishkin, Piera Gelardi, & Brene Brown) and how their recurring messages of culture and identity spoke to each of us.

I'll be putting my own tweets from the conference into Storify threads, which will, in turn, be presented in a series of blog posts next week - keep your eye out for them!

I'd also be remiss if I didn't remind you all to register for Strike Up The BRAND - my eCourse on finding your personal brand, then rocking it out - ASAP! Course begins October 2. #tootyourhorn

Social: smartify your hustle

When Ramon Ray steps into a room, you know it.

The multi-entrepreneur and founder of Smart Hustle Magazine has a palpable energy, one which has propelled him to start - and grow - several businesses, write books, and become an in-demand speaker - he's even spoken at the White House!

Ramon and I talked a lot about how an entrepreneur can build their small business, but three key pieces of advice really stood out:

1. Know what game you're playing;

2. Hustle, grind, passion, persistence;

3. Always be open to learning.

Check out the rest below. And if you go to his Smart Hustle Small Business Conference, let me know so we can meet up!

Social: getting creepy with Audience Targeting

Is it a coincidence that "Tygart" sounds like "target"? I'd rather call it fate.

I first discovered Will Tygart of Tygart Media when I fell into one of his successful ad targeting audiences on Facebook; he had targeted attendees of a conference I was at. In the time since, I've admired his constant explorations of audience targeting and Facebook advertising, and am grateful that he took some time today to tell us how it's done.

Social: a live video about live video!

I actually met Robert C. Stern (aka The Social Leader) on a livestream - his, where we (along with mutual friend Karen Yankovich) were promoting MRCC Social Media Day, at which we were all going to be presenting. His presentation at the actual event was about 22 ideas for how to use video, a presentation spun off from a popular blog post of his. So who better to come on and talk live video ideas?

Top tips from our chat today:
- Don't be afraid! The camera is not your enemy.
- Be yourself! Connect with people the same way you would in real life.
- What to talk about? Anything! Business. Your life. Your community. Your charity work. Whatever you know how to talk about.

Social: iSocialFanz on getting the most out of conferences & events

Professional conferences can be a great opportunity to meet people in your industry who you admire - especially if, like me, your profession is also something you personally geek out over. One of the many fantastic social media leaders I met at Social Media Marketing World is Brian "iSocialFanz" Fanzo. Brian's expertise ranges from tech to livestreaming to public speaking and all sorts of topics in between, but today we spoke about something highly relevant as we head into fall conference season: how to get the most out of those experiences.

Some of Brian's best tips include:

• Start following (and participating in) the conference hashtag long before the conference; become an integral part of that conversation before the event even starts
• When interacting with the bigwigs you're excited to see (either before or after), don't just put out a generic, "Excited to hear your talk!" - share their work, offer value to them, and have something to actually say to them with some meaning and context
• One great way to get on conference organizers' radars (and good sides!) is to give their sponsors some love!

These, and way more fantastic tips, are all in our conversation below. Thanks again, Brian - see you at #SMMW18!

Social: Farewell to #InternJaylene!

I'm so sad to have to bid farewell to my intern, Jaylene! In our time together this summer, Jay earned her Inbound Marketing certification from HubSpot, researched and set up CRM systems, social media scheduling tools, and other business programs, learned about the latest social media trends, helped with some content creation & distribution, and got hands-on experience dealing with the real-life digital marketing needs of small business owners. I got significant help organizing my business, learned how letting go and finally delegating some things can make me MUCH better at my job, and got my feet wet as a manager (I'd never managed anyone before Jay). I'm sad that our time together is at an end, but I'll be happy to recommend Jay for her first post-collegiate job when she graduates in December, and I'm looking forward to getting some things accomplished with my next intern this fall!

Once we got past the technical difficulties, Jay shared a bit about what she's learned this summer, and gave us her thoughts on inbound marketing (spoiler alert: inbound marketing is awesome).

Social: How To Make Great Videos!

My friends The Nerdy Duo Productions - aka Melissa & Erin - know how to make great videos.
They also know why other people keep making crappy videos. They gave us some of their best tips on today's #cgsocial.

PLANNING

Whether you're using professional equipment or doing a basic Facebook Live with your iPhone, know where your video's going (and the best aspect ratio for it) and what you're using to film it. You can also manually adjust the settings on your phone or computer camera in advance of your broadcast.

If you can't plan beforehand, plan afterwards: take stock of what you did, what worked, and what you can improve for next time.

LIGHTING

From cheap clamp lights from Home Depot bounced off a dollar store car windshield shade, to a full lighting setup, remember: in video, if they can't see you, what's the point?

SOUND

Don't trust the microphone on your phone or computer. Better microphones are cheap and easy.

SUPPORT

Don't hold your camera; your hands aren't as steady as you think they are. Tripods are inexpensive, and some can even fit in your purse!

I put together a whole wonderful, juicy set of equipment links - and then Squarespace decided to delete it. So... that sounds like a new post for Monday! I will post about it, I promise!

Social: Why your company should be using Facebook Canvas!

Today on Social I got to speak with the lovely Mallory Rosenbluth from GrubHub & Seamless! We discussed how to use Facebook Canvas to promote your business, and why you should be using it. Mallory talked about how you need to go by the cliche "content is king," because it is! In todays social media chaos, sometimes its hard to stand out from the crowd and be "thumb stoppingly creative." By using Facebook Canvas, Mallory explains how they use this amazing tool to really connect and engage with their customers. Grub hub found that the tilt to pan option gave them the most customer engagement rates, and the carousel option is where they generated the highest click-through-rates. Being able to use these creative tools for customer engagement is amazing, but its even better to use these by adding in a call to action option directly after the Canvas advertisement is finished. 

Mallorie talked about how easy it is for anyone to create one of these advertisements, stating "It's drag and drop, its just so easy!" She also pointed out that, "businesses large and small can succeed with canvas... it looks like it costs a million bucks, but it didn't!" 

If you're interested in learning more about Facebook Canvas, which you TOTALLY should be, tune in below! 

Social: Gameify Your Email List!

Social's where it's at. Email's dead.

Not so fast there, marketer.

Email is still the best way to communicate directly with prospects, offer value, and guide fans through the process of becoming customers. Plus, unlike social media followers, your email list is your own; a platform can't suddenly yank that away from you on a whim.

Rob Simakovsky's new product, Puzel, encourages social media followers to give you their email addresses in order to unlock special deals. Furthermore, they encourage those followers to bring others into the fold. Check out our conversation:

Surprise POP-UP Social episode at #SMDay

I didn't expect to do my livestream today. I had, in fact, announced that I was not doing it, since I'd be spending the day (Social Media Day, as it happens) at The Content Funnel's #SMDay Meetup in NYC. I figured all the live-tweeting I'd be doing would be plenty, and that perhaps I'd do a few short livestreams of the presentations.

And then I met Michael.

Michael is the founder and CEO of The Content Funnel, parent company The News Funnel, and a few other companies - and previously headed up leading real estate PR firm Beckerman PR. He gladly agreed to our livestreamed conversation, where we discussed content, blogging, influence, expertise - and of course the importance of personality, authenticity, and giving.

I also got him to give out some tips for my real estate peeps (you know who you are!), and even gave one of them a shoutout. Check it out below!

Social - with the retail queen of Nyack!

Maria Luisa Whittingham opened her eponymous boutique in Nyack 30 years ago. In that time, Maria Luisa (and now ML by Maria Luisa, right next door) has become a key thread in the fabric of Nyack's business district. Maria herself has also focused on making a difference, not only in our local community via involvements with various non-profit organizations and her own ML by Maria Luisa Scholarship Fund, but also in the world, by sourcing exclusively from suppliers whose business practices are socially/globally responsible. Her hand-selected inventory doesn't just look good - it does good.

Maria's business continues to thrive 30 years on, in part because she's always been an early adapter of growth tools such as online commerce and, of course, social media. I discussed that with Maria, and found that her success in all things truly comes down to one word: relationships.

Some links to Maria's goings-on:

- #MLFaves@MariaLuisa team fundraiser for the Women's Distance Festival, benefiting Center for Safety & Change

- Explanation of brand ethos, kickbacks to local charities, & ML by Maria Luisa Scholarship Fund

- eStore

- Facebook

- Instagram

Social - Brian Tietje of LinkedIn

Thanks so much to Brian Tietje, global client director for LinkedIn, for appearing on this week's edition of Social with Christine Gritmon! Great conversation about engaging with your network, how different social media platforms have influenced each other, and new developments for LinkedIn (both recent and upcoming).

Episode 3 of Social – guest Maria Colaco

Thanks so much to social media creative & content creator Maria Colaco of The New York Mom (among other pursuits) for a great conversation on Instagram Stories, influencer marketing, streaming TV and more!

Social 4/27/17: Live at HuffPost!

Thank you so much to Abigail Williams of HuffPost for being part of Episode 2 of Social!

First episode of Social

I debuted my Facebook Live series, Social, today! Thanks again to special guest Lisa Larson-Kelley.