Which social media platforms should you be on? (VIDEO)

Today I had the honor of speaking to two of Sterling National Bank's women's networking groups, Sterling Women and Extraordinary Women of Sterling, in their Montebello, NY office. One of these groups includes some of their corporate banking clients (including small business owners), and the other comprises Sterling employees. I spoke about the differences between some of the major social media platforms (LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook), and how to know which ones you really need to be on. I'm giving a talk on the same topic Wednesday night to a very different group - and I expect it will be a whole different talk!

Some key takeaways from this morning's talk:

LinkedIn:

• Everyone who does business
• Have a picture
• Keep it current

Instagram:

• Tangible product
• Visually engaging
• Feeling, not telling

Twitter:

• Informative communications
• Joining larger conversations 
• Direct engagement with others

Facebook:

• “Main Street” of the internet
• You’re on their turf: be relevant
• All types of communication

Get Seen, Be Heard webinar

Do I live-tweet and then Storify basically every educational talk I attend?

Practically.

I first met Karen Yankovich last year at Mahwah Regional Chamber of Commerce's Social Media Day (I'll be giving a workshop on personal branding at this year's event, on June 15) and we stayed in touch via social media. I took her free LinkedIn webinar last year, knowing full well that it would end with a sales pitch for the paid course. And you know what? I learned so much in that free hour that I went for it. And I've used the specific knowledge I gained in that longer webinar to make at least ten times what the webinar cost me, in less than a year.

Karen's been working with PR pro Christina Daves on their Get Seen, Be Heard program, which is all about the potent 1-2 punch of social media + PR. One of my professional goals right now is to establish industry expertise and become a more in-demand speaker. The time for this was right for me. Yet I still somehow entered today's free webinar expecting to just do the freebie, see how those lessons worked for me for a little while, and then maybe do the paid course this fall or something. But a) they may not be offering it in the fall, because this isn't a pre-recorded course, it's live, so it's happening when it's happening; and b) they're masters of making it sound so good that you just can't not. And I do believe that I will once again turn my soon-to-be-learned knowledge around into a more-than-tenfold profit.

Anyway. Here are some jewels from this afternoon's freebie. I expect I'll be getting plenty of blog fodder out of the full course, too (though don't worry, Karen & Christina, I won't give away all your secrets!).

Avanti Entrepreneur Podcast with David Mammano!

Way back in January (JANUARY!), I was honored to be a guest on David Mammano's Avanti Entrepreneur podcast series. The episode is finally out now and I'm so proud to share it with you (even if I do ramble on a bit)!

Check out David's full series; he brings on a wide variety of guests, and all of them have great insights that are applicable to any entrepreneur.