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Three Weeks to Ideal Engagement on Any Social Media Platform – Week One

Are you ready to increase the engagement of your brand or business online? Or are you ready to start a new outlet for it? This is a single-platform engagement plan, so don’t worry about other platforms yet.

Why Only One Platform?

We start this reboot or the kickoff for your engagement implementation on a single platform for two reasons:

Changing your mindset and starting new activity on one platform will take a concerted effort to use the platform differently. At first, the learning, but more so the implementation, curve will be steep. We are changing behavior here, and it won’t be easy at first.
It will take a lot more effort to participate in the conversation that is social media than you’ve done before. You will have to find time, efficiency, and dedication to get it done on a single platform. Can you imagine if you started all this extra work on the five platforms where you have a presence at once?

Week One – Fixing Your Feed

First things first.

Stop posting content on this platform. That sounds crazy right now, but it will make sense.

Doing things as you had always done them wasn’t working for you, so ceasing that content creation and posting will improve your listening and context while we are overhauling how you engage on social media. You were not adding value to enough people to keep it up, so, for the re-boot, no new content created or posted. Period.

To begin, we have to fix the feed that the platform presents to you by shocking the algorithm. Much like we outlined when we sought to change the content before you on a platform because it wasn’t what you wanted to see or stressed you out, we need to fix the feed of the platform.

Out With the Useless, In With the Valuable

On the first day of Week 1, go through your connections, friends, pages, accounts, groups, and hashtags to UNFOLLOW/UNFRIEND/DISCONNECT all the users of the platform that don’t add value for you. You should also consider if the value they add for you is within “The Five,” the five areas of focus for your content creation. By getting rid of the creators that don’t add value for your experience in the areas where you need to focus, you will let them crowd out the content you need to see and fall back into doing things the way you’ve always done them.

Now that you’ve pruned all the useless and valueless from your feed, explore the connections from those that do add value to you. Take time to look at their content, join relevant groups, or add certain hashtags to the content you consume that will add value to you, specifically in the five areas of focus you have. Doing this will give you an immediate win in controlling what content is served to you. Every platform programs their algorithm to give you more of what you just indicated that you wanted to see. They want you to see that newly-added content, because you will act like a child with their newest toy, ignoring all the ones you have to focus on the fresh one that you now have.

This process to tailor the sources of content you’re served will take a while, but get it done on the first day of this endeavor. This drastic change in how you connect with the platform will get rid of the dead weight and add new and valuable creators, telling Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or LinkedIn that you need to see THIS content that is now relevant to you.

The rest of the first week gets way easier for you, and you should invest the time of the remaining six days to help the platform really understand you by completing a solitary action repeatedly.

“Like” Posts

Indicate an interest in the creators that show up in the “new” content you see by simply tapping or clicking “like” on the posts that give you even the slightest bit of value.

Simply “like” them. Don’t leave any comments, reply to them, or even react. Just a simple “Thumbs up” for Facebook, LinkedIn, or YouTube and a heart for Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to let the platform know what kind of content you value. Perform this activity with an emphasis on valuable content in “The Five.” Instead of focusing on seeking out new connections, take the time to consume A LOT of content and force the algorithm to understand the “new you.”

Let’s Start Week 2, Shall We?

Hustleburg Episode 22 – Answering Your LinkedIn Questions 2nd of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about LinkedIn in the second of two parts. This is the sixth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, and two weeks ago, Episode 20 began the series on LinkedIn.

What’s Up With the “Auto DM” After Connecting?

There is a disease where individuals send a direct message immediately after connecting to ask the recipient to buy something, sign up for something, or click something. Often, you have no prior relationship with this person, and they have begun all interactions with you with an ask. This is NOT marketing.

Can You Highlight a Product or Service Independent of a Company Page?

LinkedIn actually has a feature for Company pages to create a “Showcase” page for just this purpose. Companies can create up to 10 of these Showcase pages to highlight a particular product or service and only focus on it.

How Do You Best Showcase Your Written Content?

LinkedIn is desperate for a variety of content. Part of that content mix that they value is longer-form written content for the professional audience they serve, and they built a blog-like option for professionals to share that longer-form written content.

What is the Value of LinkedIn Learning?

LinkedIn Learning is a tool for users to build visible skills on the platform to add to their profiles, as well as their skill sets. Teachers within this tool come from LinkedIn itself, sharing valuable knowledge from their industry. It’s literally the ultimate way to establish yourself as an expert in what it is that you do.

Is LinkedIn Premium Worth It?

LinkedIn Premium segments into 4 tiers, Career, Business, Sales, and Hiring, and the pricing and features adjust accordingly. It includes LinkedIn Learning, and if you’ve not used the free trial yet, I suggest that you save it until you’re ready to experience Premium’s full functionality.

What’s the Best Way to Connect with People Outside Your Network?

LinkedIn has made connecting with people outside your network easier than it was in the past. If you’re interested in connecting with someone on the platform, I suggest “Following” their personal profile and the Company page if they use one and engaging with the content they create. Add value to the conversations they start.

How Do I Best Utilize Hashtags on LinkedIn?

Hashtags help direct users to find the right conversations. The BEST way to utilize hashtags on LinkedIn or any platform is just what we’ve talked about before. Following relevant ones to participate in the conversation that is social media by tailoring your feed to what you want to see.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

Website
Hustleburg Listener Community
Facebook
Instagram
Brett’s LinkedIn

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Be a Guest on Hustleburg

If you have any questions you’d like to have answered on an upcoming Q&A episode, please take a moment to visit beyondyoursidehustle.com/podcastquestion and ask there. If you’re a St. Pete businessperson who’d like to sit down for an interview, please reach out to us here.

Hustleburg Episode 20 – Answering Your LinkedIn Questions 1st of 2

In this Q&A episode of the Hustleburg podcast, Brett answers listener questions about LinkedIn in the first of two parts. This is the fifth episode of a platform-specific series on the Q&A episodes about the varying social media platforms. Episode 12 and Episode 14 made up a two-part series on Facebook, Episode 16 and Episode 18 served as the two-part series on Instagram, and in two weeks, Episode 22 will finalize the series on LinkedIn.

What Is the Value in LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is a way to connect professionally within your industry and to your community, and those in a B2B environment may find greater value than others due to the more professional nature of the platform’s users. Remember the organic reach of your posts on Facebook in 2011-2012? That’s the landscape of LinkedIn right now.

What Are the Keys to Successful Growth on LinkedIn?

The best way to grow is to ADD VALUE to the conversation that is social media. Before we make our first post on LinkedIn, we need to take advantage of the feature that LinkedIn does better than any other social platform… Search through the robustness of your profile. Your posts need to be within your five focus areas. They need to add value to your connections on LinkedIn. Use the top five professional news stories and conversations happening on the platform, placed every so conveniently near the top of your feed on the desktop version. These conversations, as well as your existing personal network of past and present colleagues, vendors, and partners will provide a plethora of opportunities to continue to grow organically, building YOUR community.

Should I Create a Company Page on LinkedIn?

For small business owners, I suggest using the platform’s features fully. When you have a company page, even if it’s just a placeholder until you’re ready to post from it, having a company page also gives your profile a bit more clout. When it comes to growing your company page, LinkedIn makes building a following easier than other platforms by limiting the invites to your existing connections. When it comes to advertising on the LinkedIn platform, doing so from your company page gives it more gravitas than an individual. Finally, you can use the platform to post jobs for your business on a social media platform that is frequently viewed as a souped-up jobs board.

What Types of Content Should I Post on LinkedIn?

The content you share should come from your five areas of focus. Because the connections you have on LinkedIn are a different demographic than the friends and likes you have on Facebook, you’ll need to share different things in a different context. You have a different community on LinkedIn, and you converse with them differently than you do elsewhere. More important than what you post, the conversation that is social media is more relevant on LinkedIn.

Start Marketing Your Business Online With These Three Easy Steps

If you’re just getting started marketing your business online, Beyond Your Side Hustle offers a FREE Getting Started Guide.

Find out more about Beyond Your Side Hustle here:

Website
Hustleburg Listener Community
Facebook
Instagram
Brett’s LinkedIn

Be a Guest on Hustleburg

Underpromise and Overdeliver

You have two options in business: 1. Overpromise and hope not to underdeliver.
2. Underpromise and hope to overdeliver

In a recent post on LinkedIn, I posited that the easiest way to improve your life at work is to “underpromise and overdeliver.” I expanded on the thought a bit there and thought that I should offer something a bit more in-depth.

Imagine that you decide to dine at a local restaurant. They don’t take reservations, rather they offer a hosting station with a young lady or gentlemen, who seats guests as tables become available. It is a busy time for the restaurant, and there are no tables available, but they are taking names and party sizes from guests willing to wait to be seated. We’ve all been in this situation. You offer your name and how many are in your party. They take down that information, possibly offer you a pager or to text you when your table is available and give you an estimate of how long the wait for your party will be.

The host or hostess knows how many parties are in front of you and how long their average table takes to be turned, and he or she has two real options with this estimate:

Overpromise and hope not to underdeliver
Underpromise and hope to overdeliver

Overpromise and underdeliver results

With Option 1, this person, knowing that it should take 20 minutes for you to be seated, tells you that it should “only be 10–15 minutes.” They would do this in hopes that you will only be mildly inconvenienced by the delay and won’t seek another place to dine. They hope that despite the numerous parties ahead of you and the pace of their diners and staff that it will actually only be 10–15 minutes to have a menu in front of you at the table. So, what happens here?

After your perception of 15 minutes, you become bothered over how long it has taken to be seated. You may even inquire again about the length of the wait or weigh other options with the other members of your party. There’s actually a Seinfeld episode (Season 2, Episode 11 — The Chinese Restaurant), where Jerry, Elaine, and George play out the frustration of being the party being told Option 1. They are pretty upset about it disturbing their plans and end up leaving hungry, upset at the situation at the restaurant. Even if you don’t leave out of frustration, your dining experience is already soured by the extended wait before you even look at a menu.

When you overpromise and underdeliver, you make an adversary with your customer, before they even try your product. This is a very difficult situation to revive to make a great experience, because your service is starting from behind.

Underpromise and Overdeliver Results

With Option 2, the host or hostess, knowing that it should take their team 20 minutes to turn that table, tells you that it should be “25–30 minutes” for you to be seated. They know the speed of their colleagues and the average diner, along with the number of people ahead of you on the list, but they also realize that things can happen to delay your meal. They hope that the estimate isn’t enough to drive you away and to another establishment, while also setting an expectation that’s realistic and then some. What happens with Option 2?

They call, buzz, or text you 19 minutes after your name was added to their list, and you are delighted that it didn’t take the 30 minutes they stated, and you’re eating earlier than expected. This is a win for you, because you feel like they went above and beyond to serve you, and it is a win for them, because they have set the stage for a great experience. Who doesn’t love a win-win?

When you underpromise and overdeliver, you set an expectation that is lower than your ability to account for a surprise delay or issue. If everything goes to plan, you will wow them with how you exceeded their expectations, never mind that you were the one who set them.

While this example is pretty basic, the application to your work is easily applied. You can set work deadlines or features that are easy for your team to meet with your customers, vendors, or colleagues and then wow them when you finish early or have a higher quality than you said you would. Isn’t that something that would make your work life easier, as you rid yourself of the conflict from Option 1?

You can also apply the underpromise and overdeliver principle in your non-work life by setting expectations and wowing your children, partner, or friends by exceeding them in your commitments to them.