Social media Archives - Page 4 of 6 - Lisa Colón DeLay

5 Questions you have to answer before you can be a success.

It’s crazy!

4 times this week I’ve been approached for my brain!

I’ve heard things like, “You’ve done a great job strategizing and promoting so-in-so, and I don’t know what I’m doing. I’d like to ________ (be a published author, sell my ebook, get speaking gigs, create a following, etc.)”

So I thought maybe instead of giving the info out time and again I could create a post with strategy tips to get you started if you fall into that category, too.

If you’re a musician, expert, artist, writer, speaker or whatever…it’s harder than ever to get noticed and build a following of those who will want what you have to offer.

It’s the problem of TOO MANY OPTIONS. (It’s paralyzing)

Most publishers, for instance, won’t even look at your stuff without an agent. They have cut their staffs and gone with sure-bets, like celebrities who hire ghostwriters. (I’m contractually obligated to avoid specifics on that bit.) But, you know what ? Agents want sure-bets too. You’re stuck researching and writing endless proposals to prove you are a good bet that just get rejected after all the hard work most of the time.

It’s even worse if you don’t know your way around a blog, promotion, social media, or ways to integrate what you are doing with the right people. You get stalled!

In the end, making something great is only half the battle.

You have to execute. As Seth Godin says, “You have to ship.”

I’ve found that great “crafts-people” (think good at a certain field: experts, academics, talented artists, experts, artisan, inventors, writers, signers, etc) often lack in the area of marketing themselves well and creating connections that pay off. They do something great, but don’t have the lateral thinking prowess outside their niche to know how to get it sold or stake their claim in their field.

As one person put it, “I’m an academic. I stay in my study and write and hope someone magically wants to read it.”

Well, that won’t work, of course. Others have to know about you to realize that you are amazing.

It’s hard to be good at both craft and marketing / connecting, but those are the people who really make it. Or the people who make it know how to delegate properly for what they aren’t expert in. That’s a KEY point. (Keep that nugget. it’s free.) :) You just can’t do it all.

Here’s the hopeful part!

Even if your aren’t a celebrity or infamous or have someone huge to vouch for you to land a deal, there is a lot you can do to generate buzz, especial if you can mobilize your fans/audience that already trust you. It the wilderness route, but with a little bit of $ and lots of hard work (a.k.a. “bootstrapping”) it can make a dent.

Through bootstrapping and almost no money I get 100,000 visitors. That’s nice and all, but it’s not as fun as helping others realize their goals and dreams.

So, I want to help. This below is some of what I’ve been telling other people as they get started.

Get a piece of paper! (seriously)

If you have something you want to share and make a name for yourself, or you want to start getting compensated for your goods, services, or talents be prepared to answer these questions specifically:

(yes, on paper or in a digital document, right now)

1. Who is your audience and how many people would buy the book (or service or product) from you *right now*?

2. What is your budget for marketing and promotion? (This of course will determine how much can be done.) You shouldn’t go forward if you can’t spend $500 – 1,000 to get the ball rolling. If you don’t have the money, you should save and do a bunch of leg work first on your own. Again, with the bootstrapping.

(This means you have to put what you love to do on hold, or hire out help.)

3. What are you doing already to promote what you have, if anything (website? Facebook page or group? speaking? workshops? readings at the library? church groups? MOPS? social media accounts? gathering an email list of fans?) (Be able to show what, if anything is already being done so it can be can ramped it up, or started if it hasn’t been.)

And what could you do, if you started? (write it down)

4. What connections do you have or people do you know who would help you get the word out? colleagues? teachers? librarians? leaders? church folks? groups, camps, and clubs? anyone famous or well connected (like to Focus on the Family, for example? ) People in tv, radio, bloggers, local newspapers, or journalists and writers to feature you?

5. What can you offer for free to build trust and gain a following?

That’s it!

…But, sometimes it’s overwhelming! If you’ve haven’t thought to ask these questions, you fall into the category of craft-person more that of “marketer” or “promotion and communications guru”…and that’s fine, but you’ll need help.

I can help. Contact me!

“The Tyranny of the Left Brain”: Thoughts from Len Sweet

(click photo to enlarge)

As promised, I’m writing a bit more to summarize the fascinating Leonard Sweet event at Evangelical Seminary this week. (Here’s the first one in the series.)

Dr Sweet had some interesting things to say about the legacy and effect of the Protestant Reformation which he calls “The 2nd Wave of Christianity”.

Wave 1: Catholicism (which is still growing in the global East and South).
Wave 2: Protestantism (which is in decline everywhere in the world and got its start by saying “no”.) It seems there is a shelf life to this version of Christianity. More on that in a second.
Wave 3: Pentecostalism (which is flourishing in the global East and South. Other Christian traditions are being influenced by its effect too.)

Sweet says that Pentecostalism is considered something other than Protestantism because it more fully integrates the Third Person of the Trinity (the Spirit) and perceives God as active and engaged in everyday life unlike previous versions of Christianity have done. He said that we in the West are slow to realize this seismic shift because we’ve been focused on Liberation Theology. L.T. accounted for the poor and was in essence created for the poor, but the poor didn’t pick it; instead they picked Pentecostalism.

In the West, we are in a post-Christian era. The “big-box churches” have put an end to most of the “mom & pop” churches, but mainly a reshuffling of Christians is occurring–not an increase of new devotees to Christianity. Sweet mentioned that on the West coast in the U.S. things have moved beyond simply disparaging Christians to open hostility. This promises to be the norm throughout U.S. culture, he says.

Why the “shelf-life” for Protestantism?
Protestantism was birthed just as a technological revolution hit. The moveable type of the Gutenberg printing press was one such breakthrough and Protesters of Catholicism used this technology along with their reforming ideas and desire to make the Bible available for everyone to create a major shift in how Christianity was practiced. According to Sweet, no invention was more anti-social and individualistic than the mass-produced book (you take a book and go off by yourself and absorb it). It seems, no worldview had been so individualistic until that time either (my note).

What happened soon because of that shift was the over-emphasis on the left-brain. “The Tyranny of the Left Brain”

And my what a power it’s had!
What was left behind? Mainly the arts, story using image, memories, relationships, emotional expression and recognition, intuition, creativity and a “whole person” view of Christian (body+mind+spirit).

What was favored? Reasoning, thinking, dissecting, apologetics/critical thinking, and textual language. Sometimes the right brain qualities weren’t just ignored, sometimes they were even despised. Whole sects of Christians took down art and have kept places of worship plain and non visual (More on left and right brain here). Logical left brain thinkers are often thought of as smarter even in our culture today, but it is the right side of the brain were some of the most meaningful things occur. And the combination of the hemispheres in balance makes us most fully alive.

We need both sides of our brain to be fully human.

Now something bigger than Gutenberg as come along: Google. All the information of the world is there for the taking, and the visual is back! Story is back again (and this is the format Jesus used too.) Word-heavy presentations are on the decline as many marketers have already noticed the shift and accounted for it (see ad below). Now we have interconnection of the internet and it’s been supercharged more recently by a new technological revolution even more significant than the internet: social media. (Apparently without Facebook the revolutions and movement toward democracy in the Middle East and in other important parts of the world wouldn’t have happened. So, yeah, it’s a big deal because it makes news and ideas travel so quickly.)

Social Media promises something we’ve been missing out on the interconnectedness. But, it cannot deliver fully on it’s promise, because face-to-face relationships are so transforming and vital. The internet and social media start to give us what we as humans crave, but a formidable wall persists that only the messiness of in-person interaction offers.

The shift is here and people are looking for a more holistic (whole) way of perceiving the world. Narratives, metaphors, image, story, and emotion are rushing back into the forefront and the it’s not a trend. It’s the new way the world works.

Future post: In the next post I’ll wrap up and focus on the “power of image” which includes metaphor, symbolism, and the affective powers of the brain and mind. Does Protestantism have a fighting chance?

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See how the narrative doesn’t need words much anymore?

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Likes VS. Hugs: Upgrade your Reality

I’m not sure there’s any number of Facebook likes that can replace a hug. –Seth Godin

It’s true that as real life plays– out not in the hard scrabble face-to-face ways, but through pixels and clicks– that we grow not just a bit more jaded but also less human.

Typing away about our problems and working on getting noticed for what we think can fool us into thinking that this is normal or optimal human behavior. It’s not. It’s distancing behavior. It’s the kind that can’t stand under the weight of true in-flesh reality, and makes us less ready to do the real and messy work of grace and friendship. Or, reap their invaluable rewards. This stuff of the inter webs is not the kind of being that often propagates a compassion that breathes real life into our souls and health into our bones, at least not like the solace that in-person camaraderie can.

If reading your screen is making you often angry or upset it could be making you sick. Maybe physically but surely in your soul. And it should be well with your soul.

Write out some of your frustrations for no one to see.

Distance yourself for a bit from the thing that distances you from other humans or too often makes shallow mockeries of fellowship and communion.

Unplug and be well.

My traveling Adventure & 36 Social Media Rules

Starting very early Wednesday I’ll be traveling several thousand miles and going to the conference of a lifetime. #STORYchicago.

I’ll update everyone following along with many ensuing adventures which also include solo navigating my way several hours to BWI airport (Baltimore) and around Chicago on public transportation (yes, there’s STILL 30,000 public school teachers striking and over 350,000 school-aged city kids on the loose….hum. Things could get interesting).

PLUS I’ll be staying at a commune with hippies….seriously, the Original so-called “Jesus Freaks” (Jesus Movement) of the early 1970s, and obviously absorbing good vibes. I’ll be finding good coffee whenever possible, eating Chicago style pizza, and meeting and cavorting with lots of cool friends who are writers, artists, filmmakers, creators, and creative types, some of whom you’ve likely heard of… but I’ll skip the name dropping, at least for now.

I’ll include videos and photos too mostly on my twitter, the special youtube channel and Facebook outlets.

Click and link up.

So I hope you’ll follow along and see how things go… Trying circumstances, good laughs, bonding…it’ll be great.

Another thing I’m planning to do goes against popular convention…Especially for writing types. I’m only taking a carryon (no checked baggage), and I’m leaving my laptop at home. This will be a test of my smart phone skills and iPhone 3GS battery life. This means I will try to post here too if time allows and the technology gods smile upon me.

OKay! More on that tomorrow… For now, How about some nifty tips?

Want to get better at using Social Media?
If you Learn the Rules you’ll do better.

I found this gem at Fast Company. They made these rules from some great input. Those sources are referenced at the bottom.

Please let me know if you liked them!

Answers to your Social Media Questions: Part II

Glenn Halog via Compfight

Tisha asks…

“I’ve noticed that my tweets don’t get passed on (“re-tweeted”). It’s frustrating because I want to share what I’m doing, but I can’t get the word out. What’s the best thing to do?”

Thanks Tisha. There are a few things you can do to get retweeted, but it’s important to remember how a lot of people view social media. Many users don’t like being “sold to”…That means continually putting out commercials about what you’re doing. Plenty of people build ongoing relationships through social media, and just like when a person goes to a party and then irritatingly only talks about himself, social media bulletins that are only announcements and promotions can get tiring too.

So, Vary what you post. and….
• Give good advice.

• Follow up with others who might be having a hard time.

• Offer to help

• or refer your followers to good information, pertinent news, and resources.

• And best of all retweet good stuff from others.

Don’t think because your aren’t always getting retweeted that you’ve failed. Add some humanity to your social media endeavors and hang in there for the long haul.

In truth, Retweeting isn’t as popular as when Twitter first began. Now, people are a bit more selective in what they pass on.

Jonathan asks…

“With the election climate heating up, I’m noticing a lot of people expressing their political views. Some are really heavy-handed. Rude, even hateful. I know who I want to win the election in November, and sometimes I see something I want to pass on, but I’m afraid of alienating my online friends or contacts…the relationships I’ve been building might get hurt by what I send out there. Where’s a good place to draw the line with politics and social media?”

Hi Jonathan.

I know exactly what you’re talking about. Last Presidential election I actually de-friended a few obnoxious political junkies who insist on spewing all their opinions while shutting down dialogue. They were just too thoughtless, and I felt like I had to do it for some peace. When Social Media turns into a shouting match it’s a big bummer.

Politics is one of those issues that get people all hot and bothered. Their deepest values and concerns may be wrapped up in the issues of the latest political topic, so it’s easy to understand why things get so hyped up. It’s tricky ground to be sure.

This is just my opinion but I think how you decided to voice your political leanings depends on why you use social media.

If it’s just a way to contact friends I think moderate conversation is fine, and maybe even worthwhile. It’s the tone and attitude of your postings that makes the greatest impact. Try to be prudent.

If, on the other hand, you use social media mainly for business, networking, or sharing your goods or services, you may want to refrain from making sweeping declarations or picking sides. You may event want to abstain for politics and polarizing issues all-together.

Contrary to popular notion, rhetoric doesn’t work to change minds.

Your opinion won’t mean much of anything outside of a relationship context that’s been developed properly in regular life.

Consider refraining especially if your audience is larger, and may not know you and your intent intimately. They come from different backgrounds and they’ve likely had differing experiences than you. What might seem normal to you can be foreign to them. Off-putting.

Instead of posting something off-putting in the heat of the election cycle, hold back and be judicious. Save your opinions for smaller or more private circles, unless the advantage is hugely in your favor to do otherwise. (And I can’t right now imagine what that circumstance would be.)

Thanks for the questions!

Hey readers…do you agree with my advice?
Share your hard-earned wisdom or any thoughts on the subject.

Click to read PART 1 of “Answers to your Social Media Questions“