Monica Hardwick Says: #BeLegacyMinded and #GetASocialMediaPlan [the Long Version] #StPete

Monica Hardwick

It is not a good idea to eat only doughnut holes all of the time. Duh! Right?  They are great for only once in a while eating. In addition, they are not healthy to eat every day and besides that, having meals of only doughnuts is so uneventful!

If BRANDS (Entrepreneurs, Artists, Athletes and Businesses) take that symbolism and apply it to social media, most are only serving their audiences doughnut holes. And serving them that all the time. Plain doughnuts I might add over and over again. Blah. Blah. Blah! We want a cheeseburger or a steak sometimes. Perhaps even a giant green healthy salad, we want some candy. And we NEED protein, but oh noooo. You keep serving ... doughnuts!

If you stop and think of your entire web presence, your website and your social media practices should complement one another.

THINK LIKE THIS: 
Your website is the house or real property on the internet. It is what you own. That is where the lot is. This is the place that ‘houses’ everything. Your website should be the home and the source of your BRAND housing ALL main elements.
Your home has a few [or several] windows allowing audiences to peer into it.

1.  Facebook Window  
2. Twitter Window  
3. YouTube Window 
4. Blog Window 
5. Pinterest Window
6. Tumblr Window or
7. Google+ Window

However many windows you decide to have

 ---> **Everything Leads To the House**

In addition to the windows, your mobile devices: smartphone/camera act as your chimney. Allow "smoke signals" (social media releases, Instagram posts, text blasts and newsletters) to be sent to either make the house known or invite them to see something new. Letting audiences know that something is indeed cooking.
If you have a Call to Action (CTA) such as a: "visit my website" post and you choose to use a photo, you should use Twitter so the link is accessible to be clicked on. 

If you just want to post a photo using Instagram, have your web address typed directly on the photo without links. #GetASocialMediaPlan

So, how do you stop or not serve plain doughnuts? Easy!
Create and share the content in a different way on each social media platform.
Example A:

• House a full video only on your website 
• Share a teaser on YouTube
• Instagram a still photo with your clean web address (just the name, not all the https://stuff) typed on the photo
• Tweet photo with your clean website link

Example B:

• House a full photo gallery only on your website
• Create a GIF on Tumblr
• Blog about your photoshoot and provide your clean website link
• Facebook post a picture with a CTA to visit your website

  

**Everything Leads To the House**

Monica Hardwick Says: The Erroneous Effects of Music Reality TV on the Music Business is the Equivalent to McDonald's #BeLegacyMinded

Back in the day when American Idol first began, most of us thought it was fun. We were even glued to our television screens. 

Monica Hardwick

 Now 10+ years since then we've had American Juniors (American Idol for kids), America’s Got Talent, X Factor and I remember a show called Duets. 

The concept of these series of Television Shows is (or was) to find new solo recording artists. What I call: The McDonald’s of the music industry. 

While the shows are entertaining, they come at a price. The true elements of music is being lost, because it seems as if it is easy, that everyone can do it, and it can happen for you overnight. Television is a lie. It CANNOT happen overnight. In the real world; by the time you hear of an artist they have been working and perfecting their craft for years. These shows propel contestants into the spotlight perpetuating the celebrity culture. The shows are teaching audiences that real talent should not be valued while beguiling the public toward an image. A carefully crafted, well invested image.

True, there is no one path to enter the industry; each artist has managed to break through in various ways. Plus, some profound artists have come through the music reality TV path.  But because it is TV, These shows cannot encourage artists to explore, develop and perfect their musical talents over time. These artists are patterned and procedured, which is processed, unoriginal and boring. 

They also take deep short cuts.  

McDonald's.

Brand Me Please!

Create A Knockout Brand:

Social media has leveled the playing field for the entertainment industry, making it so ALL artists have the ability to build an audience, it has also leveled the playing field for every business within every industry as well.

In the eyes of the average social media user (your potential audience), your presence is the same as any and every other audience, company and organization out there… and only those who establish an effective Brand will be able to keep their attention and loyalty.
So how do you establish an effective brand?
 
CONSISTENCY!

Create consistency across all platforms.
If you have a defined look and feel on one platform, it is important that the look and feel remain the same on other platforms so your current audience (and new audience) can identify you easily everywhere else.
The stronger your Brand becomes, the easier it will be for your audience to identify you through the social media clutter.

Here are 4 different elements of Digital branding that you must ensure are consistent across all of your platforms:

Fan Page Images:  Profiles pictures, timeline banners, logos, album covers, etc. should all be of the highest quality (i.e. no fuzzy or grainy images taken from an iPhone) and should be the same on all platforms. Your profile picture on Facebook Fan Page  should be the same as your profile picture on Twitter, Youtube, Google +, Soundcloud, etc.

Color: Be consistent about color palette.  

Bio: Who you are should be on every social media platform you use.
There is no better example of a wasted opportunity than one where a new potential audience stumbles upon your Facebook page (or your website!) and wants to know more about you but there is no bio available there.Your bio gives you the opportunity to control YOUR story, telling new and existing audiences what you want them to know about you.

Content: Social Media is all about content.The look, feel, style and frequency of the content you publish (images, music, videos, blog posts, etc.) must be consistent on every platform in order to stay relevant and keep your existing audience interested. If you change your content style too often, your audience may grow to not know what to expect and will be far less likely to come back or look for you on other platforms.

CONSISTENCY! 

 

Building a Strong Online Brand: The Tipping Point

Often There Is No Discernible Tipping Point

However, all the small successes that are discussed previously will, as Malcolm Gladwell once again famously outlined, help you to reach your ‘Tipping Point’. That is, the point in which all of these small successes finally barrel over into your one major moment… in this case it would be the moment that your brand becomes established.


To use my own experience as the example; after a year or so of working day-in-and-day-out of blogging, tweeting consistently and building conversations, my personal brand as a blogger had developed.
I still had the same lingering doubt that I felt from the beginning.

It wasn’t until one day when I was secured to be a judge for Talent Quest Florida (held position for three years) that I realized my Brand was there and it had been experienced.

Building a Strong Online Brand: The Foundation

The key to establishing yourself online is building a strong brand. It is easier said than done. The method of designing, building and nurturing a new brand means you have established:

• A unique voice
• Consistent convincing content
• A trustworthy reputation

The challenge for most comes down to the fact that there is no single path to achieving any one of these things. And yet, you need to achieve them all in order for your brand to flourish.
What works for some, may not work for others.
What seems to be an obvious indicator of success for some, it may be hidden for others.
A ‘brand’ is such an elusive, flexible concept and it may be difficult to know if you’re heading on the right track. In fact, it is often wearisome.

Authors Need Digital Press Too

Authors eventually come to the realization that: 

a). Their book won’t sell if they don’t promote it and 

b). They have to learn how to promote it if they want it to sell.  

I have learned that if you don’t know how to get in touch with your audience, you’re dead meat, and your book won’t sell but to a few Facebook friends and family members and that is it. It will stop right there.

This is really common knowledge to PR folks, but you’d be amazed at how many new authors don’t think how it is necessary to go outside of the box when they are setting up their book marketing plan. 

Let’s hope they already know they need a website.  Then, there’s setting up a blog

to talk about your book, the principles to be learned and/or the characters plus garnering a few reviews from reputable publications and interviews or exposure from the media.

But, what if the author doesn’t know how to do this or where to go?  That’s when

they enlist the help of someone who does.

There are many reasons why authors decide to hire a PR coach. 

They include:

•  They are too busy writing and need someone to do the PR for them.

•  They do not have access to media databases or mailing lists.

•  They understand the importance of press releases but don’t know how to use them effectively.

•  They want to do author tours but don’t know how to set one up.

•  They want to do radio and TV spots but don’t know the first place to go to attain them.

•  They are tired of humdrum sales and need outside help to point them in the right direction.

I have found that in order to get your books noticed, you have to spend an extraordinary amount of time doing your own public relations if you don’t hire outside help.  Yes, you can do this yourself, if you know where to turn and who to turn to.

This is where a PR agency becomes an attractive alternative.

As a digital publicist, I understand all of the above.  I understand what online publicity entails.

I also understand that while there are thousands of books being published throughout any given year, yours has to stand out from the pack.

A key press release at the right time, a blog and a well built Fan page and website is a great start to success!

A Thin Line Between Content Marketing & Publicity

Content marketing can highlight a post via a blog, Twitter or Facebook as the lead generation and brand awareness weapon of choice, but what if you have the ability to pitch a reporter a great byline that discusses or links to another piece of powerful content? Research shows that there’s a lot of potential for publicity opportunities when content marketing is used effectively and strategically. Bylines can lead to blog posts, blog posts to bylines, and press releases can serve as gateways for both. 

Example: Jada Pinkett Smith's recent headline making  "Are we bullying our young artists?" Facebook post.

So, now the question is: do personal brands have enough time to do it all?

Creating Content that Works

The social media goal of a personal brand is to create intrigue. It is important to mix content with traditional and/or digital PR.
 

• A photo increased views by 14% 
• A video increased views by 20% 
• A photo and a video increased views by 48% 
• Photos, videos, presentations, or PDFs increased views by 77% 

Source: March Communications Boston, MA 02114