By The Uber Talented Chris G @ Team Mummy
The most often asked question here at Destructo Deviations is…
“What exactly do you do?
I am “Miss Destructo: Destroyer of Social Media Boredom”
Um, what? Are you a superhero?
Yes, yes I am.
One of my readers wrote in with this question that is a great example that heroes are made not born.
I’m slowly embarking on a journey to do a web comic at my husband’s behest. It’ll be a journal-type comic, as we’re taking events from our real life. But you being someone local who has succeeded in making yourself a presence online, I was wondering if you had any tips or suggestions. I read a lot of websites that have tips on becoming big, making your blog popular, etc, but many of them say the same things and they speak in very general terms. What worked for you?
That’s a good question, I am not sure exactly of all the statistical details of my journey. Lots of cursing and self-doubts on if this was actually going to work and if people were going to care. But we all have to start somewhere, I started with an idea and a bottle of blue hair dye… it’s how I have made the next step that is important.
Twitter, Facebook, Myspace …. Eat, Sleep and Breathe these for at least 3 months. Not only use them to meet people, but learn about them, read about them, and get connected with experts. Having a knowledge about marketing, advertising and design goes along way to help you promote yourself. Also remember to not just go out there jumping up and down going “LOOK AT ME!” this doesn’t work, you must first build relationships before kicking down people’s doors.
Checking out local events is a good way to network but what is most important is making connections before the event so you will already have a good network of people at the event and people already know a little bit about you and what you do.
A good example of a local event is the huge Sci-Fi convention Dragon Con is coming up in Atlanta in Sept. In promoting an online comic for example this as a great place to network, especially with like-minded people that are most likely social media superheroes themselves. Before the event make some business cards up and build up your online presence networking with people that may be attending Dragon Con. Just do a twitter search or set up a search in Tweetdeck for “Dragon Con” and simply follow, converse, rinse, repeat…. by doing this you can ahead of time meet people that may know how to help you out or be interested in your comic and already have a bunch of new people to meet when you get there.
The other night, I ate a whole small onion. Why? Well, I had never tried it before and you know what… it actually was good. After tweeting this, I went searching for the delete button since I wasn’t sure if it was something I should really post since I thought many of my readers would think it was just plain odd. Literally though, people ate it up and it made them tear up in laughter. Some people even shared their same odd eating habits and in this I made connections. Since when did eating a whole onion make you gain friends?
Have a unique writing style, even without hearing someone you can already get a sense of their true voice. Be different, I have my six feet of blue hair and biting sense of humor to back me up. Find something that is unique about you and throw it out there, as you have seen with my about me section. Don’t hold anything back, but still have tact and wit about it.
Some of my personal heroes are all online superheroes, such as @richardbranson, @NathanFillion, @galadarling, @mashable, @stevepavlina, @PhilipMcCluskey ,@thebrandbuilder, @kriscolvin and @barrymoltz are all amazing, unique people that have taken risks, stayed true to themselves and worked hard at creating something from nothing. I can promise you that at least most of these people were broke or confused about their life at one point in their journey, don’t give up.
I highly recommend checking out this interview by Barry Moltz with social media guru Chris Brogan. Not only great social media tips, but great inspiration when you may be staring down that last bag of ramen noodles declaring “WHY AM I DOING THIS?”
What do all these online superheroes have in common? People. They stay in communication with the people, answer questions, observe trends and promote a sense of community with their followers and fans. It doesn’t happen overnight and can seem like a full time job without much payment at first but just keep up those connections and the world will come to you.
People are People. How to find them?
Well, it is. But if I told you dogs couldn’t look up would you believe me? I ask for help as much as I give advice. Don’t be afraid to ask for advice or help! EVER. It’s the way I have gained the strongest connections with people is by asking them a question.
Some of the handy things I have in my social media utility belt are….
First of all, lego the ego. Being popular is not important, I have worked along side fame for years in the entertainment industry and has seen what happens when people stop caring about other people and only about themselves. It doesn’t matter how many people are following you if you treat them less than you. What is important is making connections with as many people as possible, it’s not about how many people I know but how many people I can share this whole experience of life with along the way. There are tons of amazing people hidden out there!
That’s what being a social media superhero is all about… changing the world, one tweet at a time.
We can be heroes,
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Copyright 2011- Miss Destructo
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