When I think about social media I think about it being an extension of who we are. It gives our community access into our lives and our personalities without us ever meeting the person on the other side of our phones. If used correctly you can build a social media community of people who go from followers to family.
When I first started my business in 2016 I knew it was important to build a community around what I was doing. At this time Instagram Stories didn’t exist but Facebook Live did, so I took advantage of it. I started with a 30-day Facebook Live challenge to push myself outside of my comfort zone and it completely changed my brand. Through storytelling, advice giving and simply being myself I was able to build a strong community online. I was able to connect with strangers in a way that I had never been able to connect with them before. And from there I developed this open door policy within my community. I know most of my community by name, they have my number, we meet up for virtual coffee dates and we eventually turn into life long friends.
How was I able to do that? Through storytelling, connections and servanthood. If you want your community to put some skin in, you have to put some skin in. Often times as entrepreneurs we think about how can we use social media to make more money or book more clients. But when I think about social media I think about how can I use this post or live story to serve my community, make more connections and impact more people’s lives. When your motives are right and you’re creating content from this authentic and genuine place you won’t have a problem turning making sales.
If you want to use Instagram stories or any social media platform to make more genuine connections with your followers I want you to think about a few things:
- What are your core values? Why do you do that you do? Does the content you share on social media align with your core values?
- What’s your story and does your community know it?
- Are you creating content from an authentic place and not a place of need?
- Are you consistent in what you’re doing?
Once you understand and completely embody your core values you can now create content from that place. The next step is to create authentic and genuine content that allows YOU to shine through. And lastly when you start don’t stop because two people showed up on your live story, keep creating, people are watching whether you know it or not. If you continue to create authentically, be yourself and stay consistent it will completely change your impact and influence online.
