Capitalizing online communication with alyson shane

Episode 23

The Evolution of Social Media Strategy

A decade ago, I wasn’t so sure that social media would become a real career…at least not given the traditional career path I had taken. When I did start to hear about it as a job, I thought it would be short lived because it seemed so strange – why would you need anyone to post something about what you were doing or thinking online, and more so, why would anyone care to listen?! ….little did I anticipate how dependent we would all become on social media, the enabling power of technology to provide access whenever and however we wanted, and the complete bombardment of platforms available for us to use…so now, it makes complete sense…how else could we possibly keep up! I know because I have multiple platforms and various business and the diversity causes me to spread across all sort of methods of communication and it fascinates me!  It even has forced me to find my own voice again and thought me to trust that rather than worry about keeping up with the algorithms or ad words or whatever promotion is changing in real time. It’s amazing that one can be fully empowered to launch a business completely on a platform (although I don’t advise that), but yes, it can happen. There is definitely an art and a science to using social media to effectively communicate your message and today’s episode is dedicated all to it. My friend and communication superstar, Alyson Shane, joins us on the show today to talk all about the ins and outs of communication and social platforms. It’s amazing that she’s been in the game so long, like one of the early adopter of blogging and to hear her story about her life and what lead her to it at such an early age is truly incredible and to see what she has made of it is even more remarkable. Enjoy today’s practical and enlightening episode and let me know when you start your blog too ?
Join my email list here: INSIDERS  and you’ll find out why it’s important in today’s show!
Xox,
Andrea

Here’s a little more about Alyson:
Alyson Shane is a writer and business owner from Winnipeg with 17 years’ experience publishing content online. She owns two companies: a digital marketing company called Starling Social, and a start-up that automates social media promotion for events called HeyAlfa. A passionate communicator, Alyson serves as the Communications Director for TEDxWinnipeg and gives dozens of talks and workshops focused on marketing strategy each year. When not volunteering or working, you can typically find her gardening, riding her bike, or hammering away at her laptop over a pint of local craft beer.

We Discuss:

• Communication online – brands, authenticity, feminine traits
• How to get started with community, bloggers, influencers, writing
• Cultivating a social following and the time it can take to build it
• How Alyson left her regular job to launch her business, become fulltime self-employed and then start another startup
• Alyson’s advice on what platform to be on in social media
• How to best target your audience online
• Content creation as an Agency vs. Startup
• What effective marketing it
• How to feel comfortable trusting an agency with your social media posts
• What buyer personas are and why they are important to your online communication
• Customer service reps vs. sales reps and the information they can provide you
• How we are adapting to social media as the new reality for communication and the evolution of experiential marketing moving forward
• How Alyson fell into creating her latest business “Hey Alfa”
• What makes a great blog and why it’s still important to be blogging in 2020
• What a sales funnel is and how it works
• How Alyson’s childhood challenges lead her to writing and the internet in its golden era
• Why blogging is still important for your business
• How your website holds your space in the internet and why this is important
• How email marketing works
• How a content calendar can help you prepare
• How many posts that Alyson recommends to do per month
• The importance of providing value in what you do
• How to implement Google Analytics on your website
• Trends for women in social media
• The power of authenticity and vulnerability in your messaging
• The message I shared at a meeting this month that was mildly uncomfortable
• Alyson’s favourite and most impactful result of her writing to date
• A side of social media Alyson doesn’t usually see
• What dreams Alyson is focused on right now
• What Alyson would tell her younger self today
• How Alyson defines success
• Alyson’s latest book recommendations
• Alyson’s recommendations for self-care

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SHOW NOTES:

• Alyson's Blog
• HeyAlfa
• Starling Social
• Buffer
• Meet Edgar https://meetedgar.com/
• Alyson’s TEDx Talk
• Thebus blog by tony pierce:
• Book Recommendations:
  • Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
  • The Broken Ladder: How Inequality Affects the Way We Think, Live, and Die by Keith Payne
  • Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe
• Barack Obama Reading List
• Bill Gates “The Notes Blog”