The State of New Media for Entrepreneurs in 2013 by @ProsperityGal

by Michele Price | Featured Contributor

Watching the opening keynotes for NMX live streaming this morning, I am reminded of a plethora of ideas I want to discuss in 2013 around social/new media communications for entrepreneurs.  The first being:

How Social Impacts Your Business for 2013

These conversations always remind me of when holding intake sessions with clients, how many times even the basics questions are not answered with enough in-depth data. Entrepreneurs are passionate about their businesses and yet still could use a deeper dive in what will give their brand stronger impact value for their users/consumers.  It is common when I ask below questions, I still get answers that are not fleshed out enough or clear.  You control this data as entrepreneurs.  Flesh out your answers better and you will be a huge step ahead of your competition.

• What is your brand?
• How do people feel about it? ( what should they feel about it?)
• Are you giving them access to you as a human as well as a business?
• Who is the human behind your company?  (look at your team-are you leveraging them?)

Most brands, whether they are B2c or B2B, have a skewed vision on their actual impact with their consumers/users. At times their view looks more like a reality show, than their real world results. It does not matter if they are an established company or a start up. They miss seeing their online communications as a co-creative process.

Entrepreneurs have the agility to prevent this mistake, yet they many times will take a lead from a big brand (because it is big) not realizing that brand made their name before social media.  This mistake has backfired on many large brands over the past couple of years and continues to take more down brands each year. Do not fall victim to their mistakes. This is where as entrepreneurs, you can come out victorious.

WHY?

Because brands still think they control the conversation.

1. What will you do differently in 2013 to show you are operating from a different mindset?
2. How will you be hyper-conscious of the user experience you are creating?
3. When will you take a stand and eliminate trying to talk a multitude of communities, so you are speaking clearly to just ONE?

Get One Thing Right – Go Really Deep

…then you can grow wider.  A great way to think about this is to ask better questions.  Better questions allow for you to stay focused.  Distraction means there is a need for a deeper clarity, not more scattered actions.  This one thing — will turn your 2013 into a frictionless journey.

How can you create deeper connections? Simple

(Diffusion spectrum image shows brain wiring in a healthy human adult. The thread-like structures are nerve bundles, each containing hundreds of thousands of nerve fibers. Source: Source: Van J. Wedeen, M.D., MGH/Harvard U.)

Create emotional buckets.  When you are willing to be vulnerable and real with your readers, listeners or viewers — you help them generate neuro-connections with you.  Behaviors are driven from emotions.  These neuro-connections are a lot like falling in love.  When we fall in love, we act very differently than if we approach the situation from a logical thinking perspective.  What effect do you want to have with your community, audience and brand ambassadors? Give them emotional connections with you.  Let them fall in love with you.  They will be your champions when you serve them from an emotional and logical perspective.  Where will you add humanity back into your interactions and communications?

This is one big reason why smaller brands who are more agile and authentic, can topple a larger brand quickly,  they give the consumer a way to co-create together from an emotional perspective.   Then you are truly creating user experiences.

Next time we will discuss what creating better user experiences could look like for you, your brand and/or your community. My goal for you is to create powerful and meaningful results. You will gain a better vision from giving yourself and your brand the time to answer the above questions.  It will give you the answers you need to make a bigger and more meaningful splash in 2013.

Photo attribution http://www.flickr.com/photos/clairity/154640125/sizes/z/in/photostream/

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Social Media/Digital Strategist — Michele Price @ProsperityGal – Who Is Michele Price, Houston TX

Michele Price is the founder and lead strategist at Social Media For Smart People , in Houston, TX. She delivers results for entrepreneurs, startups, C-suite executives by crafting communication strategies that are designed to gain visibility, engage your audience, make a splash, and drive profits. Michele hosts a weekly business radio show, Breakthrough Business Strategies radio, where she produces results for listeners on the topics — Business Success Mindset and Web 2.0 communication strategies.

30 years as an entrepreneur, Michele has been in the “first of” category several times in multiple industries. Being a straight forward, results oriented entrepreneur and speaker is a consistent theme of appreciation from clients and audiences alike.

NO limits mindset in professional and personal life, Michele’s favorite adventures was dog sledding in Montana. Ask Michele about another adventure, where she secured the safety of 35 snowmobilers in Yellow State Park from a herd a Buffalo.