Talking Twitter with Sarah Robinson
We’re honored to welcome Sarah Robinson, AKA @SarahRobinson to SocialNorth. Sarah is an author, speaker and consultant. She wrote Fierce Loyalty: Unlocking the DNA of Wildly Successful Communities and is a Forbes & Dun & Bradstreet top entrepreneurship tweeter. This is her story…
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When Julia asked me to write a post about how I’ve developed such a powerful community, my immediate response to her was “It’s all about coffee!”
Anyone who follows me on Twitter knows that the majority of my conversations revolve around that critical beverage. How much or how little I have, how much or how little I need, whether I’ve run out, how I find my personality in the bottom of the third cup – these are all topics of discussion almost every day. Klout even rates me a top expert on the subject of coffee.
And while this may seem like a mindless topic, it’s exactly how I’ve built my twitter community. One member at a time.
When I working on my book, Fierce Loyalty, I got to dig into all of the happiness research that’s out there and I learned why talking about coffee or food or dogs or whatever, is such a powerful connector. We crave meaningful connection and engagement. In fact, having these things in our lives is THE determining factor in whether we feel happy. More than money. More than the pursuit of pleasure.
Don’t get me wrong, I talk business too
I share what I’ve written. I share what others have written. Part of my job is to serve as a filter for my community, serving up the best of the web in my area of expertise. Because I know them so well and they trust me, I’ve become a trusted resource. It’s a big responsibility and a necessary one if you want to lead a Fiercely Loyal tribe.
I also call people by name. I look at their profile and mention something from it if I can. Again, we crave meaningful connection and nothing is more meaningful than being acknowledged as an individual. In this impersonal, hundred-miles-an-hour world we live in, we relish someone who takes a minute to actually see who we are.
In the end, it’s all about being human
Revealing a bit of who we are, faults, coffee-addictions and all. I’m not suggesting over-exposing yourself. I recommend having some hard and fast boundaries around what you will and won’t discuss. For example, I never use my children’s names on social media. I talk about them all the time, just not by name.
If this kind of powerful connection and engagement appeals to you, here are five things you can start doing right now in your social media interactions:
- Open up a little. Let people see the real you.
- Participate in the conversations that are already happening.
- Share, Retweet, Like other people’s posts as a way of acknowledging them.
- Call people by name in your interactions with them.
- Talk about coffee or chocolate or tea or whatever your particular jones is.
- And if you have an extra cup of coffee, send it my way.
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About Sarah Robinson
Sarah is President and CEO of Sarah Robinson Co. She is a seasoned business coach, strategist, advisor and speaker who helps business owners set their companies apart from the pack. Based in Birmingham, Alabama, Sarah advises her international clients on how to build a thriving, successful community, how to increase social media effectiveness, and how to develop a remarkable online and offline business presence. Find out more about Sarah and her book, Fierce Loyalty: Unlocking the DNA of Wildly Successful Communities, here http://FierceLoyaltyBook.com.
For me, the points that are being raised here can be summed up in one word: caring. In a world of “me me me” (in life and business) people want to feel that they are genuinely cared about. That they are valued. That they are listened to and acknowledged. I think there needs to be more genuine caring out there, in the business world particularly.
Oh and Sarah, if you are ever up Vancouver way, there is a cofee with your name on it on me waiting for you!
Beautifully said, Ali, thank you!
This rings true for me–the coffee and then some. When I started on Twitter I worked in higher ed PR/government relations. I followed and interacted with plenty of people who shared expertise in that realm and in social media and I learned a lot.
I also tweeted–a lot–about my bike commuting and volunteer work, much of which revolved around bicycling. I built a pretty robust bike following and interacted with lots of people. This led to a couple of things.
First, I started a bike blog separate from my personal random-topic blog. I developed a worldwide list of women’s bike blogs that I curate at womenbikeblogs.com and tweet out from @womenbikeblogs, which has its own following and which connects me to a lot of voices in the bike world.
All of this activity also contributed to both my knowledge base and my credibility and connections when I applied for the position I now hold as executive director of a statewide bike advocacy organization.
Not that social media alone would have gotten me the job–I had the skills and experience for the responsibilities that go with being an ED. But I had a running start on name recognition and a professional circle because I’d let “Bike to Work Barb” show as part of my all-around persona on Twitter.
I didn’t set out to do that as a career strategy but I now recommend it frequently to people looking to make any kind of change. It’s a way both to be authentic and thus have much more interesting conversations on Twitter, and also to build a circle that positions you to go in interesting directions.
(If the volume of my tweet content is any indicator I should also have opened a coffeeshop. Instead I just tweet frequently about my friend’s business (@theroasthouse) to send her business.)
@barbchamberlain