The market is awash with advice from Social Media Gurus. I remember the 1980’s when the PC was becoming available to the masses and I was told ‘where there is mystery there is margin.’ Beware, advice is often given as facts, but it is always ‘opinion.’
There are a lot of people trying to profit from giving advice now. The first thing I want to say here is, this is my advice and my opinion – take it as such, but find those who you can trust.
Before you take any advice and spend money take a look at the person who is giving it. Are they ‘connected’, do they have excellent social media presence and what is their track record? Most importantly, are they a role model for you? A barrow boy at a market stall could show you how to sell, but would that be the way you would want to behave? The online world is much more than a ‘sales channel’. All the time you are creating your reputation and you are either attracting or repelling ‘followers.’
In this post I would like to encourage you to learn to have a Digital Mindset, enter the Digital world with the right mindset.
Here are 5 tips for achieving this:
1. Know yourself
To begin with, do you ‘know yourself’ what your value as a person is to others? There is a clue in the word ‘Know’ and that is know-ledge. Online you are sharing your know-ledge. You are not seeking sales. Through sharing your knowledge with others you will become ‘known.’
2. Understand the difference between broadcast and building trust
The online world gives you two diverse and curiously linked opportunities. One is to ‘broadcast’ your message through Social Media, the other is to build trust through Social Networking. Most sites now allow you to do both. Ecademy allows you to write a Blog in a public place within the community where many random people will pass by and see it. They will view it and if they like it they might stop and start a conversation on it by commenting. At this point you are now social networking. YouTube, Flickr, SlideShare, most ‘Social Media sites allow you to do this. Don’t forget to talk: being a Broadcaster will not serve you if you only do this.
3. Release yourself online – be ‘ORS’
Be yourself online and be the best you can be. I like to use the phrase ‘Open, Random and Supportive’ as I believe this is what we are like when we are being a friend. If we are ‘Closed, Selective and Controlling’, we are showing an old approach to business, targeted and in it only for yourself.
4. Notice and Share
When you read good stuff you are noticing it and consuming it for yourself. Start sharing it too and most sites allow you to share on FaceBook, Twitter, Ecademy, LinkedIn. This requires you to set up the ‘feeds’ Twitter is a great place to start, make sure you link your content into Twitter as it is so easy for others to then ‘notice and share’ what you are writing and thinking.
5. Create daily habits
Finally, don’t do this social media stuff only when you feel like it: start creating daily habits that enable you to do it more often. Make sure you have set up the technology so it is easy to do and then do it through a Smartphone while you are on the move. I hate to be tied to a PC, as do most people. Go out and service your clients and at the same time support your network of friends online.
So your business is on Facebook, and brand engagement is up thanks to some savvy social media strategy. You may even be interested in further distinguishing your brand by 
Leyl Master Black is a Managing Director at Sparkpr, one of the world’s top independent PR agencies. Leyl has more than 15 years experience driving high-impact communications programs for emerging technology companies.