Hello, my name is Mitch Canter, and I am an entrepreneur. I own and operate a small design studio, studionashvegas, in Nashville, TN. I’ve been doing this for nine months now on my own, and I know that it was the greatest decision of my life.
And I did it with $0 to fall back on.
Now, before I lose you because you think I’m just another guy trying to sell his secret to success online, i’m not. I’m a designer and marketer, and I love doing what I do, but I’m not going to lie and say it was easy. It’s been almost a year of hard work, sweat, and even a few tears.
But, I’m happy; I’m paying the bills; and I did it all with the help of Social Media.
First of all, I know we’ve all heard the term thrown around, but what exactly is Social Media? Scobleizer defines the main difference between new media and old media (television, newspaper, etc.) as the ability to archive content easier, share content easier, and create content easier than traditional media. But as for what it really is, it’s hard to describe. A blog is social media because content is easily created and shared. Facebook is social media because of the ability to interact with others on their content. Flickr, myspace, YouTube; all of them are Social Media.
But, the question remains? How can you as a Vision Caster utilize Social Media?
1. Join The Conversation
9 months ago, I started my business by investing in a URL and webspace. It’s a pretty typical start for anyone wanting a new business, but I also signed up for a Twitter account. I know Todd’s talked plenty about Twitter, but at the time I saw it as a fantastic way to keep up with the people around me. I followed some of the top people in Nashville to see what they were up to, and started joining their conversations.Social media is a two way conversation. It’s a great way to keep up with what’s going on around you and who is interested in the subjects you care about.
2. It’s About Time
When I first started, I didn’t have much to do as far as design goes. I was waiting for clients and picking up freelance work as it came along. So I turned my attention to the conversations occurring on Twitter. I spent hours a day checking and rechecking to see what people were talking about and what events were going on that I would be interested in. Then, there weren’t tools that helped you do that, but now there are great tools such as Summize that can let you keep track of conversations in real time. However, just because there are tools that make it easier doesn’t mean the beginning won’t require some sort of time investment. It was that first week where I made the first 150 followers and found out what they were doing, and where I met most of the most influential people I follow online.
3. Be diligent
I shouldn’t have to really go into this, because a true Vision Caster won’t let anything come between him/her and their vision. You can’t just get into it for two weeks and then give it up. You have to be faithful and be ready to devote the time needed to really get the most out of it. Otherwise, you won’t be able to truly reap the benefits.
In short…
Social Media is a great way to get your message out to the masses. But it’s not like one way media where you constantly bombard people with “buy me” - it’s about having a conversation with them, finding out what their needs are, and then servicing them. If you have a Vision that you’re passionate about, and are willing to put in the work, Social Media can be successful for you like it was for me.
Many thanks go out to Mitch Canter, today’s guest blogger!
Have you seen THE LOVE GURU yet? Well Mitch is the social media equivalent of the guru himself. He tweats, facebooks, myspaces, and has a presence almost everywhere else on internet.
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