Soulful Social: Social Media for Business

Yesterday I attended a free masterclass hosted by Tracy Stubbs, a participant in the New Enterprise Incentive Scheme (NEIS). She s building her business around providing social media services to business owners. So her talk was half about convincing business people, especially those who are a bit older, that they can build a brand on social media. But business owners of all ages can get a lot of benefit out of the systematic approach to social media posting that Tracy was teaching.

I have been on various social media platforms for a long time. But it should be obvious that social media for personal use and social media for business is two different ballgames. Like, a lot of my social media use was and is dedicated to fandom. Then I moved to the UK and needed social media to keep my mum, brother, sister-in-law, and whoever was interested in the loop. So my social media was private and mostly contained food, travel and shopping stuff.

I never bothered with a social media following as research. Because I didn’t see a lot of value in academia being placed on a social media presence unless you wanted to do “popular science” type stuff.

It was after I started working in the startup scene that I made my Twitter public. My Facebook is still private, but then again, on Facebook, business pages work better. I only got on Instagram leading up to the MIT Bootcamp. So I am always looking for tips on how to maximise social media for business.

Tracy advocated approaching social media as not “I need to say something” but by taking the approach, “I have something to say”. She outlined an approach of thinking about what to say in terms of categories. When to say it, so there is a consistent schedule. Finally, how to say it in an engaging but authentic way. That was a big take away from her class, and I think its a good one.

I mean, I have read “The Thank You Economy” by Gary Vaynerchuk, and there is no shortage of tips and tricks out there. But sometimes, you just need a system that works for you. Not to mention a mindset change if you really are not a social media person, no matter your age. I think she’ll be very successful with her business, given her niche and approach!

The Connect Collaborative

A few weeks ago, two people reached out to me on LinkedIn about The Connect Collaborative. I didn’t know anything about this collaborative, but I asked around. I got wildly different takes. One of my mentors, I have several, had heard about the Hub. So she let me know that it was a well-known networking venue with hundreds of members. A co-worker in one of the startups I work with said he had gone but got bad vibes. But another founder I am working with said that he had been a few times, and found the people lovely. Also that he had worked with people he met at some level. So naturally, I had to go and check things out for myself!

Turns out that the two people who invited me, Doug and Wells, knew each other. Doug had invited Wells. So that worked out. I attended the talk last week, which on personalities. That’s bumped the article I have wanted to write about personality tests near the top of my to-do list. I went back yesterday, but I couldn’t stay for the talk. I touched base with Doug and Wells, and a few others that Doug invited to the Hub. But I am suffering from a weird ear issue and chronic headache, so by the time 7:30 PM rolled around, Tinni.exe was very much shutting down.

So why did my co-worker get “bad vibes”, and why did the other founder think everybody was lovely? Well, Connect Collaborative does use network effect, which can give of multi-level-marketing (MLM) vibes. Indeed, just last night Doug acknowledged that some people do come into the Hub thinking they are about to get an MLM pitch from Amway. Amway being notorious for co-opting entrepreneurial language. Some rules might not make sense on the surface, like waiting to be introduced. But I can see the benefits of slowly meeting people.

Also, I think that whoever the speaker is the first time you attend can make a huge difference as does whoever invites you into the room. Also what you know about the Hub can probably colour your impression. I got such wildly different takes on people who attended that I am more curious than apprehensive. But so far, no one tried to sell me anything, and it seems like a small business version of a lot of startup events I have attended.

There are overlaps, of course. People I know from the startup scene turned out to be regulars at the Hub. So it’s interesting. I’ll try to go a few more times and see where it leads. It should be fun and interesting!

Insights on Social Enterprise from Canada: An Impact-Led Breakfast Forum

On Monday morning, I had scrambled eggs for the first time in a long time! Why was I having special food? Because I accepted the invitation from Social Traders, QSEC and Impact Boom spend time in conversation with David LePage!

David LePage is a serial social entrepreneur. He’s currently the co-founder, Director and Managing Partner of Buy Social Canada. But he is also the designer, and was the initial Executive Director of Community Impact Real Estate (CIRE). He is a founding partner of the Social Enterprise Institute (SEI). David is also a Principal with Accelerating Social Impact (ASI), one of Canada’s first ever hybrid social enterprise corporations. So he has a wealth of experience on which he can draw to share some great insights.

The key insight from David’s key note were the six things he believed social enterprise needs to thrive. These are:

1. Business acumen

2. Social value finance

3. Access to markets

4. Measurement of impact

5. Networks of social entrepreneurs and supporters

6. Supportive public policy

I think he is spot on with his assessment because the world is about systems. You need to put the right systems in place for social enterprise to thrive. The panel that followed the keynote echoed the sentiment.

In addition to David LePage, the panel consisted of Social Traders’s David Brookes, Food Connect and QSEC’s Emma-Kate Rose, and English Family Foundation’s Belinda Morrissey. The conversation was moderated by Impact Boom’s very own Tom Allen.

The presence of Tom should be a clue that I was not the only person from Impact Boom Cohort of 2019 at the breakfast. So we had a bit of a reunion!

OQCE Events: Leanne Live! & Write Well

Last week I was signed-up to attend two events hosted by the Queensland Chief Entrepreneur’s office. The first was Leanne Live! Investment and Capital Raising hosted by Leanne Kemp, and the second was Write Well. I made Write Well but I ended up following along with Investment and Capital Raising event on Facebook Live. The video from the event is still available, which is great because I can see myself revisiting the video from time to time.

The panel for the Investment and Capital Raising consisted of,

Kris Trevilyan- Angel Investor

Marcus Simpson - Head of Global Private Capital, QIC

Lisa Siganto - Board Director, QUT Blue Box

Stewart Glynn - Partner, Transition Level Investments

I have attended a few panels were investors give their perspective. The common theme is always, 1) do your research, 2) don’t ask for money in the first interaction, 3) cultivate a relationship because the best ideas won’t get funded if the investor has no confidence in the people trying to take the idea and make hay out of it. But it was great to get a Queensland-centric view of the investment landscape. Also, I am glad to here that there is a shift in the investment landscape, with an increasing emphasis on profit with a purpose businesses such as Abide!

I am not seeking investment at the moment. But I will sooner rather then later and so now is the time to up my knowledge of the process. Which is also why Write Well was a great talk to attend. I missed a good chunk of it on account of running late and having to leave early. But I didn’t miss the tips sections, and that’s the most important part!

Megan Avard, CEO and Founder of SurePact gave some great tips with the best one being to actually contact the organisers of the grant or award and talk to them about what they want to see in the application. That way, you know for sure you are answering the questions as asked, and not what you think they are asking.

The other useful tips was around who to talk about in the team section, including mentioning your advisory board to increase confidence in your ability to execute the project for which you are applying for grant money. Also, there were some great tips around targeting your efforts. So all around, a great talk. I learnt a lot. I am looking forward to finding an opportunity to applying the tips, and seeing how I go.

Collider Accelerator Demo Day 2019

Last Thursday was demo day for the Collider Accelerator’s 2019 cohort! As I mentioned previously, I was present at Collider Bootcamp with Josari. But sadly, Josari did not make the cut. However, what that meant that I got to see the startups graduating from Collider, just before they started their journey. It was interesting to see how far they had come.

I think the two startups that came the further from when I saw them at Bootcamp was Shotstack and Trusted Voice.

Shotstack during Bootcamp showed off the technology, but I personally couldn’t see an application. But turns out, there is a great demand for automated video creation en-mass. It was build in response to market demand, but that wasn’t made clear at Bootcamp. But on demo day, it was clear that there was a business model around that product. It wasn’t a solution looking for a problem. There was a problem that Shotstack was addressing because there is a need to create short videos en-mass. I get it now!

Similar to Shotstack, I didn’t know what The Trusted Voice, back then called Master Your Video, was trying to do. I got that the founder, String Nguyen, was an amazing social media influencer but I wasn’t sure what she wanted me to buy from her. But now I get it. The Trusted Voice a coaching program that promises to teach me how I can increase my influence and share my content. String has come a long way from Bootcamp!

AirSyne’s pitch improved a lot! They also found a target market in sports. AirSyne is the location-based messaging app that puts augmented reality (AR) messages in the air. I tried it out during the event. It’s pretty cool, but it is a “critical mass” issue. So I think they have targeted the right beachhead market with sporting events. I also see many other applications for AirSyne, but also a lot of pitfalls. Let’s face, someone will leave an ASCII dick as a message sooner or later!

The other startups also polished their pitches, and I am sure developed a lot in the background. But being more mature startups when they went into Collider, they didn’t go as dramatic a transformation as Shotstack, AirSyne and The Trusted Voice.

I mean, Anti Ordinary, who make beanies as strong as a helmet, and Cardly, who make customised cards with mimicked handwriting, are more scaleups then startups. So it makes sense that Anti Ordinary did not change a lot during the three months of the Collider accelerator. I don’t know what Cardly was before Collider because I don’t have any memory of them in the Bootcamp. I think they skipped the Bootcamp. But it’s clear from the pitch they are a mature startup.

Colour Space, an art rental service and Whatpods, training for podcast hosts, had a proper identity at the Bootcamp, and I think they just developed more during the accelerator. I think Whatpods used their time in the accelerator to create their training modules. Changes with Colour Space was not apparent from the pitch at demo day compared to Bootcamp.

Analytics.Lol was the sole representative of the gaming industry. Analytics.Lol is an analytics software for competitive gaming with the beachhead being League of Legends. I know enough about e-Sports to realize they have a high ceiling and potential for great success as the industry grows. But even the best ideas don’t turn into successful businesses.

Lastly but not least was the startup that actually went first, Umelore! Back in the Bootcamp, I knew Umelore was a sure bet to get into Collider. Umelore is an online marketplace that is connecting Indigenous artists with those looking to source authentic Indigenous artwork, ethically. It’s a brilliant idea from a brilliant Indigenous female founder, Alisha Jayne. I wish her all the luck!