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!