Last week, I received a notification telling me that it was my “9th Twitter Anniversary”. At that moment, I thought very little of it and carried on with my day. Who cares about how long I’ve had my Twitter account? But after having had a really fun week on the platform, I couldn’t help but to reflect on how social media has become an integral part of my business and, to the chagrin of my wife, a part of life as well. You’re going to 💖 this post.
When I was a student at the University of Florida, the reps from Facebook stopped by my fraternity to show us the platform and sign us up. We became one of the first schools to have it and, without question, we were immediately hooked. As unruly college kids, it didn’t take long for us to use it to find the best parties on campus and, of course, document our *wild times* for the whole world to see. Remember, this was new and we had yet to figure out how important online privacy is. It also explained why it the cops kept showing up at our parties.
Like most early adopters, Facebook was my first foray into social media. Everyone from my childhood friends to extended family was on it sharing their options, feelings, photos, memories and lives. It felt good knowing that you could keep tabs on everyone by simply scrolling down your timeline for a few minutes. Today, however, I seldom use Facebook and, if I do, it’s to see pictures of my friends’ kids (not creepy) and share my blog. It’s become a business tool more than anything else.
It took me years to figure out how to effectively use social media for my business. But now, so much of my firm’s marketing and communication strategy hinges on how we leverage these platforms, most notably Twitter. For me, social media serves as a content distribution system, real time newsletter, 24/7 networking event, data miner, virtual classroom and digital canvas. When used properly, it can yield incredible results. I’ve even been able to generate new business which, when you’re selling yourself as a financial advisor, might as well be magic.
For most of the time I’ve been using social media for business, I’ve been doing it wrong. On Twitter, for example, I used to follow anyone and everyone to build an audience as fast as I could. It was painfully time-consuming, but aggressively following people to get followed back actually worked. However, by having followed tens of thousands of accounts, I couldn’t read my timeline or effectively engage with anyone. Meanwhile, over on Facebook, my paid ad campaigns led me absolutely nowhere.
As the firm gained the attention of the financial media, I pivoted and treated social media exclusively as a distribution channel. I would share my appearances, features, articles and any other third-party content I could generate. Unfortunately, no one cared or engaged with me just because I was in the news. There was no context behind any of it. So, I corrected course, unfollowed tens of thousands of accounts and started to engage. The results were immediate.
By doing so, I discovered “Financial Twitter” (aka FinTwit), which is an online community of financial professionals on, you guessed it, Twitter. Engaging was easy since there was no shortage of like-minded individuals sharing new and exciting ideas, having thought provoking discussions and, of course, cracking jokes and making memes. Its members are passionate, welcoming and generous. I found my tribe and it felt great to *socialize* with colleagues for the first time in a very long time.
Now, you might be wondering, how does an online community of your own colleagues help you grow your own business?
From the outside looking in, FinTwit looks like a mutual admiration society (a lot of the time it is), but for those that create or share meaningful content, it’s a megaphone capable of piercing through the walls of the echo chamber. Sure, it feels good to be respected by your peers and have them like your posts but, in reality, business matters more. Visibility to your community is only as good as its ability to springboard you outside of it and into larger pools of attention. That’s where the real opportunities lie. Remember that next time you are caught up in the dopamine rush and instant gratification of a well performing post.
I am no master of social media, but I’m good enough to tell you that where most fail is simply through their lack of effort, persistence and thinking that they can just show up without contributing something of value. It took me a long time to figure out that content and engagement were the keys to success. But that’s not enough. Despite my many failures, the one thing I believe I did right was build my advisory business and brand first, thus making it a lot easier to interact with people who had the ability to help me as much as I might be able to help them.
I can’t think of a better example of this than having the opportunity to moderate the social media panel at Wealth/Stack this September. On stage, I will be joined by my friends who are some of the brightest stars in personal finance. It’s a huge opportunity for those attending to learn more about this game changing technology and a massive opportunity to advance our own credibility both inside and outside of our profession. Hey, maybe that means other speaking engagements, consulting gigs or simply the ability to create and promote more amazing content.
Look, you don’t need to leverage social media for your business if you don’t want to. Heck, you don’t even need to participate. That’s what lurking is for. You can simply enjoy your favorite platforms however you want. But, if you’re looking to grow your business and brand using them, you’re going to need to first figure out what works and doesn’t by creating and engaging an audience that’s open to sharing your *stuff* because, if it’s good enough, they will help you escape whatever echo chamber you might find yourself in.
Lastly, if you’re in the wealth management space and want to learn more, I encourage you to book a ticket to join us in Arizona at Wealth/Stack. It’s going to be bonkers.
Okay, now come join/follow/troll me on Twitter.
1️⃣ Spending more than you make.
2️⃣ Spending more than you make.
3️⃣ Spending more than you make.
4️⃣ Spending more than you make.
5️⃣ Spending more than you make. https://t.co/oNfMkDYJcc— Douglas A. Boneparth (@dougboneparth) July 1, 2019