I really struggled to come up with an article idea today.

Contrary to popular belief as a creative it can be a drain sometimes staying creative. 

A constant need to always create wears you out.

Leaving you feeling a bit like this!

And that’s okay, it's human to feel like this.

But then I got to thinking about how far I have come on this journey and that EVERYTHING we do on social, everyday, with actual strategy, has a purpose and an end result.

And whilst some days it feels like you’re getting nowhere, you actually are.

Every like, every comment, every new person added to your network is growth and whilst these may seem like baby steps at first, in time these get bigger.

As more people are added to your network, you’ll see an increase in content views, which will in turn, allow you to be seen by more people and allow those people to be bought into your network.

Which allow you to have conversations and that’s where the magic happens!

But this all starts with being human first. What do you mean Nick I am human.

Then why is WHAT you do your WHY? There is a lot more to us as people on the platform, but people seem to be obsessed and defined by their job role.

This starts with a strong personal brand that’s human!

That allows people to WANT to be part of your network.

You see, slowly but surely personal brands are winning over bigger traditional brands.

Lets take a look at a well established brand like Nike and the Athletes it sponsors.

Nike

has 8.7m Twitter followers, compared to the sports people it sponsors that’s a drop in the ocean.

Serena Williams

has 10.7m Twitter Followers.

LeBron James

50.1m,

and Christiano Ronaldo has 94.5m followers,

Nike is eclipsed by these titans of sport.

Then we start to grow our networks (and not just with people that we want to sell to) also with people that like or engage with our content as well, they are helpful to us and we should bring them into our giant social family! 

We have a mantra in social selling. "We don’t sell TO our network we sell THROUGH our network”.

And a great network (one that we nurture and care for) does that for us.

So we grow them with purpose and a clear goal.

Which in turn increases our visibility amongst not just your network, but the people you're network is connected to as well!

We do this through good, structured content. Human relatable content, NOT corporate fluff knocked up by the marketing department. But the kind of content that builds genuine human bonds with the people who engage with it. 

By encouraging and training your senior team to put out thought leadership content you win over your competitors.

The latest Edelman and LinkedIn Trust and credibility report tell us.

"64% of buyers say that an organisation thought leadership content is a more trustworthy basis for assessing its capabilities and competency than its marketing materials and product sheets".

This allows us to have conversations at scale, which ultimately turn into commercial interaction and growth.

Sometimes you can't see the wood for the trees with social and we see it many times with organisations who are attempting employee advocacy programmes or getting marketing to DO social (by chucking up more corporate content that nobody reads). Without a structured and clear strategy for where your TEAM is headed (and make no mistake this is a team sport).

You are flying blind!

With the proper coaching and a strategy you all align and can start the journey together, with a clear purpose and direction.