By Request - Social Media 101 - Tricks and Tips to Get You Engaged

I have to admit, I was late to the social media game. Mainly it was because I am a very private person and didn’t understand why I would be sharing my thoughts and photos with the general public. I also wondered why anyone would care. My first real foray onto a platform (I don’t count Facebook as I only joined to administer a page for a show I was producing at the time), was Twitter. I was working at Canada AM as the News Producer and decided to make it part of my work performance objectives in order to increase visibility for the news portion of the show. Even though the show had its own Twitter account, it’s always better to attach a real person to an account as people are more likely to engage. I decided I would assume an identity - @NewsFen and posted an avatar photo of myself (I wasn’t quite ready to post a picture of me lol). I started tweeting and people started following. It was all curiously surprising to me as I still didn’t understand the point. However, Bell Media liked it because I was promoting/endorsing their show and posting segments that I knew would be of interest to my followers. I also posted breaking news and updates to stories. In a sense, I became a news feed.

Once I left Bell Media and started my own business, everyone would tell me I needed to be on LinkedIn and Instagram - that’s where everyone is, especially businesses. LinkedIn was easy to wrap my head around, but I still didn’t get Instagram. What would I post to Instagram. I was not into duck-face selfies, food photos or videos of me #livingmybestlife. I came across a workshop being offered at the Business Advisory Centre Durham that walked you through Instagram with no judgement - basically Instagram for Dummies. I took the workshop and left with a better understanding of how this platform could help my business. I was ready to take the plunge.

Fast forward three years later and I have a brilliant social media manager, Denee Rudder, who I work with to curate my social media platforms. It has been a learning process, figuring out analytics, testing out Reel formats (I was reluctant to do Reels because I prefer to be behind the scenes, not in front of the camera), adding IG stories, brand colours and text, content calendars - the list goes on and on. However, the work is paying off. We are now doing social media for clients, my engagement is solid and high, and I often get people asking for advice on how they can step up their social media game. Most are like me, not sure why they are doing it, don’t have a lot of time to do it and would rather being doing something else.

This is why I decided my next workshop would be a social media one that helps entrepreneurs, small businesses and folks in general get into the social media game with gentle guidance and no judgement. It’s taking place June 21st at 7pm on my website. Make sure to sign-up. The $10 fee goes to the charity I support - Dr. Roz’s Healing Place, a centre for women and children fleeing abusive situations. The workshop will be held by myself and Denee. We will give you the easy way to manage your social media and also answer any questions. This is a great opportunity to step up your social media game because as much as you may try to deny it, it’s here to stay. Once I realized that, it all made sense.