A Pool Of Support
When you have people around you it helps to amplify our efforts and our work to be seen. We all need a pool of support.
We spend our lives seeking acceptance and to prove our worth, why can’t we have the foundations in place where we are always connected to each other?
In recent months, I’ve witnessed the huge power of a connected pool of supporters. This is a combination of social media connections and people in real life.
For instance, someone that I only know through social media, Jamie Dunn, put the BBC South Today news in touch with me. They featured my blood pressure monitor campaign which was broadcast on Saturday night TV. I was taken aback by that.
During the October You Are The Media Lunch Club, I asked attendees to share a photo and post to lend their support. Matt King took it a step further and bought a monitor for his workplace immediately. He also shared my photo of him taking a reading.
On a different occasion, I was also out for a curry with friends. One of them brought a blood pressure monitor with them. We ended up taking a reading and comparing medication. Even the waiter joined. It was amazing. I was called a young man by one of the guy’s mothers, a compliment I’ll gladly accept.
All of this after a somewhat slow start, with lots of likes and awareness but minimal action. It felt great to have people join in.
It’s also warming when people make mention of the things that I have done.
I’d like to acknowledge Trevor Young who discusses Paid Media, Earned Media and Owned Media when it comes to the context of branding and our content efforts. I’m going to give it a little twist and talk about Earned Reputation on a personal level.
I see Earned Reputation as the return on investment for all the time taken and money spent, in attending events, meeting for coffees, writing blogs, social posting, having beers, eating curries, along with joining in and actively supporting others.
Trevor is coming to the UK, from Australia, at the end of November, specifically, he’s going to be #InPoole. I’m looking forward to meeting him.
Whatever industry you are a part of, our work can feel lonely as there are no guarantees. When you build a crowd around you who know what’s going on, that is where support means, and matters, the most. It also helps us evolve and progress what we do.
