Being The Same, Everywhere
The person you present offline and online has to be the same. It’s how people associate with us and the digital breadcrumbs all help in showing who we are.
John Espirian endorses the importance of being the ’same shape everywhere’ and from a personal perspective, this has helped shape me and the way I present myself to the world.
Social Media wisdom says to follow the 90:10 rule, as in concentrate 90% on one platform and use the rest trying out different approaches. I have gone against the grain here and been consistent, but perhaps consistently mediocre across many, many channels.
From Small Steps
Let me explain. I created a Wordpress blog (Southbourne Groove) for my local high street to promote the fantastic food and drink businesses in the area, but articles are pretty sporadic. The Instagram channel is slightly better, but that’s only because it’s easier to click and post. The YouTube channel? Video editing takes a lot of time.
But it all seemed to help. It brought new friends together when I organised and recorded a bar crawl, it just seemed to heighten the occasion. People have moved to the area and cited that my social media posts helped them too.
In time, I started to focus on my business, in terms of writing and publishing. The first few Medium and LinkedIn articles I wrote would have seemed out of place and in isolation at the time, but over time they represent me. If someone wants to know who I am, they can see that body of work. They can also see my pictures of food and drink too on Instagram.
People reach out to me online and on the street. Some try to sell but generally, people have something community-led and want me to share or participate and get involved. Time is becoming less and less available but my desire to help is becoming greater and greater.
As the small incremental steps of finding my voice have defined, it has helped to represent the real me. You can probably fake it for a time right from the beginning as there won’t be much to compare, but over time, you will get found out.
It’s good to do good
We all like validation, it is a human trait in all of us. Some seek it more than others. The odd shout-out in the street, a reply on social media or a small comment when meeting should be taken as a huge positive and be absorbed, even for the more bashful of us. Take it, honestly, take it.
What I did in Southbourne isn’t a great deal and I do get embarrassed about people’s perception of it at times, but I recognise that I have done my supportive social media posting, little and often… for a long time, and that sticks.
My view, vision even, started to expand, beyond the high street food and drink. That supportive nature has definitely helped make contacts and have people feel they can approach me.
Someone showed me a business community e-commerce system that they had been developing for many years that could be used for the betterment of Boscombe where he lives. Someone else wanted me to take look at an initiative towards West Dorset in Bridport. That followed my own messaging about my business and personal vision spanning across the county.
It’s not about you
It pays to be the same person both on and offline. The delivery of relentless success on social media can create an aura of accomplishment, but at the same time, all we represent are people looking for friends, connections, acceptance and to feel a part of something.
I’m not much of a reader but I have come to love Mark Schaefer’s books. In his latest book Cumulative Advantage, it takes a different turn in the last chapter. The turmoil, the change and the disparity of America, is not really unique to America, but we saw Mark’s heartfelt self-analysis.
Don’t just make your own luck, create sparks for each other.
To round up
The digital breadcrumbs we leave help others find out more about us as well as us discovering more about ourselves.
We will be better for it.
