Today, we are happy to have Carra Riley participate in our social media Q&A. Carra is currently a small business and real estate consultant, in addition to being the creator of Cosmic Cow Pie™, a series of books and seminars.
1. How did you get your start in the industry?
As an author I attended several book-marketing workshops and found that marketing through social media was going to be an absolute must to have a foundation of followers to get any publisher to look at the material. I saw in real estate that the eyeballs were on the Internet so in ALL sales anyone has to be where the eyeballs are. The need for survival in the 21st century was just screaming “social media” so I followed the voice and started to learn the different venues and how people interacted.
2. What is the biggest challenge facing your industry?
In the publishing industry the biggest challenge is the change from traditional publishing in print to e-publishing. Having a social media following prior to even writing a book now is a requirement to succeed. In the real estate industry sharing information on neighborhoods and city amenities will be a challenge for those agents who are not skilled at posting to a blog and sharing information in a new way. For any small business the day of the old flyer and post cards is gone and interactive communication through mobile applications is going to be a must to survive.
3. What is the secret to your social media success?
Practice and consistency will be the key to social media success. Engaging with others creates the social capital, which will help when trying to promote or share something special. Giving more than you take is the key to engagement and reciprocal actions by others. Sharing valuable content on a consistent basis will make participants excited about reading your new posts and sharing your content with their friends. Content is ALWAYS king when it comes to social media success and providing important information persistently creates raving fans who are happy to shout your praises.
4. What do you think is the future of social media?
Social media is here to stay so build a bridge and get over it if that bothers you. Some of the venues might change as the population evolves into communicating via social media but the trend will not stop as the Cosmic Shift Happens™. My suggestion is to “take the jock strap off your brain” and get in the game. The boomers who felt like they had worked their lives and were ready to coast have to get a re-boot on the brain and adapt to the new way of communicating if they still need to survive in the business world.
5. What advice would you give to someone who is just starting out?
Find a mentor or a consultant that can give you a specific plan for your needs and just pay the money instead of spending all the time it will take to learn it on your own. Maintaining a social media presence requires time and can become a full time job if not managed correctly. Connecting with the right group that can help you “manage the mess” will be important to merge gently into this new world with less stress and balance. Creating a strategic social media marketing plan has to be part of your advertising mix.
6. Where can we find you on the web/on Twitter/Facebook/etc.?
- http://www.linkedin.com/in/CarraRiley
- Blog http://CosmicCowPie.com
- http://www.fb.com/CosmicCowPie
- http://www.fb.com/CarraRiley
- http://twitter.com/CarraRiley
- http://twitter.com/CosmicCowPie
- blogtalkradio show http://www.blogtalkradio.com/carra-riley
- http://www.youtube.com/user/TheCosmicCowPie.
- Google+ i http://plusya.com/CarraRiley
