Same intro as the last two blogs!

At the end of February (feels like a life time ago now) I travelled to Belfast to attend the Only Just media Summit.  This was just as Corona Virus was starting to become a ‘thing’, before Social Distancing had become a ‘thing’ and the week that Northern Ireland had just had their first case.

The event was a full day of speakers, all experts in their fields, talking to a room full of bloggers, Vloggers, content creators and brands.  My plan immediately after the event was to write some blogs on the speakers and my key takeouts.  Life then got in the way, CoronaVirus exploded and took up all my time at work and this idea got left in the notes section of my phone.  Until now.

Today is the blog three of ten where I want to outline my key take outs for the day.

Why?  To be honest it’s probably multipurpose (like that kind of cleaning product you but to clean the kitchen and bathroom if like me you are not a ‘Mrs. Hincher’.  Partly I think it will help me solidify the key points I took away from the day, because although I’ve not written about them here until now I have started to take action.  But also because I think you as the reader could also benefit from these takeouts.  You might not be interested in branding or social media or content creation but some of the ideas I took away could just be useful for your approach to your job or you life in general.

So introductions over today’s blog will focus on the talk given by Joel M, an illusionist and TikTok influencer for Norther Ireland.

So I’m pretty new to TikTok – I’ve done a few videos, mainly lip syncing.  It’s fun, it’s kind of a way to pass the time for me (especially now we are in lockdown and housebound!).

This talk made me think more about how I use different social media platforms.  In terms of education, real content I largely focus on this blog and my podcast.  Facebook and Instagram come second where I mix useful content with just random things I like.  Twitter I’ve long used as a source of simply holding Northern Rail to account for their terrible service!  TikTok for me doesn’t have a purpose as such, it’s been something to play on.

Here perhaps lies the potential of TikTok.

It’s fun.  You can be silly.  But if you can make your content good – catch people’s attention, have a twist to videos, you can get eyes onto you.  And people seeing you can allow you to direct those interested in what you do to your other platforms.

In this sense rather than simply playing with TikTok, this talk made me think that I could use it to serve me in the same way other social media platforms can.  Not in exactly the same way but still in a way.

 Right now I’m still learning, getting better at videos, finding something that suits me (because you still need to be you as with any social media platform).  But simply being aware of what platforms can do for you is a good start with branding and marketing yourself or you as a business.

And if you aren’t on TikTok becauase it seems a bit pointless for you- perhaps you should reconsider.

P.S. You can find my exceptional lip syncing skills at @heathersherwoodfitness