Every Dot Connects

In June 2008, after a lot of talks with Connie Reece, reflection time at the SOBCon conference and great advice from both Small Biz Survival’s Becky McCray and Successful Blog’s Liz Strauss, we began to teach a series of entry-level Every Dot Connects social media workshops.

Connie, Jennifer Navarrete and I knew that we had a valuable skill set; a pile of knowledge born of many hours living online trying to figure out how social media works and how to be an effective part of the Web 2.0 world.

The trick was figuring out a way to make a living out of it.

Teaching focused workshops to small businesses, freelancers and solo entrepreneurs seemed like a good start….towards exactly what, we didn’t know, but we were gonna start something!

To be honest, a lot of it was classic “throw something up against the wall and see what sticks….and what peels back off and goes SPLAT on the floor.”

Even how we look is part of what we offer….we are three semi-fearless professional women in our 30′s, 40′s and 50′s who are living proof that social media isn’t only for narcissists, pajama-clad losers living in Mom’s basement or “young people.”

Along the way, we’ve learned all sorts of lessons and discovered that we provide a service that is not all that common and is currently in high demand. Journalists, for example, want to know what we know, so I recently spent two days in Dayton teaching Cox Ohio journalists at the Dayton Daily News about writing for the Web, blogging and general social media topics.

Here is some of what we’ve learned….

• When in doubt, set a date and make things happen. If you don’t want to make money right away but want to test the waters for interest, offer a free one-hour class about some aspect of social media at your local library.  Pick a date, reserve a room and start getting the word out. Nothing’s more motivating than having a set date when you must deliver content.
• The ones who want entry-level social media training are - newsflash! - probably not on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or even blogs. Our biggest marketing struggle is remembering that we can’t depend on announcements to our geek network.  Attending the local Chamber of Commerce meeting and passing out business cards is better for reaching the market that we seek, as is attending our Association for Women in Communications (AWC) or IABC or PRSA chapter meetings, and monthly eWomenNetwork get-togethers.
• On the other hand, don’t assume that high tech Web developers or coding nerds understand social media; they may not know Twitter from a circuit board. For us, Door 64 Austin High Tech Online has been a surprising source of workshop interest.
• It is hard to hit the instructional sweet spot. At one workshop, an attendee wrote in a post-event survey that, “This would have been better for my Mom. I already know a lot of this,” but someone in the same class wrote, “Wow, there is so much to learn! It’s rather overwhelming.”
• Don’t try to cram in too much. We’ve gone from trying to cover 5 different social media tools/services to hyper-focus on one at a time. Our next workshop is just on LinkedIn - even trying to include Twitter last time turned out to be almost too much to digest for entry-level attendees.
• We’re also exploring one-on-one Consulting with Connie sessions; is being a “social media personal trainer” a viable approach? We think so, but are still testing the waters.
• Find the right venue. To teach, you need a room with tables, chairs, lots of outlets, strong WiFi, a projector for a laptop and a screen. Not complicated, but you’d be surprised how hard it is to find all of that somewhere that doesn’t charge an arm and a leg and is also well-located.  If you can find a good spot that’s not expensive, you’ll be able to do the next item….
• Price it right.  Our target audience of successful businesspeople are not necessarily raking in big bucks, and today’s tough economy makes them even pickier about where to spend hard-earned money.  We set what we think are very reasonable prices for our workshops. We don’t run a “soak the rich” corporate training outfit, but neither are we willing to go broke doing this.  We have bills (and taxes!) to pay and our valuable expertise is worth a lot. It is a tough balance.

Serving as social media teachers, trainers and guides to others is a pleasure for us. Connie, Jennifer and I also try to keep in touch with our students long after each workshop is over. We introduce them to each other on Twitter, swap comments on Facebook, admire their new blog, connect on LinkedIn or just say, “How’s it going online for you?” when we meet workshop attendees in person out in town.

Do any of you have tips and helpful advice if you’ve been teaching others about social media? Let us know in the comments - fresh ideas are always welcome!