Growing Your Social Capital - Assignment 20

Domain Experience

1) An Instagram account I follow that posts daily regarding exercises not simply for bodybuilding, but primarily for athleticism – a unique area of focus

2) Domain experience: This person runs an account with over a million followers as well as a YouTube channel. He has run these accounts for almost 10 years now.

3) I found the person over a year ago when searching through YouTube videos about new workout ideas. The easiest form of contacting this person was through Instagram direct message, which resulted in a reply the next day.

4) I briefly told him my idea and asked what area of the market did he think has been neglected the most. I was taken back by his answer that nutritional awareness is lacking in the market right now. He mentioned how YouTube and Instagram is filled to the brim with videos of bodybuilders showing what they do in the gym, but never about what they do in the 22 hours a day they spend away from the gym. The favor I asked for was information on the market and the return expectation was at the very least a reply, which I got.

5) Since my biggest area of concern was my personal credibility, having a well-known industry expert that can give my service credibility will go a long way.

Market Expert

1) The head of Social Media Outreach for an advertising firm from back home in South Florida. She has been in the position for 3 years and graduated from University of Miami with a degrees in Advertising and Marketing.

2) Expert on my market. While it does not seem at first that this person might fit the description, I wanted to understand more about targeting a younger audience via social media rather than simply those that my service most directly targets.

3) I found this person through a close friend of mine from back home that is a marketing major. I decided that since I wanted her expertise in something, it would make the most sense to reach out via email so she can take her time in replying and be more receptive to helping me out on her free time.

4) I simply wanted to know 3-5 of the most important things to consider when using social media as my primary outlet of advertising and outreach. She replied with her top two techniques: 1) the first two seconds a user interacts with your brand are the only seconds that matter when capturing a new customer and 2) everyone has a different response to a single form of advertising – switch it up. Additionally, she sent me a guide that her firm distributes to clients that directs them through the early setup of their online identity. 

5) She will allow me to use my number one advertising outlet, social media, effectively. This is critically important since this is my primary outlet of getting my service into users hands. If I do a poor job of this, my service will probably fail.

Industry Supplier

1) A representative for a well-known fitness brand that commonly sponsors individuals that they find online and think would represent their brand well. They have been a rep for two years now and prior to that had several thousand Instagram followers primarily due to his bodybuilding pictures.

2) This person is the expert in supplying the industry. Since his job is to advertise the brand of the company he represents, he has somewhat of a professional training on how to attract potential customers to buy off of him. Essentially I will want someone like him to come across my service and want me to advertise for his company (essentially become a representative myself).

3) I found this person through a friend of mine who is a representative for the same company. I direct messaged him on Instagram and we had a slightly long conversation.

4) We went back and forth with questions and answers regarding primarily what his company looks for in potential sponsorships. I was primarily concerned about reasons for not sponsoring someone who has plenty of followers and seems like an obvious candidate for sponsorship. My favor request was simply a conversation and my return expectation was information about his company’s preferences.

5) This will help me in two ways. 1) I received valuable information about what grabs the attention of people in a way that would make them want to open up their wallets and 2) he now knows about my brand and I will be a thought in his mind for potential sponsorship should I be able to get my service off the ground and meet the criteria his company looks for.

Reflection

This will help future networking as it gave me practice on how to break the ice and essentially cold call people to request information. This experience is slightly different from the past as I am the one soliciting information rather than the person volunteering to do so. This was different than something like a career fair since people at those events are there to give you information and want to talk to you. In a sense, I had to make a good enough first impression to even get them to want to talk to me.