The eleventh of our weekly interviews in which we discover how real businesses are making Social Media work for them. Please meet Gail Gibson from The Portfolio Lifestylist.
Who are you and what do you do?
I am passionate about making a difference through motivating and inspiring people to Rediscover, Reframe and Reinvent themselves! I help individuals and businesses stand out from the crowd. I do this in a number of ways:
- At a personal level, I work as a life coach to help women develop their 5 key ‘selfs’ – self-confidence, self-belief, self-image, self-esteem and self-worth.
- As a business coach with extensive knowledge of business development, marketing and communications, I work with business owners to find out what makes their business unique and how they can make their business stand out from the crowd.
- I am a trainer offering training in team development, face to face business networking, social media marketing, and marketing and presentation skills. I also train in portfolio career and lifestyle development – ‘How Colourful is Your Umbrella? – Creating your Portfolio of Choice’.
- As a speaker, I motivate and inspire, so people can be remarkable and stand out from the crowd.
How do you use Social Media?
Apart from face to face networking, Social Media is an integral part of how I market my business. I use LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. I find Social Media is a fun, targeted way to build a community that is incredibly powerful when used right.
The immediacy, speed and sound bite format of Twitter has proved to be very effective. I have a different audience on LinkedIn, so find LinkedIn useful for sharing ideas and thoughts and getting people to find out who I am, to raise brand awareness.
Can you share a Personal Success Story?
In 2011, I posted a tweet saying that I was going to be in Perth, Western Australia for a month. This directly led to two speaking engagements – one at a woman’s networking group and one with a book shop. This led to sales of my book as well as new connections and opportunities.
I have also found Twitter to be useful to gain introductions to people. Others have used tweets to recommend my work which has led to work for me.
LinkedIn has raised my own profile and also the profile of the ‘How Colourful is Your Umbrella – Creating your Portfolio of Choice’ portfolio career and lifestyle Master class. Being active in a number of LinkedIn groups, in particular the ‘Portfolio Career’ group which has resulted in widening the awareness of the portfolio lifestyle concept, having talked to people in the US and Australia about potential future links and opportunities.
Can you give our readers a top tip?
Brand You. Always think before you tweet, retweet or post anything to ensure what you are saying reflects brand you.
Contact Information
You can contact Gail on Twitter, LinkedIn and How Colourful is Your Umbrella Facebook Page