Number twenty-seven of our weekly interviews in which we discover how real businesses are making Social Media work for them. Please meet Sharon Gaskin.
Who are you and what do you do?
I run The Trainers Training Company. We essentially help freelance trainers to create successful businesses. We can help at any stage of a freelance training business – brand new trainers as well as people who have been running a training business for some time, but are finding it more difficult than they thought. We run face to face and online training courses on how to create a successful and profitable training business. We also offer one to one and group mentoring. Webinars and E-products can be purchased from the website and our regular Trainer Talk sessions are networking groups for trainers.
How do you use Social Media?
I use LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and I have a blog.
On LinkedIn I share tips for trainers, useful resources and other people’s blogs. I have spent time building a network and now have over 3,500 contacts. I use LinkedIn to deepen relationships with my contacts and create new relationships. I created and manage the Trainer Talk group on LinkedIn and contribute to 3 – 4 other groups. I belong to a small number of groups so that I can contribute to the discussions.
On Twitter, I share tips and resources and use it to build relationships with people. I like to chat to people and get to know them better, I also post links to my blogs.
I have found Facebook much easier to use recently. I get much more engagement on Facebook than I used to. I have a Facebook page and post 3 times a day, sharing tips and resources and links to my blog. I also post business information on my personal profile as well as sharing more personal information. I get loads on interaction on my personal profile.
Can you share a Personal Success Story?
A lot of my clients come from Social Media. Recently a lady booked on to one of my workshops the day before the workshop. I asked her how she found me and she said that she had been ‘stalking’ me for 2 years – following me on all my social media accounts and reading my blogs. She had liked what I was saying but hadn’t been able to book on a workshop earlier.
Social Media has been about getting my name out there – you never know who is looking at what you are saying and when they might act upon it.
Can you give our readers a top tip?
I have the following tips:
- Use social media consistently. Little and often is best.
- Keep going. It is easy to get disheartened if somebody doesn’t immediately respond but results will come over time.
Contact Information
You can contact Sharon on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Page, Trainers Training Company