Building Thought Leadership on Twitter

[00:00:00] Surbhi Dedhia: hello, Samantha. Welcome to the Making of a Thought Leader podcast. It is absolutely my pleasure to have you on board today. 

[00:00:07] Samantha Kelly: Thank you so much. It's my pleasure to be here. Thanks. 

[00:00:10] Surbhi Dedhia: you know, having you on the show was always a part of the plan and I'm so glad we made it happen between the time zones and the schedule.

[00:00:17] Surbhi Dedhia: So, thank you again. 

[00:00:19] Samantha Kelly: And you know, that's the joy though of global, isn't it going global is that, you know, you're gonna have those different time zones. So, you have to get used to either staying up late or getting up very early. 

[00:00:29] Surbhi Dedhia: true. True. Talking about global nature of our work world now, the reason you are very popular around the globe is Twitter and to start this conversation, I thought about why not I pick your brains on how did Twitter happen to you? What, what is the story? 

[00:00:49] Samantha Kelly: Actually, my sister put me on Twitter. I had a different business, right. It was called funky goddess and I had no money. I was a lone parent on social welfare.

[00:00:58] Samantha Kelly: And you know, I, I was like, how do I market my business with no marketing budget? Which is like the same for many freelancers and small business owners. And so, my sister said, oh, go on Twitter. And I was like, Twitter. What's that? I was like, I had no idea. I barely had a Facebook profile. And this was all new to me.

[00:01:17] Samantha Kelly: This is about 11 years ago. So, it was funny, what I did was when the children were asleep, I used to go on and just, I felt a bit lonely, running my business, in my head on my own. And so, I just decided to start following business owners.

[00:01:30] Samantha Kelly: And then I started building relationships I wasn't actually genuinely posting much. I was just talking to people, but then I'd say what my business was. And then I started writing articles and blogs and I'd start sharing them out and the next thing the media would pick up on one of the blogs and ask to interview me.

[00:01:46] Samantha Kelly: And I was like, whoa, this is quite powerful. And that's when I realized the power of Twitter and the power of the media, being the, go to person in something, you know, the go to person in your niche. And that's really how it started. Yeah. 

[00:01:59] Surbhi Dedhia: Nice. So just to understand funky Goddess was something around a product or a service.

[00:02:05] Samantha Kelly: It, it was a product. Do you know what it was? It was, my daughter got her first period. Right? Mm-hmm mm-hmm and I felt sorry for her. So, I went to the shop to buy her some kind of gift or beginner set and there were none mm-hmm and that's when I got the idea with no money, no business experience, nothing.

[00:02:25] Samantha Kelly: I just said that's not right. I should just create this gift box for girls. So, I did, it was called funky goddess. Oh. And had everything a little girl. Well, not it's like a 10-year-old, 11-year-old needed, cuz it's such a frightening time. So obviously when I did start the business, it was very taboo.

[00:02:42] Samantha Kelly: So, the media were very interested in it because it was such a taboo topic. So, it was wonderful. I was little bit ahead of my time, cuz it's only now I think people are even saying the word on social media. So yes, that's what my first business was. Something totally different. Totally different. Yeah. 

[00:02:58] Surbhi Dedhia: And, and so what happened after that? you started building followers and you got media and you were talking only about, personal hygiene and all of that. And then what happened? What is like the chapter two of the story? 

[00:03:10] Samantha Kelly: Do you know what I was talking about? I was talking about people's stories, people's experiences. So, I'd interview people and ask them what it was like for them. I had a friend who was a widower and he had three young girls when his wife passed away. So, I asked him how he coped, and he ended up when I shared that blog out, a producer for a big show here in Ireland, asked me, could they interview him? So, he ended up on the radio on the, the biggest radio station here in Ireland. That's when I saw the power of storytelling mm-hmm so I was just telling stories and then I'd get guests like doctors or nurses, you know, people like that.

[00:03:47] Samantha Kelly: And I started interviewing them like you're doing with me. And so, then I sold that first start-up. I sold that because I wasn't making a profit. I needed, I remember I had no money, so I needed to, to make it cheaper and get it in bulk, all the products and da, da, da, but like, you know, I went on a TV show.

[00:04:03] Samantha Kelly: It's like shark tank. I dunno if you know shark tank it's called Dragon's Den here. You'd oh, I know dragon investors. Yeah. It's on YouTube. If anyone wants to watch it, you can Google me. But it's on YouTube, but yes. So, when I was on the show, my Twitter exploded. People started talking about me and actually what happened was my dad had just passed away and we used to watch this show together.

[00:04:26] Samantha Kelly: Oh, wow. Okay. And when I was getting my makeup done, By the makeup girl, a butterfly landed on the makeup girl's light. And she said, oh, why is there a butterfly here in January? And I said, that's my dad. You know? So, when I went up to the TV show, one of the, the investors said you've had a tough year haven't you? And I started talking about my dad and then I started crying. So, I was the girl who cried on Dragon's Den. So, I was like, oh no, people are gonna think I'm an idiot, but you know what? People didn't think I was an idiot. People empathize with me. They saw the human behind the business. So, it was actually lovely. Lovely. 

[00:05:04] Samantha Kelly: What happened then was as I was in the process of that, I'm sure. My dad has a lot to do with a lot of this stuff that's happened. So, when that happened hotel here where I live asked me, could I help them with Twitter?

[00:05:18] Samantha Kelly: She said, you seem to understand Twitter and we don't understand it. Could you show us how to use it? So, I showed them how to use it, and then they went, oh, will you just do it for us? And I went. Ah, that's a good business, cuz they wanted to pay me to do this. So, then I started managing campaigns, managing accounts.

[00:05:33] Samantha Kelly: I had a team, everything and now I, what I do now at this stage in my career is I actually do consultations. I do one to ones. I train people how to raise their profile. . And you know, it's about making you stand out. So, so I get a lot of people doing that with me. So, I love doing that. I love seeing my clients shining on social media. It's wonderful. Right? 

[00:05:53] Surbhi Dedhia: So, you know what that brings me to this topic of how do you keep up?

[00:05:57] Surbhi Dedhia: Because all these platforms on any social media platform from the time they started to now, and even as we speak, they're constantly changing. So be it algorithms be it user interface, everything changes. And when you are planning your business around it, just for the easy conversation, just let's keep it to Twitter and then think about, Twitter itself went under so many changes, right?

[00:06:22] Surbhi Dedhia: Like from the time it was born although the, the primary product is still the same. But what, what happens in terms of when you are using that platform for business? 

[00:06:34] Samantha Kelly: Well, do you know what.  I don't use it for selling. I use it to build relationships.

[00:06:39] Samantha Kelly: Right. But then I get the sales and I use it to add value. So, it doesn't matter what platform you're on. You are not going to succeed. If you're just sell, sell, sell, right. You need to build relationships, build a community around you. Nurture relationships. Give help other people. So, it's not about me at all.

[00:06:58] Samantha Kelly: My audience, my community on Twitter, it's about them. How can I help them today? How can I help them learn something new today? How can I inspire them today? How can I make them smile today, you know, so it's not about it. Doesn't matter what platform you're on. The main thing is adding value, helping others and sharing your knowledge.

[00:07:21] Surbhi Dedhia: Mm. All right. And that's what you learned earlier on, so you just kept at it. And you built your community. And I understand that you have such a vast community now on Twitter following you. When you started at the beginning, did you know that this is what is going to look like, like as a community and after you grew to a certain size, how do you keep up with it? 

[00:07:45] Samantha Kelly: Do you know, I use Twitter lists. Okay. So, Twitter lists are really important cuz you can segment your audiences. You know, the way a lot of people say, oh no, I wouldn't. I'm afraid of Twitter. No, no. And a lot of people don't understand the platform and that's why I'm really lucky actually that I chose this as my niche now I didn't intentionally choose it as my niche, but how many social media experts do you know and how many Twitter experts do you know? You know, there's not many, so, you know, it's about finding your niche, right? And then. Building some Twitter lists. So maybe build a Twitter list of media contacts, build a Twitter list of women in business, build a Twitter list of potential clients, but don't ever call the Twitter list, potential clients.

[00:08:27] Samantha Kelly: You can call a Twitter list, like cool, new connections or something, you know? So, you, you build your little Twitter list and then I don't go down a rabbit hole at all. And so, I just go keep in touch with the people I want to keep in touch with. So, my Twitter feed is really. It's really fluffy and kind and lovely.

[00:08:44] Samantha Kelly: And even on my bio, like your bio is so important, you're gonna attract the certain kind of people with your bio. And on my bio, it says nice people collector. So, you know, I'm not gonna attract any idiot because they're kind of like, Ugh, I'm not gonna follow her. She's too fluffy. You know? So, it's like, it's really about, you know, having a strategy where, okay, well, who are the people I want to connect with?

[00:09:08] Samantha Kelly: Who are the people I wanna have conversations with? Who are the people that need my help? So, I knew that small, I was a woman in business and I knew nothing when I started. So, I know that there are women like me and guys and men starting a business that don't have experience, but they might have a really great passion and idea that people will want and people will pay for.

[00:09:31] Samantha Kelly: So, if that's the case, they're the kind of people that I would be keep building relationships with. 

[00:09:37] Surbhi Dedhia: Yeah, that is, that is fantastic because what you just said makes so much sense. What you put out there is what you attract. And as you said that, the effective use of Twitter list. You segment your audience and it is actually marketing 1 0 1. If, if I can to put it that way, and the way you talk to your audiences, the way you approach them is with lists, segmenting them because not everybody wants to hear everything that you want to say.

[00:10:04] Samantha Kelly: Exactly. 

[00:10:05] Surbhi Dedhia: So, you can be really focused and niche when you speak to a certain kind of audience. 

[00:10:09] Samantha Kelly: The thing that's really important here, and you said marketing 1 0 1 is it's all about people. It's all about people and people are savvier now. We don't want to be sold to; we want value. We want experiences. And that's why video is so popular, you know?

[00:10:25] Samantha Kelly: And you can use video on Twitter as well. You can use images, videos, but like, like the rise of TikTok it's video. And it's about getting an insight into that person. And I follow certain people on TikTok because they're funny. I follow certain people because you know, maybe she's a woman like me and I wanna learn from her, you know?

[00:10:45] Samantha Kelly: It's the same thing, except it's just like, it's, it's about people. And, and I think that's one thing that the big brands don't get or people that start a business. And I say, okay, so who are your target audience? And they go everybody. And I'm like, no, no, no. You know, and so many people say that to me, everybody, and not everybody is your, is your customer, you know?

[00:11:07] Surbhi Dedhia: Exactly, exactly. 

[00:11:09] Samantha Kelly: And it's such a common thing I hear. So, it really is important to figure out. Okay. And even if you're already in business, who are the people who are actually buying my products, who are the people that are buying my services, could they maybe want some other service from me? It's about keeping that client long term and thinking of its long term, not just for month or right.

[00:11:31] Samantha Kelly: When I had the other gift box, do you know who my biggest customers were, were men. Oh, really? Yes. Because, and it makes sense though. They were lone fathers; they were fathers who were divorced or something. And the, the, the daughter might go for the weekend to their house, you know, and, and, and they were actually the biggest customers I had cuz they were the ones that needed it the most.

[00:11:52] Samantha Kelly: Right. Makes sense. Yes, absolutely. 

[00:11:54] Samantha Kelly: It's all it makes sense. Yeah. But initially it wasn't, it wasn't on my radar at all. 

[00:12:00] Samantha Kelly: So, when you build a community and, when you are interacting with this community, you said you use lists. One of the popular questions that I get asked is like the benefit of the community. And especially on Twitter, since you have tried and tested this, it'll be wonderful for the audience to know what are some of the basic things you put in check to create and then to grow your community?

[00:12:23] Samantha Kelly: Okay. Well, first of all, I follow other people. So, I find people who I feel are interesting that I can add value to, and that I want to hang around with, that I wanna be surrounded with. So, I'd follow people and then I might look at their last few tweets mm-hmm and if there's a tweet there that's promoting something they do.

[00:12:41] Samantha Kelly: Or I find really interesting that I think my add value to my community, I retweet it. And then they go. Who's this person that just retweeted me to 67,000 followers and then they follow me and then they thank me for the retweet, you know, so it gets me on someone on their radar, straight away. And sometimes I like to surprise and delight my community.

[00:13:02] Samantha Kelly: So, if I see a lady let's say selling baby hat and booties and she has like 46 followers. I'll retweet her and it's just a really nice feeling, you know, that you're helping someone that maybe didn't think she would reach that many people today. And people have had sales as well when I've done that.

[00:13:19] Samantha Kelly: So, I, I actively go looking for people. I can help. And, and that's one thing that people don't do and big brands certainly, don't do because big brands they're just interested in posting whatever it is they do. But you know what, a lot of the big brands don't follow their followers. I follow back people. Like there's, a big tourist place agency and they have like a hundred and whatever thousand followers, but they're only following 5,000.

[00:13:47] Samantha Kelly: And I think that's wrong because these are the people that actually are interested in this country, so we should follow them back and we should help them, and actually that's what I did with the hotel. Do you remember? The hotel is my first client, right? Their clicks, their clicks to sale went up 15% and they got a phone call from head office asking.

[00:14:06] Samantha Kelly: How their sales went up 15% and they said, well, Samantha's running the account. So, what I started doing was I went back to their notifications and I went to some of the people that had stayed there before. Mm-hmm. And so, I saw a lady, Mary, and she'd been there before and she had done a cake sale. Right.

[00:14:24] Samantha Kelly: So, the hotel retweeted Mary at her cake sale and said, oh, well done, Mary, great to see you. And Mary's like, oh my God, the hotel is talking to me. And then she started a conversation and then she said, oh, I must go back down another day. Have you any special offers? And then I was like, yeah, here you go. And then she booked. So, it's about engaging with those people who are already brand advocates, who already love you and already trust you.

[00:14:51] Samantha Kelly: Know like, and trust. It's so important. I know we talk about it a lot, but if you actually engage with these people and make them feel special, like, of course, they're going to, they're going to spread the word for you anytime you tweet, so you build this army of marketeers behind you and these brand advocates, and they will tell everyone how great you are and it's better coming from someone else.

[00:15:12] Samantha Kelly: Yes, absolutely. And I think the surprising and delighting is really a very nice, feeling because when you give you get.

[00:15:20] Samantha Kelly: Absolutely. If I, if I have an event coming up or anything like my conference, for example, like people just share it for me, even though they have no intention of going to the conference, but they might share it for me cuz they know that I've done it for them, and it really is about, nurturing those relationships and, and see people say, oh I haven't got time to do that. Well, it depends. Do you want to be successful? Do you want to have brand advocates, then you're gonna have to put the work in you. Can't just post, post, post, you know? Yeah. You could post post it, but you won't get engagement and then you'll give up on Twitter.

[00:15:52] Samantha Kelly: Whereas if you persist and you just spend that 15 minutes a day going and seeing, okay, I'll go into my Twitter list. Ah, how's Mary, how's. John, let me see if I can help them today. It just gets you back on their radar and keeps you top of. 

[00:16:07] Samantha Kelly: Right. Actually, I'm going to shift gears a little bit here and ask you, like, you've been on Twitter for so long.

[00:16:14] Samantha Kelly: You have such a massive followers now. And at some point, it might have been like an overwhelm. Like people seeking your attention. Of course, you are in the giving mode and you do what, what you do that your normal style. But sometimes it can be like, sucking you in so much that you were like, okay, hang on a bit. This is probably not what I wanna do all my life. Did that ever happen to you? 

[00:16:41] Samantha Kelly: Do you know what it has changed my life mm-hmm don't forget. I had nothing when I started my business and now, I have, I can give my daughters opportunities. I get opportunities. It's changed my whole life.

[00:16:55] Samantha Kelly: I feel so proud. That I am where I am today because I worked hard at it, but people that can't afford to work with me, but still need help. I created the women's inspire network for mm-hmm because the women's inspire network. It it's now, for women who like me, who. We're at the same stage as me between 35 to 68 35 to 60, who, who were starting business later maybe similar to me had had grief or an illness or a divorce or some life event.

[00:17:26] Samantha Kelly: And, they're the kind of people that joined my network because they're not really sure about technology. I didn't grow up with Facebook. I didn't grow up with a mobile phone, so we're all still learning all the time. But they realized, especially during the pandemic, how important online was and how important it was to have an online presence, if you wanna keep them stay in business.

[00:17:46] Samantha Kelly: So, what I say is, choose the platform where your audience are. Mm-hmm . So, for example, if you're really good on, Instagram that's fine, but are your customers there? Okay. Or if I'm really good on Twitter, but are my customers there and you know what, it's funny because most of my customers still come from Twitter because there are people on Twitter who just watch and lurk and just watch what's going on, but they don't necessarily engage and they don't necessarily know how to sell themselves or know how to market themselves. And confidence is a huge one, because when we didn't grow up with technology, like confidence is a big issue for like, oh, how do I, I won't be able to do this. I won't be able to do this. And a lot of people might start businesses in the creative or wellness space and people in the creative and wellness space do not want to be on technology because they're connected to the universe and stuff, you know?

[00:18:39] Samantha Kelly: So, what I say to people is choose the platform. It could be Instagram; it could be Facebook. Find where your clients are, where your potential clients are, , where your, your community are. Mm-hmm . And it just so happens that mine on Twitter, but also LinkedIn, you know, is another one.

[00:18:55] Samantha Kelly: But then with the women's inspire network, we have a private Facebook group. So I, I am on different platforms, but TikTok is me. It's just for me to play really. Right. You know, it's not, you know, I'm not necessarily putting business on. .

[00:19:07] Samantha Kelly: But it's important for me to understand it for my clients, because one of my clients might need to TikTok. They might want to reach that younger audience. So, my advice is choose a platform. That maybe two platforms, one that you absolutely love and one where you're actually getting results where your audience are.

[00:19:23] Surbhi Dedhia: So, there was no, overwhelm, anytime that you had to step back and say, no, no, no, this is not really mic up of to you. I need to like reduce the pace a little bit. 

[00:19:34] Samantha Kelly: There have been days where yes, I wanted to just cry and just say, do you know what I, I need to get away from this, but you see my audience and my feed is so nice. Mm-hmm, there's nobody attacking me. And if anyone does troll me and say, oh, you're an idiot, which happens at the start.

[00:19:49] Samantha Kelly: I cried for three days; I think. But now I just block them. It's like, oh it doesn't matter. It doesn't bother me, you know? Just make a time like, like the busiest time as well on Twitter is between 9:30 PM and 11:00 PM. Okay. So maybe just go on Twitter then, you could schedule a tweet to go out at that time.

[00:20:07] Samantha Kelly: You know, so find what time are your customers most active? You can check your analytics anyway. 

[00:20:13] Surbhi Dedhia: Right, great, so tell me about, how did you start monetizing this community? From that area of you know, gathering that big community, there is also this, this scope or this ability that the influencers of the world have today, right. To market that. Yes. So that is this angle of, okay, I'm following this person.

[00:20:34] Surbhi Dedhia: And then there is a lot of time there's a disappointment because that person has started promoting certain products or services. So why you do everything organically? I'm just curious to know, how did you monetize your 

[00:20:46] Samantha Kelly: Well, what I did was I created different workshops and webinars, and then I would, you know, because I could see there was different topics that people probably didn't know about in business.

[00:20:56] Samantha Kelly: Like you know how to use Twitter lists for example, and I'd start putting little. Videos out how to pin a tweet, how to do this. And when I did that, people would say, oh, do you ever do any workshops? I don't do them as often now, but every now and then, and I'll probably do one for September.

[00:21:13] Samantha Kelly: I do a masterclass or I do a workshop online and people come and they pay and they come to that. But then also I started doing membership. So, membership of women inspire network. So, I charge 20 euros a month and they can be a member, but I have to add value. Like there's no point I can't just, you know, so what I do is I get guests that I know are cool, that know great stuff better than I do.

[00:21:39] Samantha Kelly: Like people, LinkedIn experts and, email marketing experts and. All kinds of different sales experts and I get them and I interview them to the network. So, they get webinars every week. So, they get access to webinars every week to these really cool people that, I would know that would be also as influential as me.

[00:21:58] Samantha Kelly: And so, it's so lovely for them to get a follow from someone that they taught never would follow them, and I get them pure opportunities. Cuz a lot of journalists would ask me, do you know any woman in business? Does this, or can help me with a comment for this or a psychologist or, a nutritionist or, and I would always know a few.

[00:22:15] Samantha Kelly: So, the women's inspire network members get those opportunities. I see. So, another, another thing you can do as well with Twitter spaces. Have you seen Twitter spaces? Is the social audio? Yeah. For. Yes. So, there's gonna be paid ticketed spaces as well. So, I could run a Twitter space and, you know, charge people to come to it.

[00:22:36] Samantha Kelly: But another thing is people do come to me as an influencer in the B2B space and they ask me, can they get in front of my audience so that can they present a webinar or can they sponsor my event or can I interview to my Twitter, cuz I can do live stream from, to Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, all at the same time.

[00:22:55] Samantha Kelly: Yeah. There's streamy yard or restream you can use and they would live stream and then they're getting in front of my audience. And so that's something they pay for as well. So basically, I happen, I have actually been asked to, to do a tweet and be paid for that tweet. So, what I would do in that case is I just put hashtag #ad so my follow is audience know that this is an absolutely and partnership with absolutely because it's transparency and my audience won't mind me doing that because they'll still retweet it because they know that that's, that's my job. So, they're helping me, you know, so. 

[00:23:34] Samantha Kelly: Okay. All right. And talking about your content plan, like you, you have like a content plan laid out for the entire, like probably a month quarter. half a year, how does it work for you or is it really on the go?

[00:23:50] Samantha Kelly: For me, it's on the go for tweeting goddess, right? Mm-hmm it's on the go. Okay. However, women's inspire network. We have a conference coming up, right? So, I have a content plan for that. And what I normally do is I drip, drip, drip.

[00:24:01] Samantha Kelly: It's on the 5th of October. So, it's kind of little teaser, little videos, and then I'll start ramping it up and having like maybe instead of just one to two tweets a day, it'll ramp up to five tweets a day with different speakers mentioning different sponsors and it will just, and then the last two days will be.

[00:24:18] Samantha Kelly: Probably 10 tweets, you know, so I ramp it up at different times, different hashtags, all that kind of stuff. So yes, there's a content plan for that. And then clients as well, I would do a content plan for as well. 

[00:24:29] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. So, tell me more about the conference. What is it I'm now getting very curious. 

[00:24:33] Samantha Kelly: Oh, thank you. It's all about finding your niche mm-hmm and getting paid. A lot of women in business in particular, we don't seem to own our expertise and the fact that we deserve to get paid a certain amount for that.

[00:24:47] Samantha Kelly: And it's something I come across time and time again. So that's why I decided it's the annual conference. We haven't had one in real life, obviously because the pandemic for two years, two and a half years, mm-hmm so it's our 10th event. And so, Wedo, which are an app for freelancers they're backing us and they're going to come on board.

[00:25:07] Samantha Kelly: So, we have Indiana Greg from Wedo, who'll be talking about how to get paid using the app, right? Mm-hmm so that people can get paid on time because there's so many people, you know, they're not getting paid on time they're brilliant at what they do and they're waiting, waiting, waiting, and like they could end up

[00:25:22] Samantha Kelly: not having money to buy food because they're waiting to get paid. And this is real stuff. So, she's gonna talk about how to attract investors to your business. Jen Hogan is gonna talk about how to get media attention for your business. So, it's all stuff about being the expert, finding your niche.

[00:25:37] Samantha Kelly: What do you do when you find that niche and how do you tell people you're the go-to experts. So, it's to help people who are experts already in their niche, but they're not quite sure how to market themselves. And Anita Wong will be talking about sales funnels, cuz a lot of people start a business and they don't actually know how to get them into the sales funnel or what a sales funnel is even. So yeah, all that kind of stuff. So, we've a lot of many speakers, one we've about 10 speakers and the 5th of October and you can join us virtually, or if you want to come to Ireland, you can come to Ireland. 

[00:26:10] Surbhi Dedhia: Wonderful. Wonderful. I wish you all the best.

[00:26:12] Surbhi Dedhia: And maybe you, I can put in the events link for people to see in the show notes so that they can grab. Tickets because this episode is going to be really close, releasing, close to the event, date itself. So, 

[00:26:24] Samantha Kelly: ah, brilliant. Thank you. Yeah. Great. 

[00:26:26] Surbhi Dedhia: You know there's this other aspect of you, you know, your unique selling story I think in our conversation you had mentioned about this and then how does your unique selling story pay? Get you paying clients? Like how does that work? 

[00:26:42] Samantha Kelly: I'm 14 years sober. So, I, I live my life differently to other people in that, you know, I try and help someone every day. I try and live my life the best way I can mm-hmm stay away from toxic people, all that stuff. Good stuff like but you know, and I'm more spiritual as well. You know what I, I attract clients who are similar to me.

[00:27:01] Samantha Kelly: I attract clients who also don't hang out with toxic people, people that also want to live their best life. Also have the drive and the determination I have. So that's why I get so many people, one to one, because they're the same as me. And we actually become friends afterwards. It's so strange. I attract the clients that I want. Like if clients come to me and I feel, mm, I won't take them on no, mm-hmm, no, doesn't matter how much money. It has to be a right fit and I'd recommend somebody else. It just means that I don't think we would work well together. So, it's about being discerning and selective and saying, you know what, I can really help this person, you know, and the people I can help the most are the ones that do the best, you know, 

[00:27:44] Surbhi Dedhia: Right. Makes sense. Absolutely. And I think again, marketing 1 0 1, your unique selling point is that, for others it may seem like fluff and a goody two shoes. I think the industrial revolution and the way the world progress has conditioned human beings in a certain way. Eventually people are realizing this, that we don't need to be really all about all about efficiency and operations. We can be a little softer with each other.

[00:28:09] Samantha Kelly: And I always say kindness is a huge thing.

[00:28:12] Samantha Kelly: Right? Mm-hmm so if you're kind to someone you'd be surprised how much that could help somebody. And then they'll come back to you with a recommendation, they'll come back to you with, oh, I have a friend actually that needs you. I went to a meeting once. And I had been in the newspaper that weekend and about a little bit about my story about sobriety. And I went to the, the meeting and, it was about a new client and he said, yeah, actually I think it'd be great to work together, blah, blah, blah. And as I was walking out the door, he went, oh, by the way, great article last week.

[00:28:45] Samantha Kelly: So, he saw the article and he never told me, never mentioned it to me, but I wouldn't have been sitting in that room only for that article. So, he obviously saw something in me that he wanted. He wanted someone he could trust. He wanted someone that was living like, you know, who wants to live with someone who's out partying, who wants to work with someone who's out partying all the time and probably won't have a good head.

[00:29:06] Samantha Kelly: They want someone with a clear head that's going to actually deliver right that they trust. You know, so when you think about it, it makes perfect sense for someone to hire someone like me, because they know I'm going to do the job.

[00:29:19] Surbhi Dedhia: Absolutely. And also, the flip side of it is that so many of us go through life events, but we are not able to put us up that those events out there authentically and say, look, this is one has made me.

[00:29:33] Surbhi Dedhia: yes. You know what I mean? Yes. A lot of us don't know about each other so much in detail. It's interesting to see that, you know, your articles like that showing your personal side have definitely become your unique selling proposition. 

[00:29:46] Surbhi Dedhia: Going back to Twitter, if they have to use Twitter to gain business, what are the like top five things they should have in check?

[00:29:56] Samantha Kelly: Okay. So, first of all, the bio and the imagery mm-hmm. So, if it's a person on their own, their own business, I would suggest put your headshot, right. Your picture because people buy from people mm-hmm and then put your logos in the header. You know, that kind and what you do in the header, but use, that little avatar, use a headshot and get a great head shots, invest in a photographer.

[00:30:16] Samantha Kelly: Maybe there's a photographer, that's a trainee photographer, or maybe there's someone in your family. Who's really good at taking pictures. Get a really good head, get the makeup done. The. The gel, whatever, and make it, make it look really good. That's the first thing, right? So, nobody's gonna follow you easy if you don't look good, right on Twitter. Okay. And then put in your bio three things that make you stand out from everybody else. Make it make it human as well. Like you could add in, maybe I love hiking and love music or something, and put that little bit of personality in it, but put in, I am an expert in X, you know, a speaker, author, whatever.

[00:30:51] Samantha Kelly: And then the next one would be number three would be okay. Think about who are the people that I would like to reach here on Twitter. So, if there's a community in the health space, if there's a community in the, the design or art or creative space, go and find those people use put into search. Use a hashtag art or hashtag music and find those people start by following someone like me.

[00:31:17] Samantha Kelly: And if you want to ask me, just follow me and say hi, I listen to your interview and mention the both of us. And then you can say, look, I'm looking to connect with men in tech or women in tech or whatever. And then I can actually tag a few people who I know. Would have great communities like that and go and look at these people and then look at who's following them and then look at their lists.

[00:31:39] Samantha Kelly: You can actually view their Twitter lists and see, are there interesting people there? Yeah. Or you could start by following, especially women in business. If you want to follow some of the women in women inspire network, see who I'm talking to, who am I connecting with? Who am I following? You know, and, and, and have a look at that.

[00:31:56] Samantha Kelly: So that's number three, number four. Number four would be added value. So, what do your audience need to know that they didn't know yesterday? So, if you're an expert in your niche, like, could you say for example, oh, you know, three tips to starting your own podcast, you know, could you say three tips to get.

[00:32:14] Samantha Kelly: Your desired guests on a podcast, you know? So, it's about things like that, giving tips, because then you're helping others and they're gonna go, oh, she knows her stuff. Yeah. And then they'll start following you and they might retweet you. Then 

[00:32:27] Samantha Kelly: number five. Yeah. Okay. Retweet others and help others. So just go in and find someone that, you know, you, you know, or whatever, and just retweet them. Cuz then you'll make their day. You'll make them feel special and they might follow you back.

[00:32:40] Samantha Kelly: Go and start building some Twitter lists. So, create Twitter lists. If you go to my YouTube, there's a video on how to create Twitter lists and just start collecting, building your lists of different people, segment your audience. And then in the morning you do your tweet and then you go to your Twitter list and say, right, I'll choose one person from my Twitter list that I'm gonna engage with today and do that and start that.

[00:33:01] Samantha Kelly: Yeah. And that's off you go. 

[00:33:03] Surbhi Dedhia: Yeah. That's, that's so much I mean, I think it is very tactical. It's pretty doable. All this. It's not I mean, for anybody who was you know, thinking, oh yet another social media, oh, how will I keep up with all this? But I think what you suggested also has continuity to built in it.

[00:33:19] Surbhi Dedhia: They go to the list and look at one person, number five, the point that you said yes is absolutely the way you can continue. Because a lot of times what happens. Business leaders or entrepreneurs will go onto social media as, as a way of just creating their profile, but then they just don't go there and 

[00:33:38] Samantha Kelly: yeah, they just sit there and don't engage and just watch.

[00:33:41] Samantha Kelly: And, but you know, another little tip, just one more tip. Okay. Ask a question, be honest and say, hi, I'm new to Twitter. I need to connect with X, Y, and Z. Who should I follow? And you will get loads of suggestions of who you should follow, or you could ask a question like oh, I'm traveling to Munich. Can anyone suggest a really nice hotel?

[00:34:02] Samantha Kelly: And you know, people love to help on Twitter. The, the Twitter community, don't forget the age demographic, like the over fifties are the highest, the over 55 is the highest growing demographic. So, they're on their Twitter and they're like looking to connect with people and might be feeling a bit lonely and they wanna help, you know, so, yeah, definitely.

[00:34:22] Samantha Kelly: Oh, try like there's so many tips. There are so many other tips, but really, I do know Twitter. I'm very confident to say that I do know Twitter and I understand that more than more than big companies do. So, if you're a small business owner, you can get ahead of the bigger guys by doing Twitter correctly.

[00:34:39] Surbhi Dedhia: Wonderful, wonderful. Samantha. This has been just. In depth for Twitter, obviously put on the other side of being human to do business mm-hmm so this is really incredible. I'm sure the audience is going to love this. We spoke about your women's inspire network and about the conference. So, I'm gonna put all those links in the show notes.

[00:34:58] Surbhi Dedhia: Of 

[00:34:59] Samantha Kelly: course. 

[00:34:59] Surbhi Dedhia: Thank you. It's So, a no brainer. People should connect with you on Twitter, but is there any other place that you want to ask people to connect you with? 

[00:35:08] Samantha Kelly: Well, I'm on LinkedIn as well. I'm tweeting goddess everywhere. So, LinkedIn, Instagram, Facebook, but look, I'm always on Twitter. You're you have a better chance of getting a communication from me.

[00:35:18] Samantha Kelly: on Twitter, but you know, if you did listen to the show, what would help you would be if people did actually say, oh, I heard you the show and tag you and tag me. And then that makes us feel good. . Maybe when you put out the show, people could share the show and, and, you know, that's That would be helpful for you, but anyone who's listening, who's feeling a bit nervous about Twitter or nervous about, you know, your business.

[00:35:40] Samantha Kelly: And you're not really sure. Look, you know, there's plenty of free videos there on my YouTube and plenty of tips on my website, but don't be afraid to say I heard you on the show. This part I really liked. Could you just show me that video you told me about and I will send it on Twitter. Okay. Don't be afraid to reach out. Okay. 

[00:35:59] Surbhi Dedhia: Awesome. That's wonderful. Thank you, Samantha. For coming on the show. It's absolutely been my pleasure. 

[00:36:04] Samantha Kelly: Oh, me too. Welcome. Thank you.