Spec Finish

Education In the second article from the Social Media series Oscar Venus , Social Media expert at FIS, explores why and how a business’s success stories should be told. 16 www.thefis.org LINK INWITH THE FINISHES AND INTERIORS SECTOR W HEN I started working at FIS, I was amazed at the lack of content being shared by our members when they all have stories to tell. It seems to be that only the big distributors weremaking a play at using LinkedIn to showcase their businesses and seemingly encouraging their employees to take the same stance. The only time I would see people pop up onmy news feed is when they were commenting on a post that they didn’t agree with which shows they were on the platformbut not sharing their business’s important stories. There aremany success stories in our sector and each story should be told. Some of these stories have been shared over generations and as such a business can have trusted name recognition however, others are being forged as we speak with people using the power of social media and content to tell their stories as they happen and are seeing the benefit whether it’s for new business, connections or sharing information. I’m a big believer that if you are starting a new venture, whether a product launch or starting a new business, you should document the whole journey as best you can. So, fromday one to where you are in your journey today. Maybe this could be done by videoing yourself: · building a newwebsite or adding content to an existing one · how you created your logo · when you got your first sale · your location, so where you are in the world · the process of how your product/service is created · what the business looks like behind closed doors These don’t have to be posted right away however, you are documenting the journey which allows you to one day tell your story. Once you hit a milestone you can honour this with genuine, unique and native content for your business. People seem to be focused on only showing positives, but the real story is in YOUR journey. When you have a business that has been up and running for a while and you’re not sure where to get started, start with; Who have you met recently?What trade shows have you attended? Have you hired someone new? Has someone been with your company over five years and deserves a shout out? These are all great ways of getting started on telling your story. As it goes on, you can even look for throwbacks, having pictures or your first invoice can really show you and your audience just how far you have come. One of the many recent success stories in FIS membership is the rise and continued growth of DCL which is managed by Jon Jacznik. DCL started in 2014 and in that time has grown into an FIS Award winning business. While their success is credited to the business’s ethics, culture and great workforce, they recognise that social media, in particular LinkedIn, has played a key role in the growth of the business. I wanted to learn more about this so I spoke to Jon about how LinkedIn has contributed in establishing him as a recognised industry leader and DCL as a strong brand in our sector. What made you choose LinkedIn? Jon explained that when he originally joined LinkedIn it was still a white-collar professional platform for people who were looking for work. He said: “I always updated my profile as I was quite keen to climb the ladder in my previous job role. “This was the original fuel for me getting on LinkedIn but quite quickly I realised people were more interested in the content that they weren’t used to seeing on LinkedIn rather than your run-of-the-mill, look what we did kind of stuff. “Our business was built around LinkedIn and when I first started posting believe it or not some businesses said I was desperate, and no one would take us seriously”. He continued by saying: “Most of the highest viewed posts are not the typical look at this plasterboard or this ceiling. People love to see something interesting and most of the time what we post has limited or no connection to the installation we provide. If you think of Facebook shorts or Instagram videos people like to be entertained. You have to stand out from the crowd if you want to be remembered. “These types of posts get five to ten times more views than standard progress photos or new project posts”. How did you get started? Jon said: “Social media isn’t something I found natural or comfortable. It has taken me some time to manage social media the way I do which includes being disciplined and posting on a daily basis”. Jon shared that he has dyslexia, which means that grammar and spelling mistakes are a frequent hazard. He said: “I suppose putting that side of me out there for people to see was quite daunting, however, to help address the spelling and grammar in the posts I have used an app called Grammarly. I have used this for a while now and it is a great tool. I have also learned to embrace people’s feedback regardless of this being good or bad. “It’s easy to think that everyone who posts regularly is in some way different to you and that it must come naturally to them. This is, however, rarely the case Jon Jacznik, Director at DCL Oscar Venus, FIS Social Media and Content Executive