Friday, October 1, 2010

The thing about Me(me)


There’s this chick. You see, I reckon she’s a rockin’, amaaaazing chick. 

She’s not amazing like my mum, or my year seven English teacher, or Angelina Jolie – before you start at me, not nowadays but back in Tombraider days. But this chick, she’s pretty amazing.

She writes with honesty and wisdom and swear words (oh my!), and she can take you through a darned good story, even if it is the tiniest little thing, it seems big and meaningful.

Anyway, she wrote a tops blog post today about the importance of explaining what you do. Seeing as my darling dad grills me on this same question when we sit down for dinner, I figured it would be good. For me, definitely for dad, maybe for you, and even for my fledgling business.

And seeing as I’ve got a glass filled with some version of a white sauvignon plonk, it may even get vaguely interesting.

What’s your game? What do you do?

I teach people to socialise their brands online, in the brave new world of social media. 

But I’m not a guru, rather I’m a savvy, mostly smart, creative, talkative type who’s worked in Marketing, Communications and PR for a decade and decided to make her own decisions by running her own company, which is most uncreatively called Sarah Allen Consulting.

In a nutshell, I run social media workshops and training sessions, but I can also help by setting up your accounts and getting a designer to make them look brandified, working with my clients on their strategy, provide coaching post-training... 

While this now seems less of a nutshell and more of a watermelon, my service is boutique and tailored to individual requirements. Oh, and I’m based in Sydney, Australia.

Why do you do it? Do you love it, or do you just have one of those creepy knacks?

Before I started my business, I never had time to figure out social media, what with all those marketing deadlines and meetings to attend. But once I had to write my business plan, Twitter suddenly became an attractive proposition. 

I absolutely love the world of social media – which is the best thing, loving your work – and I’m passionate about it – which is necessary when there’s still truckloads of peeps out there that couldn’t give two hoots about the world of talking to people you don't know online. 

But mostly, I’m a social person, and since I got up the duff and had our life-changing Captain Morgan, social media and all the associated technologies has certainly been the most amaaaazing way to stay connected with a gazillion different friends, contacts and communities online.

I guess that because social media has transformed the way I do business, and my life, I believe in it wholeheartedly.

Who are your customers? What kind of people would need or want what you offer?

My customers are small-to-medium business owners and non-profit organisations across a variety of sectors, and what they want is to understand what’s in it for them, by having a presence in social media. 

They know from all the media hype that something’s happening, and they don’t want to miss the boat. It’s my job to give those people the knowledge and confidence and passion to get in and have a go without looking like a complete twit.

What’s your marketing USP? Why should I buy from you instead of the other losers?

I give a shit. If we are like minded – which is important before I work with a new clients – our collaboration will sizzle. I’ll give and give and then give some more. It’s important to me.

What’s next for you? What’s the big plan?

I’m about to launch my website, which is funny seeing as I work in Marketing, so thank god for social media optimisation coming along and saving my bacons.

I’m watching my son learn to crawl, so I’ll probably be out buying those funny cupboard locking devices from Big W very soon.

And I’m helping my gorgeous husband publish his old-school action thriller, ‘Defender of the Faith’, which he spent a decade writing and rewriting while he was a paratrooper in the olden days, and which is hopefully going to buy us the home of our dreams.

While that’s all happening, I hope to keep doing an amaaaaazing job for my social media clients, learning heaps from the marketing masters, staying on top of the fast-changing world of noo media, and loving what I do. 

‘Cause if you can love your work, that’s a pretty cool thing.  

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And... I'm #1 Top 100 Australian PR Tweeple... see for yourself!