Where all the fun happens.
Dropping knowledge left and right. But mostly left.
Create opportunities for people to miss out.
There is a level of scarcity attached to most things in life. There are only a certain number of hours in the day. There is only so much work you can do. There’s only so much space on a race car.
When you think about things that you spend money on that aren’t life-sustaining necessities – concert tickets, pit passes, funky t-shirts, bacon tacos (arguably not life-sustaining) – you realize that many of these things are purchased because of FOMO. The fear of missing out.
The fear of missing out isn’t just about competition or keeping up with the Joneses – it’s generally not about owning the same amazing things other people have. It’s about missing out on an experience or advantage that you could have benefited from.
If this fear is present in your audience, you can sell. Whether it’s fans buying t-shirts or marketing partners buying appearances and advertising space, when people understand that there is scarcity around something they want, they are willing to pay more for it. And they do it faster to ensure that they get it before it runs out.
The catch is: what you’re doing needs to be good. Better than average. The best, in fact, to your audience.
It’s obvious that the better your work is, the higher prices you can charge and the faster your schedule books up. I’ve experienced this first-hand – recently, I’ve been surprised by clients offering to pay more than what I normally charge just to ensure that they get the spot on my schedule that they want.
Think that would never happen in racing? Think again. That’s what inspired this blog post – hearing that a marketing partner, out of the blue, wants to pay more than asked this year to ensure that he maintained his spot on in a marketing program.
The key is that your audience has to want what you’re selling badly, and they have to know that they’re either competing with someone else for it or there’s a limited quantity available.
Have a really sick t-shirt design? Label them ‘limited edition’ and only print 100. Shooting amazing videos for race teams? You’ve only got so many time slots and race weekends. Make that clear in your marketing.
People pony up the (big) bucks when they’re afraid of missing out on getting what they want. If you’ve got something they want, own that.
On Speed.
In many ways, racers have the characteristics of a tribe.
We have driver’s suits, crew uniforms and t-shirts that show we’re part of the group. We have our own unique language, coining terms like ‘up on the cushion’, ‘full noise’ and ‘wide open’.
We show up at the same racetracks, by the hundreds – sometimes the thousands – for the same reason. Races are legendary – movies are made, songs are written and art is created to depict our racing. We’ll travel far and wide just for a few hours of action and turn around to tow home. We wake up groggy the next day, knowing that we’d do it all again if we had the opportunity.
We share the same dreams, hopes and fears. We celebrate together in the best of times and mourn together in the worst.
But, we seem to be missing something. By definition, a tribe can’t exist without a leader. Some days, we are lead by the best of us – the driver that runs the best, clean race. The team that reaches victory lane.
But generally, we give that driver our respect and move on. We’re not lead by them.
Our leader is speed. Speed is a living, breathing beast. It is mysterious – always reachable but never achievable. It is powerful and commands respect. In speed, we achieve glory.
Speed pushes us to the brink of what’s safe, healthy and sane. It continuously demands our best – mechanically, mentally and physically. We innovate, trying to get more of it. Sometimes, we lose track of the edge and are swallowed by it.
But if we’re lucky enough, we continue to saddle up and take the ride.
Elbows up.
You’ll never hand-whittle a winning car (or Fred Rahmer’s mustache). Just show up, and show up often.
I had an epic day yesterday, in which I got nothing on my to-do list crossed off. The epic-ness stemmed not from what I did, but from what I learned about the process of building something you love. Something that you’re proud of.
You racers ought to be able to relate.
You pour your heart and soul – and all the money, time and energy you can muster – into building your race team. The first time you race, the goal is just to get that car on the track and turn left as many times as you can without screwing up. Your goals change as you gain knowledge and experience – you go from wanting to finish a race to shooting for victory lane.
Racers know especially well that no matter how much you accomplish, you always want more. Successful local drivers want to go on tour. Tour drivers want to win more races. Winning drivers want to win championships. Championship-winning drivers want to grow a mustache like Fred Rahmer’s.
There’s always room to improve.
But sometimes, you can get so caught up in achieving the highest possible goals that you stop yourself from doing anything.
I’ve personally fallen into this trap. For months, I didn’t write anything here because I wanted everything I wrote to be perfect. I didn’t see anyone else putting out the type of content I wanted to write, so I didn’t either.
No one learned anything about me and my goals. And I didn’t help anybody achieve theirs, either.
If we’ve ever met, you know I’m pretty quiet – I’ve got to be really passionate about something to talk about it. Because of that, very few people know my background – that I’ve been a promoter, that I’ve worked with celebrities on social media and public relations, that I hold an engineering degree from an Ivy League university and have ad agency experience.
And whose fault is that? Mine, and only mine. Because I haven’t shown up as often as I could have.
Sometimes when I take a step back, I realize how much I can learn from how a team builds a car. If you waited until every single piece on your car was exactly perfect – whittling every radius rod and dzus button by hand – you’d never race. And I know by the amount of duct tape and zip-ties I see on the average car that that’s not how it works.
You guys have it figured out – even the winning car isn’t perfect. But that team did two things: they showed up and they did it before they were ready. And they did it over and over again, learning and improving, until they were the best car on the track that night.
Yesterday, I unexpectedly spent my entire day talking to people who love racing. I worked on deals that could potentially change the course of my business, as well as my clients’.
And six months ago, I didn’t know any of these people. In fact, I didn’t even reach out to them. They found me. And that happened because I started showing up consistently, even before I was ready.
I have most of the same credentials and mindset I had a year ago, but the difference is that now a few more people know about them. Because of this blog. Because of my Twitter account and those of my clients. Because of our Facebook fan pages.
I read an article recently by marketing guru Seth Godin about our lizard brain (sounds as weird as it is) and how it stops us from ‘shipping’ our work. He advises that we ship, and ship often. Sometimes, he recommends that we even ship lousy stuff because, in the end, it’s better than not shipping.
And I got it, or at least I did in theory. But it took fielding a few amazing phone calls and emails to realize that taking those leaps and getting uncomfortable over and over again will actually pay off.
So:
Thank you, race teams, for inspiring me. Thank you, everyone who shows up in this racing world, for teaching me a lesson. I hope that when you think about writing that tweet or sending that sponsorship proposal, you first do your absolute best to make it great and then – for goodness’ sake – SEND it. And then do it again and again.
I’ll keep doing the same. And hopefully, we’ll build something great together in the future.
~Kristin
P.S. If you’d like to read the Seth Godin article, as odd as it sounds it’s definitely worth sticking through to the end. You can read it here.
The most crucial element of your social media strategy. (Or: Don’t interrupt my cocktail party.)
Welcome back to Doing Social Right, the never-ending series (just kidding – last post for now, I promise!) in which you learn how to be a happy, friendly Tweeter and Facebook poster. In parts one and two of this series, we talked about the types of reactions you can create with your social media strategy, what you should and shouldn’t share, and when and how to do it. If you haven’t read parts one and two, you can brush up now or after you’ve read this post.
The final piece in the social media strategy puzzle is arguably the most crucial element to your success online – knowing your audience.
Knowing your audience comes from listening without interrupting.
Your audience, your fans and marketing partners, are already talking on social media. They’re posting pictures of their vacations, sharing the videos they’re watching, and talking about upcoming races. Taking the time to listen to what they’re saying is key to knowing which of your updates they’ll be interested in and what they’ll tune out.
In the racing industry, we already have great cues into what your audience probably wants. They love updates on racing news, your racing plans, motivational and inspirational quotes and photos and videos of race cars. As a racer, it shouldn’t be hard to talk about what you’re most passionate about: racing.
Alternatively, the majority of your fans probably aren’t into high-end fashion. So your ten updates about Paris Fashion Week are going to be ignored by the vast majority of your audience. But what’s worse? Not listening to them and looking at what they’re talking about right now. For example, live tweeting Fashion Week during a World of Outlaws race is likely to get you unfollowed. Stat.
Sorry if your dreams of attracting hordes of young fashionistas to dirt track racing have been dashed.
Knowing your audience is where your whole strategy comes together. When you know your people, your loyal tribe, it becomes easy to tell your story. And listening is the key.
From what to post to when to post it, when you listen well you know what your audience will love. Tune into your social media channels more often than when you want to tell people about yourself and what you’re doing. Look at what they’re talking about and sharing.
Social media is like a cocktail party – you don’t just run into the room screaming, “Buy my t-shirts!” If you want to make friends, you listen. You talk to one person at a time. You know when to talk about yourself. You don’t brag (often). You’re not too serious, but you have some substance. You know when a topic is stale. You’re not boring. You don’t repeat yourself over and over again. You don’t repeat yourself over… (get it?! I’m HILARIOUS.)
The thing about social media is that it’s new and there is a learning curve. For all of us. But don’t let it stop you. Just start listening, learning and trying new things. You’ll get the hang of it, and make a few friends along the way. Maybe someday you and your new friends will even have a cocktail party (or a beer with some dirt in it) and invite me. Because who doesn’t love beer, friends and racing?!
Cheers,
Kristin
P.S. If you like the concept of knowing your audience (which you should!) and want to read more, I highly recommend Tribes by Seth Godin.
Doing Social Right, Part Two: Going Native
In part one of doing social right, we talked about the three possible outcomes of your social media strategy and knowing what’s relevant to share.
To summarize, with social media you can:
- turn people on (mostly good, sometimes bad),
- turn people off (mostly bad, but sometimes amazing), or
- create no reaction (terrible).
There’s nothing worse than handing your current or potential fan base right over to a competitor by creating no reaction, but there are ups and downs to turning people on and off. If you haven’t read part one, I’d suggest you do that here.
We also talked about what to share and what not to share. Other than avoiding polarizing topics like religion and politics (remember how heated the last election got? If you engage in topics like that, you’ll likely be ostracizing half of your fans) – you should share everything and anything that shows people who you are.
As a general rule – following you should make someone’s life better. You do that by showing them that you are like them, or like the person they want to be. Your story is their story.
Okay, so that covers an overview of what you should be sharing on social.
Now let’s talk about knowing when, where and how you should be sharing.
I see a lot of mistakes in this area, even more than people talking about things that I wouldn’t encourage. The book Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook talks about sharing ‘native’ content, but that’s not a term that’s commonly used outside of people studying social media.
So, what does ‘native’ content mean to us in the sports biz?
While a lot of content overlaps different platforms – your Facebook friends and Instagram followers might enjoy the same photo – each platform has it’s own language, culture and sensibility.
We could probably talk all day (call me, maybe?) about the nuances of this, but I put together a summary of common platforms and things you should know about them:
Twitter: Perfect for short updates, with witty and ironic hashtags when they add to the message. Conversations are strongly encouraged – in fact, when you post and what you do or don’t respond to might actually be more important than your actual content. There’s a difference between joining a conversation and interrupting it, and it’s the same as real life. Don’t try to hijack a conversation and make it about you. Be genuine. And don’t fill your follower’s feed with nonsense, interrupting their timelines with RT and Follow pleas from you or other companies. Content should be put directly on Twitter, not linked to from Facebook, Constant Contact or Instagram. (This might be the most important point in the whole blog post.) Also, avoid too much of the reply/retweet of someone else’s compliment. Retweeting a nice thing someone said about you is okay every once in a while, but do it too much and it’s obnoxious. People who follow you really don’t care about praise from someone they don’t know.
Facebook: Quality, but still short updates that people will want to interact with. They should be fun, relevant or useful. They should inspire people to share – whether it’s on their own pages or sharing their likes, comments and thoughts on your content. Engagement is key, because that’s what tells Facebook that people actually want to see your updates and ranks it higher than others. Facebook is a great place to ask people questions. Posts that are visually compelling (great photo instead of a link) do well. If you have a company, put your logo on the photo. If you have a Fan Page (you should!) make sure you clean any spam posts and comments off of the wall – it’s your job to make it a welcoming place for your real fans.
Instagram: Instagram is 100% image-based content. And by images, I mean art. ‘Native’ content is artistic, not advertising. Overlaying beautiful text when appropriate can take your content to the next level. Instead of just a victory lane picture (emphasis on this being a compelling shot, not a track photographers stock image), overlay a great quote from the interview. Hashtags are actually one of the most valuable parts of the Instagram conversation – use as many as you can think of. You literally can’t overuse them on Instagram.
YouTube: If I have to explain YouTube to you, you’re probably not prepared to use it. It’s for video and video only (please, no videos composed of a slideshow of photos). Your videos and channel should have a compelling and search-worthy description. If your videos need music, do not use copyrighted music (this is almost all music, by the way). It’s a crazy risk – the artist, songwriter, producer…anyone involved in making the song has the right to sue if you use it without permission. There are lots of places to buy music solely for the purpose of sharing – just Google royalty-free music and see how many sites offer royalty- and copyright-free songs specifically for this purpose.
Pinterest: You’re probably not using Pinterest, and for good reason – it’s geared toward how-to posts for women. BUT if you’re a photographer or you have really compelling visuals, the male demographic is growing here and it might be worth it to explore this platform. Plus, there are a TON of female racing fans that you shouldn’t underestimate by any means. If you’re going to dabble in Pinterest, here’s what you need to know: your picture has to be really beautiful and your description has to be compelling. Overlaying beautiful text can attract even more re-pins and follows.
If you only learn one thing, I hope it’s this: I’ve worked with a lot of brands on social media, and trying to multi-task with content is the most common mistake I see. Using the same status update on multiple platforms just tells people you don’t care enough to take the extra few seconds it takes to customize your message to them.
Sharing your story can help your audience grow – but your fans will only listen and care if you do, too.
With love,
Kristin
Doing social right: Part one of a ZILLION. (Read this if you share a lot OR you know you should and aren’t.)
Note: I didn’t intend to write a book here, but I realized after the first tip that we’re both probably already exhausted. So, I’m breaking this into a series. Enjoy 
Where is your phone right now? Is it in your pocket? On the table next to you? In front of your eyes as you read this on it?
Chances are, you and your phone are in a serious, Facebook-status-worthy relationship. You take it to dinner, the movies and even places you wouldn’t shouldn’t take your dates (like the bathroom). You hardly ever leave it out of your reach.
This isn’t news, though. Who cares?
Well, the fact that your audience is also as committed to their phones and other screens as you are should be insanely exciting. The number of people you can reach and the ways that you can reach them is unprecedented.
If you’re not telling your story on social media, you’re missing the boat. In fact, you’re missing the ocean. Not only is your audience on social (yes – the audience belongs to you as much as it does to your series or local track), but they are also looking for you there. They are deciding whose shirts to buy, who to cheer for in the stands, and whose story they will share with friends, family and potential sponsors based on what they see on social media networks.
But as you know, there’s plenty of talk already happening. In fact, sometimes we make the mistakeof thinking we have to shout to be heard, which can make telling your story on social media really intimidating. Or go really wrong. With a steady stream of lunch photos, funny graphics and amateur press releases, it’s confusing to know how to do it right, let alone at all.
There are three potential outcomes that can result from your social media presence. You can:
turn people on (mostly good, sometimes bad),- turn people off (mostly bad, but sometimes amazing), or
- create no reaction (terrible).
Creating no reaction is what I dread the most. Because fans are on social media for one reason – they are looking for information about you, your sport and your competitors. And if you’re not showing up, you might as well hand them (and the money and passion that they vote with) right over to your competitors.
Many times, my clients are so afraid or hesitant to turn people off that they don’t do anything at all. I’ve even been guilty of this myself. Yes, it can also be bad to turn people off with your content. But if being honest about who you are and what you do will turn someone off, is that really your ideal customer?
I get it. You want to sell more shirts and attract more sponsors, and money is money, right?
Wrong. Think about a company or person that you would never, ever want to be associated with. Picture that person wearing your shirt, and bragging about how you’re they’re favorite driver. If you don’t want a type of person or company representing you, it’s not good to try to appeal to them whether on purpose or by default. Sometimes it’s okay to say: This is who I am. I don’t kick puppies. If you like kicking puppies, I’m not your guy. (The puppies thank you and I digress.)
So if your audience is deciding who to like and who to hate based on what they do (or don’t) see on social media, how do you do social right?
I’m not going to start off with an attack on racers who are doing social media wrong, so don’t get too excited. Not today, Debbie Downer. What I will do is give you a list of things that we all should be doing to attract fans and sponsors on social media (and kick a little butt while we’re at it.)
First: Share what’s relevant, skip what’s not.
This is the absolute hardest part about social media – what do I put on there? You probably won’t be surprised when I say talk about who you are and why you race. But how do you do that? Show people what you do. Describe your experiences. Let people know how you see the world and what it means to you and your racing.
Be the things that we like about other people – honest, funny, informative, caring and inspiring. But most of all, be your version of all of those things. I don’t recommend that you behave badly, but don’t be dishonest about how you genuinely feel. People will see right through insincere messages.
Worried that feeling a certain way about politics, religion or another polarizing viewpoint will ostracize your fans? Don’t. Because you shouldn’t talk about things that aren’t relevant to your story. If being a staunch Republican isn’t relevant to your fans, don’t talk about politics. Unless it’s in the news as related to racing or you want to build a following that’s based exclusively on that view, it’s generally not relevant and you shouldn’t be talking about.
So what should you share, specifically? If you’re a health nut, share that you’re in the gym or the healthy meal you’re eating. Talk about your long nights in the garage if you’re actually the one working on the car. Talk about how grateful you are for the support you get, if you’re actually grateful.
Share your fears, hopes and dreams. Share your successes and failures, and show what you learned from both. Find conversations to join and people with similar interests – the more you do it, the easier it will be and the more fans and opportunities you’re likely to create.
You don’t have to perfect all the time, by the way. It’s okay to show that you’re eating healthy fish one night and joke about pigging out at a fish fry another. No one will judge you for working out 5 days a week and catching a Justified marathon on a Saturday. If you’re consistently putting your story out there, they know you’re not a couch potato. In fact, they’ll relate to you as someone who’s both inspiring and human.
If you’re hesitant to share on social media, let me give you this piece of advice: not everything you say or do has to be epic. Real relationships are not built by one life-altering status update – they’re built on tiny little nuggets of information and personality. I’m not telling you to overthink every single piece – just the strategy behind tackling the social media monster as a whole.
As advertising guru Leo Burnett once said: “Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read.”
With love,
Kristin
P.S. I know this is now a series, but if you’re looking to go really deep with social media strategy I would suggest picking up Gary Vaynerchuk’s books. I recommend all three – Crush It! talks about cashing in on your passion and the importance of storytelling and hustling, The Thank You Economy digs deep into how to tell your story and reach your audience authentically – but Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook: How to Tell Your Story in a Noisy Social World is his newest and my favorite. It gives tons of examples of how to be generous with content on social media and ask for the sale when it’s appropriate. I love the layout and how he shows you exactly how brands and regular people do it right and wrong.
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