Why I Want to Work in Social Media

Essentially, I am trying to build a brand here, the brand of Strictlywax.

Without social media, I wouldn't even have that name, no one would have heard of it, I wouldn't have an audience. Social media is about reaching people quickly, and speaking to them on their level. It has allowed the public insights to celebrities lives, and made it easier to engage with them.

How Did I Get into Social Media?
I was straight out of school, having studied business to A-Level. I had excelled in the marketing module, and felt it would be a good idea to start work in that area. Step in 1000heads!

I had used Facebook and YouTube before, as well as being a member on the Birmingham City fan's forum, but 1000heads really introduced me to what social media was about. I began to find the whole concept fascinating, realising the potential of it. It continues to grow now, which is why I see a huge career in the sector. I was introduced to a host of new venues, places where people could share interesting articles, or even write their own. It was at this point that I decided that I wanted to be active across these venues.

I have been DJing since I was 16, and I started to record mixes to put on CD and give to my friends. I even put them on my phone and started using bluetooth spread them around. Thanks to social media those days are gone. Enter YouTube.

YouTube is a real game changer for me, and one of my favourite venues. Not only does it mean you can watch your favourite videos on demand, but it means that you can share your own.

I already had a YouTube account, in order to post comments and make favourites, but I decided to make a new account for my aspiring DJ career here.


My first real mix video. I had seen a lot of "10 Minute" mixes on YouTube, and knew I had something to offer the crowd. This managed to get over 1,000 views, and reached more people than I ever could by giving out CDs.
This was a defining moment for me in social media as it was the first time I was getting feedback from subjective people about my mixes. It has received 10 comments, some of which were very constructive, and helped me to progress.

So what did I do with the feedback? I took it, and improved!

My second go at a recorded mix. This was my masterpiece, there are no mistakes in this set, and it has attracted over 2,000 views. It has generated a good amount of debate too, as I had titled it a "progressive" mix. The viewers of my video were debating what "progressive dubstep" is, and if it exists. The point I was trying to make was that the mix was progressive, not any of the individual tracks.

Naturally, I wanted to give these videos as much exposure as possible. In the hope that some day a big name in the music business would snap me up and offer me a big contract, of course.

So I set up "The Disc Jockey Blog" - I set this up for two reasons;
1. To share my mixes with the blogger community
2. To post reviews on DJ equipment

I also joined the Dubstepforum, to target my videos, and share debates with like minded people. I started the thread Post Your 10 Min Minimixes to share my videos, and to encourage others to make them.

At school, I always enjoyed writing in English lessons, and composing short stories. Blogging allowed me to creatively write my thoughts down, and share them with the world.

My thoughts that got a particularly large amount of attention, were those on Spotify Vs Grooveshark.
I had been using Spotify to stream music, and a friend of mine had recommended Grooveshark, so I checked that out too. I had been using these for a while when I thought, "has anyone compared the two?". At that time, nobody had so I thought, "why don't I do it?".

I found it very easy to write extensively about the two services, and included pictures to demonstrate the points I was making. I wrote the post in July 2009, but it only started generating hits in June of this year. At the time of writing this it has had 3000 hits since then, and the blog itself generates 50-150 hits a day.

I was astounded when I looked at the Blogger stats and saw how much of a hit it had started to become, so I drew my attention to maintaining the blog more often. I took steps to improve the design, and signed up for Google Adsense in order to make money, and for the Blog to have a more professional, sponsored look.

Now, the blog is used for sharing the latest music I find online, and voicing my opinions on it. It still remains the hub for all the online content I generate myself, and I continue to post reviews on products and services where I see fit.

Why do I Want to Work in Social Media?
First of all, I have a huge passion here, both personally and professionally. I have seen the effect it has on brands, advocates, and even detractors. Detractors tweet their disgruntlement all the time, which can be a big problem for brands. However, if the social media strategy is right, that brand can engage, help the detractor, and over time that detractor can change their opinions, and even become an advocate.

Where Have I Seen Examples of This?
Professionally, I have worked in social media for Three Mobile, Nokia, and Microsoft. The best example I can think of was when a key advocate for Three was having signal problems in Westminster. Disgruntled as I'm sure you can imagine, he wrote a blog post, threatening to leave Three Mobile. So while I was monitoring online conversations concerning Three Mobile, this blog post appeared in my search.
This was a crisis situation. The advocate in question had a large following and was a key influencer, a lot of people took what he said very seriously. When I came across this blog post, I not only alerted it to Three, but I also emailed the advocate to let him know we were on the case. Thankfully, Three were able to fix the problem quickly, and the advocate remains a customer today.

Another reason I want to work in social media, is effect I have seen it can have. It's an opportunity for brands to reach people instantly, and the ripple effect is incredible. At 1000heads, we had an event for the launch of MiFi2, and the response was fantastic.

You can see from the reactions towards the end of the video that the advocates we had engaged were so impressed that Three had listened and made the appropriate improvements.

It was my job to track all the response to MiFi2, and it was a pleasure as it was all positive conversation! The real key thing to take from this was that Three had listened to consumer feedback from blogs, and social updates. At 1000heads we had given them the chance to do that, in this was a fantastic example of how social media can bring brands and consumers together.

I really don't think the MiFi2 launch would have got anywhere near as much coverage had it not been for social media. The most important thing here was that the coverage was targeted, and the news was reaching people that it would directly affect. This was not a television advert, where people leave the room and make a cup of tea, this was an advert specifically aimed at you and was something you would genuinely be interested in.

This is able to happen through the method of profiling. With people constantly making updates about their lives, talking about things that influence them, it makes it very easy for brands to build a consumer profile.

You could profile me at Strictlywax for example. I am active on the following venues:
Twitter - Tweets about electronic music, Birmingham City, and the gym.
The Disc Jockey Blog - Blogs electronic music, product/service reviews (music related)
YouTube - Uploads mixes and tracks
Soundcloud - Uploads mixes and tracks for download

Now that's only four of the venues I'm on, but you can already see a consumer profile building. If a brand spotted me talking about them, they may want to know what my interests are, so that they can help me, and build a relationship with me. A brand can't make those sorts of assumptions about me purely from what I've bought from them.

Now the absolute main reason I want to work in social media is that I want to learn more about it!
There's so much I want to learn, inevitably new venues will come into play. Foursquare is becoming more and more popular, and would have sounded ridiculous a couple of years ago. I've learnt so much over the two years I have spent in social media, it's been such a fast process that I know there will be a lot more to learn in years to come, I don't want to miss out on that.

I have shown in the past two years that I can adapt in this profession. When I originally started, the role involved a lot of data entry, but it evolved from that. I became a lot more involved with the creative side of the team, and had a lot more interaction with clients. At 21, I can offer a wealth of experience in social media, particularly for someone of my age. I have such a strong passion for this area of marketing that I will strive to succeed in it. I am an outgoing person that likes to get involved with everything.

I enjoy variety in my life, and variety in my work, but I have also proved in my time at 1000heads that I can stick to one task and do it well for a long time.

What Makes me Special?
I think the initiative I have shown, to create and maintain my own blog says something about me. Working at 1000heads, I was not encouraged to write my own blog, I just felt it would aid my work. I also had personal motives for starting my blog, and have developed the passion I now have for it.
My whole move into social media has been so organic and a natural move for me, that I can't see myself wanting to leave it. The fact that I have been able to link my passions outside of work to social media has made it a lot easier to fall in love with.
It's worth noting that when you Google the words "Spotify" and "Grooveshark together, my Blog is the top result, this is also the case for a Bing search.
My job at 1000heads was to identify trends, deliver insights and give recommendations where possible. Whereas with my blogging and social activity, I have shown that I can equally generate buzz around topics and stimulate conversation myself. This shows that I actually have quite broad experience within social media and would be a versatile, and valuable member to any social media team.
My mixes have reached Russia, where I have developed a fan base here. I have managed to spread the brand of Strictlywax fairly globally, and I'm not even selling anything. If I can do that then surely there's potential for me to help brands that are.

What Makes me, me?
The only time I am away from social media, is sport, and face to face social gatherings. I keep in touch with the social space on the move through my Nokia N86, and the Gravity app. I find this great when I'm watching a television show, I can run a quick search as to what people are saying about it. This is particularly interesting to follow while watching "The Apprentice" or even "The X Factor".
The only times I am away from social media is when I'm away from my phone. I don't take my phone to the gym, I go to the gym to work out and exercise, not to check my online presences. When I am with people, I have them to talk to, so there is less need for social media.
In sport, I am an athlete and have competed at county level for Oxfordshire in cross-country. I was lucky enough to run in the national championships, which was televised on Sky Sports 3!
In football I am a mad Birmingham City fan, and you will see that from my tweets @_Tmo_, constantly complaining (and sometimes praising) how they are playing.
As I have mentioned extensively above, I am a keen DJ and play local house parties with friends, it's great because it requires a great deal of concentration, and can take my mind off anything that may be bugging me at the time. I love to get in the zone and just mix for hours, only concentrating on the beat matching and the blends of different sounds.


If you are still reading this, then I must have done something right. Don't hesitate to leave a comment as I always appreciate the feedback. I am living in Oxford, and am currently looking there as well as in London.

Tom AKA Strictlywax