Lesson 9: Storytelling Long-game

Storytelling Long game

Because you have started your company in an era when social media has become ubiquitous, you have the advantage of using social media to document and catalogue your start-up’s story in real-time from the beginning. Do it for three reasons:

• By posting virtually everything you do for your start-up companion social media sites, such as LinkedIn, Facebook and AngelList, from the start of your company and along the way, you catalogue everything and use an ongoing, iterative process to create your company’s brand story. It will be derived from months and years of your touting the great things you and your company are doing. You are living your entrepreneurial life in the public eye, as if on a reality TV show, but better because you can decide the direction it goes.

• Start developing your followership on social media early on. People who follow you on social media from the beginning of your journey as an entrepreneur are more likely to stick with you for the long haul and become your strongest advocates. They want to experience your journey as a start-up founder and leader every major step of the way–sharing the ups and downs, but doing it authentically, so they connect with you. How you communicate about adversity in a positive way can even be inspiring for them.

• If you think it’s safer for you to wait to post a continuous stream of messages on social media until you are a more stable company, it is too late. You won’t have many followers or cultivated advocates. Your messages could then look too contrived. You’ll have too much information to share, and people could feel overwhelmed. Maybe 20 or 30 years ago, start-ups remained in stealth mode until a launch, but in the age of social media, it’s all changed. Post regularly on social media in your early stage as an entrepreneur. Other entrepreneurs are doing it. Don’t be left behind.
  
  

To help get you going, the following are some tips for what to post on social media and what not to post:

Do’s 

• Post about the purpose of your company and how what you are doing fits into the purpose of your company every day.

• Post about events where your company is visible and what actions you are taking to get the word out about your company.

• Post about what kind of feedback you are getting from people, whether customers, investors, or evangelists.

• Post about your company’s milestones and the achievement of those milestones.

• Post about the experience of your leadership team and share their expertise.

• Post your insights and observations of the industry you are in.

• Post about expanding your team, moving into a new space, or a pitch you did.

• Post your comments about the culture of your company.

• Post about new things your company is doing or are exploring to do.

• Post about “why” you do what you do.
  
  

Don’ts

• Don’t post details about a potential investor before anything has been signed or agreed upon. Keep it more generic and post how you had a great meeting with an investor who is interested in making the world a better place. Just don’t make presumptions about potential investors, or else you can scare them away.

• Don’t give away sensitive information that is part of your competitive advantage.

• Don’t “shoot yourself” in the foot by speaking negative about setbacks or disappointments, such as “This investor today promised to give us money but then welched out on it.” (Look past it and move on.)

• Don’t post inflated or false numbers, such as “We’ve grown by 500%” when it only means going from one customer to five customers. (You need to build trust with your followers.)