What do start-ups and high school students have in common? A lack of communications that make their voices heard. For start-ups, it’s getting your message to the right people whether that is your customer, your current and potential investors or the media. For students (high school and above), it’s important for potential employers, ivy league colleges, colleagues and friends to take you seriously.
Perhaps it’s the recent pandemic has made us all realise how important it is to have proper communications and help provide access to the right information for the right people. So here are my tips on how you can do this yourself with a little thought and planning.
Start-ups
I get it. You’re just starting out. You’re focused on building the product/service and have a lot of other details to get through. You are focused on delivering that value that you are promising. But you also need to make sure that the right people hear about you, learn about you and are able to reach the right person. Let’s make sure that you are not just focused on now but on the future of your business as well.
- Website: Its surprising how many don’t have a website these days preferring to have information on social media instead. This makes it difficult for media or anyone interested in learning more about your team and company to reach out to you to find out more. If you do have a web site, while it’s great that your website is about your product or service, do have a segment about the team and the company and how to get hold of you for more information. Have a blog section where you can share the milestones in your journey to help both media and potential investors. Don’t make it a sales pitch. If you have social media, share those details too on the website.
- Social media: You don’t have to be on all social media but the ones you are on, make sure that the profile details are updated and clear. Link them to founders’ profiles if possible. Make sure these platforms are updated consistently, at least once a week, with things you are doing, major milestones, updates. If you are developing prototypes, share the highlights.
You can allocate once a week for these tasks and make notes throughout the week. You can even do this monthly but create a sheet for notes using Keep or any Notes app you use.
Students
High school and college students are now at the age where they are starting to get an idea of what they want to do in the future. This is shaped by what they see, read, and by what friends and social media throws at them. I would suggest any student 16 or above should start right away. If you are a parent or guardian, let them start with using social media platforms like LinkedIn (rather than Facebook or similar) to start creating a profile and connecting to the right people.
- Create a profile that shows their personality focusing on what they want to do as they grow older. This should include topics of interest, hobbies and also some of the key school projects that would reflect their skills. They have more skills than you realise. Help them to analyse what they do and highlight some of their achievements in schools/college especially around the skills they need for their future career.
- Connect with teachers/lecturers, family friends and advisors. Research some of the major names in their chosen career path (for example if they want to work in communications, let them follow someone that is already working in this sector) and follow their updates on social media. It could be on any platform but perhaps best on a platform like LinkedIn. Message them for advice and directions that would help guide the student’s next steps.
- Check for internship opportunities in the career and industry segment they are interested in. This would get them some experience in a real workplace.
The students don’t have to update and check the profile or updates every day. Once a week is more than enough. But it will help them to learn from others and build their profile and the next steps for their career.
If you need a bit of help or guidance in your messaging, I am more than happy to help. I run a bespoke communications agency but get great pleasure in helping the community. So, a 10-15-min chat for help and guidance is not too much trouble at all. If I can’t help, I will tell you.
