Colorado Backcountry Biker

I feel compelled to write, since I have been spending a ton of time lining up my social media for The Wolf Public House over at Reverbnation.com. And just today I gave a pretty good spew on the concept of strategic social media. Of course, most of my stuff siphoned from the head of my good friend and cohort, Cheryl Hughey. I was indeed asked to provide perspective to a group of entrepreneurs who needed to figure out how to promote their niche business of Cross County Mountain Bike Tours in Colorado.

I love it when people ask me to do this. It is like, poof...there I am on a stage, a microphone in one hand, a PowerPoint clicker in the next. For an hour I get to ramble off a bunch of bullshit to whomever decided that I might have something interesting to say, a license to spew. Today was one of those days. The topic: how to broadcast a brand.

Broadcasting is the way I perceive social media to be. It is like a radio station in the middle of nowhere. A small radio station, like one down in Mississippi, off an old dusty road. It has the attention of a group of people living nearby; the people opt in to hear what the radio station plays. The radio station influences peoples lives by playing music.

Over time, the DJ figures out that he has the ability to sell stuff other than the music alone, some of it nothing to do with the good music being played, people take interest in the sponsors of the music, because without them, there wouldn't be any. The management of the station knows that, as long as the good stuff is played, it will get into the heart and soul of the people needing inspiration. The DJ plays songs that he knows the people want, because he listens to the feedback, has the pulse on what people like, not just one song, many songs. Songs that speak to the people in a way that makes them feel good. The sponsors continue to stand in line, because they know that something happens when the inspiration and commodity are combined in just the right kind of message.

The strategic use of social media is just that, you set up your radio station with all the knobs and the power and the influence. You begin to send stuff out that makes people feel good. There are stories from your blog, youtube vids, the sharing of other interesting thoughts from other interesting people who have their own radio stations and their own music (things to say and images of things) You pre-set your settings to others radio stations, collect many presets, other stations that also make people feel good. They all love the music and find loyalty in you, now the sponsor.

Its about making people feel good. Giving them influence on topics that interest them. It's often about authenticity. It makes people feel good to gain knowledge topics of interest; human interest stories that they can relate, or see something funny in a photo that reminds them of something that they once experienced. Relevant things that do justice to the conscience of the person on the receiving end.

It means that the information that you have to share, if broadcasted accordingly, will provide value to the person taking it in, and that person becomes loyal to the you, the one doling it out...ifyouknowhatimtalkinbout.

Located in Fruita (just outside Grand Junction), Colorado Backcountry Biker offers spectacular, budget friendly mountain bike trips through remote alpine and southwest landscapes. Our self-guided, hut to hut bike trips are one-of-a-kind, adrenaline pumping backcountry adventures for any biker in good physical condition.