Author: Tina Calder

Three-year-old Lucius Corry, who has Down’s syndrome, a hearing impairment and ventricular septal defect, is taking on his biggest challenge yet to raise vital funds for Mencap Northern Ireland to thank the charity for supporting him to take his first steps. 

Lucius will be taking on a 50-jump challenge as part of Mencap in Northern Ireland’s “Move It For Mencap” fundraising campaign, which will raise money to help the charity deliver its life-changing services to people with a learning disability in Northern Ireland.

Proud mum, Joanne Corry, gave birth to Lucius at 38 weeks by C-Section after developing gestational diabetes. Lucius was immediately taken away for blood tests and was diagnosed with Down’s syndrome. Further scans showed that Lucius has a hearing impairment as well as a ventricular septal defect, which will require him to have surgery at some stage.

At two-years-old Lucius started attending the Mencap Children’s Centre, which is run in partnership with the Belfast Trust, where he was supported to take his first steps last December. 

Although the coronavirus pandemic has meant that the Children’s Centre has not been able to deliver face-to-face support, Mencap quickly adapted its services to offer virtual support to families. Mencap wanted to make sure children with a learning disability continue in their development and that families can get the vital support they need during lockdown.

Lucius and Joanne are grateful for the ongoing virtual support they have received and continue to see Lucius develop despite lockdown. Lucius had been trying for weeks to jump and was really struggling, but during lockdown Lucius achieved his first jump. 

Now he loves jumping and the family have set Lucius a new challenge to do 50 jumps to fundraise for Mencap to thank the charity for its support.

Joanne Corry, mum to Lucius, says: “Lucius has thrived at Mencap’s Children’s Centre. He learned to walk in December, which was a major achievement for him. He couldn’t have done it without the support from Mencap. The staff at Mencap have been brilliant to us and are always there for support. We have got to meet so many other families who were in a similar situation and could relate to what we were going through, which really helped. The workshops and training courses were a great help to me and my family. 

“Even though this is a difficult time for everyone, we were delighted when Lucius hit another milestone a few weeks ago by learning to jump! He had been trying for weeks but his feet never left the ground, but he was so determined to do it. Then suddenly his feet lifted, and he was so excited. He loves jumping now. We decided we would like to help to raise as much as we can for Mencap so they can go on supporting other families like ours and to also say thank you to Mencap for everything that they have done for us so far.”

Margaret Kelly, Director of Mencap Northern Ireland, says: “I just want to say a huge thank you to Lucius and Joanne for fundraising for Mencap. It means to so much to us that our families so value our services that they are willing to fundraise on top of everything else they do. Our extraordinary teams are working extremely hard in challenging circumstances to help many children and adults with a learning disability and their families in need of support during this difficult time. Lucius’s jumping is a very special ‘Move it for Mencap’ challenge. It is really wonderful that Lucius and Joanne are helping us to transform the lives of other children with a learning disability and their families to help them build independent and fulfilling lives.”

The coronavirus crisis is affecting people nationwide, but it is society’s most vulnerable people, including people with a learning disability and their families and carers, who are most likely to be hit hardest. Mencap continues to provide the highest quality care and support to thousands of children and adults with a learning disability and their families and carers, while ensuring that the 42,000 people with a learning disability in Northern Ireland are supported through the charity’s helpline, online support services and programmes, and lobbying and influencing work. 

“Move It For Mencap” is asking you to move in whichever way suits you to raise money for Mencap in Northern Ireland and help support local people with a learning disability. Set yourself a challenge, be it walking, running, or even dancing, set up a fundraising link and get started. Find out more about getting started and other ways you can get involved too at:

https://northernireland.mencap.org.uk/support-us/fundraising-northern-ireland

Support Lucius’s “Move It For Mencap” fundraising challenge at: https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/joanne-corry1.

#MoveIt4Mencap

There may be no blues echoing around the pubs and venues for this year’s Belfast City Blues Festival owing to the Covid-19 crisis, but your fix of superb music will be delivered thanks to the virtual festival live from the Blues Bunker.

Saturday, June 27 sees 11 acts lined up to deliver from the Blues Bunker an entire eight hours of tunes.

From 2pm through to after 10.30pm the virtual fest sees local, national and international acts play for fans who need their music fix in these strange times.

Headliners are the Canadian Blues sensation The Johnny Max Band – an act guaranteed to get your toes tapping whether you are tuning in from your backyard or your bedroom.

The vast array of talent on display is a tribute to the pulling power of the Belfast City Blues Festival, as well as in the different climate of the pandemic.

“The wellbeing of our friends, fans, musicians and Blues family, alongside the amazing staff, volunteers, sponsors and festival team who support us every year out number one priority,” said festival director Seamus O’Neill.

“As we consider what we can do later in the year we’re pleased to host this special online show from the Blues Bunker.”

And, what a show it is. As well as The Johnny Max Band there will be The Lee Hedley Blues Band (live from Kelly’s Cellars), and Mirenda Rosenberg, who will be streaming all the way from the US.

Opening proceedings will be Sam Davidson’s Taste live from The American Bar, with sets following throughout the day.

Included are the Red Hot Roosters (live from Kelly’s Cellars), DD and The Delta Boys, Robin Bibi, Tony Villiers, Light, Christy Crow Black Chicken, and Dom Martin.

Seamus said that while they are considering a scaled back later in the year the June 27^th show will again demonstrate the commitment to the best of musical talent.

“From an idea 11 years ago the Belfast City Blues Festival grew to such an extent that by 2019 22,500 visitors flocked to venues,” he said. “The success of the festival is testimony to what we can achieve when we come together.

“Thank you to everyone who has been part of the festival to date and I promise that in 2021 we will be back, bigger and better than ever.”

With the likes of Mirenda Rosenberg delivering her African American roots take on the blues, The Johnny Max Band’s ‘Roadhouse Soul, the exciting talent of Robin Bibi as well as the local stars the Belfast City Blues Bunker will be your essential online musical destination on Saturday

The Belfast City Blues Festival 2020 is un-funded and operating without sponsors, your support has been vital to our survival, thank you for your donations.

For more information, to register for tickets or make a donation go to https://bit.ly/2Bc8G2Z

Full Lineup

BELFAST CITY BLUES FESTIVAL

‘Live From The Bunker ‘

2pm – 2.55pm – Sam Davidson’s Taste

3.05.pm – 3.35pm – Mirenda Rosenberg (USA)

3.45pm- 4.15pm – DD & The Delta Boys

4.25pm – 5pm – Dom Martin

5.10pm – 5.40pm – Christy O’Hanlon from Crow Black Chicken

5.50pm- 6.40pm – The Red Hot Roosters

6.50 – 7.20pm – Tony Villiers

7.30pm – 8pm – Light

8.10pm- 8.40pm – Robin Bibi (London)

8.50pm – 9.40pm – Lee Hedley Band

9.50pm – 10.20pm – The Johnny Max Band (Toronto)

Last weekend Derry YouTube star Adam Beales gave out over £20k worth of gifts to people he believed needed help.

But three young people really stood out to him because they aspire to having YouTube success just like the 20-year-old who is better known as Adam B online.

Adam had asked for nominations for children and young people who needed a lift, and distributed tech gifts, and even a car, to many deserving families, including those who want to follow in his footsteps.

For 12-year-old Shayne O’Carolan Adam’s visit came after being nominated for his hospital fundraising efforts, following on from spending the first four year of his life in the Royal Hospital for Sick Children in Birmingham.

But it wasn’t just his inspirational story that captured Adam’s heart, the fact the youngster had his own YouTube channel made Adam want to help him even more.

Mum Shauna explained how much Adam’s visit and gifts meant to him.

“Shayne’s whole life is based around YouTube,’ she said. “He has his own YouTube channel and spends hours every day making videos.”

Shayne’s video making will be a lot easier now thanks to the camera and Macbook for editing that were presented to him by Adam, during a visit to his house.

“I wasn’t expecting any presents,’ Shauna explained. “The visit was phenomenal enough. We couldn’t get Shayne to go to bed that night because he said that he didn’t want the day to end. Since then he has been talking about Adam nonstop. We can’t believe the effect that Adam has had on him.”

Adam’s gift-giving initiative is the latest that the YouTube star has undertaken, having previously donated more than £1k to those in need. This time it saw him delivering the gifts in a special ice cream van.

“I set up an email account asking people to send emails in, nominating people who they thought deserved a gift,” he explained. “I received thousands!

“My whole family and myself sat reading through all the emails over a series of nights. Some people got lots of nominations who, most obviously, deserved a gift. Others I chose because they stuck out to me personally.”

One of those that struck a chord was that of nine-year-old Lucas Noah Broderick. When he started uploading videos to his YouTube channel, negative messages upset and hurt him.

But now Lucas Noah is having the last laugh.

Adam turned up at Lucas Noah’s house and gave the young man words of encouragement – telling him to go on uploading videos and ignore the trolls’ messages.

To help him on his way, Adam presented Lucas Noah with a brand new camera, a drone and a tripod to make better videos.

“I wasn’t expecting the gifts”, said mum Caroline. “Adam’s visit was more than enough, but this just made Lucas Noah’s day. I’m so glad that I responded to Adam’s Facebook post. He doesn’t know the impact he has had on our wee boy’s life.

Lucas Noah was inspired by Adam to create his own YouTube channel in February this year, he has about 1.5k followers and the videos are mainly of him and his dad having fun – although usually his dad getting the brunt end of anything. 

“Lucas Noah wants to make videos because of Adam. When I applied, I told Adam that Lucas Noah was getting very negative messages in response to his videos. People were posting messages such as ‘go and kill yourself’ and then they would follow up with other negative messages.

“Adam’s team asked if Lucas Noah needed any presents. I said no. 

“When he saw AB he was in total shock but couldn’t stop smiling. 

“Lucas Noah was absolutely over the moon. Adan had a few quiet words with Lucas Noah about his videos. Told him not to let anyone stop him from making them. Then he gave him a brand new camera, a drone and a tripod to make better videos. I wasn’t expecting this. The visit by Adam was more than enough, but this just made Lucas Noah’s day.”

For Adam, inspiration to give the gifts came from another YouTube star, David Dobrik.

“I’m a massive fan and anyone who watches David would know that he likes to surprise people,” he explained “And I think during this climate, with bad news after bad news, people locally need someone like David. So, I too am going to do my best to try to make people smile.”

As well as having 2.7m YouTube subscribers Adam has more than 500,000 followers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with his witty pranks and sketches, but he is committed to continuing charity work and supporting others. In addition to his cash and gift giveaways he recently bought his parents a four-bedroom dream home.

However, choosing those that were to receive the gifts for this video has involved his entire family, from picking the successful nominees through to joining Adam on the ice cream van.

“It’s amazing to be in the position where I can make people smile, take their mind off things, or potentially make a difference in their lives,” he said. “The stories really touched me. The same stories that also touched my mum whilst we were reading through the emails. It is the most I’ve ever seen my mum cry in one week.”

Among other recipients was 14-year-old superfan Lucie McElwee who received a Macbook, iPad and iPhone. The 14-year-old also had a box of chocolates as a bonus.

Lucie’s mum Sue McElwee said: “I saw the post on Facebook and sent an email. Lucie is such a superfan and knows Adam B very well. She has been a fan from the very start. I knew that if she didn’t get the surprise she would be crushed and so I kept it all very hush hush.

“On the day, Adam came quite late and so I had to find an excuse to keep her in the house. 

“It was about half four or five before Adam arrived. Her dad said to her that someone was coming up the road and when she saw the ice cream van she had to take a double take. She had no shoes on and when the ice cream truck pulled up outside, she ran out panicking with no shoes on, screaming ‘I can’t believe it’.”

For Adam the real thank yous go to each and every fan like Lucie who has helped him get to where he is today.

He said: “I want to thank everyone who has supported me, watched the videos, shared, liked, commented and subscribed. You have given back to the local community. And for that, I just want to say thank you.”

His final message is one for everyone: “You don’t have to spend money to be kind. This video was a special one because I was able to give back,” he said. “But you don’t need to go to those lengths to be a nice person. Be the reason why someone smiles today. You won’t regret it.”

Check out Adam’s videos on his YouTube channel Adam B.

Derry YouTube sensation Adam Beales has handed out more than £20k worth of gifts to children and their families following an online appeal for nominations of those deserving a treat in these difficult times.

Known as Adam B to his 2.7m YouTube followers, the 20-year-old fulfilled a lifetime dream of being an ice cream man, but instead of serving up sweet treats he was delivering life changing gifts, including a car to a family that lost a loved one in April.

From laptops through to phones, tablets, cameras, toys and drones Adam delivered the presents after choosing from a list he and his family looked through, all to be revealed when he releases the video at 6pm on Wednesday, June 24.

“I set up an email account asking people to send emails in, nominating people who they thought deserved a gift,” he explained. “I received thousands!

“My whole family and myself sat reading through all the emails over a series of nights. Some people got lots of nominations who, most obviously, deserved a gift. Others I chose because they stuck out to me personally.”

Of those chosen they range from people who have recently recovered from a serious illness, raised funds for charities, young people starting their own business, to those who have been bereaved.

One massive surprise was for Bronagh Burke. She lost her husband and father to three-year-old twins Thomas in April. Adam surprised the twins with a mountain of toys, and left Bronagh speechless when he handed her the keys to a brand-new car.

“To lose a father is the most heart wrenching thing to read about,” he said. “The incredible young twins tried to help Bronagh by running out to the street to call for an ambulance and remaining calm as Bronagh performed CPR.

“Adam and Aoife will be marking their fourth birthdays on June 28^th and Bronagh wanted to make the day special even without their dad.

I was in the fortunate position to gift Adam and Aoife with lots of toys from our local Smyths Toy Superstore – and able to gift Bronagh a new car.”

Adam delivered the car, not knowing that the family car had to be returned just two weeks previously.

“I was so overwhelmed, completely blown away and then he arrived with the car,” said Bronagh. “It was just amazing.”

The choice of making the delivery via an ice cream van was something Adam had long cherished.

“I always wanted to be an ice cream man when I was younger,” he explained. 

“I used to look at them in the street and think to myself, ‘Someday I want to be an ice cream man and eat all the ice cream in the world’.

“I may not be eating ice cream in this video, but I’ll be in the truck, going around locally, playing the classic ice cream tune and giving people MacBooks, iPhones and cash.”

Among the recipients is a remarkable young man, Shayne O’Carolan, who spent the first four years of his life in hospital.

The 12-year-old has a number of special needs, but that hasn’t stopped him from fundraising, including raising £2k to provide two parents’ beds in the children’s wards at Altnagelvin Hospital.

Shayne is a fan of Adam’s YouTube channel, and makes his own videos too. The family thought Adam was just visiting to give some support and meet Shayne.

“Shayne was speechless when he saw Adam,” explained mum Shauna. “He was so excited and then AB said to him, ‘I hear you’re a very big YouTuber. I’ve got you a camera, but you will need to edit your videos’. He then handed him a Macbook as well.”

Since then Shayne’s YouTube views have risen and his mother said the family can’t believe the positive effect his visit has had.

For Adam inspiration to do this video came from another YouTube star, David Dobrik.

“I’m a massive fan and anyone who watches David would know that he likes to surprise people,” he explained, adding: “And I think during this climate, with bad news after bad news, people locally need someone like David. So, I too am going to do my best to try to make people smile.”

For a number of years Adam has been garnering more and more YouTube subscribers, as well as more than 500,000 followers on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok with his witty pranks and sketches, but he is committed to continuing charity work and supporting others. Before this recent video has randomly handed out £1k to people who contacted him on Twitter and bought his parents a four-bedroom dream home.

However, choosing those that were to receive the gifts for this video has involved his entire family, from picking the successful nominees through to joining Adam on the ice cream van.
“It’s amazing to be in the position where I can make people smile, take their mind off things, or potentially make a difference in their lives,” he said. “The stories really touched me. The same stories that also touched my mum whilst we were reading through the emails. It is the most I’ve ever seen my mum cry in one week.”

Included in the recipients of Adam’s gifts is nine-year-old Lucas Noah, who had been receiving nasty online comments about his own YouTube channel. Adam delivered a new camera and drone to help him improve his videos.

And, 18-year-old singer Clionagh Stewart, whose laptop was no longer working. Adam popped up with a new Macbook to help her get back to recording songs.

With his ice cream deliveries he also gave one of his long-time fans, Lucie McElwee, a Macbook, iPad and iPhone. The 14-year-old also had a box of chocolates as a bonus.

In addition to the many gifts Adam has dropped off hampers to staff at Altnagelvin Hospital to thank what he describes as “our local superheroes”.

But the YouTube star wanted to thank those that have helped him be able to support others.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported me, watched the videos, shared, liked, commented, and subscribed. You have given back to the local community. And for that, I just want to say thank you.”

His final message is one for everyone: “You don’t have to spend money to be kind. This video was a special one because I was able to give back,” he said. “But you don’t need to go to those lengths to be a nice person. Be the reason why someone smiles today. You won’t regret it.”Check out Adam’s videos on his YouTube channel Adam B.

In recent years, the popularity of LinkedIn has grown exponentially. What once started as a digital CV website has now grown into one of the most popular professional networking platforms in the world.

With over 562 million users from over 200 countries and growing at a rate of two new users per second, the social network for businesses represents a significant opportunity for small businesses to make connections, engage in conversations, and grow their business through increased conversions.

Niamh Taylor is an award-winning Digital Marketing Consultant, and founder of digital marketing agency, Digital Twenty Four. Having developed and delivered a range of digital transformation programmes for a wide range of businesses, including local councils, Niamh is highly experienced and well-versed in the use of LinkedIn for business growth.

Niamh delivered her training at a Lunchtime Learning session facilitated by the Cathedral Quarter BID (Business Improvement District).

Here are Niamh’s key takeaways:

1. Custom Privacy and Functionality Settings

When it comes to using their LinkedIn profile Niamh said a lot of people just work off the settings that are automatically assigned by the platform.

She added: “There are small adjustments and tweaks that you can make to improve your LinkedIn experience. Most of these can be found in the settings of your LinkedIn page, so go in there and see what you can change to make your LinkedIn experience more relevant and beneficial to you.”

Niamh’s key points around privacy and functionality were:

• LinkedIn assigns a unique identification number to each user profile. However, you can edit this to include your name in your profile URL, which is important for search engine optimisation. 
• You can edit which sections of your profile are visible to the public (all LinkedIn users), or just to your own connections. Turn off sections that are not relevant to you, for example languages if you only speak one, and recommendations if you have not received any from fellow LinkedIn users. 
• Within your account settings you can choose to turn off the automatic play of videos in your newsfeed. This is purely a personal preference but can improve your experience of using LinkedIn if you find automatic play to be annoying or distracting. 
• Settings also allow you to disable features such as posting/notifying users when you make changes to your profile. If you are reviewing and editing your profile, you may want to disable this feature, so all your contacts are not notified about each individual change you make. 

2. Optimising Your Profile

In order to optimise your profile Niamh pointed out some straightforward steps you can take to make sure your profile is as complete and professional looking as possible. 

“Some of these steps may seem like a minor detail, but they can make all the difference when someone is debating reaching out and doing business with you” said Niamh.

Her key points around optimising your profile are:

• You may not need or want to do this, but you can update your name to include more than just your name. For example, you can include a very short description of what you specialise in, or any accreditations you have with industry bodies. For example, Niamh’s name on LinkedIn includes Digital Marketing Consultant, FCIM (Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing). 
• Update your headline to something that is useful for others to know about you or your business. 
• Make sure all relevant sections of your profile are completed and consider turning off or hiding sections that are not relevant. 
• Use a professional head shot or image for your profile photo. Profiles with a good quality picture, as opposed to a logo or something that is difficult to make out, get more engagement. If you have lots of employees on LinkedIn, consider getting head shots for all the team or using the same background for the photos. This will increase brand awareness and present a professional image for the business.
• Update the education section to include any training courses that you complete. 
• Reach out to your connections to ask for recommendations on the platform. 
• When building your network and sending out connection requests, include a personal message where you can. 
• Feature any professional bodies that you are a member of and add in some interests in the relevant section – including interests is a quick way for others to get to know more about you.

Niamh added: “LinkedIn carried out research to identify the key attributes employers look for on the platform. To really make your profile stand out, refer to these or find ways to illustrate that you have these skills – adaptability, positivity, resilience, proactivity and confidence.”

3. Contagious Content

Whether you are sharing a post, writing an article, or engaging in a conversation on LinkedIn, Niamh said users should aim to provide advice on a common problem, be amusing, inspirational or provide interesting information. 

“The aim with LinkedIn is to engage and be engaging. Good quality imagery is a must, as well as catchy titles to draw attention” she added.

Niamh also pointed out that generally, the best times to post content are between 7am and 9am, 12pm and 2pm or after 4pm, all on weekdays. The platform gets less traffic at the weekend. 

An important note to the audience from Niamh was that company pages have not taken off yet on LinkedIn, with the platform announcing regular changes to try and increase the use and visibility on these pages. Where you do have a company page, encourage all employees to share any content you put on it to increase engagement. 

Check out Niamh’s full Lunchtime Learning on the Cathedral Quarter website: https://www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com/whats-on/lunchtime-learning-linkedin-for-business/

To see more Lunchtime Learning sessions go to: https://www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com/lunchtime-learning 

Earlier this year the Belfast City Blues Festival 2020 was cancelled as a live event due to the Covid 19 pandemic.

However, organisers have worked hard over the last month to find a way of bringing the music to the fans.

Festival director Seamus O’Neill said: “I haven’t let our music fans down yet with the festival and I’m not about to start.”

This year although fans won’t be able to attend the live gigs they will still get their dose of music as a special online show on Saturday, June 27 from 2pm-10pm.

Seamus O’Neill said that the decision in April  to postpone the 11^th outing for the best of local, national and international musical talent had not been taken lightly.

“The wellbeing of our friends, fans, musicians and Blues family, alongside the amazing staff, volunteers, sponsors and festival team who support us every year was always our number one priority,” he said.

“As we consider what we can do later in the year or next year we’re pleased to host this special online show live from the Blues Bunker.”

Artists confirmed so far are Lee Hedley, Sam Davidson’s Taste, Mirenda Rosenberg, who will stream from the US, The Johnny Max Band, streaming from Canada, The Red Hot Roosters, Dom Martin, Tony Villars and more to be announced.

Lee Hedley said it was important that the Belfast City Blues Festival annual celebration is acknowledged.

“Each year the festival has grown and become such a vibrant part of the city’s musical calendar,” he said. “I’m delighted that we all can play, albeit online, for fans and hopefully raise some money to make sure the festival comes back bigger and better than ever.”

Seamus said that while they are considering a scaled back festival later in the year the June 27 show will again demonstrate the commitment to the best of musical talent.

“From an idea 11 years ago the Belfast City Blues Festival grew to such an extent that by 2019 22,500 visitors flocked to venues,” he said. “The success of the festival is testimony to what we can achieve when we come together.

“Thank you to everyone who has been part of the festival to date and I promise that in 2021 we will be back, bigger and better than ever.”

The online show Live From The Bunker kicks off at 2pm on June 27 and will run for eight hours until 10pm.

For more information and to book your ticket go to https://bit.ly/3hqJ3eY

Across the country businesses are being given the green light to re-open following a lengthy period of closure.

Whilst there may be a range of practical considerations they need to be thinking about it’s vital business owners aren’t forgetting the importance of creating engaging and relevant content on social media.

That’s the message from content specialist and publicist Tina Calder of Excalibur Press who will be presenting her free webinar Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content tomorrow (Wednesday June 17) at 3pm.

She said: “For many businesses, especially those who are targeting business people or are working in a b2b setting, they should not underestimate the power of showing your customers that you’re back, you’re stronger than ever and able to give them content that they can and will engage with.

“When a crisis happens in a business more often than not things such as social media, digital marketing and communications tend to be pushed to the side in favour of what is considered an immediate need. 

“The problem with that is by the time you do put focus into these things it’s often too late.

“Creating strong, engaging, organic content now can help to support your brand to return to the market and back up your marketing and sales strategy for your comeback.”

Tina’s 90-minute webinar Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content will help attendees unlock some of the secrets of the popular b2b social platform and is packed full of top tips, tricks, tools and techniques to help you go it alone and do it yourself.

Tina added: “This webinar will go over some of the basics of optimising your profile, however, what we will focus on more is the content, what should you share, how do you share, where do you find it and how can you use it to maximise your opportunities, get sales leads and raise the profile of yourself, your brand and/or your business.”

Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content is part of a series of free webinars each week by Tina and Excalibur Press helping businesses look at a variety of elements of their digital transformation during the Covid-19 crisis.

One element of this webinar is Tina’s 79 types of content you can share on the platform.

To give you a taste of these, here are just 9:

1.  How to

‘How to’ content offers your audience massive value and often performs well because you’re helping the audience to solve a problem that they (might) have. 

At the same time, publishing this type of content benefits you because you’re giving them an example of your expertise in your field. You can create a how-to video or set out the instructions step by step in text. 

Either way, they’ll thank you for it by consuming more of your content in the future.

2.  Case studies

Case studies are a big opportunity to demonstrate the value of your product or service, often by telling a real-life story of how your business has helped a customer or client of yours with a business problem.

In essence, case studies are a sales tool. The person reading the case study should be able to picture themselves using your product or service by the end they finish reading it.

The more interesting the angle or more challenging the client’s problem, the better for your case study and you’ll relate how your business was able to solve the problem for them. You should be portraying yourself as a supportive element and, ideally, you should back up the key points of your case study with data to convey the value of your product or service.

3.  Behind the scenes

Maybe you’ve heard it a million times before now, but it’s really true: people buy from other people. They like to know who they’re buying from and the behind-the-scenes content gives you a chance to really connect with your audience and humanise your brand.

Behind-the-scenes content is transparent, not excessively polished and, like a case study, is about the process. Your audience gets to see what’s going on behind the brand and the content helps them to understand your business better. It builds trust in your business and your expertise starts to shine through naturally.

4.  Opinion

An opinion piece gets people talking and can even become news in itself, but be careful not to become notorious. If your opinion pieces leave a nasty taste in your audience’s mouths regularly, they could harm your brand reputation. 

Ideally, the pieces should be balanced and base themselves on an objective analysis of the facts and evidence, not necessarily be providing the evidence itself. Note that just because a piece should be balanced, that doesn’t mean it can’t be hard-hitting if it’s appropriate to be so.

The purpose of an opinion piece is to help the reader form their own opinion and should enlighten them or empower them. All throughout, the piece should be entertaining enough for them to read right until the end and make them want to read more pieces by you. Be careful not to impose your own views heavily on them. You’ll lose your audience otherwise.

5.  Interviews

Unique content is crucial in content marketing and interviews are a terrific way to create this. They’re also an easy way to generate content. The person you’re interviewing will create lots of valuable material you can use for your content. You can then create a text article, video or podcast of the interview. Experiment with different media to find the one that suits you.

Interviews give you the chance to reach out to influencers in the industry, who can offer some excellent insight. 

Don’t worry about being on a ‘lower’ level than they are: the interview will give the influencer free publicity, so many will be happy to do it and if people see you interviewing several major influencers, they’ll start to perceive you as having slightly higher authority. They start to associate your business with the major influencers and you’ll become an influencer in your own right.

6.  Throwbacks

Everyone loves a blast from the past, which makes ‘throwback’ content a powerful content marketing tool. It’s nostalgic and allows you to create an emotional connection with their audience. It’s also a lot of fun and you can really engage your audience.

One way you can create throwback content is to dig into your business’s archives and share a video, picture or social post from your early days in the business. It could be from when you were just starting out and still trying to figure everything out as a business owner. You can compare yourself to now and discuss how far the business has come since then.

7.  “Meet the team” posts

Introducing your audience to your team is a part of your brand storytelling. It’s a powerful way to show your audience the people behind the brand, who are just as important as the company itself, and adds a personal touch to your content. Choose videos or text posts with an image, but either way, let people see your team.

Publishing “Meet the Team” content will also build trust with your audience. This is because you’re no longer “faceless”. When your audience sees names and faces, you become a “real” company to them all of a sudden. In an age where people are concerned about online scams, your “Meet the team” content will build your credibility.

8.  FAQs

The chances are you’ll hear some of the same questions a lot in your industry, which gifts you with a great opportunity to create truly valuable content for your audience in the form of FAQs. Make a note of the questions you hear most often — or even just all of the questions you hear — and create a separate LinkedIn post for each one and answer the question.

You can teach your audience and help them to learn about your industry. You can teach them about your products and services and how to use them successfully. You can discuss how you’ve helped other businesses. Answering people’s questions with your content will build trust and increase your credibility with your audience.

9.  Long form articles

Did you think that people want really short content on LinkedIn?

You’ll be surprised. The Content Marketing Institute has reported posts with 1 000 to 3 000 words get more shares, even though shorter content dominates LinkedIn. Posts can be text heavy and have simple elements such as bullet-pointed lists. You don’t have to pack them with images and charts etc.

The CMI suggested three main reasons for the higher numbers of shares that longer posts enjoy:

• LinkedIn is a refuge from the pressure to add images and videos to prose.
• People base their sharing activity on how important they perceive the author of the content to be. An impressive job title can capture as much attention as visual elements.
• The structure as a network for professionals, which creates minimum expectations for entertaining content.

LinkedIn has evolved immensely in the last few years and is an essential tool for marketing your business. The platform offers lots of scope to create amazing content and, just like on other platforms, audiences will reward good content. They’re receptive to lots of different types, which means there are plenty of opportunities to produce excellent content and really build a positive brand image.

Register for Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content at https://bit.ly/3huRS7z 

Tomorrow (Thursday June 18) Tina will also be delivering her popular Blogging For Business webinar at 3pm.

For details of forthcoming free webinars go to https://excaliburpress.co.uk/events

A free webinar will tomorrow (Thursday, June 11) uncover the hidden potential of becoming an eBook author in boosting marketing strategies and drive business success.

Entitled Guide To Creating An eBook For Your Business this is the latest in a series of free webinars from Excalibur Press delivered by Tina Calder.

The 90-minute session will reveal the world of business eBooks, and will include tips and tricks to make your book key in driving forward campaigns and sales.

Tina explained: “When it comes to promoting your business or establishing you or your company as a thought leader in your area writing an eBook is one of the most effective ways of getting your message to your audience whilst establishing authority in your area.”

Beginning at 3pm on Thursday, there are still places available to reserve now for this unique slide/video based session as Tina shows how to make your eBook work for you.

“For many, the thought of writing a ‘book’ is daunting and often people believe it takes weeks and months to put something together,” she said. “I want to demystify some of the myths surrounding becoming an author whilst showing people some practical tips and planning structures that will help shape your eBook in record time helping you break down some of the barriers stopping you from releasing.

In this session attendees will find out how creating an eBook for their business, brand or service can help increase customer lead generation as well as sales conversions. It will look at how to plan, create and write an eBook quickly and effectively with minimal hassle.

“Using my experience as an author, journalist, corporate copywriter and ghost writer I’m going Show attendees of this webinar exactly what they need to work on to be able to release a quality eBook quickly,” Tina said.

The webinar will include explanations of exactly what an eBook is, where it fits in to marketing strategies, how to create a writing plan, how to fast forward writing, types of eBooks, what to consider before writing and planning your eBook, ways to publish it, and how to use your eBook to create leads and drive sales.

Throughout the session Tina aims to simplify the eBook creation process and give attendees real and practical tips and advice on how you can begin working on their digital content today.

A Guide To Creating An Ebook For Your Business is part of a series of weekly webinars delivered by Tina and the team at Excalibur Press. Next week will see attendees joining webinars on Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content on Wednesday June 17 and Blogging For Business on Thursday June 18. 

Register for A Guide To Creating An Ebook For Your Business at https://bit.ly/2AT7Bws

For details of forthcoming free webinars go to https://excaliburpress.co.uk/events

How to achieve success in press and publicity activity will be unveiled in a free webinar tomorrow (Wednesday, June 10).

The latest in a series of free webinars from Excalibur Press, delivered by Tina Calder, the world of PR will be mapped out and pathways marked to achieve campaign goals.

The 90-minute video and slide session How To Win at Press and Publicity will help attendees learn how to increase their profile within their own industry and beyond.

“In this latest free webinar I will discuss what the press want and how to engage with them,” Tina explained. “It will include top tips, secrets and tools you need and how to leverage social media from the activities to save you time and money.”

Starting at 3pm on Wednesday the webinar is designed for those not in the communications industry, but is also open to those in PR, comms, marketing, content and associated industries.

“As founder or Excalibur Press I will bring my 20 years of experience in press, publicity, content creation and copywriting in Northern Ireland together with advice and insight into the local industry,” said Tina.

The free webinar will uncover how to increase your profile, what the press really want, leveraging social media, how to engage with journalists and broadcasters, creation tools to revolutionise activity as well as secrets that will save time and money.

“We’ve set aside an hour and a half for this overview webinar which will help you start thinking about what you need to do to begin connecting with the right people, we’ll also look at some of the ways you maybe haven’t thought of to get the message out there,” Tina said.

Throughout the session Tina aims to simplify the process, as well as an opportunity for questions and answers to give attendees real and practical tips and advice.

How To Win At Press & Publicity is part of a series of weekly webinars delivered by Tina and the team at Excalibur Press. On Thursday this week she will present A Guide To Creating An Ebook For Your Business whilst next week will see attendees joining webinars on Supercharge Your LinkedIn With Great Content on Wednesday June 17 and Blogging For Business on Thursday June 18. 

Register for How To Win At Press & Publicity at https://bit.ly/305zJqz

For details of forthcoming free webinars go to https://excaliburpress.co.uk/events

Create an Instagram account, they said. It’s the answer to all your marketing problems.

It sounds easier said than done, and it is.

Mark Ashbridge is Co-Founder of one of Belfast’s best-known coffee shops, Established Coffee (ESTD). In 2020, the business celebrated six years in business, as well as achieving over 25,000 followers on Instagram through organic growth – no ad spend required. 

But Mark didn’t build his audience over night, he and his team have worked hard to grow their following.

Mark shared his story of the company’s Instagram journey at a Lunchtime Learning session facilitated by the Cathedral Quarter BID (Business Improvement District). His talk was packed full of useful insights. 

Here are some key points from his session that could be applied to your business: 

1. You don’t need a qualification

Mark explained that you don’t have to have a marketing qualification to grow your social media following. A good eye for photography, a bit of creative flair, being organised and developing a schedule for posting, and reading up on some tips and ideas all help. 

“No one in our business has any formal qualifications in marketing, but there are skill sets within the team that lend themselves to social media. As a small business, all hands are on deck, so to grow your online presence you could make use of others’ skill sets” he explained. 

2. Don’t try to spread yourself too thin

In order to really do your digital marketing justice Mark believes you need to pick one channel, or a couple, of social media platforms that suit your product and service offering rather than spreading yourself too thin across too many platforms. 

He said: “We don’t post content without an associated image. While we have Facebook and Twitter, most of our followers are on Instagram. We’ve been in business for six years and in that time the popularity of Instagram just shot up, so that could partly explain it. Also, because we’re so image heavy on social media, Instagram works well for us. We do use Facebook events but we probably underutilise Twitter.”

3. Consistency is key

Mark explained that being consistent with image quality, aspect ratio, schedule, tone of voice is important to capture your audience.

He added: “Multiple people contribute to our social media platforms, so it’s important to us that we maintain the tone of voice. We’re usually quite direct, no frills. This can come across as a little cold, but we think our imagery conveys personality. If we wanted to do things a little differently, it might be nice to inject some personality into the post, but the way we do it allows for consistency. The purpose of our social media is to get people into the café. Once they’re there, they’ll get the full experience.

“All of the images on our main feed have a similar look and feel. The consistency in our imagery, our lighting, the slight filter that we use – for us, it’s important to create a cohesive look. When customers take their own pictures and tag us in them, we share those to our stories. This helps us to maintain consistency on the main feed, but also lets followers see another point of view and acknowledges for the customer that we have seen their post and appreciate it.

“New dishes are posted on a Friday on our main feed as a finished dish with a full-length description of the ingredients, but our kitchen put a lot of work into new dishes and some of them could have up to eight elements. They thought it would be a good idea to showcase the ingredients and the work that goes into it, so we “build the dish” through Instagram stories to show the dish being plated up. This also acts as a look behind the scenes.

“Our menu is also saved as a story highlight. It is quite small, but we have a title page before it that instructs people to screenshot the menu so they can pinch and zoom. We’ve found simple things like this save us a lot of time in answering the same questions that people would usually have messaged us with, whereas now all of the information is there.” 

4. Be Deliberate – find your voice

Part of Mark and the team’s strategy is to be authentic and engaging with their content but he says there’s “no ‘right way’ to do Instagram”.

Mark added: “It’s whatever works best for you and your customers. Unlike our approach, @hollybellycafe in France offer a real behind the scenes look at running a café, with the owners sharing a lot about their own lives. @3fcoffee in Dublin shares a wide variety of content and their main feed is quite eclectic in style. Multiple personalities are showcased to represent the different aspects of the business. @siopshop are based in Manchester and they have a unique and deadpan sense of humour that comes across on their Instagram. Not for everyone, but I find it hilarious.”

5. Be Genuine – tell your story

Mark wanted to ensure that what they showed people on their Instagram feed would meet their expectations when they come into the cafe.

He said: “For us, it’s important to match peoples’ expectations. When people see our Instagram and then visit the café, we want their expectations to be met. Be careful of overusing filters or Photoshop to showcase a product in a way that won’t match expectations. With Instagram, you eat with your eyes. Although we’re a coffee shop, we showcase the food. There are only so many ways you can be creative with a cup of coffee.

“When Game of Thrones was being filmed here, Kit Harington came in and he did a post we have called ‘All Of Us’ where we showcase different people like customers and suppliers. That generated a lot of attention.

“We don’t follow any ‘rules’ for the algorithm. We don’t want to be a slave to it, we just do what works for us. We want to use Instagram as a tool to help our business. Some customers will come in and show us a picture we’ve put on Instagram and just say ‘can I have that please?’ 

“Over the last six years our Instagram following has grown and over the last six years our business has grown. It’s hard to quantify what Instagram has done for our business, but we do know that it has contributed to our growth and marketing on Instagram for us, works.”

Check out Mark’s full Lunchtime Learning on the Cathedral Quarter website: https://www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com/whats-on/lunchtime-learning-growing-your-instagram-without-spending-a-fortune

To see more Lunchtime Learning sessions go to: https://www.cathedralquarterbelfast.com/lunchtime-learning