Erica Derrickson quit her desk job only a year and a half ago, and already has a thriving photography business because of her implementation of social media marketing strategies. She speaks at local universities on social media, has been recently featured in Trade Secrets, and manages a Facebook group Hollywood East Actors Group which has over 8,000 members. Check out her acting reel, her film credits range from the National blockbuster The Heat (2013) which starred Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy to independent films like Melt (2012) and Rafi Baby (2011).
One day, Erica Derrickson tweeted her enthusiasm over Gary Vaynerchuk's latest best seller “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” suggesting it would be the perfect textbook if there were such a thing like a class on social media.
When theres a class on #socialmedia this will be the required textbook. Thx @garyvee Im lovin it so far #JJJRH pic.twitter.com/zZPRSYBALs
— Erica Derrickson (@ericaseye) March 27, 2014
Little did she know that not only are there classes on social media, but also classes such as mine that assign Gary's book as required reading. For more about how I see Gary's book in the grand scheme of things, please see the blog post on when Gary Vaynerchuk came to LA for a spectacular book event. Also, my student Cristiana Wilcoxon noticed the tweet and let Erica know about my class. Shortly thereafter, I invited Erica to join the class via Skype:
Welcome! RT @ericaseye: @NiklasMyhr I hear u use #JJJRH as your textbook. Damn I wish I could come to your class! cc @garyvee @chriswilcoxon — Niklas Myhr, Ph.D. (@NiklasMyhr) March 31, 2014
Erica was able to Skype into our class and give the students her personal perspective about the many success stories that her active online presence has brought her way. As an actress, Erica has been exercising much of Gary Vaynerchuk’s “Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook” ideas in reality. Erica’s “jabs” of insightful content relevant to other actors in the field has granted her many opportunities to send out some perfectly timed “right hooks”.
Awesome #socialmedia class, @NiklasMyhr interviewed @ericaseye via Skype! Brought together by #jjjrh @garyvee pic.twitter.com/9x2yDsqMqn
— Cristiana Wilcoxon (@CrisWilcoxon) April 3, 2014
Main points that Erica Derrickson brought up:
- The importance of having an abundance mentality vs. a scarcity mentality, viewing competitors as partners.
- Finding the appropriate medium to release your content (video blogs). Realizing that people want consistency.
- Cater to your niche audience, they will be the ones responding and engaging with you.
- Finding your social media voice: authentic, real, based on your personality. Erica admits she struggled with this at first, but eventually got the hang of it.
- Giving attracts people, expecting something back from them repels them. Be a “Go-Giver” rather than a “Go-Getter” citing Bob Burg's instant classic “The Go-Giver.”
- Content should be focused on others, their accomplishments, and bringing them value (not yourself and your products). Rather than promoting her photography business directly, Erica promotes the people in the headshots she produces.
