What I Learned in My First Week As a Brand Ambassador at beBee

My first week as Brand Ambassador for beBee is in the books. I've learned a lot in a short period as I've attempted to wrap my brain around this role for a social network that is growing at a rate of 25,000 users a day! With that kind of growth, an ambassador can be quite busy.  

I thought I'd stop by to write a quick update and share some of the insights I've learned a week into this incredible experience.  

As a startup, your brand will have its share of skeptics, and you can't change their minds in one weekend! beBee is just that, a startup in the social media space. Last weekend, I spent hours of my time trying to convince a handful of skeptics that beBee's affinity based networking would be a good fit for them. By the end of the weekend, it literally had sucked all the life out of me, and I had accomplished nothing. After spending hours of my time with them, they were still skeptical.

Here's what I learned from my wasted weekend that amounted to little more than hot air. If you're trying to build a brand, instead of putting in a huge effort to win over a few skeptics, do your due diligence and provide them with useful information, but then move on to others that show interest. Focus your efforts by delighting these people. Doing so will turn them into promoters of your brand.

If you really want to work somewhere and they're not sure about you yet, offer to start doing the work for free. Facebook and Twitter can likely get away with a some bad hires here and there. However, as I mentioned, beBee is a startup. If a startup has a bad hire, it has the potential to sink the ship. I needed to prove myself first.

While doing work and not getting paid for it is no fun. Think of it as an investment in your future. By working for free now, you will get paid in the later. Delivering the results your prospective employer is looking for removes the risk factor for them. Then they can no longer afford not to hire you. This is the approach I took with beBee!

Even if they reject your offer to work for free, it shows a level of commitment to their mission that most candidates are not willing to make. 

Being an ambassador means building relationships. To do that, we all know that value must be delivered. When users ask questions and make suggestions for improvement, it is important to recognize them and implement their ideas whenever possible. beBee uses this approach with their users, and it's refreshing to be a part of.  

beBee's CEO Javier Camara Rica is quite the ambassador himself. People love his proactive approach. When the CEO of an organization shows up on their customer's posts on social media they absolutely love it. So, if you join beBee, don't be surprised if you are greeted by Javier at some point. Users are refreshed to see a CEO of a social media company actually being social!

Working for beBee has taught me that anything is possible. While beBee's future remains uncertain, if you would have told me a year ago that a startup from Spain would create a social network with over 10 million global users and a presence in 200 countries in just a little over a year's time, I would have told you were nuts. 

Then, if you would have told me that I would be working for said company, well I would have told you to get your head examined. You see, being fluent in Spanish and having studied International Business in college, I tried for years to get a job with a company doing business in either Spain or Latin America. After literally thousands of rejection letters, beBee actually reached out to ME. This experience has taught me to keep the faith and never give up on my dreams no matter how many times they may have been shattered in the past!

As YOUR ambassador please don't hesitate to contact me directly with suggestions, questions, and feedback. I look forward to working with you and helping you achieve your professional networking goals on beBee!

About the Author: John White is a recovering 13-year veteran of the wireless industry, current owner and chief marketer at Social Marketing Solutions, Brand Ambassador for a new affinity-based social media network 

beBe and contributing writer to The Good Men Project, Dice Insights, and the Social Marketing Blog. When he is not blogging or Tweeting, John enjoys being a dad, playing tennis, and eating Mexican food. Call or text me: 970-692-3270.

Originally Published on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/what-i-learned-my-first-week-brand-ambassador-bebee-john-white-mba?trk=prof-post