With a history of working in IT departments and jobs where the majority of my colleagues are male walking into the Women in Business and Tech Expo was an exciting experience. I’ve been to a number of IT conferences in my time and at every one the majority of delegates (and speakers) have been men. That wasn’t the case at Karren Brady’s 4th Women In Business & Tech event.

IN my 20s I went to events from large sales conferences to invite only Gartner management events. I was rarely approached by people wanting to talk to me. Networking sessions? I had to make the first step. What would a young female have that these older men might possibly be interested in (of a work nature). I was dismissed quickly based on my appearance. 

Working in IT it’s not just the events which have an over representation of men. In most meetings at most companies I worked the meetings were male dominated. It wasn’t unusual for me to be the only woman in the room. 

A crowded keynote session listening to Karren Brady OBE

Do you want your content to be more successful? Whether your goal is to help people, grow your customer base or generate ad revenue there are definite rewards when posts get seen by lots of people. High engagement and steady growth underpin success, but a viral post can give you a huge boost. When a post goes viral it is pushed out far beyond your normal audience and it is seen by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people. The challenge is: how do you make a post go viral?  Lots of resources claim to have the formula for creating viral posts, but my approach might be a little different and it is achievable for everyone. Whether you want to be successful on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook the key elements of success are the same.

A viral post can bring a huge boost to your business, but how do you make viral posts that are beneficial?

I have no doubt you are great at what you do, you have a voice and view of the world that only you can bring to your business, but you could be better. We can all be better. We can learn to work smarter, be happier and achieve our goals more successfully and the way to do this is to keep on improving ourselves. While there are endless courses, mentors and programmes we can follow an easy way to make a difference is reading. Can you fit in 15 minutes a day of reading something educational? It quickly adds up and over a month it's the equivalent to a whole working day, but what books should you read? These are some of the books I have read that have really made me think differently about my approach to work and my business.

If you read for 15 minutes a day that adds up to a working days worth of learning a month

I’ve seen a few posts recently which claim that “Influencers” sell a perfect life and this makes “normal” people feel bad in comparison. I understand that the reason for these posts is reminding people that what is shared online isn’t the whole story and that often only the best bits are shared. It can be true, but it seems unfair to blame Influencers. 

Do Influencers make people feel bad by just posting highlights?