Social Media Rock Stars: Interview with Chris Hughes

First, tell me a little bit about yourself.
I’m a 22-year-old guy born and raised in upstate NY, living in Buffalo now and moving to Southern California in September. I’ve had the mind of an entrepreneur my whole life (selling candy out of my locker in elementary school and juggling for kids b-day parties for money as a teen). I’ve taken a real liking to social media and the opportunities to engage with like-minded individuals from all over the world to exchange ideas and have mastermind sessions that lead to huge breakthroughs both personally and in business. I’ve been passionate about learning more and more about how successful entrepreneurs are made, and am trying to help others go on the journey with me.
When did you first become interested in social media? And, what’s the first social media site you joined?
I first became interested in social media about 3 years ago when I was playing around with Facebook and connected with some of the people I had met when I was about 8-years-old, juggling for the USA Memoriad in Manhattan, and it was awesome to be able to connect with these people again.
The first site I joined was MySpace, but I never really used it because I wasn’t into the music scene that much. Since first connecting with the people on Facebook, I got into using it to meet mentors and people who I valued their information (authors, bloggers, other entrepreneurs). It was about that time that I realized I could develop great relationships with people who could help me get to where I ultimately want to be, and hopefully I can help others on their journey.
How do you manage all your social media accounts  (a.k.a. avoid social media overload)?
I use a variety of tools and find that I end up using Hootsuite to manage different accounts and keep track of conversations. I also use Ping.fm to broadcast messages to other networks that I don’t spend a lot of time on. Most of my social media time is spent on Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and LinkedIn. I find that sometimes I spend too much time on these networks and need to disconnect completely for a day.
Describe your biggest social media-related success story?
My biggest social media success story would have to be finding the guys at Social Media Altitude and developing a relationship with them and then taking their Weekend Summit Series of trainings. This really showed me how to use these networks to find clients. Since taking their course, I have been working with five different businesses and will be taking on more when I graduate. This was the point when I realized that I could successfully do this as a “job” and not just for meeting people.
Do you think social media is a lifestyle?
I consider my network to be like my family, and I try to share as much as I can with my networks so that they can really get to know me. By doing this, true relationships can be formed and if I have any types of problems (business or personal) I have a network of people who care about my success and are there to help me. Therefore, I guess it has become PART of my lifestyle but not the whole thing.
If you can give one piece of advice to someone who is just now beginning to incorporate social media, what would it be?
For someone just getting started, focus on creating relationships. Who cares about how many followers you have on Twitter or how many subscribers you have on Youtube, if you aren’t engaging in conversations with these people and helping one another? I’d much rather have 100 people who are truly passionate about my success than have 100,000 people who could care less about what happens to me. Focus on the relationships and being authentic and you will go far in social media. Be yourself, even if you’re a little out there. I’ve recorded videos of me with a blue wig on and cheering for Duke and some videos of me jumping around shooting nerf guns with my roommates. People want to know that you are a real person. Be professional, but be yourself. You’ll have more fun and create better relationships 🙂

Links:
Social Media Rock Stars: Interview with Rich DeMatteo
Social Media Rock Stars: Interview with Jenn Pedde
Social Media Rock Stars: Interview with Colby Gergen