Provide proper value to the community. I know where I can add value and so my content covers those areas of business and life accordingly.
We often use the term “Influencers” to describe people with significant social media followings on platforms like Instagram, Twitter TikTok, Youtube, Linkedin and Facebook. Influencers have become today’s media titans, sought after for everything from product placements to timely trends. What’s the difference between influence and impact? Fans and followers? Sizzle versus staying power?
In this interview series, called, “How To Cultivate Community In A Click to Connect World” we are talking to influencers about how they define success and what we all need to discover about the true nature of influence. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Mark Waldron.
Mark Waldron is co-founder of MOVE, alongside his business partner Andrea Edwards. MOVE is a business and personal development company whose mission is to ‘Make Better Human Beings’. Mark has won multiple awards in business networking and relationship building.
Thank you for making time to visit with us! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. How did you discover your career path and what got you to where you are today?
No problem, thanks for having me. Over the years, I’ve had a diverse range of jobs but ended up starting a construction company which I built for 10 years. During this time, I found that many of the subcontractors that I employed needed help with their businesses, so I naturally offered some help, finding my passion in helping other businesses to achieve their goals.
What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned along the way that influences how you operate now?
I’ve made many mistakes in my career — mostly when trying things without help. The biggest lesson I’ve learned from this is that taking guidance from other people who had been there and done it themselves is immensely powerful — it helps you to grow
and minimise mistakes.
We’re all searching for some good news. How are you using your platform to make a positive social impact?
I try to post every day on my social media platforms to pass on my existing knowledge and the new knowledge I gain in business, mindset and personal development. I share my posts within the MOVE community and we all support one another’s social efforts too.
The business community built around MOVE has now become a super supportive space for business owners of all sizes to get all of the support they need to win.
Many of our readers are influencers as well. Others have tried and have yet to succeed. What words of advice would you offer to aspiring influencers, knowing what you know now?
Simply be yourself! Know what your mission is and create content that aligns with it. Above all, consistency is key. Remember to build a quality audience. It’s better to have 100 super fans that love your content than 1m that don’t care or engage.
Success is often a matter of perspective. I’ve always resonated with Henry David Thoreau’s quote, “It’s not what you look at that matters, it’s what you see.” How do you see success — or define success — for yourself now?
Success to me is knowing exactly what I want to achieve in all areas of my life, and then taking action daily to turn those visions into reality. I like Earl Nightingale’s definition of success which is that it is the “progressive realisation of a worthy ideal”.
What are your strategies to make room for who and what matters most?
I have a blueprint for how to prioritise my life so that I do everything I want, while not neglecting anything important to me. The first is to schedule time for me. If I’m not the best physical, mental and emotional human being I can be, I can’t be as effective in all of my roles in life. I lift weights, go for a daily walk, eat well and spend time visualising my future.
Next comes scheduling time with my family and friends. I ensure I spend the amount of time that keeps me satisfied and that I’m giving enough mindful time to the people most important to me.
Finally, the time that remains in the week is dedicated to my business, MOVE. I fulfil my obligations to our paying clients and our business community members. Then the rest of the time is business development, marketing and networking.
How do you reduce or mitigate stress?
I go to the gym virtually every day, I go on my daily walk every day, regardless of the weather and it’s a fast-paced walk. I set tight deadlines in my business to create urgency and push myself to get things done. Some people may think this latter piece is counterintuitive but for me, it is important to be in control of my own structure and deadlines — that way, it’s all my decision rather than it being forced upon me unwillingly.
I’m going to try a few of your tips, and I’m hopeful our readers will, too. Now it’s time for the big reveal — the moment our readers have been anticipating. What are your “five strategies to cultivate a large & engaged social media community?’
1. Provide proper value to the community. I know where I can add value and so my content covers those areas of business and life accordingly.
2. Show content from my personal life so that the audience and community can relate to me on a personal level.
3. Created video content on all of the platforms that I am active on. This helps when attending in-person events as many people in the business community tend to recognise me from my videos, even though they’ve never met me in person.
4. Post regularly and consistently. People start to expect to see posts from you and if you’re inconsistent, that can leave them feeling underwhelmed or confused as to what to expect from you. So pick the frequency of activity you can commit to and commit to that.
5. Ask great questions. Building an engaged community is about including them. The more you ask them their opinions, views and advice on particular topics or trends, the more you encourage them to comment and DM you. This gives them a voice and ensures they understand that they’re part of the community.
What do you do to create a greater sense of connection and community among your fans?
I tell people I’m an active person who goes to the gym and does daily walks; so my content is usually recorded while in those situations. My videos allow people to be in my world for a brief moment. I focus on being myself and I lead by example by walking the walk.
As an influencer, you are, by definition, a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.
Love that question. I’m proud to say that I already do it! It’s a weekly event called Netwalking. It’s networking and walking in one event.
The power of it is that it creates a true sense of community and also helps people to be the best human beings they can be. They get out in nature which is great for mental well-being, it’s early morning at 7 am on a Saturday and Sunday, no matter what the weather, so it creates mental resilience. People walk on an average of 10,000 steps, so it’s getting everyone fit and healthy, they get to connect with others to talk about anything they wish which leads to opportunities, new business, friendships and much more.
Mine and my business partner’s mission is to grow that event and eventually get MOVE Netwalking groups active across the UK and the rest of the world.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world with whom you’d like to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He, she or they might just see this. 🙂
It would 100% be Andy Frisella of 1st Phorm, who also has a top podcast called Real AF. He created a mental toughness programme called 75 Hard in 2019. I decided to give it a go and one of the daily tasks that had to be done was an outdoor workout. I decided I d make it a daily power walk. Documenting that on social media was what caused people to ask to start joining me and that turned into MOVE Netwalking! I stopped trading in my construction company to focus on MOVE Netwalking full time and that developed into the many services and products that MOVE now offers.
Without Andy and what I have learned over the last 5 years from listening to his business and personal excellence podcast, I wouldn’t be where I am now.
What is the best way for our readers to further follow your work online?
I’m very active on LinkedIn, Instagram and TikTok, they are all great places for people to connect. People can find out more about MOVE on our Instagram and LinkedIn accounts:
Thank you for these thought provoking insights. Here’s to your continued success!