May King Tsang, FOMO Creator
May King Tsang is the original FOMO Creator, helping conferences to create buzz and excitement through the power of live social media content and interviews. As an earlyish adopter of Social Media for her first business MayKing Tea, May King used the power of live tweeting to draw customers into the collaborative tea experiences she ran in London and Australia.
She has also collaborated with Global and Australian artists and award-winning chefs.
As one of the top 50 recommended speakers of Tea in the world, she contributed and was featured in three publications about Food and tea: three in Australia and one in the UK. She also contributed to a book about Twitter.
May King returned to the UK in 2016 to deliver Social Media strategy to businesses and became an international speaker for in-person and online conferences. As more businesses enquired about her live tweeting prowess, she started live tweeting for clients full-time, expanding into Instagram Stories and Live LinkedIn Blog posts in 2017.
May King Tsang is UK's #1 and the original FOMO Creator. Hired by conferences worldwide, she bridges the gap between Social Media + PR by creating buzz, excitement and FOMO. FOMO Marketing has various goals, including selling out conferences, raising the profile of speakers and sponsors and booking attendees onto the next event.
What is your favourite social media platform, and why?
Twitter. It's the easiest place to build relationships and community, and when you create content for the lurkers* as I encourage all my clients to do, this is where the magic happens. Prospects reach out to you in your DMs.
Twitter is THE place where journalists hang out, and you can reach out and start a conversation with literally anybody in the world without having to be connected to them first.
On the other hand, lurkers* are people who have read our content but have not liked, shared or commented yet, and we all have them on our social media platforms, not just Twitter.
Tell us about you and your current role or area of interest.
Roger Edwards, international speaker and author of Cats, Mats and Marketing Plans, a well-respected Marketing expert of over 25 years, encouraged me to call myself the Original, the one and only #FOMOCreator, and this is my role: I create FOMO.
FOMO means the Fear of Missing Out, and in business, it's a good thing! I create the buzz and excitement for a conference before (pre-FOMO), during (live-FOMO) and after (post-FOMO) with the goal to promote and sell out conferences (in-person, online + hybrid), festivals and workshops.
I create that buzz and excitement on social media platforms via live tweets, Instagram stories, live LinkedIn blog posts and interviews with organisers, speakers, sponsors, influencers and attendees.
In creating this live content for my clients' lurkers, the buzz, excitement and FOMO generated help to convert lurkers into buyers. Past and repeat clients have been extremely happy with this ROI.
What do you like about your career or area of focus?
Many clients grant me the creative freedom to do what I know is best for their event. For example, capturing the right Instagram story to promote the conference, knowing precisely what to ask when interviewing, and understanding the right content to live tweet for 1 hour, half a day, or a one-day or two-day conference to generate that FOMO content.
The live social media content I produce for my client's sparks conversation, garners attention, reaches a wider audience and helps to sell tickets or products for my clients. This is what I absolutely love about my area of focus.
The pre-FOMO interviews I do are branded and captioned by the team at PocketVideoSchool, which are then published on social media platforms, used as Facebook Ads and placed on websites for my clients to use to promote their conferences and sell tickets.
There is a place for polished content, removing bloopers, adding filters, and showcasing events in the best possible light as a promo video, but: what about before an event? What about during? These preFOMO and liveFOMO marketing strategies are the missing puzzle pieces that I help my clients with.
Generating that FOMO for my clients can help ensure that the lurkers don't miss out on an up-and-coming event and even on their next event. So, my second love is teaching business owners how to create FOMO for themselves.
I have taught speakers, sponsors and attendees of conferences, conference organisers, business communities, social media managers, art galleries, social enterprises and business owners. How they can generate the right type of buzz and excitement for the people watching their social media content online.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
There are so many to choose from, but I'll share one that I have passed on to many business owners, which continues to inspire others to date. Tony Brooks, a psychologist, once said that we don't have imposter syndrome. We have imposter moments.
Reflect on the moment, learn from its lesson and move on. He said this to a Zoom room full of business owners, and even he had an imposter moment before he entered the Zoom room, but practising what he preached, it taught us all that day that these moments come and go, but we now have the wherewithall reflect, learn and move on.
What inspires you, motivates you, or helps you to move forward?
You are the sum of the five people who you hang out with every day, it is said. It's an oldie and a goodie. When I hung out with toxic and negative people, guess what? My business suffered. And when I invested in myself and hung out with like-minded people, things change.
When I have people around me to cheer from the sidelines with pom poms with me, even when my chips are down, it's heart-warming. I have created a safe space around me, and I feel truly privileged to have some great friends, great mentors and people around me whom I admire, learn from and draw inspiration from.
I am also a big believer in paying it forward. When I learn, I share, and when I feel motivated, I express gratitude and my circle of great friends, mentors and colleagues on social media that help me move forward.
Being in business can often feel like the loneliest place on the planet, but it doesn't need to be. Instead, find your circle of trust, pay it forward, learn and inspire. That is how I've moved forward, and I know it can help you to move forward too.
What are you proud of in your life so far?
My parents didn't have two pennies to rub together when they brought my brother, sister and myself into this world. But, their struggle, their instilling of values, work ethic and loyalty in us made us who we are today.
After an unexpected divorce battle and a fight with immigration in Australia, I returned to the UK, and with the help of some wonderful friends and my brother and sister, I was able to repay my parent's struggles by buying them a home.
A home that they can call their own, which isn't above a chippy and on a busy high street. A home that has a garden that mum can potter around in. A home that their kitten is happy chasing birds in, and it's a home that I frequently go back to enjoy mum and dad's wonderful cooking.
The work ethic they instilled in me meant that I could pay it forward as a thank you to my fabulous parents. This is what I am proudest of thus far.
What is your preferred way to meet new people/network?
In-person, 100%. I certainly missed meeting people during the pandemic, but that was what is wonderful about technology: WhatsApp video, FB Messenger, Zoom, Teams and Skype. All of these technologies meant I wasn't too far away from connecting and meeting new people.
What skills or qualities do you feel have helped you?
Being able to listen. I mean, truly listen. For example, when I read the book 'How to Win Friends and Influence People, I didn't realise that I had been networking all my life, even when I was working in corporate.
Listening to others and being present for them without expecting anything in return has meant that people who have met me once, many years ago, and still remember me to this day. It is a quality that I cherish and do my best never to lose sight of.
What do you wish you had known when you started out?
Listening to my gut is always the right decision. I have been burned emotionally and financially over the years when I mistook my gut feeling for a self-limiting belief. Thinking that "they" must know better than me because they have been in business longer is not always the right way of thinking.
I have been prone to #maykingmistakes even as late as last year, but at least I am starting to believe in myself a lot more these days and learning to trust my gut more.
I'm in good company, I noticed that one of my mentors, Niki Hutchison wrote about her biggest mistake in business so far on Instagram, and she said exactly the same thing.
Who do you most admire in business, academic or creative circles and why?
I really admire anyone who has started a side hustle or who has gone all in on a business, and I share my admiration with others when I can. For example, I love my sister for completing a Master's, having a solid career as well as being a mother. Mothers around the world: I have the upmost respect and fully admiration for you all!
I have the upmost respect and fully admiration for you all! And going back to everyone in business, we are all creative because we look for solutions to our problems, and a person that has the skills to do that is certainly creative!
Outside of your professional/work area, what hobbies or interests do you have or what other areas of your life are of real importance to you?
I have always been a lover of films and documentaries, and I love dissecting a film or said documentary with my partner, who's a Science Fiction writer. I love films that have used poetic licence, but I always go to my favourite website: historyvshollywood.com, to see what actually happened, and I love going down a Google rabbit hole to find out more about the film.
My first passion is politics. I studied it and had wanted to get involved in the past. (I might do it one day). So, catching up on US political satire shows and UK political shows and reading the breaking news (from Twitter, of course!) is something I do regularly.
I'm currently capturing and documenting mum and dad's recipes. Eventually, I will put them into a readable and easy-to-follow cookbook to make Chinese Home Cooking accessible to all.
Has the pandemic had a positive or a negative effect on you and/or your business, and how have you managed it?
On a business front, I was able to pivot very quickly from being a FOMO Creator at in-person events to generating buzz and excitement for virtual conferences. Now, as the world opens up, I am being hired by hybrid conference organisers.
I was kept busy during the pandemic by creating FOMO for clients and teaching business owners, attendees, speakers, sponsors and conference organisers how to create FOMO too.
On a personal front, I didn't realise just how low I had gotten. My friends noticed I had disappeared from Social Media (barely doing the minimum), and whilst I had my wonderful partner to support me and friends checking up on me, some of my darkest days were experienced during the pandemic. I blame myself.
I shouldn't have ignored my friend's and my partner's advice. I should've done the daily exercise as recommended by the government, but hindsight is a good thing, right? At least now, I am equipped with the knowledge that should we experience anything like lockdown again: I must reach out and talk to friends, colleagues, connections and family, too.
Ironically, the business didn't suffer during the pandemic. Still, on a personal front, I didn't look after myself, although I am truly truly grateful to all my friends, family, and partner for supporting me when I needed it, and as soon as I was able, I reached out to support others too.
Do you have a mentor, or have you ever mentored anyone?
I have been hired many times over the years by government departments, social media agencies, social enterprises and organisations to mentor business owners, side business hustlers, and college and university students, both here in the UK and also in Australia when I lived over there for six years.
And since I returned to the UK in 2016, I have invested in myself to learn from others and be mentored by others too. When starting a business, one often thinks we can do it alone. I thought that too, but as I listened to others, I mean truly listen, I realised that investing in yourself by hiring a mentor, joining group programmes, and membership programs to better yourself can help better your business, and it is crucial to the success of any business.
I learn from everyone I have a meeting with, be they a potential prospect, an esteemed colleague, or a business friend. If one truly listens, one can be mentored by everyone they meet!
What advice would you have for someone looking to get into the same area of work or interests?
Practice and research. Practice and research. That's what I did. I'm constantly refining. Constantly try new ways of generating live FOMO for my clients. For example, I learn the latest and greatest in digital marketing by co-hosting a Twitter Space show with Amanda Webb from Spiderworking, which enables me to keep on top of the latest trends and try out a few things from future clients.
Another piece of advice I often receive from peers and mentors is "Ask! The worst that they can say is no". Be brave and ask. It took me years to learn this lesson, and it has certainly propelled me into the FOMO world by being a little bit braver. Practice. Research. Ask. Be Brave.
What do you feel is the most common reason for people failing or giving up?
Familial and societal pressures. Not having the right people around you to support you without judgement. I get it; we have bills to pay and mouths to feed, and they are huge pressures, and if running a business was easy, we'd all be doing it rather than getting a steady job that pays a steady wage.
I often remind myself of that image of a chap who is digging. We, as onlookers, can see that if he digs a little longer, he would bear the fruits of his Labour. However, unbeknownst to him, he gives up, turns around and stops digging: just at the point of discovering diamonds. This is analogous to the common reason for people failing to give up, but I understand it when the family pressures get too big.
I lost a marriage when I dug my heels in to continue to run my business, and I didn't have the support around me to look after me when the chips were down. So, third time lucky to run my business, and I have a wonderful partner. I have some incredible friends, and doing things differently from the previous two tries (of starting a business) has been worth it.
Surround yourself with great people. Talk to your partner and be supportive to him/her/they as they are to you, and you will find a way to push through the desire to give up.
Is there a phrase, quote or a saying that you really like?
"People will forget what you said. People will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel" – Maya Angelou.
Communication in context is ever so important, and the meaning behind what you communicate is too. In the early days of email, I was accused of being curt on occasion when I thought I was being on point. Nowadays, I do my best to convey my feelings behind the written word because the reader can otherwise misinterpret my initial thought.
What companies, brands, or institutions do you like or do you think are getting it right?
Yorkshire Tea + Innocent are brands that I really admire on Social Media. They're human-centric, which is really important, and it's definitely something that small businesses can learn from and adapt in the way we can communicate with others on socials.
On Instagram, @feminist is unapologetic, as is @garyvee on the socials. These are brands that I watch now and again to learn and be inspired by. Oh! Also: @humansofny – I love their photos and the stories of the people Brandon, the photographer, has captured.
The first business I prospected to, and who actually came up with the name of my business, FOMO Creator, is the fabulous @AndrewandPete. Their YouTube and Instagram channels continue to inspire me, and their books were incredibly useful to me when I returned to the UK to get my business off the ground the right way.
How do you define success, and what lessons have you learned so far that you could share with our audience/readership?
I actually struggled with the first part of this question, and so I took to Twitter to ask my Twitter friends. There was a common theme amongst the answers, and the same words popped up, with which I fully resonated.
The common keywords were fulfilment, contentment, happiness, freedom, working from a place of purpose and enjoying the journey. The lesson that I have learned is to do your research. Trust your instinct and if you're not sure, ask.
Say yes to everything when you establish yourself, and learn when to say no, as your business gets busier. Then, surround yourself with a great set of friends and invest in yourself to help you and your business grow.