Social Networking for Business

I was very excited to have the opportunity to speak to a group of businesswomen last night about using social media for business.  From the lesson the youngsters I worked with last year learned at the time of a very important presentation – ie check your technology, check again …and then check one more time – I popped into my host’s offices last week and ran through what I was going to do. The IT guy made some changes and upgrades and I gave myself plenty of time last night to set it all up. After a minor access blip my Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter and blog pages were up and I went off to mingle with the assembling group. Back at the podium to start my hour long presentation – and where was the cursor ? You know the little pointer arrow? Try as  I  might I could not trace it – it had disappeared, which made my interactive session pretty much redundant. How could I have prepared for that ? I am not sure but if anyone reading this knows please tell ..

Undeterred I carried on , and you know what – I am not sure that the visuals would have added that much in the moment anyway.  But I had mentioned what I was doing on Twitter and a number of good hearted souls had tweeted help and advice that I could have shared at the time but which is possibly even more valuable now and is the main reason for this post . I know – you were wondering what the previous paragraphs had to do with the title!

I split the talk into 3 headings – What is Social Networking, Why should I bother and how should I take it forward. In that group an equal number were already signed up to Facebook and Linkedin though how much they used either site was quite varied. In my list of “Why Should I bother” I had

• keeping in touch with existing contacts and routes to new ones
• see what your competition are doing
• promote what you are doing
• engage directly with the buying public
• look for collaborative projects
• raise your Google ranking
• answer questions and build credibility
• research your sector
• build teams
• market research
• have fun!

I would like to add the comments from the others who contributed  ( for non-Twitter users the @ with name attached is how you find them on Twitter) – with thanks for taking part.

@richard_baker said ”I joined twitter to connect with customers primarily and to meet snark folk like jackie! ” ( very kind of him to say so – FYI Richard and connected as Twitter friends 2 days ago! Richard is a General Manager with  Virgin Trains)

@RPD7  said  “the greatness of these networks is not to be sniffed at! Feel I have to embrace the technology to assist me in life.” ( Ros has been a friend for many years and is a business development consultant)

@jobucks said “I joined because my colleagues in Social Media Mafia #So.ME use it extensively – now major comm channel worldwide” ( Jo is a positive psychologist and we met through our blogs)

@billboorman said “I joined to turn a directory of contacts (Linked in) in to a live network (twitter) I know them, they know me” ( Bill is a recruitment trainer and became a contact after a recommendation from an old Twitter friend)

@davidmcqueen said “through Twitter I got a new wordpress designer, met a productivity coach and secured speaking gigs” ( Dave and I are both Speakersbank associate trainers and we have now blogged, Tweeted and spoken on the phone but not met – yet)

@craigmcgill told me that “Whyte & Mackay whisky did well with a Twitter strategy for online tastings and real world twitter hunts” ( Craig is The Scottish Digital Media Guy)

@peterlf said  “We’ve had a very useful enquiry about setting up a pension plan – currently working on it with prospective client/Tweeter!”  ( Peter is the Chairman of an IFA practice)

and last but not least

@mediacoach said “I’ve booked several speaking gigs, landed a book partnership and found case studies for another book – all via Twitter” ( Alan is a Speaker, Conference Host, Journalist, Media and PR Expert)

Hope this has given you some ideas if you are starting out. Always happy to pass on more hints and tips for those of you with experiences to share!