In the meantime though, these self same business owners could be neglecting other and more effective, methods of business promotion.

Are you one of them?

Now don’t get me wrong here. I’m a big advocate of any business development technique that opens up new and ideally, low cost; marketing channels for any small business owner and for that I am a fan of social media in many of its various guises.

Neglecting Your Marketing Mix Leads to Ruin

Ticking all the Boxes

Social media ticks many boxes in this respect and does have its place in the modern marketing mix particularly as the learning curve to adapt the necessary techniques to get started is relatively short. Consequently, in some form or other, it’s here to stay.

However, the issue being observed and experienced by many business owners looking to capitalise upon the benefits of social media is that it’s generally not a thought out affair and whilst a pleasant way to spend ones time, many business types are finding that as a method of promotion, it doesn’t really deliver where it should.

Consequently, despite being the new kid on the block that is showered in hype, social media just isn’t paying its way for many and diverts their attention away from other strategies.

Any social media coach and marketer worth their salt will tell you to formulate a plan or strategy for your social media activities. What this plan is, varies from guru to guru, which in itself contributes to the issue for many: but added to this, ask any small business owner if they have any sales or marketing plan and you’ll probably get an answer in the negative.

Therefore it’s fair to say that having one for a social media strategy is going to be even less likely.

So whilst chatting away on Twitter, updating that Facebook Fan Page and trawling through people’s connections on LinkedIn is all fine and dandy, fun and strangely addictive in a voyeuristic, realty TV sort of way, ultimately you have to ask yourself;

Is this working? What results am I getting or do I want to get? Could I use alternative, more productive methods to achieve the same result?

Recently I began working with a business owner who had adapted Twitter as her social media channel of choice for the purposes promoting her largely internet based business. She’d been on a few courses (not mine I might add), downloaded Tweetdeck and was spending many a happy hour chatting with her followers but was seeing little return.

She came to me for advice with the cry;

Where am I going wrong?

In my initial fact-find meeting with this lady, I discovered that not only had she been neglecting her traditional marketing methods in favour of Twitter and her Facebook Fan Page, which whilst being less ‘sexy’ than social media, did work. But I also discovered that her target client just didn’t exist in any large numbers on the social media scene. It seems this client had been swallowed up by the social media bubble and was hooked as well as being ill advised as to it’s potential for her business.

Back to Basics

So it was time to go cold turkey and get back to the basics of marketing with this particular client.

Out of my sessions with this client, I;

• Implemented an effective and regular email marketing campaign which capitilised on her underused (and somewhat large) customer database.
• Put forward a strategy to redesign her website to make it more useable and to improve conversions.
• Scaled down her ineffective social media techniques.
• And are currently planning some editorial and advertising in some specialist national magazines.

It’s still early days, but after the first e-shot to her customer database she received an increase in orders of 20% compared to the previous month and her website visitors went up by 45%. A result in anyone’s book.

Stand Back

Ultimately if you’re using social media for business purposes, whether it’s lead generation, brand awareness or strengthening offline relationships don’t throw all your eggs into one basket at the expense of other marketing activities.

Stand back and measure what’s working. Junk what isn’t and develop what is.

Here endeth the lesson.

What’s your experience of social media as a business marketing and development tool? Is it working for you? Tell us how and why in a comment below.

A rare treat!

Global Warming! Bring it on I say!

It’s Hot Hot Hot in London’s Hyde Park (Pic from The Telegraph)

[Thanks to CJ for your Tweeted commentary on how your BBQ progressed towards it’s crescendo!]

It can be said that this lack of online activity is down to two main and pretty obvious to be fair, features;

1. It’s hot (well 25 degrees ish) which is unusual for we Brits. So when it arrives we generally take full advantage of the conditions by sprawling out in the garden, sitting in some pub’s beer garden or heading off to the country/seaside. After all it’ll be pissing it down in a couple of days right?
2. When the weather’s hot like this, we become more social in the ‘real world’ sense and find ourselves gravitating towards other humans beings in order to enjoy each other’s company.

Neither of these activities involves any form of computing you’ll note, hence the drop in on-line activity.

The psychologists and behaviourists amongst you will no doubt tell me that this is all down to the basic human instinct to live in small communal groups as opposed to the large sprawling cities that perpetrated from the Industrial Revolution onwards. So when opportunities like good weather, are presented to us where we can socialise in our chosen family or community groups, then we do so.

True, true.

I suppose this is the appeal of social-media sites like Facebook, Twitter et al as they offer great opportunities to form “small virtual communities” whilst offering a voyeristic opportunity into each other’s lives (i.e. over the fence ‘gossip’).

That is to say they tap into that human desire for people to connect with each other in small groups that share a common interest or passion.

Shared Experiences

As an observer of human behaviour, no more serious than from the beer garden of our local hostelry I might add; what is interesting to note is that in a city or urban environment, where most of us live; generally people are very non-plus towards one another. That is until, there’s a common interest that creates that spark of conversation or unity.

This spark could be triggered by any number of new events or shared circumstances.

The arrival of a new baby on the street is a good example. My parenting friends tell me they’ve lived in the same street for years without so much as an ‘how-do’ from the neighbours from one year to the next, but as soon as a sprog arrives on the scene; then everyone wants to be your friend. This is particularly true if their neighbours  have kids of their own I am reliably informed. It’s as if they’re reaching out for solidarity.

Dogs are another example. In my neighbourhood people don’t give you a passing glance, however as soon as you walk down the street with a puppy on a lead then everyone wants to know you. I’ve learned more about my neighbours in the last 18 months since we got our pooch than in the last 6 years we’ve been in the house.

Alcohol is a great social leveller. Unless you’re tea-total then no more explanation is needed on this so I’ll move on!

As the good weather days drew to a close and people migrate back indoors, then social website activity starts to kick back into life.

My Facebook wall becomes decorated with numerous pictures from my ‘friends’ of their weekend’s activities. People having picnics with people I don’t know, hosepipe fights, their kids holding ice creams, barbecues in the garden etc. Basically everyone enjoying themselves without a computer in sight. However once the sun goes down the primival instinct to reach out and share ones experiences takes hold and Facebook and Twitter resorts to it’s normal levels of activity.

It’s a funny old world isn’t it?

Now, what’s the weather doing during the week? Ah yes, rain! Sob!

Let me explain..

Creative Connections

Loca is an arts and regeneration agency offered by Kirklees Council as part of its Creative Business Support Programme for artists and creative businesses within the Kirklees region which covers towns such as Huddersfield, Batley, Cleckheaton and of course Dewsbury to name just a few examples.

They run regular networking events under the moniker of ‘Creative Connections’ which feature a guest speaker. On this occasion I was asked to give an overview of Social Media and how artistic businesses could use it to their advantage.

I’ve posted more details about the mechanics of the actual event I spoke at here if you want to learn more.

Brief Encounters (Or Not So, Perhaps)

What made this networking event interesting to start off with was that it was held in a formally disused retail shop bang in the middle of Dewsbury town centre.

Encounters Shop Dewsbury

However it wasn’t any old shop.

For a start off it was previously a vacant shop (of which unfortunately Dewsbury has many) that the council has now taken over on a 2 year lease and has, in collaboration with an artistic collective called Encounters who go around occupying empty shops and then turning them into useable spaces for the local community, turned the shop into community resource.

Chalk Board Wall — Encounters Shop Dewsbury

The shop in Dewsbury I was presenting at was newly opened. Read more details about the shop with some pictures of it by following this link to the Encounters website.

An Introduction to Social Media

My presentation to a room of some 25 artists and creative business owners was an introduction to social media and how they could use it to market their creative businesses.

In my presentation I used my trusted little video “Social Media in Plain English” (below) which I’ve used several times and which always go down well by way of a simple explanation of how social media works for those that don’t know.

However, I needn’t have worried as just about everyone in the room was using social media in some form or other for their businesses and out of a lively open discussion at the end of my 20 minute slot, came some good uses of it.

Two examples of social media being used by people in the room were; Michael Lee Barrett a graphic artist, whom was already making good use of Twitter (@3m3lbi) and has built up a loyal following with his blog which showcases and discusses his work; his “Friday polaroid” feature is particularly popular he told me.

Adrian Burnham, an architectural and CAD designer, was just getting to grips with LinkedIn (http://uk.linkedin.com/in/adrianburnham ) and wanted some advice on how he could connect with people in his target market.

Other examples included a textile-rug artist who is using Flickr to showcase work and collaborate with his associates and a video artist who is using Vimeo to demonstrate his work.

(Sorry I don’t have the URLs for these people which is a shame I know!)

Tell Us Your Story

We’re you there at this event? Post a comment below and share with others your experiences of using social media and how you’ve used it to enhance, promote or add value to your creative business.

Photocredit: Rick Harrison of Forty Below Zero

If you’re an artist within the Kirklees region looking to get an overview of how social media marketing may be used to boost your business, then you’ll be interested in my presentation that I’ll be giving at Loca’s Creative Connections event on the 14th April.

This event is FREE. More details below.

Date: Wednesday 14 April

Time: 6.30 — 8.30 pm

Venue: Encounters Shop, Shop no. 24, Long causeway– opp. Town Hall and next to Long causeway Church (former Clinton Cards shop)

Creative Connections are quarterly events for artists and creative businesses in and around North Kirklees, run by Loca as part of its Creative Business Support Programme.

Due to popular demand Loca is pleased to present “An Introduction to Social Networking” with Jaimie Dobson, Digital Coach and Internet Marketer from iNet insights.

More and more businesses are using networking sites as marketing tools, how can they help you? This plain English guide to leading social technologies will explain the differences between your Facebook to your Twitter, your Myspace to your Blogs. More importantly Jaimie will illustrate how to use them to your advantage by giving you examples of businesses that have benefited from their use, how they use them, and why you should use them. Hear inspiring case studies of creative businesses using social technologies creatively, and get simple practical ideas to optimise your use of social networking.

Creative Connections is a chance to meet informally with other creative people to pick up ideas, information and contacts which may be useful in your work. It’s also a great opportunity to promote your own work and what’s going on creatively in the local area, so please do use it as a platform to let people know about events or projects that you are involved in, or to sound out interest in an idea you’re developing, or to request information. Why not bring along your portfolio, brochures or other visual material to show your work to others and help develop your contacts?

The evening is free and light refreshments will be provided.

RSVP to Loca on 01924 488844 or email: loca.admin@loca.co.uk

If you use Facebook for a mixture of business and pleasure; then you’re best controlling who sees what on your profile if you don’t want to embarrass yourself or lose credibility with your clients and business associates. But how do you go about it?

I’ve been on Facebook, the omnipotent social networking site for about two and a half years now and most people who like me, use it for work and domestic purposes; have accumulated an eclectic mix of old school buddies, business clients, networking associates and historical work colleagues not to mention a small pool of virtual friends with various family members seeking me out along the way.

The danger of maintaining this type of ‘relationship soup’ on something like Facebook is that one’s Wall can easily become a mosaic of business orientated blog posts, embarrassing pictures of yourself naked in some compromising situation through to family day-outs with your kids. Then there’s the banter between you and your mates in public message threads. Does everyone you know really need to learn what you think about so-and-so football team, that girl on X-Factor or in the case of one of my FB friends (who is also a business associate of mine) their somewhat bigoted religious views? Gulp!

Work Around

However there is a way around this, a method that allows you to post merrily away without offending anyone, embarrassing yourself or alienating some of your Facebook friends. A way to ensure that all friends from the various threads of you life, can mingle together simultaneously on your Facebook profile, without one “type” of friend seeing what is happening with the other “types” of friends you may have.

The answer is “Friends Lists” and “Privacy Settings”

Here’s The Idea:

• You create a Friend List for each type of ‘Friend’ you may have. For example you could have one for “Business Associates”, one for “Networking Associates” and one for “Family”.
• You segment or group your friends together by deciding what type of “Friend” they are i.e. a family member, business associate or networking associate etc and by adding them to the appropriate list.
• Under your Facebook account’s Privacy Settings, you then assign different viewing access levels to each list. In other words, you specify what “Friends” within a particular list can and cannot see, when it comes to activity on your Facebook Profile.

Here’s How…

1. Go to your Friends Page when logged into Facebook. On the left hand side you will see the default Lists already set-up in your account. Click on the All Connections filter in the top-left of the page. This will bring up a “Create New List” button at the top of the page.

Creating a new Friend List on Facebook

Start creating lists that you feel are appropriate by clicking this button. You can see the lists I have created below as an example.

Facebook Friend Lists

2. When you’ve created all the lists you want (more can be added later if required), it’s time to start adding your Friends to your lists. This is done by simply editing the List or by choosing a List name from the “Add to List” drop-down option next to a Friends name in the list under the All Connections filter. Any particular Friend may be added to more than one list at a time, however I would recommend keeping one Friend to one list for simplicity.

Add your friends to a list

3. Once you’ve assigned all your Friends to a particular list go to the Privacy Settings page on your account. Click into the first item you see which is called “Profile Information”. On each element of your profile you can choose what aspects different list members can see.Choose the “Customise” option and then type in the name of a Friend List that you want to add as an exception.

4. Click the Save Setting button and you’re done.

Top Tip: Click on the Preview Profile button (top right) to see how your profile looks to different types of people.

Post comments as to how useful you find this technique.