If I Show You, WIll You Look?

If I show you, will you look, will you take note, will you listen?

Of course you will, but only when you're ready. When the time is appropriate for you, you'll remember what I said and then be ready to take action.

That's what's so great about social networking, this global connectivity. I provide you with information and then you can use it when You want to, when You have a need and You have a purpose.

So, take a seat, have a read, make notes and use this information then You are ready.

***

I was reading articles on social networking this week (http://www.economist.com/) and it just blows your mind looking at the statistics and thinking of the global reach from the Internet today.

Even if you're not a fan of Facebook it is impressive to note that it has over 350 million users who post 55 million updates a day and share more than 3.5 billion pieces of information with each other every week. A staggering connection of knowledge and information!

Are you one of the 350 million? I am!

So, why is everyone jumping on the band wagon?

Just look at Facebook that took almost 5 years to reach its first 150 million users, but then only took 8 months to double that number! And LinkedIn has over 58 million members with its last million members joining within 11 days!

What's the rush? Why has there been this explosion in social networking over the last year?

Sure social networking started out as a medium for the youth to chat with their friends, share photos of their holidays and have their most embarrassing videos put on the Internet for total embarrassment.

Nowadays though, social networking users have an average age of 40. Should these people know better or are they onto something that you're not aware of? Are these 'Twitfaced' (Twitter and Facebook) people using social networking for purely personal purposes or have they brought it into the corporate arena?

How are we using social networking today compared to a year ago?

THE URL STRATEGY

URL usually stands for Uniform Resource Locator and is the unique address of any file that is accessible via the Internet. End of tecky talk because in the world of the Internet today URL has another meaning: Ubiquity first, Revenue later.

Over the past few years companies have focused on building lists of users rather than worrying about profits. Of course they've built huge followings but it's raised a question over their ability to make money from the audiences they've accumulated.

As with any good marketing strategy, the importance is not just focused on having a list but having a qualified list of potential clients and a list of people that can recommend you, your services and your brand.

People using social networking are more likely to engage with brands than sceptics think. It's a powerful viral marketing effect because friends spread the word about things they have discovered. Such recommendations are hugely important in purchase decisions.

It's street credibility without the street!

Instead of social networking I love to refer to it as social marketing! It's an informal way of letting people know what you do and an opportunity to showcase your work in the form of text, visual aids and audio.

O2 found that 17% of British small businesses were using Twitter to attract new customers and some believe they have saved around £5,000 ($8,000) a year from other forms of marketing by doing so.

The sceptics say that social marketing is an Internet bubble in the making but others say that it's the world's biggest, fastest and most dynamic focus groups.

Social marketing is a superb tool for mass communication, a way of connecting and sharing whether on a personal of a business level. Connections made possible by social networks are helping to create new businesses as well as promote and strengthen existing ones.

As with any new technology there are always pitfalls and words of warning.

As social networking and blogs weave their way into the workplace, offering huge opportunities for businesses, they also leave lines open for abuse and mistrust.

It's estimated that personal use of social networks during the working day have cost British economy almost £1.4 million a year in lost productivity.

An American firm, Nucleus Research, concluded that if companies banned employees from using Facebook while at work, their productivity would improve by 1.5%

But this is nothing new. Before computers even came along people were taking time out from work with cigarette breaks and coffee stops! When computers were introduced life became more varied with PC games for a quick brain refresh. There will always be people that abuse the system and there will always be a need to restrict access to some form of technology during the working day. It's just standard business practices to maximise your workforce.

Another concern for companies is the leaking of sensitive information through social networking, but again, this should be considered within standard business practices.

Social networking is a marketing tool and as such should be within your business plan and should have structure and form, ie: you should be clear what you want to say and how you want to say it. From a corporate perspective it's more appropriate for select individuals to blog, tweet and post about the company. The individuals send out a common message in a similar language that showcases the company and the brand, eg: a law firm might have a very formal structure with legal wording whereas a builder could be more informal with everyday wording.

For any company, standard business practices would currently include contractual elements for non-disclosure of sensitive information; therefore, the passing of information through social networking should be incorporated into this. Social networking is no different to chatting to a friend down the pub and giving away company secrets. Company policy needs to be in place to protect those secrets, innovations and sensitive tit bits.

So, how are people using social networking to build their business?

We've already said that it's a marketing tool building street credibility and strengthening your brand, eg: Barack Obama victory campaign.

We've already highlighted that it's an excellent channel for news, eg: latest natural or freak accident.

What we haven't touched upon is how simple and cost effective it is to implement. How quickly you can get your message out to hundreds and thousands of people with as little as 140 characters - even in a postal strike or the deepest of snow!

eMarketer estimate that over 600 million people will use their phones to tap into social networking by 2013, a more than four-fold increase on last year's 140 million. Facebook already has 65million mobile users.

Are you one of the 65 million? I am!

A Citibank survey (Oct09) of 500 small businesses in America found most of the companies had not used online networks because they thought they would be a waste of time.

Believe me - I have no time to waste!

Just because I'm having fun whilst I build my corporate identity doesn't make it any less effective.

Just because the information is flowing to me instead of me having to hunt for it doesn't make it any less relevant.

Just because I'm interacting with people through a computer doesn't make me any less sociable.

Through social networking I'm building my brand, I'm building my corporate identity and I'm building my public profile in a very real and interactive environment. It's leading to business and a whole lot of fun.

Why not join me on a social network site today? See your yourself, take a look, and make your own notes:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/gainteriors
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ga_interiors
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/gainteriors

Of course if you'd like a little guidance then just give us a call or sign up today to our business workshop "Social Networking Made Easy" by contacting our creative designer, Gwendoline.

Tel: 07841 519802
E-Mail: gwendoline@ga-interiors.co.uk