How did a company go from designing cheap websites to building the technology of giants? Aren Grimshaw tells a story that spans 4 years from being a consultant to an agent of change, and making the vital decisions that helped a small company make a big change.

Link to the original source on Like Minds - http://wearelikeminds.com/videos/aren-grimshaw-how-a-small-company-made-a-big-change

In his post, Mark answers this question with the answer – “There isn’t going to be one”. He goes on to justify this position by stating…

“…switching away from Facebook may be a more difficult decision than choosing a new home! In fact, most current users will probably never change to another social networking platform because the psychological and emotional investment in Facebook is so high. That’s where they have their circle of online friends. That’s where they go to check on the Farmville crops. That’s where they go to see the daily pictures of the new grandchild. And that is where they are going to stay.

The psychological commitment and emotional investment in Facebook is enormous, and it’s growing every day as the company adds functionality and embraces third-party applications that add to the fun and the amount of time people spend on the site.

Why won’t there be a “next” Facebook? Facebook is no longer a website. It’s a lifestyle. And changing your lifestyle carries very, very heavy switching costs.”

Opening up the debate on my Twitter timeline this morning, there were those that pointed out that the science of social capital and networking demonstrates that this is not the case. Others argued that the trust and privacy issues will be the service’s downfall. In a series of comments Ann Holman, a Devon based social architect and strategist, went on to state:

My last point on this is that FB has ceased to be a social networking site, its a marketing channel! We have blindly walked into a modern day newspaper!

This is a position I don’t agree with. I think as marketers that’s how WE tend to see it, but there are plenty of consumers out there who don’t. For them they have put the service to use for their own ends, often ignoring or resisting any attempts by marketers to encroach on their social networking activity.

The problem is as marketers we use the services as such, we look at it with our marketing hats on and see how the quality of conversation with companies is poor at best. We watch as our relationships appear to get shallower and shallower. We see our status stream fill up with meaningless updates from faceless corporations who have outsourced their community activity to a small team based in another office, and mistakenly think its like that for everyone.

Marketers need to get real!

Facebook users didn’t come to Facebook to be marketed to, but there is a marketing opportunity in them doing so. That opportunity doesn’t lie in broadcasting messages, in fact it seldom even involves a Facebook page. What it is about, for me at least, is relationships. Facebook provides us with the opportunity as businesses or individuals to build, maintain and extend relationships with other users, users who may be friends, colleagues, clients or future business.

I took the debate out to my local Starbucks this morning. I regularly use Starbucks as a remote office and have become friends with many of the other regulars, who represent an interesting cross-section of my local community. One lady, Julie, I have known for a couple of years and we have been speaking throughout her time on Facebook.

Julie is a mature user, that is, she is not one of the net generation or millenials. Julie has been using Facebook for about two years. Julie works as a life-coach and nutritionist. In her spare time she helps out with the local scout and girl guide groups. Her network on Facebook consists of friends (old and new), family (close and distant), leaders and participants in the local scout / guide community, clients, and the people she plays her game with. Her network includes those she hasn’t ever met, people she hasn’t seen in years and people she sees every day.

I asked her what she thought about changing to another service. I asked her how she used Facebook and whether companies were ruining her experience.

She couldn’t imagine using another service, not because Facebook was remarkable, in fact the site was an irrelevance, but because of the relationships she had built there. She saw that another service could come along and offer more but she was also realistic that it wouldn’t make a lot of difference to her. Facebook gave her so much, so much that was missing before, that she didn’t see what anyone could give her.

She told me how the birthday wishes had given her support during a difficult time. How her game had connected her with people all over the world. How she kept up with her family all over the world, filling the gaps between their calls. How the minutes from her recent scout meeting has been delivered on Facebook when email failed and how plans were already afoot to use the group function for future planning. How she had reignited relationships with her friends from primary school.

Now I know that Ann said this morning, “people said the same when other TV channels emerged to rival BBC!”; however, I would argue there is a big difference. Viewers invested nothing into that process, they just sat back and watched. When offered more choice they took up the option and voted with their viewing time, hardly surprising, it’s a lot easier to turn the channel than it is to rebuild your network, transfer all your content across and learn a new system.

The return we get from the social network is equal to the investment we have put into it. If I have taken time to build relationships with those in my network, to share my experiences, and to take part in theirs, I won’t want that to end, the returns are beyond what I can put a value on.

The problem is too many marketers have connected to other marketers, other marketers who fill their stream with recycled viewpoints and commercial messages. They think that their experience is the same as every consumer, it isn’t! Marketers need to get real, go and ask the people who really use Facebook what they think. Facebook isn’t a marketing channel, it’s a social network and the real problem is you can’t see how to use that fact to your advantage.

(Read the original post from Mark Shaefer at http://www.businessesgrow.com/2010/11/29/why-facebook-is-more-important-than-your-house/)

The Mobile Conference has an inspiring line up of seven industry experts including search engine specialists, social media strategists and award winning text marketing professionals.

The one day event has been organised by a group of business associates who want to provide an insight into the latest mobile technology and the opportunities mobile marketing present for businesses of all sizes. (see the full event programme below)

Research shows that by the end of this year 42% of people in the UK will own a Smartphone. Add to this the fact that 27% of all online purchases are now made using a mobile device and it is clear that mobile marketing is not something to be ignored.

The conference will provide delegates with practical advice on creating websites for mobiles, search engine optimisation, mobile advertising, SMS text, email for mobile, creating mobile content, social media and mcommerce.

Tickets for the one day event are priced at £100 (+vat) and are available to buy online at www.themobileconference.com, anyone wanting to learn more can email the event organisers at: delegates@lesw.co.uk or call 01872 888733.

Event Programme

8.45am Registration Open

9.35am Introduction

9.45am Mobile websites, Tips on how to build a website for mobile devices with Toby Parkins

10.15am Engaging mobile conversations, Convert clickers into consumers with Convert clickers into consumers
Geoff King

10.45am Break

11.15am Content Marketing, Why content is so important for your mobile website with Andrew Walker

11.45am Mobile Search Engine Optimisation, Tips for making your mobile site search engine friendly with Rob Edlin

12.15pm Lunch & Networking

1.15pm Paid Search for Mobile, Tips for using Google AdWords and Microsoft adCenter with Rob Edlin

1.45pm Social Media, Making the most from the mobile marketing opportunity with Social Media with Aren Grimshaw

2.15pm Break

2.45pm Text Messaging, Tips for integrating SMS into your marketing mix with Dan Parker

3.15pm Email for Mobile, Tips for optimising your email marketing for mobile recipients with Stafford Sumner

3.45pm Q & A, Open floor for questions with the Speaker Panel

4.00pm to 4.30pm Event Finish

For the first time VisitCornwall has developed a Digital Marketing Strategy to cover all aspects of its online presence.  Over the past six months Aren Grimshaw has fed into and assisted with the development of the three year strategy, providing advice in scoping the strategy, guidance on best practice and the latest trends and technologies.  Aren has also delivered training to the entire VisitCornwall marketing team to generate buy in and support from the team and also ensure the tools are used effectively.

The Digital Marketing Strategy has led to the development of the I Love Cornwall micro site and the associate Facebook page, Twitter profile, YouTube channel and Flikr account.

Commenting on the launch of the new micro site, Aren Grimshaw said: “VisitCornwall has worked hard to identify new ways of communicating with its target market.  Through a number of round table discussions, planning sessions and by reviewing existing communication channels and customers segments, I was in a position to provide advice and guidance on a range of Social Media platforms and integration of the overall marketing approach, to help in the development of their strategy.

“The whole marketing team, including the head of tourism, have attended training sessions and it is clear that VisitCornwall understands the need to engage with its customers, shifting from broadcasting information to their customers, to communicating with them.  The social media channels are already showing signs of success with a high level of interaction across all platforms.”

The new I Love Cornwall micro-site from Visit Cornwall

The new micro site has been designed to be an official online space and community which will be driven by the passion felt for the county with user generated content, polls, competitions and incentives. Uniquely, it promises to skip the hard sell typical of tourist websites, which is guaranteed to turn off the majority of social media users, relying instead on increasing awareness of Cornwall through credible word-of-mouth recommendations.

Lauren Hogan, VisitCornwall Digital Marketing Manager, comments: “We aim for www.ilovecornwall.com to become the ultimate online inspiration guide to Cornwall. It launched just in time for Easter and features great ideas and inspiration for anyone looking for things to do when visiting Cornwall.

“What really makes the site stand out is that we ask the public to add their own ideas and tips.  We will enable and encourage social media advocacy and positive online discussions about Cornwall by inviting users to share their own content. As well featuring photos submitted by the community via Facebook, Twitter and Flickr VisitCornwall we will engage with site visitors by starting conversations about favourite things to do, upcoming events, the best beaches, the best places to eat and even the best place to watch a sunset.”

Aren Grimshaw provided training and consultancy services to VisitCornwall and continues to work with the marketing team in an advisory capacity to help develop and build a strong social media user community.

Follow and join in Cornwall’s social media activity at:

www.ilovecornwall.com

www.facebook.com/ilovecornwall

www.twitter.com/ilovecornwalluk

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Shelley Fletcher, Firegrass Communications

PR for Aren Grimshaw Ltd

01209 311072 / 07850 937419

shelley@firegrasscommunications.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Aren Grimshaw, Social Media consultant and trainer works with businesses and organisations help them use tools and platforms such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube to connect with their customers.

Aren Grimshaw helps people from different mind sets, and varying levels of experience, get the most from the changing business landscape by using the most effective communication tools and technologies available.

For those with a good working knowledge of the platforms, Aren helps them extend their reach and keep them informed of the latest changes and developments in Social Media. For those who cannot see the potential benefit, Aren helps them to understand how businesses are using the tools already and start identifying methods for them to benefit too. And for those who don’t have the time or energy to get things moving, Aren can give them a helping hand to get started.

www.arengrimshaw.co.uk

VisitCornwall is a service of the Cornwall Development Company, a local authority company controlled by Cornwall Council.

VisitCornwall undertakes the destination marketing function for Cornwall and promotes the areas distinctive qualities to the domestic market and key international markets through targeted marketing campaigns.

The first question I ask is “What was your reason for selecting Facebook over any other site?” closely followed by “…and what do you hope to achieve by using it?” More often than not the answer received relates to what the competition is doing, or an expectation they feel placed on them by all the hype and coverage surrounding social networks. It is seldom related back to achieving specific objectives for the business.

This is not confined to my one to one dealings with clients either. In my presentations to businesses I am often asked why I do not spend more time on the practical elements of using Twitter or Facebook. Why do I spend so much time on the theory, the ideas, rather than specific guidance on using particular services?

When it comes down to it, it’s all a matter of strategy.

Now a strategy all sounds very ‘blue-sky’, but in reality it’s just a name given to the process of assessing a market opportunity and putting forward a clear roadmap for delivering on a set of organisational objectives, using the resources available. It takes into consideration aspects such as the competition, the organisation’s market position and any existing relationship with consumers and wider stakeholders.

There are those who say you don’t need a strategy to use social media for your business, they’re of course right. You only need a strategy if you would like to achieve a specified set of organisational objectives through the use of social media services. Using them is relatively easy, getting the results you want can be a different matter.

The process I follow with clients builds upon the Forrester POST method, widely accepted as the industry standard, and takes a customer through the various stages necessary to develop a comprehensive set of actions for implementation. At the very end of this process is any decision to use Facebook, Twitter, or indeed any other social media service.

The decision to use one platform over another follows consideration of all the different factors: community, aims and objectives and resources. Prior to selecting the specific platforms a general approach is defined. Once these elements are in place the decision to use Facebook or Twitter is a relatively simple one. More importantly, the impetus for a client to allocate resources to their upkeep is a simple one.

On the other hand, those who start with the technology up-front, often find themselves dedicating a lot of time and energy to their Facebook or Twitter accounts in the early stages, only to find the results disappointing. This leads them to question whether their customers are really using these sites, whether there is any business to be done and whether dedicating time and energy into this activity is really worth it.

So before you rush to setup your Twitter, Facebook or other account, think: What would you like to achieve? What is the value of achieving that aim for your business? What resources are you willing to dedicate to achieving it? Define your approach first, add the technology later.

Do you agree or disagree, let me know by posting a comment in the box below. If you would like help in developing your own social media strategy please get in touch.

This is a subject which not only applies to us as businesses, but to all of as individuals.

The presentation below was one I prepared this week for a group of graduates looking to improve their chances of employment. They were all enrolled on an excellent 2 week course run by Unlocking Cornish Potential which aims to provide them with a range of insights into entering the workplace, provided by various business people, me included.

Prior to meeting the group I had been given their names and email addresses, enabling me to background search publicly available information, freely available to read via Google or other search indexes. (credit must go to David McGuire at the John Knowles Company for the great idea)

In most cases these guys and gals had been pretty savvy and had locked down their profiles using the privacy settings. However, there was quite a few surprises when I took time to show each of them individually (and privately) just what came up. (Old MySpace accounts from their uni days, photo libraries of drunken evenings with mates and some pretty revealing group memberships!)

In this presentation I don’t reveal what I found in any detail, instead highlighting other cases I have come across on the web.

The presentation includes some practical advice on what you can do to protect yourself and keep alert of new content, as well as providing suggestions on how you might turn the tables and use Social Media sites to put you ahead in the interview room.

I am always keen to hear your thoughts, comments or suggestions.. so if you have something to add please add a comment or get in touch via email. Thanks for reading, Aren.

At this stage I would like to thank a few people who have been a great help in getting me this far.

It’s all too easy for us to go on in life never taking a moment to recognise those who help us achieve our goals. Our personal development, much like a business’s, is a team effort, and the following people are all the people I consider to be part of ‘my team’.

In no particular order, I’d like to thank:

• Toni and Nick Eyriey for putting up with me at Tonick Media for the past year (I am not the easiest employee to manage)
• Toby Parkins for putting up with me at UKNetWeb before that, and for being a really good friend and trusted adviser.
• Rob Edlin of Niddocks Internet Marketing for all his support in getting me started on the right path, and his ongoing SEO wisdom.
• Dougie Woods of Talent Cornwall for his charm, charisma and advice – everyone needs a Dougie when they feel down.
• Fiona and Martin Crump of Evolution Personal & Corporate Development for the superb NLP training and life-coaching I have received over the last couple of years.
• Iain Scott of Enterprise Cafe for teaching me the art of ‘Show-Business’ and for telling me to ‘Chill’.
• Jane Stanley, my journalism lecturer at Truro College, for all her help in developing so many of the skills I use every day in my work.
• Simon Minchin for all the years he has mentored me in every aspect of marketing, advertising and life in general.
• Shelley Fletcher of Firegrass Communications for getting the story out for me today.
• Richard Collett of UKNetWeb for providing remote support on a Sunday to get my email working.
• Zak Stanley and Chris Humphris, for never agreeing with anything I say. (It’s always good to have people who disagree with you around to challenge you.)
• Teri and my children for being so supportive and for letting me get on with things today (despite wanting to watch Transformers 2 instead).
• The rest of my family, who have had to put up with me far longer than anyone else on this list!

I realise this must read like one of those tearful Oscar thank you speeches; however, I think we should all just take a moment once in a while to truly thank all the people who make a difference to our lives. Thank you.

I have enjoyed working alongside husband and wife team, Toni and Nick Eyriey, and thank them for all they have done for me over the past year.

The split is a mutual agreement which will see Tonick Media focus in on its core strengths within the traditional media environment. The company will continue to provide the Business Cornwall magazine and website, as well as consultancy in those areas.

The Social Media element of the work will remain with me and I will continue to provide the same services to new and existing clients under my new freelance role.

If you would like to speak to me about any of the changes please feel free to give me a call on my new office number 01872 273103 or drop me an email at aren@arengrimshaw.co.uk. To speak to Toni please get in contact on the office number 01209 718688 or email toni@businesscornwall.co.uk

Aren

A devoted Twitter user myself, I couldn’t let the story pass without adding my own comment and before I could make a cup of coffee was embroiled in an ongoing debate as to the worth, especially to businesses, of social networks and platforms such as Twitter.

I should have anticipated a response was just around the corner. Whenever a new study or piece of research lays into the so called world of ‘social media’ and its mirky complicated language, lack of purpose and general banality there are those quick to jump on board and exclaim that “it’s all just a waste of time”.

It’s unfortunate that the BBC failed to report the full details of the study. Amongst all the hype and bold headlines was an interesting study that uncovered some interesting insights into Twitter as a stream of information. Those who took the time to read through the full report, the categorisation used, depth of the study and methodology, coupled with comments from the wider audience and the researchers themselves, will know there was more than the headline suggested.

For those of you who have no knowledge of Twitter, let me explain the basics.

Users sign up to Twitter with an email address. They enter a brief bit of info about themselves (limited to 160 characters) and a website address for further information. They can follow other users by finding them through directories or while browsing the web. The user can post messages (limited to 140 characters) to Twitter for their followers to read.

The idea is that each user follows those that interest them. The interest may be based on their geographic proximity, shared hobbies, knowledge on a particular subject or any number of different reasons. Should someone you follow become ‘un-interesting’ then you have the power to ‘switch them off’ and stop receieving their updates.

This is where we find the first issue with the report from Pear Analytics. Their study ‘dipped’ into the network and grabbed just 200 messages per day from the public timeline. This would be the equivalent of tapping into the phone network and listening in on random calls, using your findings as a benchmark of how the phone network is used. It does not reveal a lot about usage it just shows what those users were doing at the time. You may get business people closing a deal or you may geta mother and son discussing the next door’s neighbors knee operation.

Studying 200 messages, when in the US alone (according to Pear Analytics CEO, Ryan Kelly) there are over 3,000,000 messages sent every day, seems a little too small a sample to make such sweeping statements.

Any Twitter user will tell you that Twitter becomes useful when you know how to filter or select the information you want to receive. No one that I know watches the ‘public timeline’, an amalgamation of every message sent over Twitter. Instead we select those we want to follow and filter for mentions of information of value to us.

Ryan Kelly knows this, that’s why after dinner with Twitter pro and social media enthusiast, Robert Scoble, he decided that they would cross reference their findings with messages sent by those ‘followed’ by leaders in the field such as himself and Twitter co-founder Evan Williams.

‘Only 8.7% of messages could be said to have “value” as they passed along news of interest.’

The BBC incorporated within their report another bold statistic. Just 8.7% of Twitter messages could be said to have ‘value’. A staggering indictment on the supposed ‘news value’ of Twitter. So how did they measure that? Well it would appear that they used the simple ‘ReTweet’ as a gauge.

Again, for those new to Twitter. When one user feels a piece of information is relevant or interesting to their audience (or followers) they can re-send a message that they have received by adding the letters ‘RT’ to the message. This indicates that they found the information ‘valuable’ and think that you may too.

So in just 8.7% of messages taken from the public stream where there found to be the letters ‘RT’ at the forefront of the message. simple. But what about all the information rehashed and sent out without the ‘RT’, or all the messages with an ‘@’ symbol at the front (directed at another user) listed as ‘conversational’ – what about times where the news originates from multiple sources and therefore does not require an ‘RT’?

In reality, this is probably the weakest statistic of them all. After all what one may find valuable is quite different to another. It is far too subjective to measure ‘value’ on the basis of this one factor alone.

40% of the Twitter messages are “pointless babble.”

The most headline grabbing statistic was of course that 40% of those messages interecpted were ‘Pointless Babble’ categorised as ‘“I am eatng a sandwich now” tweets.’.

Interestingly from a marketing perspective these probably contribute one of the most important types of Tweet for business. Why? Well let’s look at some examples of messages that might be included in this group (taken from Twitter’s public timeline):

• I am looking for an accountant who can help me with the legal aspects of my business.
• Just signed the papers to buy a rental property. Can’t believe I’m starting a business on top of everything else that’s going on.
• Off to Falmouth Week to watch the Red Arrows
• I’m buying a new phone tomorrow… Any suggestions?
• Listen to Pirate FM. They play for Cornwall. Great music and awesome friends.

OK, if they’re not your markets they may be pretty ‘pointless’ to you. However, think there are thousands of conversations going on out there that ARE relevant to your business. Knowing how to find the messages relevant to you can help you identify new customers, understand your market better and much more. They provide businesses with the opportunity to engage with potential customers at a time when they are thinking about your product or service.

The important thing to remember with Twitter is that the messages themselves may not have intrinsic value. It is what you do with them that can make a difference.

Consider Twitter like the mobile phone network. You can choose to have a basic mobile phone to make calls or you can add internet, cameras, the whole works to your package. Likewise, you can dip into the main Twitter stream or select an application that filters out the ‘noise’ and gives you the information or capabilities relevant to you.

You can choose to give everyone your phone number and invite conversations with everyone out there or you can remain ex-directory and call the people you want to talk to speak to. Likewise, you can watch the public timeline and add to the conversation or select those you want to talk to and connect with them.

If you would like to learn more about Twitter for your business please get in touch. Call me on 01872 273103 or email aren@arengrimshaw.co.uk.

• To read the full whitepaper from Pear Analytics click here.
• To read the original post from Pear Analytics and the comments click here.
• To read the original BBC report click here.

Understanding that there is a real need for training in this area my attentions have turned to establishing the areas avid social media see as most important and what they feel should be included in presentations or training courses on the subject.

Using LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter I posted the question below and received some great responses from the social media community. Do you agree or disagree with the comments so far? Do you have an idea of your own not already mentioned? If you do, why not add a comment at the bottom of the post?

“If you were leading a social media course what do you believe would be the 3 most important things to cover?”

@guavamarked (Twitter) monitoring, empowering existing users, engaging with new ones.

@sam_deeks (Twitter) 3 tips for Social Media course 1) SM wasn’t created for your benefit 2) Leave your ego out of it 3) Get a (real) life as well

@seasedge (Twitter) Understand your social media goals, tracking / monitoring your current interaction & attracting new customers.

@enterpriseiain (Twitter) depends on the audience.never sell a tragedy to an audience expecting a comedy. A vital point for all courses.

@cyberdoyle (Twitter) before i started I would watch this, its mega and full of wisdom for any social media peeps http://tinyurl.com/kvmods

@24x blogs, twitter, facebook for business…all of course accompanied by a latte

Sean McManus (LinkedIn)

A lot of businesses fall flat when they go into social networks and just start spouting off about how great they are. It needs to be more about building a relationship with people (two way communication), and messages need to be consistent with the tone of the community, and add value.

So I’d suggest the three priorities are:

- making sure that you add value to the community
- listening to what people say (not just pushing stuff out there)
- respecting that it’s not your community – follow the rules and netiquette.

I guess another part of it is that it’s a long term game – you can’t expect quick returns from social media. It’s about building reputation and relationships, not about making a quick sell.

Steven Stearns (LinkedIn)

1.) Face your market.
2.) Listen to it.
3.) Engage.

Aaron Shaffer (LinkedIn)

Good question. I would start with determining the goal of why a company wants to leverage social media. Is it a feeling that they have to, are they interested in a new venue for customer interaction, or is it just another way to brand or sell themselves. Based upon that goal, I would then begin to look at:

• How you want your community’s followers to interact with you, and for what purpose? As Sean said in the post above me, it really is about listening to your community. Establish a network of trust. I know there are a myriad of good and bad examples of this.
• Determining your long term value proposition. Are you simply a logo in cyberspace, or are you going to provide and disseminate information that would be important to your audience.
• While building credibility for yourself, respect the ethos of the specific community and your followers. At this point, we’ve seen sites come and go. Without that respect, are you going to be able to carry your users to the next platform?

Above all, stress the importance of building the reputation of the brand and providing a pathway for long term interaction and a sustained relationship.

Steve Buser (LinkedIn)

Suppose I am selling coffee. I want to get a dialogue going about coffee, not about my coffee. How to brew the perfect cup. The best coffee houses (let the users tell me where they are and why. THe best blends, The newest trends. Quote famous people on coffee. Great coffee moments in history. Best foods to eat with coffee.

But it is not just you telling them. Let them be the major part of the dialogue. A reward for the “best coffee story.”

Make coffee part of their lives, not just part of their shopping list.

Involve them, celebrate their ideas and input. Then you will be following the old marketing line “Sell the sizzle and not the steak.”

>Peter Graves (LinkedIn)

1. Making your social media efforts more targeted, mostly otherwise you’ll be marketing to friends, family, competitors and spammers.
2. Selecting the right site(s) for your market, personality and time-availability.
3. Working SMM in with your SEO – the SEO is lightly to bring you larger numbers of better targeted visitors, so those that forsake this for pure social media can pay quite a high price in the long term.
4. Doing it efficiently, so it creates maximum impact and involvement while swallowing up as little of your time as possible.
Good grief there’s so much isn’t there – good points from the others on this page too I feel.

Rob Duncan (LinkedIn)

1. Be where your market is (pick the right platforms).
2. Know what you are trying to achieve (stay on message).
3. Think “give” not “get” (invest in your network).

Claire Eason-Bassett (Facebook)

what are the benefits of social media and how can it be used to get them? e.g. writing good twitters. And how to join up between the social media forms and include social media in your overall marketing strategy.

A big thank you to all those who took the time to answer my question. Some really great responses which will give me a lot to consider when preparing the next course or presentation.