Monday, April 30, 2012
Networking Your Way to New Business
To see the evaluation of the Networking Your Way to New Business held on the 21st March, please click here
Monday, March 26, 2012
Social Media - Not just a waste of time
This first appeared in ‘The Plat4orm’ magazine
Social Media - Not just a waste of time
There is a lot of talk about ‘social media’ but what is it? Social media refers to websites where people interact with each other, and many businesses are using them to promote their products and services. There are over five hundred different social media sites on the internet. For the purposes of this article let’s keep it a bit more manageable and look at some of the more well known sites. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are perhaps the three best known international sites used by businesses in the UK. One site with a strong local base that is expanding its presence further afield is ipatter. Then there is the ‘new kid on the block’ Google+ pages.
The different sites each have a different approach or culture. Facebook started as a social friendship site but is now also being used for business purposes and some people use it instead of having a website. LinkedIn is more akin to having your CV on-line and much of the interaction takes place through discussion groups. Twitter consists of conversations using a maximum of 140 characters per message. ipatter allows you one message a day of up to 3,000 characters. Google+, like Facebook, allows you to create pages specifically about your business, but also allows you to filter your messages to, for instance, your suppliers or your customers. Writing your own blog linked to your website is another form of social media.
Here are some of the ways that you can use social media:
• Are you looking for new employees? Why not start your search on LinkedIn? Here you will find on-line versions of people’s CV and recommendations on the quality of their work.
• Have you got a special offer this week? Twitter and ipatter are good places to broadcast this.
• If you need more space then Facebook and especially Google+ give you the space to expand your thoughts further.
• Through all of these sites you can refer people to a blog that you have written or to an interesting website or article you have found.
It is easy to sign up and start using these sites and all of them are free to use at the basic level. It is best to have a steady, regular presence rather than send 50 messages on one day and none for the rest of the month. Always be aware that what you say is in the public domain and never write anything that you would not be happy for the whole world to know. As Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon said: “If you make your customers unhappy in the real world, they might each tell six friends. If you make customers unhappy on the internet, they can each tell 6,000 friends.”
Using any of these sites can help drive traffic to your website and / or generate enquiries about your business. This may not happen overnight. Through social media you can build up relationships with people so that they grow to like, know and trust you and will therefore consider using your products or services. Using social media is also a good way to alert your existing customers to new developments, products or services. People have also found that using social media has helped increase their ranking in Google searches. An excellent book by Heather Townsend “The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking: How to Use the Power of Online and Offline Networking for Business Success” provides more detailed advice on using social media.
Will social media really benefit your business i.e. find you new customers or increase your sales?
Jez Middleton from Adventure Safety Training has found that social media has been beneficial to his business:
“I have used ipatter to increase my Google rating, it has brought me up the ranks quickly without the need for SEO [Search Engine Optimisation]. I don’t know what they do but it works for me. I have had posts that have had a huge amount of views. When I search for other businesses often an ipatter post or listing will be one of the first entries to come up on Google. ipatter has found me about 10 new customers (individuals booking onto first aid courses) in 2011
I have found that I get lots of contacts from customers and potential customers through Facebook and Twitter. I am not saying that they don’t look at my website, but they decide to contact me through Facebook or other social media. This will then be transformed into email communication and potential meetings and bookings.
I have also found that LinkedIn has worked and has started several communications and found me potential customers for 2012. They have connected with me and seen posts on there and then contacted me to find out more about what I do and to arrange meetings.
I have found social media takes time to pay back (about a year) but it is working for me.”
There are plenty of Norfolk businesses on the different social media sites. Are you ready to use social media? If so choose your site or sites, find some people you know who are already there and come and say hello.
Thursday, February 9, 2012
Spring networking event: Wednesday 21st March
Spring networking event: Wednesday 21st March
You are invited to the above event on Wednesday 21st March from 6 p.m. onwards at the Holiday Inn, Norwich North. There is a leaflet with further information and you can book your seat for the event here: where there is more detailed information about the event.
The event is inspired by The Antidote, formerly one of Norfolk’s most acclaimed networking experiences for small business, start-ups and budding entrepreneurs. The theme of the evening is how to make best use of business networking and we have two great speakers lined up – Heather Townsend and Jon Baker.
Heather is the author of the current bestselling book on networking: the “Financial Times Guide to Business Networking: How to Use the Power of Online and Offline Networking for Business Success”. Jon Baker, her colleague, is a business coach specialising in helping businesses grow.
Please share this information with your colleagues and forward it onto anyone that you think that would be interested. Thank you.
Monday, October 17, 2011
Presentation to the Norwich Business Club
We were invited to give a presentation to the Norwich Business Club in October 2011 as part of National Customer Service Week . The powerpoint slides along with an audio of the presentation can be found here.
It is also available in two parts on the Research Plus Youtube channel.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Are you ready for National Customer Service Week?
Are you ready for National Customer Service Week?
I am sure that you have been to a hotel and either found a little postcard in the room or had an email a few days after your stay asking you how you found your visit to the hotel. If the stay was fantastic or one of the worst ever, then you might give your views. Or you might go on-line and express your views on a review website.
Another time most of us receive a feedback form is at the end of a training course. The person at the front of the room asks us to fill it in before leaving the event. Often very glowing feedback is provided but the next day, on reflection, you might think that perhaps the presentations were not as good as you first thought.
Although these two examples may not produce the most informative feedback, they do at least demonstrate some commitment to finding out the views of customers.
For National Customer Service week last year, Research Plus+ carried out a survey of businesses to see if they asked their customers for their opinions. The businesses were asked how they found out the views of their customers and whether they did it in house or used an external organisation. The responses showed that businesses use a wide range of methods to obtain feedback from their customers. Perhaps the finding of most relevance to all businesses was that more than half of the businesses that had taken some action as a result of customer feedback reported that their profits had improved.
For National Customer Service week this year (October 3rd – 9th) Research Plus+ has been working with some small Norwich businesses to help them find out the views of their customers. What do their customers value and what would they do differently if they were in charge? These can be quite scary questions to ask, especially if you are a small business or a start up business as you might not get the answers that you would like, and it could feel like a personal criticism of you. We all like to be told that we are doing a good job. We often do not like to be told where we are not doing so well, especially if we think it is one of our key strengths.
One of the business owners confessed that he was rather apprehensive about what he would find out. Would they criticise his technical ability? Would they comment on his inter personal skills? In the event his customers responded with glowing praise for his knowledge, his ability to explain technical matters, his speed of service, his personable approach and even his prices. There also made a few useful suggestions on ways that that he could improve his services. So out of this exercise he gained valuable feedback on how his customers feel about him and the services he provides; some testimonials that he can use on his website and other promotional materials and some suggestions to improve his services. So overall he can continue his business with increased confidence.
Are you ready for National Customer Service Week this year?
Do you have the courage to ask your customers what they think of you?
This blog was originally written for The Space Norwich
