On the face of it, social networking seems like a good idea.  To keep in touch with people I mean.  But when it comes to business "apps", where does it fit in?

My children are on MSN and Facebook or MySpace every day, you know the sort of thing, uploading photos, messaging each other, even using their web cams.  Its quite normal for them.

For me, we used to go out in the morning and not be seen by our parents until that same evening and no one batted an eye.  We know its different these days. And as parents we feel happier if they're around rather than "hanging out" somewhere.

So what should the deal be with social networking and businesses?

It takes a while for it to register and "click" but when it does, you'll be putting your business out there to be noticed.  But a word of warning! Don't mix the two up - personal and business I mean.

I've seen it a number of times and experienced it myself.  Do you really want distant business prospects connecting to your family? Probably not, but you don't have to expose conversations with your auntie to show business contacts that you're being authentic.

Whats the point of Twitter, Facebook and the like...

"Conversation", plain and simple

Think about it.  Back in the 50's gentlemen would tip their hats.  Dialogue would happen everywhere.  The path to communication would be at the shops, pubs and social events.  Authentic one to one contact and communication.

Now we conduct a significant amount of our time  on line, you for example, reading blog posts like this! 

The social structure of what we have come to feel comfortable with is co-existing online.  So when it comes to developing new business relationships, how are you supposed to go about it, you can't exactly tip your hat these days.

Expanding your customer base in the 90's was easier.  A bit of direct mail, a few flyers here and there and a whole load of cold calling.  Nowadays, as we're all aware, the cold call part is so unwelcome its not funny and the sending out of direct mail and flyers seems to be seriously hit and miss (more miss!).

So what's the answer.  Well, there's a few parts to it.  Firstly you have to start up a conversation, you have to keep telling people your story and you have to be genuine about it.  Those of you who have read it will notice the almost direct reference to Dale Carnigie's "How To Win Friends & Influence People".

It has been said for years, but it gets lost in the noise.  You have a great story to tell, but not enough people can hear it.  You don't have enough conversations happening.

New businesses don't like being lassoed, captured and displayed as a prize.  They want to be engaged in conversation about the things that interest them, like succeeding in business and making their lives easier.  Its not about you and it's not about the kit.  It never was and never will be.

But you can't have a conversation if you send out three mailshots and then stop, thinking that your efforts didn't work.  Its got to be ongoing.  If there's no conversation going on, its as if you don't exist.  Just like you closed up shop.

So start with getting in the habit of having conversations, online, on Twitter, on Facebook on your own company blog.  Be engaging, not too contraversial, but that helps too.  Show people what your "tone of voice" is all about.

Of course there are other aspects of keeping exposed to the danger of creating new business, but it still boild down to the same thing.  Let them know you exist and do it on their terms.

Even the cost models have changed.  All of the production and even access to these exceptionel resources are in the most part free.  But they do take time.

If you haven't started thinking about including social networking in your marketing strategy, then it might be a good idea to at least start looking around and checking out what your competition are up to.  And if they're not.  GREAT, find someone that is and get going. 

You can only win.  Inactivity will undoubtedly contribute to you losing out to someone else who simply keeps visible and has lots of conversations that prospective customers can join in on.

In one of the many articles regarding Obama, this one refers to him embracing the internet and thereby enabling children to compete in the 21st century by attending 21st century schools and using 21st century technology.

With so much emphasis on the internet and the associated technologies, it stands to reason that we, as business people, must also embrace this medium to ensure that we do not lose out to our competition simply because it's perceived as too much effort. 

Technology and marketing go hand-in-hand when it comes to maintaining a sustainable business.

Mastering the power of the internet is no longer a choice we have, its a necessity if we want to stay in business.

To see the Obama article, click here

Your business needs to be connected in order to connect to everybody else, well that's pretty obvious, isn't it!

But, if you're not, you won't be able to meet your competition head on and it will disappear - to another plane, and one that you're not able to compete with!. You'll soon find that there's less competition and ultimately you'll have less customers.

The market we are working in is changing all the time; over the past 20 or so years we've moved from a mechanical era to a digital era and now we're entering the virtual era. The price point or entry-level to this virtual market is time. Time to understand the impact on your business, time to understand the technologies that are available and time to invest in your staff to ensure that they are adequately trained.

Its definitely "time" as many of the tools we need are software products and they're at an all time low cost and indeed many of them are free.
So who needs to use the technology; it's interesting how consumers and more specifically our younger generation have embraced video and web technologies however this hasn't filtered through to the general business community.

I believe this will become a more serious problem as the months and years pass by as businesses who do not embrace these emerging technologies will find it more difficult to employ staff who grown up to expect a certain level of technology in their lives, be it at work or at home.

Many businesses have a fear of technology which is why new systems are such a struggle to implement. Whilst a method of operation is imperative it's more important to understand the direction you have to follow.

So there is a bit of a "double whammy" here. If you don't master technology your competition will and if you don't have it as part of your overall infrastructure, you won't be able to attract new blood.

The real changes started in the 80s, many will remember a Loadsamoney and the Conservative governments plans for everyone. The 90s reflected the digital era and the emerging Internet related technologies. The 00s began to represent a change in working practices and attitudes. It seems our lives became more ordered and structured as a direct result of the laws and regulations as well as best practice strategies.

It seems to me that the status has changed from nouveau riche (referring to cash) to the new rich (referring to healthy slim fit people) to the now Nouveau Tech (referring to individuals and companies that have harnessed the power of combining technology awareness with the psychology of personnel and more importantly... the buyers).

Life has changed, of course it has - 20 years ago my NEC mobile phone and car kit cost £2000, the same cost as my PC. Now, both can be picked up in Tesco's for the price of a monthly Broadband contract, and you get Clubcard points!

Broadband has changed everything. It has allowed the Internet Marketeer right into your office and boy are they capitalising on this digital and virtual economy by using television and age old techniques on the Internet to encourage you to buy. Failure to recognize this will result in your business life being made more difficult and competition increasing.

Call "time-out" and get a handle on your technology. Plan to make sure that your business comes out on top and not your competition.

Parliament has passed a bill that will force medium and large businesses to significantly reduce their carbon emissions.  This will now apply to shops, offices, banks etc.

So it looks like more businesses will be creating new jobs with new titles such a "Sustainability" or "Energy Monitoring" Managers.

What energy saving/monitoring  technology are you using to make your life  easier? 

Well, there you have it, one more quarter to go and if things don't improve and slide backwards, we're all in a recession, again.  Great!  I can hear Ricky Gervais making a suitably caustic comment about bankers  - but it won't change a thing.

The financial institutions have been bailed out with billions and the "normal" businesses will now have to weather the storm without the handouts!

I have got a few ideas up my sleeve;  download the ebook "How to Win The Overheads Game" and start looking at your costs.  There are 41 ways to save money for your business.  Its got to be the easiest no-brainer to date.  Start there for now.

To get a copy, simply register to the site, yep, you've got it, I'd like your email address to keep in touch, but you can choose to cancel the subscription if you want.  

I want to help your business from a specific point of view.  That is, reduce your costs across the board and then help identify areas that could be enhanced to help generate more income with less cost.  So the savings pay for new business.

Speak to you soon,

Regards

Nigel Maine