Business Connections

I wondered how December would fare in the world of Social Media "guru-ism" ( mmm is that a word!!??)

Well its been busy busy busy and this week I have been researching the amount of information we put onto social media sites for one of my clients - a School in Norwich . Yes the SCHOOLS are starting to look into facebook very seriously for the protection of their students, staff and interestingly research on potential students and families.

Did you know that Schools Admissions are starting to search prospective children and parents on the likes of Facebook to "check them out" This is a growing practice just starting here but already happening regualrly in certain institutions in the USA.

Why? Well it gives them a massive insight into the families and their attitudes, values and beliefs. Think about the information we give to schools about our children AND the information that parents give. All it takes is a "google search" of your name to give anyone in the world access to the kind of person you are!!

Are your posts positive and friendly ( remember the posts on fan pages too which are open and public whether someone is a friend of yours or not!) or are your posts negative and complaining??

Have you googled your name lately? I googled 15 of my facebook friends with sometimes rather shocking results!

Remember EVERY post or comment you leave on your profile or a fan page has the potential to be read by anyone and more importantly will stay there for YEARS!!.

So when you apply for your childs school or that dream job, can you guarantee that teh rant you put on your profile after a hard day won't come back to haunt you.

Be careful what you put on facebook as it may come back to bite you. Remember that the worlds of facebook and myspace are virtual worlds and that we all have real lives to lead. and finally

"always keep your words soft and sweet because you never know when you are going to have to eat them"

Bye for now and have a great weekend

Social Media Snippets

I hope you are all having a brilliant week.   Thanks for reading our blog and supporting business connections.  Here are a few snippets to make your experience of all things Facebook/ twitter and linked in more enjoyable and secure.

FUN AND GAMES WITH FACEBOOK

has anyone noticed that their friends are posting links which are not the kind "stuff" you would expect to see from them? 

We have noticed this a lot, for example, friends writing on our wall who would never communicate that way, other friends posting links in messages which is not how they usually communicate on facebook.  BE AWARE that there is a lot of activity at the moment with infections integrating themselves into accounts and sending these messages. 

If you notice someone acting "out of character" on their wall with messages such as

- have you seen this group
- Check this out
- Have you seen this great page

Then DO let them know as its probable they are not aware.  re setting their password often helps in the first instance.

If you receive a link and click it , if you are already logged into facebook,  a genuine link 9 times out of 10  will throw you straight into the page.  If it asks you to log in to facebook again then its probably something more sinister.

Ask us you have any questions. 

TWITTER  accounts have had a similar situation so please be aware of this too,

DID YOU KNOW YOU CAN @ FACEBOOK?

Facebook have released a great little tool , the very twitter-esque   @ sign has made it to status updates.

if you update your status and then put in the @ sign, you will see a drop down list of all of your friends.  Then pick the friend you wish to mention and when you post your status it will bring up their name as a link.

Your friend will get a message saying they have been tagged in a post ( just the same as being tagged in a picture)  - and anyone reading your status can click on their link to see who they are:  DONT WORRY , if you are tagged in such a post they cant see your personal details unless you are/become friends with them.

LINKEDIN - 

If you are in business, you heard it here first, LinkedIn ( www.linkedin.com ) is starting to build up momentum extremely quickly as the professional business networking site of choice for many businesses ( 50 million at last count!) .

Business Connections have already provided two training courses and a presentation to clients and the public as demand grows.

If you have an account and havent logged in for a while then take a look again.  the functionality, feel and look are very new from the early days.

Business Connections are running TWO training sessions in Norwich and Gt Yarmouth, in the new year to start it off with a bang.

Please message me if you would like to register initial interest in this. we are still confirming final venues and dates.

It will be 3 hours in LinkedIn, how it works, top tips and where it fits in with the other Social Media Sites.   FANS OF BUSINESS CONNECTIONS AND OUR TWITTER FOLLOWERS AT THE TIME OF BOOKING CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THIS FOR JUST £25 for the morning.

become a fan on www.facebook.com/businessconnections or follow us on twitter www.twitter.com/bizconnection

FINALLY an update on two of our clients: 

www.facebook.com/haineswattsgreatyarmouth

and

www.facebook.com/ateameagle

are just two of our many clients successfully growing their businesses through facebook and twitter and reaping some fantastic results.   If you want boring stuffy businesses then DONT click the links please,  but if you want to see some great fan pages and businesses bucking the trend then please take a look and support them.  Leave a link to your pages and they will return the favour.

Have a great week !

from Marie and the team @ business connections

 

Shame on "Nay-Sayers"

It’s been an interesting few weeks, if not somewhat crazy in the World of Business Connections.

I have been shocked, delighted amazed and stunned at what the world of business has had to offer these past few weeks.   It has taught a lesson in perseverance that I want to share with all of you in the hope that it will continue to make the world of business the giving and professional place that I and my team at Business Connections know that it is.

We have been involved in a number of projects in the last few weeks which have seen the team travel nationally to train one of our clients ( who by the way was a FANTASTIC referral from a business colleague), right through to providing the Event Support for the recently acclaimed ALL ABOUT BUSINESSS Event at Norwich City Football club. 

Furthermore we are DELIGHTED to welcome Team Eagle (www.twitter.com/ateameagle) as our newest client and we shall be managing their social media strategy on facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to enable their business to grow, thrive and gain new followers.  Haines Watts Gt Yarmouth continue to go from strength to strength ( www.facebook.com/haineswattsgreatyarmouth   and www.twitter.com/haineswattsgy)  and BNI East Anglia, Business Connections and Business Club Norfolk are still topping the charts on the major ranking pages ( www.twitterholic.com, twitter grader  and twitter analyzer)  with Haines Watts Gt Yarmouth and Team Eagle flying up not far behind.

Working with the team on the All about Business Event which was organised by The Best of Norwich, The Business Club Norfolk and Buy Local, was a great pleasure.  As we work with The Business Club Norfolk closely, I was personally involved in some of the groundwork behind this event.  

 Three of the Regions most prestige Networking groups in the region, came together, worked together, and at some points panicked together :o) to put on an event which can only be described as absolutely FANTASTICALLY  amazing SUCCESS. 

Up to 400 guests and still collating the information.  The room just buzzed with business, contacts and excitement all day from 11.15am (before we even opened the doors) through to 6pm!

Yet in our community there were notable major organisations who pledge that they are committed to the growth, support and care of our small businesses who not only said it “couldn’t be done” but who actively sought to refuse to tell the community about the event.   In these times, publicly funded and “business orientated” groups didn’t want to know because they didn’t think it could be done.  It would be unprofessional and unethical to name them, but you know who you are.  

What lesson can we possibly have learnt from that?  After all Business is Business and free choice is well..... free?  

Here’s the point.  Bureaucrats and larger organisations said NO but three businesses – all classed as small businesses themselves asked what CAN we do.  In eight weeks they held an event which was a raging success.   Well done Chris and Sara Greenfield, Richard Kerrison and Martin Lake. You showed the community that businesses can do ANYthing they choose to and make a success even against the odds!

When did you last hear someone advise you that it “wasn’t possible” to do something?  Did you go with that or ask the question “What can I do?” and look for another way.  Who knows YOUR Business best?

So which way is business and networking headed in Norfolk, well stick with the Best of Norwich, The Business Club Norfolk and Buy Local Norfolk and the sky is the limit!  

Business Connections and I have been proud to work with the All About Business Event and look forward to next year.

And to the nay-sayers?   To quote Al Murray The Pub Landlord

“Shame on You!!”

Have a fantastic week in Business and watch out for some exciting news to come!

Marie and the team@ Business Connections

40% of Twitter "tweets" are "pointless babble" or ARE THEY??

 It has been reported by the BBC  that  Pear Analytics ( an American Marketing Company) have concluded  40% of twitter messages are pointless babble.

It is encouraging to see that businesses are conducting research into Twitter and facebook and their validity as Social Media tools for Businesses and, indeed, individuals.

There are a number of important points which must be noted from this research considered when looking at this research.

*        The research was taken from a sample of 2000 "tweets" between set hours over a two week period.  The average number of "tweets" broadcast per day is 1.9 MILLION. This totals 26.6MILLION tweets actually being broadcast in the same period.  

The sample of 2000 tweets is therefore less that 0.1% of all twitter posts which go out.  The conclusion that 40% of all twitter posts are "pointless babble" are based on a sample less that 0.1% of total twitter messages during the two week period.

*        The research, furthermore undertaken between 11:00 and 17:00 on weekdays for a fortnight in the US.  Therefore the time difference between countries could have been afactor in the quality of posts sampled.

*         Whilst businesses, companies, the BBC and twitter users forwarded and "re-tweeted" this discovery, it is interesting to note that all companies involved in reporting and conducting research are still avid twitter users!

* The research by Pear Analytics also concluded that 37% of messages were conversational. This has been overlooked in some reports, but sure this is great news? !  One of the points of twitter and facebook especially in business are to create conversations about you and your brand.

The important message here is that whilst studies into usage of twitter are encouraging, they need to be read and analysed properly to ensure that they are relevant to us as readers.

It will be interesting to see further results that Pear Analytics generate as they are intending to continue the studies and repeat these every quarter.

WELCOME!!!

Welcome to the NEW and improved Business Connections Blog!! 

I am so pleased to be back after a rebrand, relaunch and kick start to the Business. So whats happened?

Well since March we have

* Launched "Business Connections" Social Media coaching and training

*  Re branded our logo

*  Have been working with clients on helping them make the most of the free social media resources that are available.

The aim of this blog is to provide

* Understanding of Social media, whats happening, why, how could it affect YOU

* Tips and hints for beginners through to seasoned users

* Impartial facts and assistance.  There are LOTS of "studies" , "specialists" and "opinions" doing the rounds. We will help identify when they are useful and when caution is required

 

Happy reading and watch this space!!!

From Marie and the Team @ Business Connections

email: marie@help-me-network.info