Introducing social media for small business

Last year I gave a workshop about my blog as part of our Web in Feb month of activities.

This year I have been asked to turn it into a regular workshop by extending the coverage to social media.

Using the tried and trusted ‘Ronseal’ approach we came up with ‘Introducing Social Media for Small Business’ as the title.

So far I have the run the workshop twice, with more to follow on 15 and 29 May. It has proved popular, but I am struggling to fit everything in to the two hours available. Social Media is such a big topic and the platforms continue to grow, with Pinterest being the latest hot topic.

Here are my top twelve tips for Social Media success:

1. Try to limit to 30 minutes a day
2. Keep it professional – you might go viral in a bad way
3. Keep an eye out for new services
4. Try to measure results
5. Cull any activities that don’t help your business
6. Try to stay focussed – keep away from the Lolcats
7. Be a person online – but not too personal
8. Always try to add value
9. Don’t just lurk – contribute
10. Try to be ‘marketing lite’ – avoid spamming
11. Have a consistent brand / name across your social media platforms
12. Have fun with it

I recently posted my workshop slides onto Slideshare and was surprised to discover that I already have had 127 views there.

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