ASSIST - Ladies Networking Event - Radio Blah Blah, Making the most of media opportunities....

ASSIST is a networking group for ladies in the Tees Valley area. The aim of the group is to "help each other" in the world of business and all it entails.

At each event we hold a networking game to "break the ice" this is then followed by a presentation.

Our next event is entitled:
Radio Blah blah ...and will be presented by Julie Donaldson of Voxpopular
The date:
22nd June
The venue:
Stressholme Golf Club, Snipe Lane, Darlington, DL2 2SA
The time:
8:45am for 9:25am

The topic:
Making the most of Media Opportunities and Overcoming the Fear of a Live Interview

Julie will speak about how she started in business even though she never considered herself a business woman! She will provide some hints, tips and an insider’s view about making the most of media opportunities.
About Julie:
Julie has been a radio broadcaster for over 20 years, working in both community radio and for the BBC. In that time Julie has helped many people overcome the fear of a live studio/microphone/interview. By boosting confidence Julie has encouraged people to enjoy the experience resulting in entertaining interviews and budding radio contributors.

Through Voxpopular Julie regularly contributes to content on BBC Radio 4 and BBC Radio 5Live. Julie also works with local writers in Tees Valley to produce radio dramas. She is continually developing working partnerships to find new ways to share her skills and knowledge.

Timing

8:45 – 9:25am Registration and informal networking

9:25 – 10.10am Introduction and Networking game

10.10– 10.40am Julie Donaldson - Voxpopular

10.40 – 10.45am Business Card draw and Charity raffle

10.45 - 11.00am Opportunity for further networking

If you are interested please register asap as places are limited.

The cost is minimal – £5 for members and £10 for non members.

Refreshments will also be available..

http://www.assistladiesnetworking.co.uk/

ASSIST - Ladies Networking Event - Managing your Brand in the Social Media Age

ASSIST is a networking group for ladies in the Tees Valley area. The aim of the group is to "help each other" in the world of business and all it entails!


At each event we hold a networking game to "break the ice" this is then followed by a presentation.

Our next event is entitled "Lights, Camera,  Action..." and will be presented by Emma Hignett & David Laud of i2i Business Solutions.

The date:
11th May 2011
The venue:
Springboard Business Centre, Ellerbeck Way, Stokesley Business Park, Stokesley, TS9 5JZ
The time:
8:45am for 9:25am
The topic:
Managing you personal and business brand in the social media age.

In this social media age, now more than ever it is vital that management have media training.

Increasingly websites are 'alive' with podcasts and vidcasts. Management are required to become the face of the company in front of the camera - a task that very few people feel comfortable with!
David and Emma will give an introduction to media training sharing a few hints and tips which can increase your confidence, improve your performance and make filming the company vidcasts far more enjoyable! They will also touch upon dealing with negative publicity.

Timing

8:45 – 9:25am: Registration and informal networking
9:25 – 10.10am: Introduction and Networking game
10.10– 10.40am: Emma & David – i2i Business Solutions
10.40 – 10.45am: Business Card draw and Charity raffle
10.45 - 11.00am: Opportunity for further networking

If you are interested please register asap as places are limited.
The cost is minimal – £5 for members and £10 for non members.
Once you have been allocated a place simply bring along payment on the day.

Refreshments will also be available..

Mobile Phones and Presentations Don't Mix..or do they...

A couple of years ago Nick Poole of Latimer Hinks presentated a talk on New Employment Legistation to an audience of around 30.

Nick normally requests that attendees "turn off their mobiles" so that there is no interruption to the presentation. On this occasion he forgot. Halfway through the presentation a jarring mobile phone jingle was heard -Bat out of Hell i think it was!

The phone owner then proceeded to take the call - he was seated in the centre of the room! All other attendees looked on, stunned at what was happening. The guy was around 50 years old so his blatant disregard for the speaker or the audience could not be blamed on immaturity. The phone was eventually escorted from the room by another partner of Latimer Hinks.

Now, scroll forward to the present. I have attended presentations where the audience were asked to "leave mobiles on - we wouldn't want you missing that all important sales call!"

I agree that mobiles should be kept active but silent. The mobile phone is now basically a hand held PA to us - they have demands, deadlines, alarms to remind you that they are there to look after you and your business!

So when your mobile vibrates with an urgent phone call, take it - but make sure you leave the room as you do!!

If we move on to social media, live video streaming, twitter interaction - then we;re opening up another can of worms!!

Take a look at this article from Connectegrity - How Social Media is Changing Business Etiquette

Interesting stuff, but i think i must be "old school" as i consider the use of texting, tweeting etc during a presentation to be bad manners and extremely rude.

Why Use Social Media?

wikipedia states that "Social media is the use of web-based and mobile technologies to turn communication into interactive dialogue" Translation - getting to know people/businesses online and building relationships and sharing information.

Social media gives you the opportunity to promote your business branding, provides exposure through networking and enables you to build relationships and trust. It can also provide much needed feedback.

Feedback could be used from a customer service perspective. Latimer Hinks have used feedback from online surveys to provide answers to "burning questions."

For our most recent online survey we wanted to know if businesses had noticed an increase in debtor days.

The social media sites used were:

• LinkedIn groups as well as asking members of LinkedIn in "answers".
• Twitter
• Facebook

I'll let you know which site was most successful in generating completed surveys. We will of course "pay back" those who have responded as all results will be collated and a press release generated from the information we receive. 

Some tips on social networking
1) Don't ask for favours
2) Build a rapport, get involved in discussions
3) Your home page may not be the best link to share with someone whilst networking. Consider linking to a more relevant page on your site
Correctly done, social media can grow your online business faster than any other means. Social media also saves money, however there is a time element to successful social networking that sould be considered.

For interest, I came across this article about the use of social media in emergencies.

Social Media - How it can Work for You

I've just returned from a presentation for the ASSIST group by Jonathan Wheatley of MC Ware entitled - Social Media - How it can Work for You.


The presentation was targeted to small owner/managed businesses just starting out into the daunting world of social media and the social media "language".

For help understanding "some of this language" please check out my post In Plain English

The slides of the presentation (when i receive copies i will post a link) showed logos of social networking sites as well as a screen shot of what to expect once you have joined these sites. I thought this was a great way to introduce (to some attendees) this "alien" world.


Alien? ...it may be, but one of the greatest benefits of these sites is that they are FREE to use, so use them! Start a blog, post links from the blog to your website, post links/information/videos/images to Facebook, bookmark your webpages/blogs to bookmarking sites such as Digg, Reddit etc. Most importantly, regularly update. The more effort you put in the bigger the long term benefits.


LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, Blogger, Google Buzz, Squidoo, Gather, Digg, Reddit, Stumble were a few of the sites covered.


As a result of the presentation I have given myself some homework - Squidoo, Google Buzz (soon to be launched) and Gather are social media sites which I have not yet looked into. This is my homework, if they are useful i will let you know

Using Social Media to Increase Awareness

Yesterday I attended a presentation on Social Marketing by James McRoy of The Images Group.

Many of us are aware of/members of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook, You Tube etc - BUT do we know how they can be used to improve the profile of your business, generate sales, create awareness and direct traffic to your website.

James took us through a speedy overview on the power of social marketing on the internet.
Social marketing:

• Drives traffic
• Increases depth of a website visit
• Boosts conversion and ROI
• Turns the customer/Client into a sales person (they share your promotions with their networks)
• Enables you to stand out from the competition
• Provides interactivity for Clients
• Can be tracked and monitored for effectiveness (check googleanalytics for your website)

Here at Latimer Hinks we engage in a variety of social marketing activities. Our website includes social bookmarking buttons and an RSS feed.

We blog, have a Facebook and LinkedIn presence (but not a Facebook Business Page), we bookmark. We have also recently joined Twitter.

I'm not quite sure how successful Twitter is going to be for Latimer Hinks but we have had a few hits from Twitter directed to our website.

James McCoy gave a few tips on using Twitter. Here are a few of them as well as links to Tweet related sites.

• Twitter Search an easy to understand video about Twitter Search from Common Craft (excellent videos)
• Search Twitter - type in the box what you wish to search for and hey presto loads of Tweets appear!You can also search by using # then whatever you wish to search for
• Here you can search for people
• Tweetlater - productivity tools for Tweeple, many of which are free to use.
• Tweetburner - you're only allowed 140 characters per tweet. Tweetburner will shorten these urls for you, quite handy!
• AdCause - you can also advertise on Twitter from only $1

James also suggested that Tweets be limited, 30 per hour is far too many and you could have your account suspended.

Don't keep trying to sell, sell, sell - give something back to the Tweet community.

Join as a personal Tweeter as well as a Business Tweeter (you are allowed more than one account). Try to keep your business Tweet name as close to your business name as possible. Perhaps you have diffreent products to promote - open a tweet account for all of them!

Obviously social marketing is time consuming, BUT the majority of sites/applications are free to use. Develop a strategy (trial and error) and if it works, stick with it!

Happy Tweeting - why not come along and follow my tweets.

Twitter for Lawyers

Twittering - another social networking phenomenon.

What is Twitter?

Twitter is a social networking and microblogging service that allows you answer the question, "What are you doing?" by sending short text messages 140 characters in length, called "tweets", to your friends, or "followers."

All is explained further at Tweeternet.

As this blog is about experimenting with social media I thought i'd give it a go.

I'm hoping to use it to share tips, advice, thoughts and ideas related to Latimer Hinks, the legal profession and social media.

Matthew Homann of The Non Billable Hour has been tweeting for a while. He lists his best 100 Tweets. This list (thank you Matthew) has given me a few ideas to start.

Whilst researching Tweet I came across this list of Lawyers and Legal Professionals (thanks to JDScoop) to follow on twitter. The majority are US based, but they do provide an idea of what to do/expect.

I also came across a great little video on the Lawyerist (thankyou). Very funny - tweeting in the flesh so to speak - take a look!

If you'd like to "follow me" my tweet name is LatimerHinks

Happy tweeting!

Free Webcast - RSS, Social Media, Blogs etc

Came across this free webcast which will be playing on the 17th February and thought i'd share with you! The full title is:

Web 2.0 - Leveraging New Media to Maximize Your Securities & Compliance Practice

Yes, it is a mouthfull!

Brought to us by a company called Securities Docket here is the link to the Webcast

Anyone/business interested in promoting via the web should make a point of watching it live, or watching the recording later on.

Thanks to Securities Docket!

Social Media - what it's for and what's next

Following on from my attendance at The Art of Marketing: 08 I came across the following detailed article on a Social Media Presentation from The Online Marketing Blog.

I found it an extremely interesting read - I have already put into practice the "Trifecta" (only I didn't realise that what I had been doing actually had a name!).

I also previously set up a Twitter account but I'm afraid I haven't taken it any further - I think perhaps I may need to revisit this.

The Art of Marketing, Social Media and Social Networking

On Monday I attended a conference entitled Marketing 08: the Art of, it was held at the Sage, Newcastle (fantastic venue!) and hosted by Business Link.

The conference will act as a forum to share knowledge and best practice and hopefully help attendees inject creativity into their marketing plans.

It was a very informative day out. Publicity king Max Clifford was the keynote speaker - very interesting and entertaining. Max considers his job is to "promote and protect" his Clients.

Max has an enviable position - he does not and has not advertised his services, people/businesses come to him! To become a Client of Max's you'll need £20,000 minimum per month (for 6 months!)

Amazing - and all of this on the back of developing the Beatles brand!

The Digital Dialogue session for the day included:
Social Networking (Ian Green of Green Communications)
- an overview of social networking and how it influences media, culture and society globally.

Ian asked the audience of approx 340 if they used Facebook for personal use - majority of people raised their hands, and for business use - dramatically less raised their hands.
He also enquired as to how many had blogs for business and I was shocked to see around less than a 1/4 raised their hands.

Latimer Hinks use social networking to a great extent and seem to be (going by the number of hands raised/not raised) quite forward thinking. We use LinkedIn, Facebook, Blogger and something Ian didn't mention - social bookmarking, Digg, Reddit, Flickr, FurlIt, Stumble.
All of those mentioned are free resources and in this time of financial unease, something businesses should consider using.

Here is a link to Ian's slides
Here's a couple of blog posts i've already made on the subjects
Social Networking Sites and Employment, do they mix?
Social Bookmarking
Social Media Starfish - available media
Web 2, RSS Feeds and their benefits

The second speaker was E-marketing Design (Ian Gibbons of Mobious)
how this new online medium offers a new landscape for creativity.
Ian spoke in numbers -

• there are 25 million online in the UK with an average of 31.1 hours a month in front of the internet.
• £3.5 billion online media spend.
• £110 per second spent by brands online.
• Ads have 4 seconds to capture a visitors interest.
• Today one edition of the Sunday Times contains more information than a 17th Century man faced in a lifetime.

Ian suggested visiting the IBA website for a creative showcase gallery of online ads.

All in all it was a very informative day and to summarise - embrace RSS feeds, blog, bookmark, network socially and "look outside of the box" - try it, apart from time it's all free!!

Helpful Roundup for Bloggers

Throughout this experiement the Social Networking Guineapig has come across all manner of information, podcasts, videos and tips from fellow bloggers that I thought it sensible to dedicate this post to the bloggers and their links without which I would most certainly have struggled.

1) Roger Coathup - 21 Thoughts
If I had not attended the excellent presentation on Web 2 by Roger, the Social Networking Guineapig would not have come into being!

2) Judith Middleton - Judith's Divorce Blog
If I did not have the blogging support of Judith, Partner at Latimer Hinks the Social Networking Guineapig would have no relevance

3) LeeLefever - Common Craft
For his most excellent In Plain English Videos. Wiki's and RSS feeds were gobbeldygook to me until I viewed Common Craft's very simple videos

4) The Online Marketing Blog
for the list of submission URLs for web directories which saved a tremendous amount of time

5) Feedburner and Google Analytics
great services to monitor blog traffic (which be warned, can become addictive!). Feedburner also publishes the blog through RSS feeds.

6) Networking Sites
for providing the opportunity to chat and share knowledge with people/businesses who have similar interests

7) The Internet/ Web 2.0
for providing the potential to target the largest audience in the world! Social Networking Guineapig has been viewed throughout the world, Peru, Canada, India, Russia - the list goes on.

8) The Podcast Sisters
for their weekly informative social media, social bookmarking etc etc podcasts.

Well, that rounds it up for today. There are many more helpful bloggers out there and once you find remember them:

• subscribe to their RSS feed
• bookmark them
• start a converstation/get to know them

See, I have taken the advice onboard!