social networking

Making Social Media Work for You and Your Business

Making Social Media Work for You and Your Business

John Davis July 16, 2012 Planning

With so many people around the world participating in social media, there is a huge opportunity for businesses to communicate with the consumer. According to statistics in its IPO, Facebook, the largest and most popular social network, currently has 845 million monthly active users (Techcrunch, February 2012). For a growing business, this equates to 845 million potential customers. Social media opens the door for businesses to listen to what customers are saying about their products and respond to all comments, whether positive or negative. Advertising on social media has become one of the quickest and most cost-effective ways to reach a wide audience. A survey by Regus 2011 has shown that 42% of small businesses win business using social media, compared to 35% of companies that have over ... »

Workers See Social Networking Risk to Personal and Corporate Security

September 7, 2011 News

One in six (17%) UK employees consider social networking such as Facebook and LinkedIn a major risk to corporate security, according to new research from global risk consultancy Protiviti. The research also found that three in ten (28%) believe that social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn pose a real risk to their own personal security. The use of social networking within UK businesses has soared in recent times, with employees using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter for marketing and other processes, including recruitment. However, according to Protiviti’s research, privacy and security are major concerns for users, with employees calling for clearer guidelines on social media usage in the workplace. When asked whether employers should do more or less to explain to staff the principles... »

Social Networking Comes of Age

January 27, 2011 News

Social networking is entering a new phase and is increasingly being taken seriously as an aid to learning, according to a new survey by SkillSoft. Whereas in 2010, social networking in the workplace was mainly used for marketing/PR and brand awareness purposes, this year, a significant 73% said they were using it to share information between colleagues, customers and clients. Of those using e-learning within their organisation (79%), over one-third (35%) said they had already incorporated an element of social networking within the programme. “When social networking was first introduced into the business environment, many firms couldn’t see beyond using it to promote their brand.  However these results reveal the growing number that have looked further and have discovered the value of socia... »

6 Traps to Avoid in Social Networking

July 20, 2010 Sales & Marketing

If you want to get an idea of the growing impact of social networking, just type something like “Facebook growth graph 2010” into Google. With more than 450 million (and counting) active users, as a marketer it’s hard not to be excited about the potential. Adding to the impression that this is a field that matters, Twitter has reached over 100 million social activists, increasing by 300k per day. YouTube is another hot spot, with yet another case of extraordinary growth. The great strength of social networks is that they work the way we humans do. They succeed by conversation and interaction and this explains their rapid growth. This is all great theory, but it’s important for businesses to understand this principle in order to avoid the tank traps that lie in wait. If you indu... »

Is Your Business Benefiting from Social Networking?

December 16, 2009 Sales & Marketing

Benjamin Dyer is CEO for ecommerce & EPoS supplier SellerDeck and tells you how. Whenever I talk to web businesses, there is a topic that comes up time and time again: social networks. Love them or loath them, 2009 really was the year social networking went mainstream. The pessimists will have you believe this is fuelled by our celebrity-obsessed culture and almost narcissistic fascination with ego searches. However, social networking is bigger than Stephen Fry’s breakfast and hopefully by the end of this article you will see how you can use social networking sites like Twitter to bring some real business benefit. Twitter, the biggest phenomenon of the genre, operates around the open questions “What’s happening?”, and you only have 140 characters to answer. Looking at my own twee... »

Social Networking allows Business ID Fraud

Social Networking allows Business ID Fraud

October 12, 2009 News

Businesses using social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter do not have enough protection against damaging “cyber-squatters”, online business network Ecademy has warned, writes Kate Horstead. According to Ecademy, fraudsters are taking advantage of inadequate verification procedures on some social networking sites, and cyber-squatting. This is a process where fraudsters set up accounts with similar names to existing members, and use them to express opinions or release false information that can damage that individual’s reputation. “With the rise in cases of identity theft across the web, anonymous abuse and cyber-bullying, online networkers need reassurance that social networks are doing everything they can to ensure the web is a trusted and safe place to ... »

British Library

British Library events help Firms Skills

October 25, 2008 News

The British Library has launched a series of free workshops to help businesses–owners and aspiring entrepreneurs improve their skills. Forthcoming workshops include ‘Web 2.0 Made Easy’, which will look at how online social networking can raise the profile of a business, and ‘Understanding Intellectual Property’, which will cover issues such as copyright, design and patents. British Library spokeswoman Suvi Kankainen said: “The core purpose of the British Library’s Business &IP Centre is to support SMEs and entrepreneurs from the initial spark of inspiration through to successfully launching and developing a business,” “As well as extensive resources and expertise, we offer a comprehensive programme of free events to help businesses ... »

Networking

Market Slowdown Firms find Customers via Social Networking

August 12, 2008 News

The economic downturn has caused increasing numbers of businesses to use social networking websites as a low–cost way of reaching potential customers, according to business networking website Ecademy. Penny Power, founder of the website, said membership of Ecademy has doubled in the last year. According to Power, online networking sites offer an economical way for businesses to market themselves, and networking is increasingly important for firms wanting to survive the recession. “It saves resources and it’s a very low–cost method of marketing yourself,” said Power. “Because of the fear of recession, people are thinking of ways to reach new customers as they can’t be sure their clients will stay with them. There are many examples of people recommen... »