Leah

While many small businesses are just starting to get their heads around the advantages of using social media to further their business success, it appears that some larger businesses are already clamping down on their employees’ social media freedom. But will it benefit these businesses in the long run?

The organisations in question are both media companies: The Guardian newspaper in the UK and The Washington Post in the US. The crackdown in their journalists’ use of social media tools was sparked after The Post published a controversial article in its ‘On Faith’ section. After complaints made via Twitter, The Post defended the publication, also via their Twitter account – thus inciting a very public debate, with the newspaper’s name on it.

The subsequent guidelines stated that “journalists must refrain from writing, tweeting or posting anything – including photographs or video – that could be perceived as reflecting political racial, sexist, religious or other bias or favoritism that could be used to tarnish our journalistic credibility.” Whilst this might well avoid damaging the reputation of this publication, it puts writers, who are frequently encouraged to convey their personality within their work, in the difficult position of prioritising the publication’s impartiality. This is also applies to their personal accounts, which may still be associated with their newspaper byline, especially by digital readers.

This week, it appears that The Guardian have also followed suit and issued “new social media guidelines for Guardian journalists“, within which staff are reminded of former editor CP Scott’s motto that “comment is free, but facts are sacred.” However, the majority of the guidelines take a slightly more lenient approach than The Post, and place emphasis on the need to “take responsibility for the conversations you start”.

But is this type of social media restriction to the benefit of small businesses? Or is this, perhaps, a rare example of where small companies shouldn’t follow quite so keenly in the footsteps of larger organisations?

Of course, neither of these institutions would wish to end public interaction altogether. The Post’s statement goes on to say, “our readers are free to respond and we provide them a venue to do so…but once we enter a debate personally through social media, this would be equivalent to allowing a reader to write a letter to the editor – and then publishing a rebuttal by the reporter.” This suggests that, despite being one of the most internet-savvy publications, The Post still regards social media as being somewhat unprofessional when not being used to simply issue sound-bites and article links.

However, whether this will preserve credibility in the eyes of readers remains to be seen. The fact that The Post’s senior-post editor, Raju Narisetti, has already closed his Twitter account speaks volumes about how far staff will be prepared to censor their opinions in the name of impartiality.

Journalism, in particular, is a field which relies on a certain amount of engagement with its readers. Journalist Roy Greenslade has already stated that The Post’s “memo smacks of ‘big media’ arrogance”, and it is very possible that this could be the effect generated by small businesses who attempt similar practices.

Social media has proved an essential form of audience building for newspapers – which, in the world of businesses, equates to customer building. Media-focussed writer Glynnis MacNicol has already gone as far as to ask whether these organisations are “signing their own death sentence” with such strict guidelines. Whilst these large companies might not suffer at the hand of such restrictions, there is every chance that smaller businesses might. Whilst exposing a personal opinion can be a risky practice within a professional arena, successful businesses are undoubtedly aided by the building of client relationships – which most of us would have to agree have only been enhanced by the introduction of social media technology.

As police forces prepare to face budget cuts in the government’s Spending Review on 20th October, Greater Manchester Police turned to the world of social media in order to emphasise their need for continued funding.

Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is one of the UK’s largest police forces, yet they felt that much of their work went unnoticed as it was “not recognised in league tables and measurements“. In a move aimed at making both the government and the public more aware of their extensive workload, GMP have set up a Twitter account.

Actually, they set up four: @gmp24_1, @gmp24_2, @gmp24_3 and @gmp_4, due to Twitter limits. Altogether, the social media experiment involved tweeting some 3,205 incidents dealt with by officers over a 24 hour period, which resulted in a total of 341 arrests across Greater Manchester.

The tweets ranged from the slightly humorous “reports of four foot doll or robot on Princess Parkway near M56″, to more serious calls detailing various assaults. But, as GMP stressed, it was important to remember that each of the tweets was a genuine call which they had received, which was costing them time and money to deal with.

As with many topics, social media can provide a brilliant platform for making a stand, as well as gaining public support and nationwide recognition. The GMP Twitter profile went from having 3,000 followers to well over 14,000 during the 24 hour period, partly as a result of the media attention the campaign received.

The experiment also went further, in that it exposed the astounding number of calls received on a daily basis from either people who have accidentally dialled 999, or children calling the police unintentionally whilst playing with phones.

GMP Chief Constable Peter Fahy believes police performance needs to be measured in a different way, calling for revaluation of how police forces are funded ahead of the Spending Review. While we’ll have to wait until the 20th October to find out if, and how, this social media experiment might have affected outcome of the Review, it’s certainly worth considering what the impact of this campaign signifies.

Whilst GMP might not exactly be a small business, they are an organisation that many take for granted. The social media platform of Twitter has not only succeeded in bringing them into the public eye, but the many replies sent to GMP also indicated that the public (and hopefully the government) were somewhat surprised by the extent of their service. In this sense, the campaign has already had a positive effect, and one that small businesses can certainly learn from.

It’s official, using social media can have numerous benefits for small businesses. But what if you just don’t know where to start? Perhaps you don’t run the sort of business where you are able to invest a significant amount of time utilising the many social media platforms available.

Well, MePlease have got the answer. By integrating social media with mobile phone technology, they offer businesses the ability to to reach new clients – and all they have to do is provide their customers with a ‘treat’.

This site is already proving popular with the public, partly due to the fact that it allows its users to control the amount of interaction businesses have with them – drawing in those who would be perhaps less likely to sign up to a mailing list.

The basic premise is this: visitors sign up online and decide which businesses they’d like to hear from, and how often. The businesses then offer treats, which can range from discounts to upgrades or freebies. This not only draws in new customers but, unlike one-off promotional vouchers, allows businesses to keep in contact with their customers, and notify them of further offers. They also encourage users to post details of the treats they have signed up for on various social networking platforms, thus spreading the word about MePlease, and promoting the businesses involved.

Businesses who have already subscribed to the MePlease service include big brand names such as Cineworld, PizzaExpress, Jack Wills, and Bella Italia, as well as small businesses such as Got Fitness and Waxy O’Connors.

However, theirs is not a completely original idea. Foursquare cottoned on to the advertising potential of their location-based social networking game some time ago. With a similar concept to MePlease’s treats system, businesses registered with Foursquare offer ‘specials’: special offers which can be activated by frequent visitors to a particular place and, of course, the ‘mayor’ of a particular location.

Although Foursquare does not engage with all mobile phone users, it does appeal to those accessing social media through a smart phone. It also alerts customers that might be nearby to a venue which gives special treatment to Foursquare users, which gives location-specific appeal over the likes of MePlease.

On the other hand, businesses who feel that that un-prompted promotions are not appropriate or beneficial for the service or product which they offer might consider registering with Groupon. Groupon are possibly the most established site in the promotion of businesses, particularly spa, theatre and restaurant deals.

Despite not actually being a social networking site in their own right, Groupon has undoubtedly achieved notoriety through link-sharing on the likes of Facebook and Twitter. Groupon have harnessed what they call “collective buying power” in that, rather than offering the deals to everyone straight away, the discounts are not activated until a minimum number of people have bought that particular deal.

This has proved popular with businesses, as it takes away the risky element that comes with giving away free products. It does not rely on the likelihood of great deals bringing in more custom, it makes sure that they do.

Bar and restaurant businesses are currently seen to be the forerunners in this form of social media self-promotion, but it is not a service available to them exclusively. Fashion website vente-privee.com work alongside a variety of clothes retailers to offer exclusive offers on a variety of designer brands for a limited time only.

The ‘members-only’ appeal of this site, as well as the rewards for making purchases and inviting friends to join, means this site has also benefited from referrals made through social media. With sites like this on the rise, it is unlikely to be long before a whole variety of businesses are able to benefit from similar services.

So if you know you need to be using social media to improve your small business success, but find the whole concept totally bewildering, then worry not! It is certainly worth considering signing up to services such as these, who know exactly how to maximise the promotional potential of these interactive platforms, and will happily do it for you.

Literary folk were always going to love social media networks. It gives them the change to promote their work, engage with readers and even find inspiration – something which they often miss out on as most authors are not in the public eye in the same way that actors and musicians are. In fact, it seems that many members of the literary world have got so good at using social media that most small businesses could stand to learn a thing or two from their techniques.

One of the best, so it would seem, at utilising social networking platform Twitter, is Canadian author Margaret Atwood. Atwood has written a number of successful novels, such as The Edible Woman and The Handmaid’s Tale, but lately she’s turned her hand to a spot of artwork. After speaking with two of her followers (@DrSnit and @kidney-boy) on Twitter about US comic book convention ComicCon, she designed them their very own avatars (pictured), featuring each follower as a superhero.

The fans were said to be thrilled at being given the designs by such a renowned author, and will no doubt remain lifelong fans. But aside from these two lucky Tweeters, the events have drawn significant attention to Atwood and, of course, drawn in a whole host of new fans and followers.

While many may feel that the worlds of literary fiction and social media are a million mile apart, others have been see quick to see the potential for merging the two together. Last year, Twitter users began tweeting tongue-in-cheek plot summaries of classic novels. These included:

Great Expectations – charlesdickens: Orphan given £££ by secret follower. He thinks it’s @misshavisham but it turns out to be @magwitch

and

Bridget Jones’s Diary – helenfielding: RT @janeausten Woman meets man called Darcy who seems horrible. He turns out to be nice really. They get together.

‘Hashtagging’ allows for such trends to gain publicity worldwide, and one Tweeter, Tim Collins, has even published a collection of his own plot summaries into a book: The Little Book of Twitter – a business venture all on its own.

In a sense, authors are their very own business venture. Like most businesses, they known the importance of networking, and the opportunities that social media platforms provides to them for connecting with others in the same field. Re-tweeting useful or humorous comments made by other authors can be seen as a nod of approval, helping them gain more followers and offering the opportunity to engage. As well as writers, Twitter is also used by a number of literary agents and other members of the publishing industry, who it can also be great for authors to communicate with.

However, as mentioned before, authors are also keen to connect with the general public. Lists provide the perfect opportunity for writers to connect with their target audience. For example, an author who is looking to write a book about a fashion designer in London could follow lists based on London living, fashion designing or even more specific lists for fans of other works of fiction on a similar topic. Of course, there are now many lists of authors writing in a particular style or genre, which will also serve to benefit the authors in question.

The message that the literary world seems to give out about using social media is that it is very much a two-way street. Not only can it be an essential form of engaging with potential customers, but it is also a very effective way of enhancing your end product, and making sure that your work meets its full potential. The value of networking with both industry professionals and your target demographic is, of course, something small businesses need to make the most of.

One of the UK’s biggest children’s charity organisations, Children in Need, has announced that this year they will be using social media in order to boost online donations. But how can smaller organisations and businesses benefit from using similar techniques?

The annual televised charity appeal has always been keen to incorporate innovative fund-raising methods. Back in 1980, Children in Need became the beneficiaries of the first BBC “telethon” event – a format that has been used since by this and other charities.

Undoubtedly, the entertainment aspect of this event will have a positive effect in connection with social media platforms. Twitter itself is occasionally described as being, essentially, just a group of people watching the same TV programme – something that Twitter’s ‘trending topics’ can sometimes seem to confirm. The integration of social networking websites with other forms of media is certainly worth noting in relation to small business success.

This year, Children in Need are taking it one step further by asking supporters to wear “a pair of virtual spotty ears” in return for a £1 donation. The difference between offering this internet novelty – as opposed to, for example, Comic Relief’s physical red nose – is that used will be able to share their ear-wearing picture online.

Those wishing to acquire the Pudsey-esque ears can simply visit http://www.pudseyears.co.uk/ to make their online donation, upload a photo, and then receive their virtual-ear-wearing picture. It might sound like digital overload, but the concept has already proved popular with football fans, who often add their club’s logo to their Twitter profile picture in order to show their affiliation.

Affiliation with particular interests and beliefs is hugely popular within the world of social media, as demonstrated by the popularity of Facebook’s ‘Become a fan of’ and ‘Like’ application. Small businesses that are able to benefit from this are usually those who have an attractive image or positive connotations to their brand name.

Allowing users to wear an ‘I’ve donated to charity!’ badge is not only an attractive prospect to many, but it’s also extremely easy and requires minimal effort on their behalf. Another company which is utilising the easily accessible nature of social media is clothing brand Gap, albeit for slightly less charitable reasons.

This is the fifth year of Gap’s Casting Call campaign, which allows parents of children aged 0 to 10-years-old to enter their children in a competition with the chance to star in either the store’s babyGap or GapKids window advertisements, and other promotional materials. However, this year Gap have launched an iPhone app to make the application process even easier.

Once again, this relies on digital media, with the concept being that you can take a photo on your iPhone camera and send it straight into the competition. After that, you’ll need to get friends and family to download the app too, so they can start voting for your child to win.

The child who receives the most votes will receive a $1,000 Gap gift card in addition to the photo shoot prize – which is probably a fraction of the amount that Gap will make from all the iPhone app downloads. But while the prize alone would be enough motivation for some parents, it is unlikely that Gap would receive quite so many entries had they not made use of the almost effortless entry process that is granted to them through such social media platforms.

Although these are both examples of large-scale business implementation of such techniques, they could certainly be adapted to be used by many small businesses. The undemanding nature of using social media to initiate client interaction and publicity certainly appeals to the digital generation, and it is one way in which any organisation might harness the public’s enthusiasm to publicly associate themselves with certain brands and products, and use it to their own advantage.

For the most part, social media benefit the majority of small businesses. They are fantastically popular with the public – but what happens when various forms of social media fall out of favour with their users? And what does it mean for small businesses?

Yesterday, social networking giant, Facebook, went off-line, leaving some users unable to use the site for up to two hours (yikes!). Facebook Software Engineering Director, Robert Johnson, reportedly said it was “the worst outage we’ve had in over four years”. Almost as soon as the site was back up and running, the backlash began. Despite Facebook offering a free and largely reliable service, public outrage at the disruption was quickly vented for all to see.

Meanwhile, many users chose to complain about the inconvenience on rival social networking site, Twitter. Customers and clients of any business can be incredibly fickle, yet the rise of social networking makes any such complaints much more public, causing potential damage to a company’s reputation.

The detrimental effect of public opinion was certainly felt by global oil company BP during the catastrophic spill off the Gulf of Mexico earlier this year. In this instance, social networking websites were not the victim of negative publicity, but simply the vehicle for it. Perhaps none more so that Twitter, which was host to the @bpglobalpr account, run by a comedian known only as Leroy Stick.

Stick used satirical humour to provide other tweeters with a platform from which to vent their anger at the situation. Whilst the company quickly set up an official account (@bp_america), they received only a fraction of the amount of followers gained by Stick and his fake account. Once YouTube got in on the action, with users posting a plethora of satirical videos on the site, it was game over for the company’s reputation.

Everyone’s favourite search engine, Google, have also faced the wrath of the wrath of ever-changing public opinion this week. First it was Google’s chief executive Eric E. Schmidt who faced the sort of privacy accusations that Facebook are far more used to dealing with. Speaking on US TV show, The Colbert Report, Schmidt was asked if Google was able to store information about its users, to which he jokingly replied “It’s true that we see your searches, but we forget them after a while”. Although a flippant joke, this quickly turned to negative press which could well be detrimental to Google itself. It could also affect those companies which have chosen to use the site to advertise their own business.

Google also ran into trouble this week regarding their Street View technology. Google’s ability to provide panoramic photographic images of roads up and down the country has proved particularly favourable with small businesses those looking to encourage interaction with those outside of the company, as it offers increased accessibility.

However, there are clearly those who do not welcome the idea. This was soon discovered by Google’s camera-cars as they took to the Channel Island of Guernsey with the intent to collect image data for the area, which is yet to be included in the Street View mapping. The cars were found with their tyres slashed and cables cut – not exactly a subtle indication of the hostility that some residents feel towards Google’s mapping plans.

Meanwhile, it seems that even those businesses who are not affected by the public’s fluctuating relationship with social media platforms might be suffering from technological mishaps this week. In France, thieves took advantage of the ‘pneumatic tube’ system used to transport money from supermarket checkouts in a way that is, supposedly, secure. By drilling a hole in the tube, they used a powerful vacuum cleaner to simply siphon the money out of the system…

The general popularity of various social media platforms means they are likely to remain an overwhelmingly popular and successful means for small businesses to connect with clients and customers. However, they often serve as an example of the volatile nature of public opinion, especially that which frequently accompanies the anonymity which they themselves provide – and this is certainly something which many businesses can learn from.

The naming of a small business can be a defining moment in its formation. You’ve come up with the concept, got your head around the logistics, and maybe even assembled a team to help put it all into practice. But at some point along the way, you’ll have to decide on a name.

It can be a daunting prospect because, one you’ve chosen it, its not easy to go back. Social media sites are undoubtedly among those which suffer from the most pressure when choosing their names, due to their overtly public nature. Thus, businesses who plan to use social media networks to engage with the public and advertise their products or services are likely to face similar difficulties in choosing a name. Here’s the lowdown on why company names can be so important, and how to get it right the first time around:

1. What it says on the tin.

All too often, small businesses fall into the trap of coming up with a catchy name that is much too obscure. If the name doesn’t reflect what the business stands for, it will quickly be forgotten. Facebook is a great example of the ‘does what it says on the tin’ company name.

The newly launched Diaspora, on the other hand, might not enjoy quite the same connotations. The faux-definition provided on the site claims that diaspora is “the privacy aware, personally controlled, do-it-all distributed open source social network” – perfect! Unfortunately the dictionary definition, and the one that will resonate more frequently with most people, is that diaspora is “the scattering of the Jews to countries outside of Palestine after the Babylonian captivity” – not, perhaps, quite the image they were going for.

2. Dress to impress.

One of the things that small businesses are most dependant upon is funding from investors. Although social media often offers businesses a cost-free platform for self-promotion, many simply wouldn’t have anything to promote without initial funding from external investors.

Search engine giant, Google is a great example of an impressive business name. It comes from the word ‘googol’, which is the name of the number comprised of a 1 followed by 100 zeros – a name that started as a joke about the amount of information the engine would be able to search. After the founders presented their ideas to an investor, they reportedly received a cheque made out to ‘Google’.

3. The domain game

The rise of companies taking their business online means that it has suddenly become more important than ever that a business name is ‘web-friendly’. Although social networking sites offer great ways to make your business well-known, you’ll want to own a domain name for clients to link back to. Therefore it’s vital to check that the domain you’re after is available when it comes to naming your business.

Again, it is social media application Foursquare that provides a perfect example of this. Foursquare have stated that they chose the name of a playground game because it was “designed to be fun and playful”. But when founder Dennis Crowley first tried to register the domain name it was unavailable, so he called his company Dodgeball instead.

4. I guess you had to be there.

Although it’s a great idea to give your small business a straight-forward name that reflects exactly what your company stands for, some successful businesses have managed to create a memorable brand from something which started out as a company in-joke. One reason why this might not be such a bad idea is that is provides teams just starting out on a business venture with a strong sense of unity and morale. Being ‘in on the joke’ might give initial employees the feeling of being included in the company’s formation, and as such they’ll be particularly keen to see it do well.

Yahoo! is one example of this. The word ‘yahoo’ was not originally an attention-grabbing warble, as portrayed by the Yahoo! advertising campaign, but a term coined by eighteenth century satirical novelist Jonathan Swift, and used to portray the uncouth Neanderthal-like creatures in Gulliver’s Travels. Yahoo!‘s founders, Jerry Yang and David Filo, reportedly thought this to be an accurate representation of themselves, and so decided upon this as the name for their joint venture.

5. Going logo.

Lastly, the rise of social media and digital marketing in general has placed further importance on the use of the association between companies and their logos. Whilst this might have once been something of an after-thought when it came to branding a small business, it is now worth considering from the outset, and especially when deciding upon a company name.

Whilst this might not quite have been the thinking behind computer brand Apple, it’s certainly been influential in developing the company’s unique image. The rumours surrounding the decision to name the company Apple range from the fact that Steve Jobs used to work on an apple farm, to the he was a big fan of The Beatles, who founded Apple Records. However, it is ability to use this name in conjunction with the infamous Apple icon which is responsible for such an instantly recognisable brand.

Twitter has also enjoyed similar benefits. Although the name was reportedly pulled from a hat containing other names along the same line (such as Jitter), the name Twitter has made the most of its associations with ‘tweeting’, with the ‘twitter bird’ symbol being especially useful for the company’s affiliation with mobile devices.

As proved by Starbucks and Converses and use of the word ‘movie’, you can bet you you bottom dollar (pound) that if the American’s are drinking/wearing/doing it, it won’t be long before we are too.

Launched last Thursday, and currently only available in the States, is the new Facebook application ‘Facebook Places’. Places allows you to ‘check in’ at your current location, giving friends the opportunity to see your whereabouts immediately. Are you coincidently attending the same event? Brilliant! Have you skipped their dull birthday ‘do to attend something far more glamorous? Not so brilliant…

As if this wasn’t likely to become addictive enough, you can also tag those that are with you, like you would in a photo or status update, as well as browse other people who are checked in at the same place. Obviously, this has raised numerous privacy issues – something which the site is all too familiar with dealing with.

But what’s the implication for small businesses? Aside making it even easier for skiving employees to be caught out by a social networking slip-up, there are several advantages to using geolocation technology.

Twitter has offered geolocation for tweets since last year, as well as its ‘local trends’ feature allowing local business the ability to promote themselves as a ‘trending topic’. Location tagging network Foursquare also found popularity with small businesses, many which used the opportunity as a free platform to get themselves noticed amongst local customers. Of course, now that Facebook’s caught up, the site’s tendency to crush its competitors (i.e. The Myspace Effect) could see changes in the way geolocation is implemented elsewhere.

Facebook’s huge online presence means this latest development is likely to be even more effective for small businesses aiming to benefit from geolocation technology. Businesses in less commercial regions are advised to offer incentives to customers on geolocation networks in order to generate interest and draw people in from more tech-savvy areas. Teaming up with other local businesses to do this can be even more profitable for the companies involved, as well as the local area.

Geolocation content also has the advantage of operating in realtime, and by featuring in conjunction with social networking sites it offers businesses the opportunity to utilise valuable social interaction. Many businesses already use static location services, such as GPS, but the social aspect of applications such as Facebook Places are much more effective when it comes to networking opportunities.

Of course, businesses (large or small) will be well aware that no amount of advertising can beat social recommendations from real people, and Facebook Places could well be the answer into generating such valuable publicity. Yet whether a rise in corporate use of geolocation technology from those keen to make their make their mark using social media might result in little more then irritating promotional advertisements and more organised after-work socials is yet to be seen.