Using social media in business

When studying an entrepreneurial course it is really great to be in a university where they have a high focus on it, help us and support us, and offer a wide range of helpful events. The other day I attended a masterclass about how to use social media right when doing business. The session was held by the very talented Lisa Myers from the company Verve Search. It was a really interesting and helpful class, and Lisa clearly knew what she was talking about.

Social media has evolved in an incredible, unbelievable speed the last years, and we don’t seem to be able to avoid it, neither on a personal level or when doing business. This video gives an idea about the revolution of social media

When you start realising the amount of people it’s possible to reach through social media you quickly understand that it would be stupid to avoid using social media in business! As a short introduction to social media, I will use some of Lisa’s presentation content because I thought it was very clarifying.
What is social media? If you ask around about it, you will probably get answers like these:

But this it NOT social media.
Social media is all about YOU, and what WE DO with the technological tools like Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, etc…It’s about communicating via these tools; using the tools and add something that gives meaning for you and who you are trying to reach.
It is important to always thing about why you are using social media, and what your objective for using it is.

I am not going to go in to too much details about what all the media Lisa talked about, but here are some small tips to think about:

BLOGGING: A blog should be your business’ social home on the web, a place where you give your product a personal voice, and where you develop a positive online reputation. Use a blog to reach a wider audience. Hosting your own site is beneficial!
TWITTER: NOT a broadcasting tool, but a COMMUNICATION tool. Follow, comment, listen and communicate with others that have the same interests. Don’t overthink your tweets, try to be personal.
FACEBOOK: people are usually more “relaxed” on Facebook, and uses it most for personal matters. I really liked this metaphor that Lisa gave us: Facebook is the sofa in the livingroom and Twitter is the kitchen. In the sofa you relax and disconnect, it is in the kitchen you are active and talk and communicate.

I really enjoyed this session , mostly because it was not just a class where someone talked about theory and how things could be, but we were given very specific examples on how to do things, and I felt it was a very helpful and useful session to attend. I feel I understand a bit better now how to use some of the social media in our business in a right and effective way.

– This class gave me the push I needed to start getting more active on Twitter, so follow me and tweet me: @SusanneFagervik

 

First trade fair

Last Thursday, we participated with CUFF’D on our first trade fair. It was set at Kingston University, Penhryn Road. We hadn’t had much time to meet and plan the fair, but with the brilliant creative minds of my team-mates we decided what to bring and the theme of our stand. We set it up, under the supervision of Hanna, and got a really good result!

It was an exciting evening. It was really fun seeing other groups business ideas and products, and how they made their stands. There are so many good ideas around!
But the point of the evening was of course to promote our product: CUFF’D. It was so much fun when people stopped by, asking what it was, and seeing their expressions when we showed them that it’s not just a regular cuff, but also has the pockets for cards and coins. And so many really liked the idea and our products. There was also surprisingly many boys stopping by, showing interest for it, and asking if we had the cuff for guys as well! We have been thinking about it before, that we want to make one for men as well, and this really encouraged us even more. We got some tips about the design by talking to the guys, so making a male-version could be the next step for us!

All in all, the fair was very good, and we got to add a good number of people on our ordering-list. And to make the fair even better, we won a (cash) prize, and overall performance award, for our stand 😀 Congratulations to the other teams who also won nice prices, for best stand, best product and best sales people! The judges were from young enterprises, so this ment a lot to us, and ensured us that we are doing something right 🙂 They also gave us some great advice about the next fair, which will be in Kingston town centre in a couple of weeks!

We got to experience that a fair is really a good way to show of a product. This fair was not particularly big, and I think most of the people there were from the other teams, but we still got to get in contact with a lot of people, show of our product, show them how it works and let potential customers try it on. And I believe it is easier for someone to buy something they have tried, and to buy from people you met and who (hopefully) gave you a good impression 🙂
There are a great number of fairs and markets in London; Camden market, Portobello market and Brick Lane Market to mention a few. Our plan is to go to at least one of these and test out the CUFF’D there as well, and hopefully sell some. Fairs and markets are such a good opportunity for a new, small enterprise to get out in the market and find customers, something every team should really consider. Check out the links for more information about markets, and get your product out to the public: http://londonmarkets.co.uk/ http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/markets.htm http://gotcraft.com/london/aroundtown

GOOD LUCK 😀