Operations File: Customers training you

We are all customers and therefore we all at times get frustrated when services and products fail. It annoys  us precisely because of the waste of time and money that could be more productively spent.

An extract of an email I sent to a customer service team regarding an IT product:

"I would assume the answer is yes, but clarification would be appreciated. Naturally I will test drive this theory of mine with or without you responding, but I can hardly recommend a company or it's services if it doesn't understand the needs of it's customers.

I happen to have worked with hundreds of programmes, so it is always incredibly frustrating for the user to have to explore how each system works. Know the feeling? I point blank refuse to use any that expect me to be trained to fit how it operates when it becomes too much of a hassle. Programmes and systems are supposed to be useful tools whereby we control them, NOT the other way around.

If your company wishes to continue to be successful it would be wise to bear that in mind as the rate of progress is such that one of your competitors will respond more quickly, understand more easily and thereby take your customers away from you. Fair warning I feel ..."

Feel free to take a similar stance to chivvy things along if you don't already do so. Start-ups tend to be more afraid to do so than larger enterprises which have the benefit of experience of wording things to ensure they get the service they expect and pay for. But what of the effect on the customer service departments and their staff?

The role of customer services

It is only right for customers to complain when services are below par regardless of whether it is a business or a community service. Without that information how can any organisation fix the problems? In my tweets I have let complained at politicians because I am a customer. Not only that, I am one of their employers as my taxes pay their salaries. In effect, we are all their bosses. The same principle applies even to government departments. The point is we are always customers ourselves and should always be aware of how we all prefer to be treated.

It should therefore become abundantly apparent as to what the role of customer service staff is. They have to have extraordinary abilities in tact, diplomacy and empathy to be of any use. Added to which they need to be resilient to the point of being thick-skinned at times and, preferably unafraid to kick their bosses to respond to serious complaints promptly which could otherwise bring that enterprise into disrepute and thereby loose the trust of their clients and customers.

It is also essential that customer services work closely with marketing teams as the last thing you need is the latter going off on some spurious tangent of their own just because there's an opportunity for marketing before things are firmly in place to deliver things. Large companies which take the attitude that they don't need to bother with small fry are quite frankly, foolish, because among those smaller concerns (including individuals) you never know who they know or may come to know and people always, always, always talk when it comes to bad experiences.

I stated exactly that on being told that if I didn't want the freelance work offered (which didn't even cover the travel expenses to get to it), there were plenty of others what would. The result of my saying that was an offer of a meeting with the management of the company which I declined as in the interim I'd heard rumours that 'pay' was subsidised by illegal drugs. Not wishing to become a drug addict, the company was of zero interest to me. I believe it no longer trades which is rather pleasing to know. So even as an employee we can shop for the best service (employer) we are able to afford.

Employers be warned as you'd be amazed at what your workers can learn from just what they witness. I've perhaps gleaned more than most from working in administration, operations and at many a corporate event as a technician. It pays dividends to communicate and be inclusive of staff at all times as that in itself will enhance your customer's experience by ensuring that whoever a client talks to is genuinely upbeat about your organisation for the right reasons.

TOP TIP: Trust people for what they do, not what they say and look for consistency of effort.

Great oaks

Great oaks only grow from small acorns and if you work hard on networking opportunities you will eventually lead to a good return for that investment in some way. It undoubtedly pays to be polite as much as possible, but one should never be afraid to stand up to any form of bullying or stupidity. Customer service staff should be trained, and trained well to deal with instances of exasperated customers. If they are not, then you only have yourselves to blame for the consequences.

In a recession of course there is more safety in numbers than in putting all your eggs in one basket. My first stint of entrepreneurship came when I was production manager of a typesetting company in the 1980s recession. I wasn't a director of the company but I was responsible for production, credit control, invoicing and jointly responsible for customer services when I was still in my early twenties.

While our competitors chased after big contracts, we had a healthier balance of small, medium and large customers as our client base. While our competitors charged more and only supplied proof-reading as an additional fee, we did not. While our competitors in effect bullied their customers into thinking that they were only tolerated if they matched their standards (snobbery tactics), we did not. The result was that we secured overspill work from multinationals including Loctite UK and EMI on a subcontract basis and our competitors went under.

It was still viable when I resigned with only one month's salary to move on with. I chose to turn freelance to gain a broader experience. Eventually the company folded after I left but I cannot comment as to why as I wasn't privy to anything that happened after my departure one way or another. Perhaps it was one customer too many that didn't pay their bill or one investment too many - who knows. I don't.

This highlights another role of customer service professionals - they need to be kept informed about bad debts and agreement as to how to handle customers who have not paid their bills, if only in who they should pass that customer onto when they make contact. It is surprising how many businesses fail to do so with the result that the customer feels they are in favour with one department, but not with another... trust me they will milk that for all it's worth. 

Symbiotic relations

The way in which the best customer service professionals work is very much through building relationships rather than by dictating rules. They should be informing operational managers and company directors of what clients are interested in for the future but also enticing customers into being interested in everything that the company is providing. They are your front line PR team and should always be highlighting products and services that customers might wish to explore as a means of developing themselves. There is little point trying to sell conference facilities to children's entertainers, but the same facilities might be of interest to host parties to both the entertainers and their customers. Talk to both.

Clients who run seminars might also wish to run awards and require some form of entertainment which in turn may lead to you needing to hire entertainers, thereby building not only business but relationships between your own clients which will encourage them all to make use of your services more. And it is your customer service team who are the usually the first point of contact to raise such possibilities simply because their role entails that they should know your clients best. Every conversation they have could lead to new opportunities and ways in which to improve and develop your business. In effect customer service teams are also part sales reps and marketing professionals too.

As people we tend to be most interested in others when they show an interest in us first. Therefore there is no point employing people who do not like conversation and who do not listen properly in a customer service role. The best way of all to gain respect, gratitude, loyalty and trust from your customers is to be honest and be genuine. Faking such things is luckily quite hard as most of us have strong instincts about when we are being lied to.

In essence our relations will always benefit from being honest even to the point of us saying when we cannot deliver something as promised. We know ourselves that we would rather have prior warning of something that is going to be cancelled, late or postponed than to be told at the last minute. So why I wonder do people bother lying when furious responses are the most likely outcome?

TOP TIP: Focus on the content of your client's communication, not the how or who.

The same complaint might come from several sources or only one, but every complaint should be considered to be valid. Dismissing a person or the manner in which they communicate to you could lead to you missing out on a pitfall that could affect many. Don't do it.

Customers should always be training us through informing us about what works for them and what doesn't, without them, none of us would have jobs and no business can evolve, develop and grow. The customer may not always be right, but they will never fail to tell you when you are which I always think is helpful. Remember that usually when we are wrong it's because we haven't done enough to inform people about what we can or cannot provide. With considered communication customers can be brought to a level of understanding of why you work the way you do. After that it is very much up to them as to whether or not they wish to stick with you.

Never try to emulate exactly what competitors do as your client has to have a reason of some kind to prefer and choose you. Identify and be consistent about your Unique Selling Point (USP). Yes you may lose some clients because of it, but hopefully not the ones you wish to attract. (See Operations file on marketing).

Finally, I had profuse apologies over that IT service with the result that the company in question is now on probation while I test drive it's products. Best they don't let me down again, as there are always other service providers out there aren't there? In common with 99% of major companies their USP isn't down to customer service, nor should it be, nevertheless it still matters and will always be a vital element to determine their and your continued success or potential for failure.

Research File: Three essential preparations for success in marketing

Following on from 'The lynch pins of efficiency' I thought it might be worth sharing and extolling the brilliance of a few another group of highly skilled and helpful professionals if you're budget will stretch to be able to afford the employ them. Namely marketing professionals which often double up as sales reps and customer service professionals too.

Customer Services and Marketing departments should, in my opinion at all times, be working closely together. Be aware that although there can be and often is much crossover in smaller companies the knowledge base and skills are very distinctive in what they do. Do not confuse the two disciplines. Both can increase or reduce profit margins of the best of strategic plans for any type of organisation, it all depends on whether you have selected, invested and instructed wisely. The rule of Garbage In = Garbage Out (GIGO) applies to any and all.

For the purposes of this article, I will concentrate on Marketing and follow up with a separate one on Customer Services. For the small enterprise it is debatable as to which you start employing staff to do first. My advice is to go with personnel with who will cover your weakest area in skills, knowledge and interest. As ever it is pointless to employ anyone if you are then not going to trust in what they are employed to do and end up doing it yourself. So if you enjoy marketing and are less comfortable with customer service issues or simply find you don't have that much time for them employ a customer service person, and vice versa.

As a business you should already have identified your target audience for the products and services you offer. You should already have done at least some basic research on the demographics of that (client/customer base including location, ethnicity, age, gender etc), and above all have a realistic idea of what they could afford by way of price. If in that research you discover your target audience cannot afford your pricing it would suggest that you are targeting the wrong people or quite simply pricing yourself out of the market. It suggests you might be trying to promote the wrong thing entirely.

When offering community services this becomes an extremely complicated and complex equation to get right and perhaps goes some way to explain why so many private sector companies would rather steer clear of actual service delivery as the profit margins and therefore sustainability and development prospects are simply not profitable enough (if at all) to be of much interest to them. I personally think that is precisely why they shouldn't take control of such services, advice and experience though are always welcome. The private sector are when all is said and done in business to make money first and last. Products even to disadvantaged groups however are much easier for the private sector to make a profit from.

If you doubt that, just think how successful the private sector is at marketing and selling any and all household items let alone standard office materials. Be warned though... Do not be tempted to mimic their marketing campaigns if you are a small enterprise because such campaigns work precisely because they have the budget to indulge in full-blown saturation marketing techniques across all forms of media... extremely costly and skilled! That said an intelligent bit of wording and imagery makes all the difference between winning an audience or alienating them and potentially losing them forever. Know your target audience or service users inside out!

Selling ice to penguins

The most talented of marketing people could literally sell ice and snow to penguins if it wasn't for the fact that penguins are more intelligent than human beings. Penguins happen to know that ice and snow are resources freely available from nature and know where to go to find it. Indeed no other species needs money to be able to eat, rear young, educate them or house themselves which is why I often find myself getting jealous of them. Sadly, as yet I haven't found a way of becoming another species during a recession! Mind you, other species don't have the time to develop interests and hobbies as we do so I guess it evens out.

The big boys invest phenomenal amounts of time, energy and money in research not least in understanding human psychology. They use that to shape how to communicate with their target audience, which is how they end up seducing us into believing we need or must have things that actually we don't. They create interest in things that have never occurred to us, fear of things that we shouldn't be worried about at all and above all a demand from us that we have never desired before. A good example is of this is chunky bars of chocolate. The exact same chocolate can be and is used to produce a myriad of shapes and sizes and it can only ever taste the same but we are seduced into choosing how we like it presented even as far as having it segmented to make it easier to break.

Every day I try my best not to be tempted by things I don't actually need or never had an interest in, but everyday I fail! That, dear readers is what is it is to be muggle in a sophisticated, complex, dynamic, often maddening and frustrating, fascinating, developed, free market social structure. Like it our not, we all contribute to it and we all seem to have a love/hate relationship with it. If nothing else you have to give these people credit for their ingenuity. So, what lessons and tricks can a smaller enterprise learn and use from all this to help them earn a healthy crust?

Three basic marketing essentials

1. Surveys - As outlined above get to know your audience, what they like, dislike, the language they use - how they tick. We are all customers so think about what how we like to be communicated with as a starting point and this should help you avoid some of the bigger pitfalls if you do nothing else. Before starting any enterprise though you should do two forms of research the first of which is to test if your idea will be of interest to anyone at all by conducting a survey.

Top tips for customer surveys

• Remember everyone is extremely busy, so phrase questions simply  
• Keep the survey short and to the point - ask only things that you absolutely need to know and ditch any that are just too detailed, complicated or that are off the primary issues you want to find out about 
• Never have more than three priorities to enquire about in any survey. 
• Never bombard people with dozens of surveys and always provide a simple comment box at the end for your sample audience to elaborate and speak freely as learning what people hate is as valuable to you as learning what they like 
• Always make comment boxes optional and supply contact details should you strike lucky for people who might well be your first clients.

This you can easily compile a survey manually via hardcopy/paper, but remember there's no guarantee people will mail them back especially if you are expecting them to pay for the privilege - hence incentives such as freebies can be useful but it's more expense to you. Email surveys tend to get higher levels of response, or on the spot surveys for feedback after inviting people to attend an event. There are dozens of online free to use survey programs these days, but be aware they don't usually provide the analytics (breakdown of results) so you will have to work it out for yourself. It's why even the free services are often enticers to those analytics which you then pay for. Be careful some of these links may charge from the outset.

Seven random links to online survey programs
http://www.quicksurveys.com/
http://www.keysurvey.co.uk
http://www.checkbox.com
http://fluidsurveys.com
http://en.surveyshaker.com/shaker/
http://www.sogosurvey.com
http://www.surveymonkey.com/

2. Market research - It is essential that you know your market to gain knowledge of where you will fit in and to help identify your Unique Selling Point (USP). Questions to consider asking yourself include who are your competitors or who offers similar products and services if you are a charity, public service or social enterprise.

You can do this quite simply but searching the net, saving the links so you can refer back to them and assessing if you will be duplicating (therefore in direct competition) or offering something original, new or different in style or delivery. From both your customer survey and your market research you can start to think about pricing, but never before. Even then you have a long way to go to get it right as you have to factor in costs of materials, hours worked, overheads, staff etc. 

For any new enterprise this can all seem extremely daunting and arduous, but it is vital to do this if you are to succeed. Luckily there are excellent business advisory services to help you every step of the way.

As mentioned before in previous blogposts on here, any organisation dealing with the delivery of services and products to the community should try to avoid duplicating what is already out there to provide a broader range to the community. I happen to think that's not a bad approach for private sector too as no matter what you do, we humans are determined to remain fickle so will ultimately choose from whatever the range of options happen to be available at any given time. The broader the range, the more choice we have. In a recession I think it prudent to bear in mind that diversity can only help as it could mean the difference between recovering from an economic crisis quickly or it deepening.

You can back that bit of research up with exploring what the current trends are for any given industry sector, again online and some are free er... at least initially! Most will offer a 30 day trial period to get you interested in purchasing their services, but my advice is don't until your budget can sustain such a cost comfortably and until you business is sufficiently developed to warrant it i.e. you've employed your first marketing person who should understand how to get the most out of such services.

At the end of the day, even global marketing service companies don't want to waste time and effort on customers who cannot afford to pay for their services or products. They should all be delighted for you to test drive them though as word of mouth and feedback can only help them. Expect lots of emails if you sign up to any of these things, even if you close your account. Fair warning, I feel. Most of these cover global markets, but the more precise you are when you ask your search engine (google, yahoo etc) to find something, the more of a match the results will be.

8 random links to industry trend and analysis information
http://atlasnetwork.org
http://www.gekkomarkets.com
http://trendwatching.com
http://www.bizstats.com/
http://www.businessmonitor.com/bmo/
http://www.satellitemarkets.com/
http://www.tableausoftware.com
http://www.demographicsonline.com

In addition there are countless blogsites, website, books, magazines etc on what is 'hot' and what is 'not'. It is what you will eventually need to learn about if you are successful enough to make it big, but even for the smaller business, small snippets from such sources of information can make all the difference between avoiding launching something at the wrong moment or not. Timing, in marketing can be everything. Here are three more examples of some other online resources useful for research, again at random, note that Mashable is industry sector specific therefore there is bound to be something somewhere on the net for your industry sector I would hope.

http://resources.mediatrust.org
http://mashable.com/
http://www.profitero.com/

3. Unique Selling Point (USP) - arguably the most crucial moment in launching a new enterprise, product or service. Identifying your unique selling point needs careful consideration and should not be rushed if you want to succeed. You will find, as I am right not that it will need refining as you develop. It is, if anything an evolving beast because you should always be aware of trends and changes in what your target audience likes, dislikes and develops new interests in. You might trigger those things or you might not. That in essence is the difference between success and failure - the ability to adapt and change when those two key elements do.

Three golden tips on identifying your USP

• Do not based it on price and leave it at that. Yes price matters but has been categorically proved not to be the ultimate deciding factor to winning customers and clients
• Do not base it on customer service alone. As above!
• Do look at the detail of what your are proposing to offer, the how, what, why, when, who and how as that is what will make all the difference in the world

In conclusion, I hope this will help you to understand why it is that charities, public services, community organisation and social enterprises all have such a hard time of it to just get themselves noticed in any marketplace. I hope this will help explain why so much money now has to be spent on marketing for global charities such as The British Red Cross and why what salaries are paid are actually really good value for money as they seldom reflect the skills - let alone the man hours - of those making these things happen at all.

Operations: Marketing for all - databases

I am tempted to start regular monthly posts on the theme of Marketing for All, but I am no expert in the field and there are plenty of organisations out there who are. Social media professionals are just one side to that. However, what I do intend to do is share the basic ground rules over the coming months just as I did with my Connecting You article. As and when I do, they will appear with the heading Marketing for All.

All these things are covered by a whole raft of business adviser services far more comprehensively than I could achieve as I haven't full knowledge. As business people we need to choose from the vast array of options out there on the basis of which suit us best. They need to suit our ethics and policies, our style and nature of work and perhaps most importantly our way of communicating. We simple can not learn or gain from people who we struggle to understand. Much depends on the vocabulary used in each case. As people, we are drawn to others who communicate as we do, on the same level - more so if they share the same sense of humour and way of thinking. It's a fact - why lie about it? It doesn't preclude trading with others too, does it?

So, to business...

The value of marketing
The reason marketing has turned into such a vast industry in it's own right is simple... we can not hope to sell our products and services if we don't tell people about them. From there it starts to become obvious that to cut back on networking, advertising and promotional activities is extremely unwise in times of economic crisis and yet it often becomes one of the first things to suffer. That's illogical and a false economy in my opinion.

Crucial to effective marketing are our databases not just of pre-existing clients and customers but of  all our suppliers and contacts as they may have contacts that could easily turn into new customers of ours. Remember my tweets, "Money only works when it is moving" and "One never knows who a person knows or may come to know". ...?
Databases are in effect our foundation stones from which we can build. If we don't look after them then the whole structure starts to be at risk of collapse. What happens in a recession though?

Recession dangers
When job losses occur the database foundation stones are at high risk of getting seriously damaged, so the knock on effect is that the whole structure of the organisation is also at high risk. When was the last time you checked out if every single contact on your database is still in the same position they were in a year or two years ago?

Administrative departments as well as marketing departments are generally the ones to look after the database of all contacts, but not exclusively. It follows then that when they are affected by job losses/redundancies then the pressure on those who are left to manage the database increases - more so when the drive is to increase and build upon that database of contacts (potential clients).

There are two essential ways to avert all this though.

1. Keep your database up to date as much as possible at all times by ensuring everyone lends a hand to ensure accurate records are kept.
2. Regular reviews of the database and, if applicable, overhauls.

What happens if you haven't done this though and then there are job losses. Sadly the database, (that foundation stone to your business) is all too often one of the last things to be considered when in the midst of major restructures due to a downsizing of staff. That leads to whoever is left with a major job on their hands to sort it out. Administrative structures should be, in my view one of the first things to consider when restructures of any kind are on the cards, be it for economising on staff or indeed for gearing up for new projects and thereby increasing staff including using contractor services.

Yep, that's one of the services I offer to help fix that on a short-term contract basis far more than data entry but I do that too on occasion for clients I have a particular passion for. Just as with anyone in business, my communication style and way of working might not be yours. That's fine, because I keep stating, I believe there is room for all and I feel, it would be dull indeed if we were all the same and worked in the same way anyway. We are human beings first and last, and as such we base our policies, structures and style of working according to our collected experiences in the work environment. It's how we arrive at them isn't it?

Logical decisions work best
There is no such thing as one style of logic being superior to another, there is just logic. Decisions on structure and methods of working are based on historical facts (one hopes) and not on random ideas from all and sundry. I, at my level do not expect to ever be privy to those facts unless they are things that those who contract me deem it is necessary for me to know to do my work more efficiently. I can ask for more information to help in that, but I think I would be unwise to demand it!

Facts are crucial. When we have facts (however limited they may be even for business leaders), the best we can do is not to then make assumptions from them, but to work with them at all times and go in search of more facts to help us develop further and indeed inform our decisions. Learning is a never ending activity, or should be in my opinion. Those at the top of an organisation should have the most facts about the sector they are trading in and are constantly adapting and honing initiatives as things change in the wider world. That is why they are leading! Assuming that no one has moved on from their positions over the last two years I feel is dangerous. Check - get the facts straight.

Assumptions are not good to make but sometimes we have to. I am by no means immune to making them myself, but it is prudent to to note them as being assumptions pending further facts as and when they become available. More facts might not ever materialise so the best we can do is follow our best instincts and be prepared with contingency plans to do a u-turn if need be. Hopefully u-turns will be exceptions and more commonly business professionals adapt and adjust.

I am aware that many have all this firmly under their belt, but some don't (particularly start-ups) and even highly experienced business professionals sometimes need a prompt to review things... I know I do!

But I digress... back to databases...

Five essentials to include on your database
What should be on the database? In a word - everything. However, that's impossible as there isn't the time or the manpower unless you happen to be a particularly large organisation with all the staffing and resources and gizmos etc there are going. The essentials then...

1. Full contact details
2. Trading history (if any)
3. All expressions of interest in products and services offered
4. Communication records (in case of any complaints/disputes or new ideas). Commonly this is done through cross referencing with separate archives via short notes of dates/times
5. Interests of all contacts (sadly often missed by start-ups but vital to record as they are leads to how you can develop not only new contacts but your own products and services)

So there you have it, my basic beginners guide to databases which I hope will help readers develop   and grow their enterprises from all the lovely new contacts they are gathering from making the most of their social networking activities. At some point I hope to do a follow-up on the social networking... the next stage. When I simply don't know at this point. However, if you need that now... why not contact the professionals in that field? There are plenty to choose from, find the one you feel most comfortable with, that suits your style and company ethos.

I am currently looking for more contacts for that social networking article so if that is your profession, I will be happy to mention the first ten organisations that get in touch, almost regardless of ethical differences. I am and wish to remain as impartial as possible but I own I am human and those who talk the same language as me will naturally end up being referred to slightly more often. That's the way of business isn't it? It doesn't mean that others are not better than those I mention or prefer, does it?

Final cautionary word
Never wise to assume a thing about others really... it nearly always leads to wasted time and energy better spent dealing with facts and in positive, proactive activities.

Happy hunting for what YOU need.

Connecting You

If you’ve read our first posting you’ll now know all about WildeHeads ethos and services and how it intends to keep you informed. Then came the challenge of how to promote WildeHeads without it costing a fortune.

First stop - see what is available for free to help promote the company. Without a doubt the most invaluable source (we can’t fathom why every business is not using these to their maximum effect) are all the social networking facilities. Looking at the options and learning to understand how they can be used to work in conjunction with each other was very illuminating.

The most well known movers and shakers (at least to us) in the field of social networking are Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogger.

Facebook is the place where people socialise, for many Facebookers it’s not the place for businesses at all and yet all manner of companies have a page there now and they can befriend thousands to follow them there. It strikes us as highly appropriate for the Arts and for community groups to advertise and get chatting to customers on Facebook.

Why doesn’t WildeHeads have a Facebook page? Quite honestly, because it isn’t necessary at this stage and we are deliberating on what what it would say there that would be different from here, so it’s on hold for the time being.

LinkedIn is the site known to be for business networking. Those only used to Facebook often find it difficult to understand how it does so. Allow me to explain. It is the ‘contacts’ site. Unlike Facebook you don’t set about trying to ‘befriend’ everyone you see there that you’re interesting in connecting with. Why? Because it would be akin to barging into their office while they’re in the middle of a meeting. Some people might not mind you ‘cold calling’ but others may intensely dislike it. If the aim is to get to know someone, annoying them with your first attempt at contact is not smart.

However, there is a way of meeting many like-minded people in your industry by joining in discussion groups and by people you already know introducing you. With regard to discussions it’s generally considered bad form to start with “Hi, let me tell you about my business” or “Can you give me a job please”, but this can vary within the discussion groups itself. On finding a group you like, read a few postings on different topics first to get a feel for how people are communicating.

As it was put to Mel (our founder) by her business adviser, think of it as being at a formal party or perhaps at a conference during a coffee break - you join in the conversation by sharing your views about the topic being discussed. Try not to get too passionate if you can avoid it. Remember the idea is to connect with people and establish new contacts, thereby increasing the number of people who might be able to help with a bit of advice, or potentially increasing your chances of securing a new job or contract, as well as finding people you might want to team up with for all manner of things.

You can notify people about your own activities on your own profile/home page so when people look you up they can see what you’re about. If you’re careful to adhere to these simple guidelines you should be ok.

Twitter is the account to use to encourage people to take an interest in you, your activities and your business, but again it should be more like being at a coffee break at a conference as a general rule of thumb. Here though is the place to start to notify people about your activities e.g. you might be running a fundraising campaign and people might want regular updates on the running total or they might want to know about your latest newsletter or blog... Blogsites are there to inform and the place where you express yourself and can provide the most detail about your latest project or (as we’re doing here) to provide information to clients and customers.

The final link in the chain is your website where you encourage people to buy. LinkedIn supplies the contacts who, if interested can follow you on Twitter which will notify them of your new article on your Blogsite which can prompt them to look at your website. On your website you have a button to direct readers to LinkedIn, Twitter and your Blogsite. It gives customers the choice of what they want to know, in what format and how often. It’s possible for all to be free although we chose to get a website designed for WildeHeads so paid for what we got.

To analyse who’s reading what, and how to really capitalise on every element in that circle, you need an expert in the social networking field who can also help to automate things such as notifications on Twitter.

I deliberately chose this as one of my first articles for a very good reason. Social enterprises and the Arts don’t tend to utilise these free services as much as they could and in such hard times, free advertising and free ways to network and be able to brainstorm our way out of the difficulties we all face seem highly sensible. Once you’ve started using these tools I think you will soon come to appreciate how powerful they can be. At some point professional services are recommended when budgets allow.

In the first week of trading and launching the website, connections have already increased without us putting much effort in, because we’d done the preparation beforehand... but that’s a subject for another blog.