Social Media feast at 4Networking Basingstoke Big Breakfast
4Networking served up a Big Breakfast with side order of social media in Basingstoke yesterday and Nigel Morgan of Public Relations and Social Media consultancy Morgan PR was invited to deliver the 40 minute presentation.
4Networking doesn’t normally meet on Monday, however the start of the week is proving perfect for promoting the networking group to a wider audience and highlight the 4Networking 4Development which is emerging to offer training to its members.
Not unlike Chinese whispers those presenting the PowerPoint had been allowed to nip, tweak and tuck to suit their own style and convictions. Not least I had changed it to meet with meet with PowerPoint best practice. Also I'd wanted to trim back the number of slides to ensure we could get through in 40 minutes.
It certainly seemed to go down well and I was delighted to capture these testimonials on video from some of those who enjoyed the insight on social media and networking. Which you can see here includes a pig and a wolf! :
My thanks go to Helen Clelland from copywriters Free as a Word, Leigh Thomason from Lotus Health & Fitness, Julie Stevens from Better Business Decisions (who was the force behind Peter the Pig and Wolfie) and the imitable Jan Jack from Perfect Verse.
Of course, first there was the normal fun 4Networking meeting with a hearty breakfast at Basingstoke Golf Club and 4Networking's unique trio of one-to-one meetings which gives you the chance to spend 10 minutes with each of three people you want to know more about having heard everyone talk briefly about themselves during a round of 40 seconds.
Before that we had a great 4Sight slot from Gary Johannes on 'From Bust to Trust' where he talked about climbing back from failed businesses to become a leading light of 4Networking who has launched many groups. He is also set to cycle through Vietnam with his son, who has recovered from a catastrophic fall from a tree. Gary doesn't have a website, but you can follow him on Twitter here: @GaryJohannes
A special mention in dispatches should go to commercial photographer Bruce Boulton, who kindly has allowed me to use the photographs here on the Morgan PR blog, as he has done in the past. Bruce runs Lantern Photography and is also 4Networking Group Leader at Swindon.
I kicked off meeting with Basingstoke Web Designer Barbara Payne from the Digital Design Agency. We've chatted before after she kindly approached me to speak at next month's Tadley Chamber of Trade networking event - might I see you there? I was also intrigued after she had spoekn about what is effectively 'No Win, No Fee, SEO'. Her company are offering to carry out Search Engine Optimisation on a website free for three months and if you are happy with the results you pay monthly going forward. The price will depend on the work your particular niche requires to perform on Google.
A familiar face for my second meeting as I chatted to professional speaker Jim Ewan, who is working with Task Force 2 helping businesses get results from their exhibitions, not least by qualifying the leads that make it on to a client's stand. I helped Jim get on television ahead of competing in the gruelling six-day run across the Sahara desert. He was in training for the Marathon des Sables, but it was the clever use of a gravel pit in Reading snagged it for the TV!
Copywriter Helen Clelland from Free as a Word was my third meeting and as Morgan PR is often using professional copwriters it was good to meet her and she has swiftly followed up with examples of her work. Helen gets that ideally copywriters need to have that certain something that makes consultancies like Morgan PR happy to put them in front of clients! She was also looking forward to the talk I was giving at the Big Breakfast as she is relatively new to Twitter as @freeasaword
The presentation was a whistlestop tour of social media which majored on Twitter and talked about why you should tweet and the audience identified reasons including: staying in touch, sharing expertise, recommendations, jokes, help research, managing your reputation and of course fun!
We also looked at good practice and suggested that everyone:
- Pick your times
- Plan your tweets
- Schedule Tweets
- Give your Tweets personality
- ReTweet prudently
- Mind your manners!
I expanded on the importance of manners on social media, which had been in the original presentation from 4Networking and stressed how easily 140 characters can be misunderstood. I playfully juxtaposed the importance of this approach with the puposeful disregard that 4Networking founder Brad Burton has. He merrily swears and makes no apologies for it, indeed I was able to show tweets where he explained why it works for him. I suggested that not everyone had a character as big as Brad! Interestingly everyone in the audience concurred that swearing has no place in business.
I also revealed that swearing tracker website Cursebird, which we originally blogged about in July last year, rates @BradBurton as swearing 'like an enthusiastic porn star' Which is a scary thought! We also blogged: Why swearing on Twitter is bad for your reputation back then too and nothing has changed.
We also looked at simple stuff like how important it is to have a good background and throughout the hours after the talk I was getting messages on Twitter asking me to look at new backgrounds, with plenty of 4Networkers taking the hint - even some who were not at the meeting.
With some great questions the event was well received as the feedback and subsequent tweets and mentions on Facebook attest.
More detailed training for how to get the most from Twitter, including the HootSuite software I had mentioned is available through our Twitter Workshop in Newbury on 15th July, which has equipped many from 4Networking and beyond with the requisite skills to flourish on this platform.
I had also been invited to deliver this talk at the 4Networking Big Breakfast in Maidenhead on Monday 5th July, however while the audience yesterday reacted warmly to my section on minding your manners, it has made some from 4Networking who were there a little uncomfortable. Rather than compromise my beliefs on how social media should be used and change what I have to say I have volunteered to step aside with a sense of honour and I hope the event is a cracker!