e-Networking: Pace Yourself

One of the other biggest concerns about social media and e-Networking in general is how you’re going to work on it all. Admittedly, that is probably the most difficult thing you’ll have to deal with when it comes to this.

The finer points...

When do you update? When are you going to run out of new updates? What do you do then? Is there any way you can avoid this?

The best tactic for making sure you never run dry of things to say is to work on what you have that you want to share, where you’re going to post it and then set out a plan to help you reach each part but never exceed it.

Things you should ask yourself are:

• What do I want to share on these sites and where?
• What kind of content is this- self-generated (company news) or externally-generated (industry and product news)?
• When are we likely to run out (realistically)?
• Are we going to be able to update indefinitely?

If you find that particularly on the last two questions you’re saying “quite soon” and “no” (respectively) then perhaps you need to reassess your content. Running out is a bad idea if people are expecting new content regularly, while it’s always a good idea to have a rabbit in the hat- an update you can make if you have absolutely nothing else.

If your content is self-generated then it’s likely that for as long as you’re in business you’ll have something to say, while externally-generated is a bit more sporadic. The two together works quite well to keep a consistent “unbiased” update list.

But, lucky for you- there are a few tricks you can use to help you through a dry spell of updating and content writing.

Around the mountain- not over it.

Tools like Twitter’s ReTweet function are invaluable when you have a drought of content, not to mention they can help get your name around. People can ReTweet your content or, equally, you can ReTweet their content if you think it contributes to your sites.

This is an easy way to find something that you really think works for everyone who reads your content and gives you a free pass to let that be your update. Of course, you shouldn’t do it too much and you shouldn’t rely on it- but if you need it- it’s usually there.

Information is great to use for an update. Not your usual content information but information that you may be compiling as some sort of document, as we do with these, little snippets are great teasers. They generate interest, they give you a free content update and you get some initial and raw feedback on it.
If people don’t like what they’re reading- you know that before you’ve gone through the whole process of officially releasing it.

Guest posts are another great way.
If you’re so inclined (and you’ll most likely have people willing to contribute), get a few drawn up from people and then post them regularly sandwiched between the rest of your content.
More user interaction, a different point of view, a lighter content uploading schedule and lots of great content- how can you lose?
It also helps set the stage for later user interaction and more guest posts as after that you’ll most likely get buckets of e-mails asking about writing them.

And that concludes it. There are many other tips and tricks out there so try to find some helpful (and talkative) e-Networking users and learn from them! Share information, ideas, designs and other useful tidbits to help those starting out.
Not to mention, who knows what you’ll get in return?

As always we are continually updating the bank of information we have regarding to e-Networking so check back in the future- there's likely to be new tidbits. Thank you for reading!

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

Carkean Solutions: Working with Us.

We have spent some time recently adding different ways you can get in touch with us, recieve information from us and work with us- today we would like to highlight those.

First new feature is our weekly newsletter which compiles hot topics and key issues in many industries. Be it technology, politics or finance- there's five topics and it is easily digested in under ten minutes.
Catch up with the latest news without having to search for hours!
Posted weekly, on Thursday, on Twitter and available to subscribe to for free with extra benefits for all of our subscribers.

The second is our new Contact Us form which allows you to do just that- contact us.
If you're someone who wants to work with us then this is the way you can get in touch with our consultants in one click. No hassle, no fuss and no mess. Just fill in the form and within hours you will be speaking with our experts.
This is exclusive to the Carkean Solutions website and is a really exciting new feature for us. Get clicking now!

The third is related to our newsletter but is something rather unique- free advertising!
As our newsletter is a growing publication and is getting more viewers every week this is a good opportunity to get seen, for free, for six months. If you're interested e-mail us at info@carkeansolutions.co.uk and we'll talk it over with you.
Get yourself seen and for absolutely nothing- what could be better?

The fourth is our entirely redesigned corporate website that is soon to be updated with even better information!

As you can see, everything is coming together for Carkean Solutions Ltd. this festive season. And, best of all, in the new year we'll have even more features for you.
So be on the lookout for more seminars and updates in January 2011.

Thank you for reading!
We hope to hear from every one of you very soon and to get some great information from our devoted readers.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an idividual not the corporation

Too small for IT?

One of the things we hear with smaller organisations is that they're "too small for IT" and "don't need those systems as we don't have the manpower"- but can you really be too small for technology?

I'd argue not.

If you think about it, at the heart of it, there are hundreds of startup organisations which are using software every single day.
Agreeably, if you're still small you don't need a global IT system.
But, at the same time, with the advent of cloud computing running a good portion of today's systems- is there such a thing as too big, too small or too anything when it comes to IT? It's not like you're going to have to pay an exponential amount to use them, nor are you going to pay much at all unless you do have quite a corporate footprint.

But the benefits are endless.
If you think from the perspective of a small organisation- they lack the ability to reach out and spread their wings like a multinational. Plus, they probably haven't got offices around the globe or around the country. So they need to be able to touch ground with a lot of clients (to influence growth) without much cost.

The ability to use Skype for free (or darn cheap) business calls to anyone around the globe is an incentive.
Spend £10 on a headset and you're ready to go- free calls!
Doesn't replace a landline charge, as they can't be used for everything a landline can, but you will save hundreds in actual call and connection charges instead.

Not to mention social media. You have a need to influence growth, you want clients, you'd prefer not to pay or pay as little as possible- so why not use social media for advertising. Get to know the customers before they're your customers.
Influence partnerships and collaborations over these networks with other organisations like you. There's a lot out there. Although, as a small organisation you're not a startup, there's a lot of resources for startups (and/or emerging organisations) which you could use. Often offered for free and you can even get in on the act by guest posting.
Aside from this, there's advertising in the form of Google AdWords which is perhaps the fairest advertising there is. You pay when someone clicks, you don't when they don't!

And where does this all come from? IT- the very thing that you're "too small" to use when someone offers you a service.

In this generation, more than any other, technology is at the heart of everything we do and it doesn't replace traditional business methods- it just makes them even better!

Thanks for reading, as always, and we hope you have enjoyed this rather sporadic content segment!

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an idividual not the corporation

HootSuite

What's HootSuite you may wonder? And what does it have to do with you? Well, if you're interested in any way about social media networking- you should know what HootSuite is!

HootSuite is a revolutionary online networking tool that allows you to combine all of your social media sites in one easy to use interface.
Manage streams, feeds, ReTweets, mentions, replies and much more across all of your sites with the click of a button. Featuring a simple and effective interface and a range of analytical tools- there's never been a better way to manage your social media sites.

I'm one of those Twitter users that wishes I could schedule Tweets as often I have things that will always be out on one day of the week. But unfortunately, Twitter doesn't have such a feature built in.
So I have to remember to log in and post the link- but sometimes I'm so busy I never really think about it, until around 4pm, and then realise I should have sent that hours ago and rush to do it. That situation is, most thankfully, a thing of the past with the power of HootSuite. I can schedule important Tweets (like the weekly newsletter) and let them post themselves!
Not to mention, I can save and draft Tweets that I may want to post but haven't yet finished- or maybe they're just possible ideas- and again, through HootSuite this is entirely possible.

On top of this the Suite features a number of innovative apps for most mobile devices, web browsers and operating systems. Meaning you're never without that clever little owl in that you could really grow to love.

Which, though a personal preference, is another thing I love about HootSuite- it's so adorable. It's so impersonal and easy to use. And you really feel that when you leave it for a while and you come back to your owl taking a nap.
Makes you feel a lot better about using it as, initially, if you think about it, the idea of managing many sites under one roof is daunting. So to be met with a quirky owl, an easy to use menu and a tab-based interface? Best thing since sliced bread.

So what can you combine with HootSuite? I guess "everything" is a bit broad so here's a list:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Facebook Pages
• MySpace
• Ping.fm
• Wordpress
• LinkedIn
• FourSquare

All in all, you can put just about anything you use in it and be able to access and submit information to any of these sites through the main interface.
It's a godsend if you're someone who likes to scatter updates and use different ones for all of your sites, plus, it makes it easy to simply throw a new update onto your Facebook Page without having to log out of this and into that- just click the tab and start writing.

Now, I guess at this point you're thinking "That sounds great, I bet I could find all sorts of uses for it" but, you're probably also thinking "How much is it going to set me back?"

Wait for it- absolutely nothing!

HootSuite has a free option which allows you to manage up to five social media sites, to access all of the features of the service, to have analytical information for 30 days and much more!

So there we have it. I know I'm usually not talking about this sort of thing on the blog, but this is a really great application for anyone who does social media networking and shows a lot of technological innovation.
Thank you for reading, as always. And if you have any comments/questions- feel free to comment!

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an idividual not the corporation

e-Networking: Content Management

One other concern of most people when it comes to networking online is not their possible side-effects but how long it takes each day. Considering I've just spent the majority of the day updating a new site I think it may be apt to say how long it takes, or rather- how long it doesn't take.

When you consider having three or four (or more) sites, it would seem that to update them you would have to spend a great deal of time on them.
Initially, yes.
Setting up websites is a good example of what you put in is what you get out of it. If you don't put enough time in, rush them or push too much through too quickly then you're going to end up with low quality at the end of the process.
In comparison, once you have spent that initial chunk of time they don't take hardly any time at all to update.

This is for two reasons:

• You have already put a lot of time into a site that functions well, that you understand and that you know the capabilties of. Updating is easy as you have all the tools you need and the know-how.
• Updating social media isn't about walls of text and long drawn-out articles and such it's about small, digestable chunks of information that blend into the every day life of your viewers.

Where on your company website it may be preferable to upload a few pages of text in a new update, to inform and to cover all possible questions- in e-Networking it isn't necessary.

Services like Twitter are designed to explicitely make it possible for you to only be able to post bite-sized chunks of information.
And this is what you should be aiming for.
Even Facebook only has a limited 420 characters for you to share your information with. This helps more than hinders as it allows you tailor your updates and focus on which sites get what, without having to worry about how many hours this is taking.

Here's a few easy ways to break up your updating time:

1. Plan your posting- what? where? when? Knowing when you're supposed to have new content up (and where) helps remove a lot of lost-time guess work.
2. Use any information/limits to your advantage. If you know Twitter is only 140 characters and Facebook 420- then make the updates for those sites that size.
3. Be accurate and timely in your updates. Nothing shows rushed work like pushing for that 4pm deadline at 5pm!
4. Be casual, friendly and don't be afraid to change something that's no longer relevant- anything that makes your content more approachable is better. It also comes more naturally when you don't force content through, making it quicker to write.
5. Try to break bigger chunks of content down into a few updates which you post one after the other to help not only develop a series, but to help readers digest it.

Try these things if you find you're stuck in the parellel loop of spending ages working on e-Networking sites, also remember, it gets easier as you get more used to it.

 That's all for now!

 Thank you for reading and if you've got any tips to share- feel free to comment.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

e-Networking: Not a Replacement.

I've found that in the last few weeks we've been talking about e-Networking and using the internet as some kind of online networking tool, people have become increasingly concerned with it replacement for traditional networking/marketing- but this is not the case!

e-Networking is simply another way to do things that you can do any other way.
For instance, the use of Twitter and Facebook is not an exclusive marketing strategy and will replace the traditional marketing methods- it's an augmented method- to be done as well as all the other things you're already doing.
While blogging and even customisable platforms like WordPress are no replacement whatsoever for an actual corporate website with all of your information on it.
All in all these things are nothing more than an extra method, a new idea or something different you could try to generate some more traffic and some more business. They're not designed to replace anything- in fact, if anything there's simply not enough available that you could.

They're just something new.
Well, new for the older generation who probably grew up more akin to a pen and paper than a keyboard and monitor. But they're also something new in terms of business and corporate activity.

Also, while we're at it- let's dispel a few other myths about e-Networking in general.

• There's no way someone could access your information from it. Not a one. Other than what you upload on profiles all of your other information (IP addresses, e-mail addresses and so on) are all safe and held by the parent site- not the networker.
• Privacy is a big issue. In the days where people spend more time online than they do in their everyday lives there's a big issue of privacy- do we have it? How do we get it? Are we secure? The answer to these questions and many more is: there are easy-to-use privacy settings on each of these sites. They take minutes to set up.
• Spam is not something you'll get a lot of. We all hate spam (though some like the tinned variety) and it's a big issue, as much as privacy, on the internet. Mostly because spam becomes scams and then all sorts of disagreeable things happen. These days many sites are committed to lowering how much spam is recieved and overall it's a lot safer experience than before.
• Opt in, opt out- whatever you prefer. Most sites are free and do not force you to be on them for a "trial period" or something of the sort, you can join them and leave them as easy as you can open a web browser. Deleting your account is always an option and you have no obligations to stay if you'd rather not.

And that concludes this post! We hope it has been informative and helped to show a few of the better sides of e-Networking that otherwise might have been confused. Understandably so, as this is a new and exciting form of technology and there's all sort of myths and horror stories around the internet- but it really is all good. For the most part!

Got any e-Networking stories you'd like to share? Feel free to comment and let us know what you have to say.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation

Social Media: An introduction.

Sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Blogger are no longer restricted to those who want to keep in touch and share information/entertainment- they can be used by any organisation for a new wave of internet marketing and promotion.
You may question the validity of these sites and how (as an organisation) you can be taken seriously for using them, but, as they say, everyone does it. Most of your competitors have probably got an account with one of these sites, most are probably connected to their future clients and are providing them with information to their products and services.

The basic idea...
The idea is to connect to people where they're already connected.
This means you don't have to spend time, money and other resources on finding your clients and customers as you'll already have found them by accessing these sites. Twitter is so easy to use that you can be connected to anyone, anywhere, for any reason and can send updates that they will read.
Facebook works in a similar manner as you'll be advertising yourself and promoting mostly through word of mouth, but, via the use of your own Facebook account, you can do more and even invite them to your pages.
Blogger, WordPress, LiveJournal and so on are all blogging services which allow you (much like this blog) to share large volumes of information. But best of all it allows you to further customise and format your sites and bring them to the links you want them to see.

Further information.
Below is a general breakdown of some sites, their customisability and their preferred usage method.

Twitter
Customisability: Limited, but can customise your theme.
Ease of use: Very easy to use, to connect with and to update.
Extra features: Mobile uploading from all major networks.
What it's used for: Updating brief concise chunks of information, "following" other Twitter users, some promotional use and keeping in touch with people 24/7.

Facebook
Customisability: The main theme is fixed, however, technology such as FBML add customisation options.
Ease of use: Very easy to use and to update.
Extra features: Mobile uploading from all major networks, groups and communities, business pages and paid advertising.
What it's used for: Business pages can be uploaded which incorporate contact details, statements and information from the organisation, working hours and other useful information/links.

Blogger
Customisability: With effort and patience it's entirely customisable.
Ease of use: Easy to use and easy to update.
Extra features: Through customisation you can add anything from customised graphics to flash video with a bit of time and effot
What it's used for: Uploading large amounts of information in blog format, providing links to other sites, profile information and connecting with more casual users.
 
WordPress
Customisability: Features a range of themes and customisation options.
Ease of use: Easy to use and easy to update.
Extra features: Through customisation and use of modules you can create any kind of informational blog you can design.
What it's used for: Uploading large amounts of information in blog format, providing links to other sites, profile information and connecting with more casual users.
 
YouTube
Customisability: Limited but some customisation offered.
Ease of use: Easy to search and view videos- uploading can be tricky.
Extra features: Subscribe to videos, playlists, commenting and a widespread user base.
What it's used for: Uploading videos, participating in community events, promotional aspects can be incorporated into videos and commenting on various videos, playlists and users.

That's all for now, later we will discuss some of the more specialised benefits of social media.
Hopefully one of the sites above can be incorporated into your organisation to help utilise a new wave of promotional, personal and corporate marketing opportunities.

All information presented here is © copyright Carkean Solutions Ltd., 2010 - Not to be used without our permission - The views expressed here are the views of an individual not the corporation