A lot of people are over-reliant on email and feel like they spend most of their desk time writing and replying to emails!

On the other hand some people prefer to call and would benefit from taking the time to write a proper email – in the end it could even save time as emails are an opportunity to clearly list action points and confirm proper detail.

Here is a quick and easy guide – worth a read we promise! And we have even included a special list of when its best to use Social Media for communication!

Phoning is good for:

• Building rapport with a client or a supplier
• Explaining how to do things if step by step emails didn’t make sense – on the phone, you can gauge the reaction and explain certain things more and not explain some things as much.
• On the phone you can bounce ideas off each other
• If this client seems stressed in an email, and you want to let them know all is well, you can reassure the client by phone
• Getting a quick answer for something from a supplier or a client.

Email is good for:

• Sending step by step instructions so the recipient can sit in their own time and try out the tasks
• If you want to send a confirmation that something has been done and include a link.
• Email is good for accepting an invitation or confirming attendance to an event or a meeting, so the recipient can keep track.
• Emails can be quicker as there is less small talk
• Emails are good for recapping a call with the points of action – to make things more official and avoid misunderstanding

It is good to use email to make sure details are understood – especially for when quoting money, confirming costs, confirming exact action points, details and deadlines.

Social Media is good for:

Now, a NEW method of communication has come out FULL FORCE – people are using Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn to communicate more than ever before. Here are some useful ideas for how to use Social Media networks like Facebook or Twitter to save space in your email inbox!

• Saying “hi” and “it was good to meet you” – this is a message that can be done on Twitter and shows the rest of your followers who you met and that it was a good meeting!
• Sharing an interesting link or article you found with someone – via a retweet and an @reply on Twitter to someone who you think will find the information useful.
• Showing you liked something someone did – as it’s a public forum, Twitter is a great place to praise someone’s work or blog article! Hint Hint!
• Introducing two people – if you @reply two people or copy two people in, Twitter/Facebook or LinkedIn are ideal for this as the contact information will be available on people’s profiles

We wanted to dedicate an article to LinkedIn. Keren has a friend who works at the LinkedIn European office, but this article isnt just for that, but rather to highlight its importance in business life!

Each of the social networks (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ecademy, BT Tradespace and the others) has their own purpose, and the main thing about LinkedIn is:

• it’s a trusted network - which means you connect to people who you have met in a business capacity
• its for business – so not really for sharing personal details but for sharing your business activitiesSo, it’s really for business contacts and business topics. Whether you run your own business or work at a company, it’s about your professional life – an online CV and profile. LinkedIn is highly searchable, so as people are in the habit of Googling you, it’s a good idea to make sure your profile is online and up to date and says all the things you want people to know about you, and none of the sordid details you may not want to share.
  Below we have put some useful icons you can save off and use on your website pages if you want to link to your LinkedIn profile. We recommend if you own or work in a company, you get everyone in your team to update their profile and link to it from your company website, as this will extend the network of your company.

People use LinkedIn to varying degrees. The most active (and successful) users consistently participate by:

1. Joining LinkedIn groups for specific topics and interests
2. Setting up their own groups and keeping them going by inviting people and starting new conversation topics
3. Interlinking their Twitter and Facebook and other Social Media profiles to their LinkedIn profiles
4. Putttng little “LinkedIn profile” links on their website where they have their own bios or on the homepage
5. Submitting forum posts to their LinkedIn groups and responding to other’s conversations
6. Writing and adding blog articles which are useful and relevant for the specific groups
7. Using other tools such as the slideshare tool to show PowerPoint presentations.
8. Consistently keeping their profile up to date.
9. Browsing profiles of other LinkedIn users and ask their mutual contacts for introductions.

Of course – the more you put in the more you get out – if you use this resource as a way of keeping in touch, keeping “in people’s heads”, and getting inspired to meet up in “real life” then you will see too the magic that can happen from connecting through LinkedIn.

At the very least, keeping your LinkedIn profile up to date is of utmost importance – as this makes up a big part of your online professional reputation.

Some people don’t know  that there is actually a LinkedIn Learning Centre. – see www.learn.linkedin.com – this is a valuable resource and show you a lot of what is possible on LinkedIn as well as answer FAQs.

See http://learn.linkedin.com and let us know what you learn – just email us or comment in the comments box and let us know extra tips!

We wanted to share our tips about Online and Offline networking and encourage you to use them in conjunction.

Networking can be interpreted in many ways
but activities should include:

- going to networking events, parties, trade shows, and other gatherings where you meet new people
- making sure you keep in touch with those people
- connecting those people with other people you know, where it would be of mutual benefit
- meeting people again for “1-2-1s” and finding out more about their businesses
- Joining a group such as BNI, NRG, Business Junction, Athena, or Chambers of Commerce where you meet regularly to continue to get to know other members.
- Building relationships with other business people and showing yourself as an expert in your field as well as a nice reliable and helpful person.

All of these are typical of traditional networking.

What we are seeing now is that there are a lot of online groups as well. These have been around for many years and their usage is growing. Examples include Ecademy, LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

There are many benefits to making proper use of these:

- They are way you can control your online reputation and raise your profile – if you are conscious about how all content you post online can affect this.
- They are easily found by search engines so if people “Google” you then your profile can come up so its good if it shows you off as an expert in your field and a nice friendly person.
- Social networking websites are extremely low cost and has huge potential for spreading your sphere of influence.
- You can see who your contacts know and ask for introductions, and use their list of contacts as a reference point in your 1-2-1s
- It’s important to put some effort into your profile so you really show off your skills/personality/etc – best to look at other’s on the same website to see what to follow – or ask us!
- If you do have Facebook Profile, a Blog or a Twitter account, all of this can be interlinked with your online profile – to take people on an online journey all about you and how great you are!
- Status updates can remind you of what others are doing and prompt you to get back in touch with them

And now the crux – offline PLUS online – combined!

We really would encourage you to get in touch with people when you have met them in real life via searching for them on one of the online networks where you may both be a member. Why?

- it’s an ice breaker, and means you have something else in common
- you can read a bit about them on their profile before you get in touch and then have more to talk about
- Once you connect with them on an social networking site, you can be “friends” or “contacts” which means your status updates and news announcements get fed to each other’s news feeds.
- On an ongoing basis you can see when your new contact has done something new – like posted a blog, or visited a place you have been to, or made a contact you know – and this can prompt you to get in touch again to discuss this new topic.
- As above, if you meet someone online, meet them in real life and really get to know them on a 1-2-1 basis. The right contacts in your network can make the world of difference! As Dave Clark from NRG says, you will build up a network of advocates – people who recommend you and speak highly of you once they have gotten to know you and understand your business.

We have seen time and time again the magic of this – and we have many stories about it we would love to share. Please call us on 020 7486 2629 and we can tell you all about them – and also help you with your online profiles, the content of your status updates and blogs, and getting your head around all the technicalities – it really is easy once you learn how!

We are also offering one on one training sessions on these – email us if you would like to know more.

The Social Networking websites we wanted to recommend as a good starting point:

Ecademy:
www.ecademy.com

Some people find it annoying to join Ecademy because all sorts of random people contact you when you join, but you can adjust the permissions (go to “My Settings” and then “Notifications”) so you don’t have this happening.

We recommend to stick with Ecademy, it’s really brilliant once you get the hang of it!

There is a very good searchable database on Ecademy, and you can use this for looking up people’s profiles, putting up your own, and contacting people who YOU would want to talk to. They would the look at your profile so it’s good to make sure this is properly finished.

See http://www.ecademy.com/account.php?id=21731 for Keren’s profile.

Twitter:
http://twitter.com

This is all about status updates and “following people” – you can follow Stephen Fry, Jonathan Ross, and Barack Obama – and Top Left Design of course!
http://twitter.com/topleftdesign

See also http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9ce3a368-f82d-11dd-aae8-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1  for an article about Twitter.

LinkedIn
www.linkedin.com

This is a very worthwhile network and and it’s full of people in the corporate world as well as SME owners – so it has GREAT potential! Most people are on LinkedIn even if they are somewhere in their career.

If you would like to know more about this or indeed how to make better use of Social Media within your business and website, please get in touch!