if you’re amongst the many people that are totally overwhelmed by Social Media, who may love and use Facebook for your personal networking or connecting with school friends but haven’t seen or understood the value of using this tool for business; if you think Twitter is for people who have too much time on their hands and can’t even begin to fathom how something like a 140 character conversation  can add value; or whether Linkedin is a tool you’ve signed up for, but aren’t quite sure what to do with the connections you’ve made – Join the club, I was there as well!

it’s easy to get caught up in all the hype of smart phones, social media communication and all the energy surrounding these tools.
I often hear comments like “it’s the new thing” or “I cant be bothered to hear which celebrity goes shopping where.”

Is Social Media a fad or is is it the biggest shift in B2B communication and marketing, sales and recruitment?

Maybe the first question you should ask is Why? Why is it making waves like never seen before?

Let’s allow the stats to speak for themselves. These stats were quoted by Jason Buss – Talent HQ in March 2011

  • Facebook: the number one viewed website – 500+million members
  • Twitter: 200+million users – 140 million tweets daily
  • YouTube: 2 Billion videos viewed daily
  • Linked In: 100+million members – 1.2 Million comments or posts weekly

Now the question you need to be asking yourself is – Can I afford to be left behind?

Mike Saunders runs an excellent workshop that can get one up and running immediately. I found he answered many of the questions I had running through my mind, like  “How do I even get started”, and “how  it all fit together?”

The topics that were covered in the workshop I attended cleared up so many clouded areas and made so much sense when it was all explained.

Some of the topics that were covered were:

  • What is Social Media or Social Networking?
  • An introduction  to the various networks, like Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin, as well as blogging. How they work and whats makes then so effective when used together.
  • Advertising online
  • Marketing strategy; Inbound marketing; building your own strategy, and managing and measuring your strategy.

My question to you now is not Why – but When will you get started?

Details of our next Social Media Bootcamp in Durban this September:

The Social Media Boot Camp is a crash course in Social Media and Web 2.0 with a specific focus on using it strategically for business

Date: 20 September  2011

Time: 8am for  8.30am start – 12.30pm

Location: Cafe Jiran, Belaire Hotel

North Beach, Durban

Price: R950.00 ex vat per person

Email Vicky Coats or [email protected] to make a booking

‘Just want to say thank you so much for the most interesting and invigorating course. It gave me a whole new lease on life and made me realise that there is a whole world out there that I am not part of!!’  ( Margaret Hirsch)

“Your social media training with us has been invaluable. Thank you – Ruth Paulsen (Head of Marketing – IHS)

Mike Saunders ranks in the top 50 of South African Twitterers according to Twitterholic and is the resident social media writer for the popular entrepreneurial blog www.ideate.co.za. His most prominent clients include Advtech, Southern Sun, Three Cities, The International Hotel School and the South African Presidency, which he has assisted in exploring how social media could impact its marketing and business strategies.

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