Social networking, Surrey style!

Last night thebluedoor was networking both on and off-line at a fantastic event at Surrey University. Co-presented by Surrey Chambers of Commerce and SCEPTrE, the evening kicked off with short talks on networking by Avalon Solutions and an introduction to Web 2.0 by Casey Cohen from meterorite. After this excellent informative introduction, we were able to join other local businesses and put the networking tips into action, as well as watch demonstrations of social networking technology by local students.

From podcasting to interactive video, through Flickr, YouTube and Twitter, the many tools available were brilliantly presented by students. Talking from their perspective about how they interact with these technologies, they also outlined the potential these tools present companies to develop their business.

In a spooky coincidence, the reality of the use of social networking in business was the discussion topic on Radio 4's Woman's Hour programme today. Heather from Wiggly Wigglers, a small farm in Herefordshire, explained how her farming business won the Dell Small Business Excellence Award for its use of podcasts, Twitter and blogs.

Her comment that, "markets are conversations, and conversations are markets" really struck home to me and echoed the talks from last night's event.

Social media can be a huge influence on a business - to build a brand and gain access to the thoughts and desires of your target market. The overriding advice - take a bit of time to do some research, listen to the conversations taking place, then engage. The key being to share information in the same way you would in face-to-face networking. The results can be astounding.

We wish the students at the University of Surrey well with their studies and future careers. I'm sure everyone who attended came away with something valuable - and I'm sure are spending a bit more time online today than usual!