Birr open coffee talk – social networks for business

I recently gave a talk at open coffee in Birr with an aim to get some of the business in the area to start considering the power of social networks, and the possible positive impact it could have on their business. The location of Birr open coffee is the Birr technology centre and this was hosted by Denise Duggan of Shannon development.

At the start of the presentation some of the fears which came to the surface were around the technology itself and the consumption of valuable business time. These I think are quite natural concerns for any business owners. By the end of the presentation, the room was a more conformable with the potential of social networks for their business. Furthermore, there was a consensus with everyone that social networks are becoming a necessity for businesses and not such much of a luxury. There were also lengthy discussions on privacy, relevance to local businesses and especially the time aspect of social networks. Based on the discussion and some of the questions raised, I gave a simple four step framework with which to get started:

1. Consider your objective for using social networks, is it sales or marketing, building relationship with customers or maybe customer support?
2. Decide your time upfront and stick to it. Start small and build up slowly.
3. Start with listening, until you are comfortable with what is happening.
4. Set boundaries between personal and business activities.

I then made the point that these steps are quite similar to how they should treat any other business activity.
What are your fears with social networks, Time, cost, privacy? Have you anything you could add to the list?
Here is a copy of the presentation: