by Lance Scoular, The Savvy Navigator

Surviving in the New Global Economy is crucial for any business and especially for Small businesses. Utilising cost-effective marketing strategies is therefore crucial.   Over the past months I have been checking out and testing a variety of strategies -  not only for my own business but more importantly for my clients and my students, past and present, of my Import/Export Courses.

I set some simple goals which could be used for most small businesses at present. Essentially, the short term goals are to survive the current crisis. So here are my survival criteria:

My Business Survival Criteria
1) Keep current clients/customers.
2) Build closer relationships and loyalty with current customers/clients.
3) Attract new business
4) Seek more cost effective suppliers.

Being effectively a non-technical person who has struggled with computers and the internet for years the social media I chose needed certain criteria:

My Social Media Criteria
1) A reasonably large and increasing uptake.
2) Relatively easy to set up and use
3) Have networking capabilities similar to normal old school networking events or meetings which I was familiar with.
4) Have little or no cost involved.

The most popular and fastest growing Social Media that can be leveraged by business are, in my view, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.   Businesses that adopt these technologies will have the jump on their competition. Developing a strategy combining these three forms of Social Media can develop three powerful networks with little or no financial outlay.

Social Media Triangulation -  the Power-of-3

Firstly, this combination provides the development of three separate but complementary networks with the ability to provide exponential growth.

Secondly, it provides a back up situation for your networks, should one of these online companies fail, you still have the contacts on the other network/s.

Thirdly, each network has its own strengths which when combined with the others provides quite powerful synergies.

A Brief Overview of how to get started on these three sites: 

LinkedIn - linkedin.com
LinkedIn is a Professional Network using the format of an online Resume.
LinkedIn can be used as a reference point for people to check your credentials and for you to check theirs. I see it as a point of credibility in the business negotiation process. LinkedIn also has many groups for various industries or interests you can join. Here are two videos to help you first set up on LinkedIn, with thanks to Upright Communications (www.walkupright.com)



Twitter - twitter.com
Twitter is a microblogging site with a limited text of 140 characters.
Messages can be distributed and redistributed rapidly. The other advantage from a business point of view is the capability of building networks fast and also converting those contacts or "followers" to Friends on Facebook or "Connections" at LinkedIn. Here is an Introductory Video on How to use Twitter for Business from SuperNova Training (www.supernovatraining.com)


Facebook - facebook.com
Facebook has taken over from MySpace as the fastest growing social media network. Many businesses are creating Facebook Pages for their business and joining Facebook Groups that are relevant to their business. Also, Facebook has multimedia capability for photos and video which can be used for promotional purposes.    Our basic set up video is thanks to SearchMar (www.searchmar.com)








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Lance Scoular
The Savvy Navigator
Key Directions
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Follow me on Twitter:   http://twitter.com/LanceScoular
Phone: +61(0) 419 944 033
email: lancelot@eftel.com.au
http://www.key-directions.com
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