The SME Tech Summit in Sydney on 1 December will focus on helping small to mid-sized businesses to build success through using technology. In the coming weeks on this site we will feature extensive content and studies that are useful to smaller businesses.
One of the key topics at the event will be how to use social media to build business – an important issue as people increasingly find suppliers by searching online.
Mashable today features an interesting post titled 5 Small Businesses Successfully Using Social Media – this is definitely worth a read. It gives brief case studies on how a diverse range of small companies including a mobile food truck, a cafe, a cinema, a rural store specialising in worm farming (image below), and an online clothing company have used social media to build their businesses.
A few quick lessons taken from these case studies:
* Good use of Twitter, providing relevant updates with a personal tone, can be a strong business-builder
* Location-based social media can be a powerful tool for attracting a tech-savvy crowd
* If you have a dedicated following there are many new ways to engage with your customers and help them to spread word for you
* Share your expertise freely to attract people to your website
* Make interacting with your company a comprehensive social experience
* Make it fun!
