Raj: I think Twitter is a great marketing tool, also it has shown success with selling our services at Kwiqq, I tweet as @rajanand

Jennifer: Definitely websites like Twitter, facebook and setting up a blog. I would not discard print media, like Gorkana, which is a list of who’s working where, it basically gives you a media update. It’s a great way to build up your print contacts and it’s free. Also I think it’s important to build a blog and also to visit other blogs in your industry in an engaged way.

Raj: I’ve used Twitter for being part of a community. I want to meet more people in the social media industry and it’s a great way to meet people who might need help with their communithy building or developing their online tools. In terms of success stories, I’ve been invited to several high-profile events and seminars in the digital marketing space and I have also marketed Kwiqq services through Twitter and gained cleints directly this way.

Would there be a market and indeed would you be interested in someone leading a workshop on a basic paper recycling method under your “The Make Lounge” umbrella – she currently has 4-6 students each being charged £30 for her short 4 week, 2 hour per week course.
Cheers!

Jennifer: I agree with Raj, it feels quite disingenuous.

Raj: I do use LinkedIn although the effectiveness of marketing and spending time is not really obvious to me – whereas on Twitter, the number of conversations and ROI is fairly obvious. I would also note that Twitter is a brilliant discovry tool to find new people – whereas LinkedIn is largely a tool to reconnect with your real world contacts. I often use LinkedIn to showcase my professional profile whereas with Twitter it’s all about the conversation.

Jennifer: My company has been pretty conservative about marketing spend – with the exception of our website which we built and launched even during our test phase as a company before we had our own premises. Present yourself as a fully-formed business even when you are starting out is my advice and start as you mean to go on. For us it was very important to have the website reflecting our brand, and so that was where we concetrated our spend. We’ve used social media from the start rather than buying trade booths at shows or paid-for advertising, so although I won’t say ‘never again’, i can say that so far it’s been a case of ‘never needed’.

Jennifer: I would say that in addition to doing your own research, ask people in your industry for supplier recommendations. Word of mouth is often best. Ask for samples if appropriate, try the items out on your customers, ask for feedback and of course always ask if the suppliers will give you trade discounts. You might think you are too small a business, but you might meet their minimum requirements for discounts. Maybe present a potential supplier with a contra (reciprocal trade), for example, you offer them something and they will provide you with something.

Raj: Thanks everyone – it’s been really good to be able to answer your questions. One final thing to note then from me is that I read somewhere that in the last recession the companies that came out as winners were the ones which didn’t reduce their marketing budget. So even if you do need to reduce the budget, or don’t have it to start with do keep the marketing effort, whether online or offline, going. Find me on Twitter via
@rajanand.