Workshop: Introduction to Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses October 20, 2009

Duration: Half day course: 10am – 2pm, including lunch.
Venue: Reed Media offices in London
Tutor: Jon Reed

This workshop has been designed specifically for small business owners, start-ups, entrepreneurs, freelancers, contractors and consultants. It will also be useful for anyone considering starting a business. It will be of most use to anyone who has responsibility for planning or executing marketing or publicity – whether that is the business owner, managing director, marketing director or other staff.

The session is geared towards anyone new to social media marketing wanting a broad overview of concepts, approaches, tools and techniques. Participants will come away equipped to start using social media strategically and effectively.

Your Learning Package includes:
* half-day workshop
* online access to resources, worksheets and slides
* follow-up support via an online discussion board
* “A-Z of Social Media” – a jargon-busting glossary of key terms, tools and approaches
* “Social Media Toolkit” – a list of tools to consider for your social media marketing plan
* “Social Media Marketing Plan” – a template marketing plan to help you apply the principles right away
* “References and Further Reading” – additional resources to follow up
* a Certificate of Attendance that may be used as evidence of training to count towards your Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

Aims
The case for small businesses to use social media is compelling. Yes, it’s cheaper than traditional marketing, and better suited to squeezed marketing budgets. It is also more effective than traditional marketing, since people screen out TV and print advertising and spend more and more time online – especially on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. But social media is also a personal medium where your authentic voice matters. That is much easier to pull off if you’re a small business than a huge corporation.

From business blogs and podcasts to video testimonials and case studies, to the big social networks such as Facebook and Twitter – and even the virtual world Second Life – there has never been such a vast array of low-to-no-cost marketing tools available to the small business owner. Choose and use them wisely, and you will be able to tap into your community of interest online, raise awareness of your product or service, and increase sales.

Using case studies and examples from small businesses (both good and bad!), this session will enable participants to begin to develop a social media marketing strategy for their businesses by providing a non-technical overview of concepts and approaches to using social media for marketing purposes.

This introductory session will cover the broad range of social media tools. The emphasis is on the culture of social media more than the technology – the context for using social media, which tools to use, when to use them, how to use them effectively to meet marketing aims and objectives – and how to measure your results. You will come away equipped to think strategically about your use of social media, and develop your own social media marketing plans to help your business succeed.

About Jon Reed
Jon Reed is a social media consultant who previously worked in academic publishing for 10 years, including as publishing director for McGraw-Hill. He also runs the web design and marketing agency Small Business Studio, which helps start-ups get up and running with branding, business stationery, websites and social media marketing services.

He is currently writing a book called: "Get up to Speed with Online Markeing: What you need to know and do to grow your business" (FT Prentice Hall, 2010).

He has lectured on social media on a number of courses in London, including on business applications of social media on the Foundation Degree in Media and Business Applications at Birkbeck, University of London.

In addition, he has also provided advice on ’smart marketing’ to delegates at Business Startup – the UK’s largest exhibition for small businesses – in their popular 1 to 1 advice surgeries for new business owners.

Agenda
10.00 Welcome, introductions and objectives
10.30 Social Media Concepts and Approaches – social media is a commitment, not a tactic
11.00 Using Social Media Tools – examples, case studies and how to choose your tool
12.00 Lunch (and continued discussion of social media tools)
12.45 Measuring Social Media – how do you know if your marketing is a success?
13.00 Social Media Strategy – developing a social media marketing plan
14.00 Close

Learning Outcomes
By the end of the session participants will:
* have a broad understanding of what social media is, including the ‘culture’ of social media marketing
* have some ideas about how social media may be applied to their own projects
* be equipped to start developing social media marketing plans.

Follow-up
Participants will have access to a secure area of the Reed Media website, where they will be able to download slides and handouts. Handouts will be made available in advance of the session, and slides uploaded after the session. Follow-up questions relating to the session may be submitted via the online discussion board.

Cost: £160 +VAT per participant. Includes:

* refreshments
* lunch
* resources, worksheets and slides, which can be accessed online
* FREE follow-up support via the discussion board on the resource site.

The following discounts are available:
* 10% early-bird discount – for workshops that are paid for at least 6 weeks in advance
* 10% team discount – for second and subsequent participants from the same organization.
These discounts may be combined.

Places available: this workshop runs with a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 14 participants.

For more details and online booking, visit http://www.reedmedia.eu/workshops/for-small-businesses

Official Website: http://www.reedmedia.eu/workshops/for-small-businesses/