The room was packed this Tuesday for the Canterbury Christ Church University Business Forum event on Social Networking - thank you to all those who attended to hear me and Mark Zaretti of Sparticle Ltd aiming to open your minds to some of the possibilities that these new tools offer to business.  I was happy to admit I am a novice, starting Facebook just a month ago (you can see my first efforts here: www.facebook.com/thepurpleedge), and Twitter not long before that, but Mark had some inspiring and cautionary tales to tell about this relatively new phenomena.

Some people were more au fait with one or other of the tools and there was a healthy mix of cynicism and enthusiasm.  We were certainly not there to promise that social networking alone would bring untold riches, rather that you need to be aware of the possibilities in order to be able to make an educated decision about how well Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. might work for you.  And the numbers signing up show that more and more people (some of whom are likely to be in your target audience) are joining all the time.

As always, before you start any marketing activity be clear about your business objectives/goals - that way you will find it easier to judge what is valuable and what is not.  But think more widely than the end game of just signing up new clients, you may find greater success in finding suppliers or just boosting your PR.

As you might be grappling with some of the same issues, I thought it might be useful to share with you the list of things that people most wanted to know as they set out on their journey to explore the brave new world. 

How do I move from a purely personal user to a business user on Facebook?

You can do this slowly, and there is no need to entirely separate your private life from your business life as long as you pay some attention to general propriety!  A good test is 'would you be happy for you Mum to see this?'.  People buy from people and social networking is a great way to show more of the personality of your business and help people feel they know and like you before trusting you with their business.

What is a Facebook business page?

With a business page you can ensure only business messages are published and can have different members of your team publishing and interacting on the site with those people who join you ('like' you in Facebook speak).  They are a good tool for PR and customer service.

How can I target specific groups and manage my time?

There are add-on tools and applications available and of particular use to businesses (for example, but not only, Hootsuite) that allow you to organise your contacts into groups, search for keywords, receive alerts if your business is mentioned, and even schedule messages to go out across the day/week.  And most of these work on mobiles too.  So you don't need to be online every minute of the day, although you may need to spend a bit of time getting things set up to suit you and learning the ropes.  Nevertheless, social networking can be compulsive and you are right to worry about time wasting so you need to be enforce a bit of discipline on yourself.

How do I filter junk?

Use the tools available as mentioned above - identify your favourites, set up keyword alerts, and aim to control it rather than let it control you!  The best way is to search on Google for reviews of useful applications.

Do I have to contribute?

It is possible to use Twitter and LinkedIn in particular just to listen and learn - and that can be very useful.  However, to get Social Networking to contribute to your bottom line results you need to engage more actively, but selectively, with your contacts.  That is being social after all!

Is there a point to Twitter - and what is the etiquette?  I don't want to upset clients by unfollowing them.

If you want to ignore someone rather than unfollow them because they may take offence then use the lists and favourites functions to prioritise those people you are interested in.  Twitter is a constant stream of chatter, but if your targets are there then you can make it work for you to build profile, engage in conversations, present your expertise, and learn what's going on in various communities.  A bit like following the office gossip.

What are the best tools for business?

The best tool for your business will depend on the audience you are trying to reach.  LinkedIn is purely professional users so is good for B2B, but businesses are increasingly active on Facebook and Twitter.  The best thing is to be clear about who you are looking for then go looking.  But start with one and move on slowly as you become more confident and familiar - then if it is not working for you then you can discreetly pull back.

How can you measure return on investment?

ROI in marketing has been the subject of many long and boring books - and the jury is still out.  You may be able to track directly that a new piece of business came from your contacts online, or you may need to trust your gut instinct and test it by scaling up and down, but do be clear about what you are aiming to achieve so you know what to measure against.  There is a wealth of analytics that can show you how much extra traffic you are getting to your website, and even the demographics of your audiences, which is far more than you would get with many other forms of marketing promotions.

How do LinkedIn Clubs & Groups work?

This is where you are able to engage in discussions and pose questions and publish information to like-minded groups.  You'll need to apply to join usually, but there are groups for many subject areas and professions.  And if you don't find what you are looking for then you can create one yourself!

What ways are there to engage with existing clients?

All of the above!  Go looking for your clients and find out if they are already active - if they are and you're not then you may really be missing out!  Not only can you keep in touch with what they are doing but you remind them what you can do - there may be more things you could do for them that you've not thought of mentioning to date.  You can also search on specific potential clients to target and ask for introductions. 

Over whelmingly at the end of the session people felt more confident and more inspired to have a constructive 'play' with Social Networking.  Mark and I felt pleased that we had succeeded in opening up a few minds and pointing people in the right direction - a good morning's work!