Is the cloud better suited to individuals?

Cloud Computing receives a lot of press, and a lot is said through social media networks such as Twitter, mainly aimed at organisations. It is true that there are many benefits to companies, especially SMEs. But in the business world we have to remember such things as data protection, data compliance and above all security. It does seem that these are often overlooked by the big players on line, especially Google, but for businesses is this really a solution that offers that much to them? Sure there are instances when the cloud will save an SME money, but it does beg the question, “who are the real winners of cloud computing?”

Compliance

A business has to know a few things to be compliant in today’s digital way of doing business. Here are some basic reminders:

1. You need to know where your data is actually stored
2. You need to know who has access to it at all times (the physical units that store the data)
3. You need to know that data is secure and made as secure as possible (hackers)
4.  You need to be able to prove data has not been tampered with
5. You need access to it and or backups within 21 days of a request

Other things a business will need to think of include:

1. How can we integrate systems with data / other systems in the cloud
2. What are the costs of using the cloud, and is the saving enough to move certain solutions from our own servers to the cloud, especially if we have to maintain our own servers in any case
3. Is our web connection fast enough and reliable enough
4. Will we be tied into a few big cloud players? Where is competition really coming from in this marketplace
5. Where do we turn too for support, and will that support actually work for us? We cant be waiting all day for emails to be our way of communicating with support

These lists aren’t finite, but are simply some pointers and reminders as to what a business has to take into consideration. So with cloud computing, can a business be sure it meets these points? The answer is no to many of them, which means for a business, the use of the cloud is already somewhat limiting. This doesn’t mean the cloud is a no go for them, rather a business has to be more selective as to what it stores and uses in the cloud…

Individuals

So with this in mind, us individuals could be the real winners of cloud computing. We are not restricted to what we store up in the cloud (though we probably won’t’ decide to store important documents up there, credit card details etc) so its use is basically un-restricted for us. Take a look at the latest Windows Mobile 7 phones, you will see that they have the big idea that we won’t decide to keep all our pictures, videos and music on a device, rather have it up on the cloud and access it as and when we want. This makes real sense, and is something we looked at many years ago here at One Degree Consulting. As an individual we can gain access from multiple devices, we can share content in an easy fashion and we don’t have to worry about backups. However, lets not get carried away, we still need the options to have that content local on our device, think of times when we don’t have a web connection, or connection speed is slow or expensive (it is really expensive if you are at sea on a ship for example), or more importantly, you just want it to be private.

So with the cloud and its capabilities, are marketing companies missing a trick? Are they too focused on selling the benefits to organisations when really they should be selling the concept to us the general public…Makes you think…

Can Social Media really aide SME’s?

Amongst small businesses, social media can be seen sometimes as a waste of time, money and effort. It’s one of those “nice to haves”, rather than “should haves” when looking at marketing, public relations etc. (Come to think of it, often for SMEs public relations isn’t looked at all – which isn’t good).

So what can social media really do for a SME and is it worth getting into. If so, what should you be looking at for your business in terms of social media – and will it work for you…

Ok there were a lot of questions in that last paragraph, but these are the questions small business owners want to know the answers too – and to be honest, without receiving some hyped up marketing or over exaggerated view of social media…

What is the point of social media – what can it do?

First off, if you are not familiar with Social Media, you need to ensure you think of it correctly – more so as an SME. So, first off, don’t think social media is about sales, and don’t think it is about pure marketing either. These are two big holes many SMEs (and large corporations) fall into. Rather think of it as conversational engagement. Now that sounds weird, but what I am trying to say is, think of it as simply chatting to someone who may (or may not) be interested in your company, product and or services. “Chatting” is the key word in that sentence. In a conversation you wouldn’t just spout out lots of facts, figures and start pointing them off to your marketing information, website or documentation would you, rather you may discuss your products, take on board views, opinions etc…

So, what is the point of social media for a SME and what can it do? Well, with conversations you can raise people’s awareness of your company. I love examples, so here is quite a useful one… If you walked into a busy party, and chose not to talk to anyone, then no one would know you are there. However, if you walked into the busy party and joined in with people’s conversations, moved around the room and joined other conversations, maybe invite people to join yours, then soon a lot of people in that room would know who you are. Now, think of the internet as that busy party and social media as a way to start and get involved in conversations. The more conversations you engage in with more people, the more people get to be aware of you and your business, products and services.  Now here is where the potential big pay off comes. Just like our party, people who talk, talk to others, and your message could potentially be told by many others, to many others within that party – and in social media terms across the internet. This effectively means that many others are effectively providing you with free publicity and marketing…

But, wait, there is more…Social media provides you with a tool to engage with your current customers, allowing them to give you feedback, ideas, dare I say it, complaints etc. All of which you can talk on board and use to improve your business. This is more about public relations, but social media is a great way of maintaining relationships with customers ensuring they become “repeat” customers.

Is it really worth us getting into?

Well, if you have understood the past couple of paragraphs the answer is clearly yes. However, there is a big beware here. If you are going into it half hearted, or use social media badly, not only can it prove to be a waste of time and resource, but also could promote a negative image of your organisation. So, you need to embrace social media properly, really engage fully (join as many conversations as possible) to make it succeed for you – also don’t embrace the end goal of social media, trying to push products / sales etc onto people without engaging first. If you do this, people just ignore you…

Social media sites and tools

There are lots and lots of social media sites out there to get involved with, and lots of tools too. However, time is always of key concern to SMEs so stick to the big players in terms of sites. These include:

• Twitter
• Facebook
• Linked in
• YouTube (if your going to use video)

Twitter: This is a micro-blogging site. It means you can make short statements on what you are up too, what’s new etc. You can join at www.twitter.com

Facebook: This is a social network website, where you can put up a profile of yourself, share your news, pictures, videos etc with friends and fans. MySpace is very similar, however, here in the UK this is slowly dying and not really worth engaging with if time is too precious.

YouTube: Another social networking site, but this one is dedicated to sharing videos. YouTube videos are often highly viral (meaning that ones with great impact get passed around a lot).

Linked In: This is really a social network for professionals (the work place). Not really for organisations as such, but people will show their working history, qualifications, areas of expertise etc on Linked In profiles.

So the above three sites provide you with key networks of people, but also with the tools to communicate. However, we haven’t mentioned blogging. Blogging is basically telling stories on a daily, or weekly or monthly basis. People “blog” on any subject you can think of, ranging from IT technology and how to use it, to reviews of people’s favourite TV shows. Blogging is therefore a great way of telling people about your company, products and services…

Know what to use and when

Now you know the key sites, it is key to use them correctly and knowing what works for you well. So first off, let’s look at Twitter. Well twitter works for any form of business. The key is to use twitter as a real person – and engage in conversations on twitter. Many organisations use twitter poorly, simply posting links to web pages or their blog posts etc. This isn’t engaging, just remember millions are on twitter, and many people follow a lot of people – so links to blogs just won’t get much response – unless you engage with people and chat. If you chat with them, when you do post a link they are more likely to think “hey that could be interesting, I’ll have a read…”.

Facebook can be a tricky one. Many people on Facebook are there just to keep in touch with friends and family – though many are on there to really socialise with people. Remember that Facebook is really for the general public, so if your organisation doesn’t sell or deal with the public, then there is no point in you being on Facebook (as a company). If however you do, then Facebook “fan” pages are a great way to build up a following of people who are interested in your company, products and services. Some radio stations use fan pages to actually communicate with listeners, as opposed to just your typical phone in….

You Tube: Now if you have any form of video content, and it is aimed at the general public (not selling business to business) then YouTube is a must. For B2B organisations it is a good store of videos, however, don’t expect them to get millions of views. If however, you post something well thought out, interesting or just out there, that sells your company, product, or services in a good light, ensure you get it up there…YouTube videos are often highly viral and the potential to reach large amounts of people with your video is a big reality…

Linked In: All professionals should get their profile up on Linked In, and organisations that sell B2B should have a presence there. LinkedIn is the professionals world of Facebook, so if Facebook isn’t for your company, choose Linked In.

Conclusion…

Well this is nothing more than an introductory blog post for SMEs interested in Social Media. It is always good to get help in with social media as it has the potential to really grow your business. On the other hand, done poorly, it has the potential to hinder your sales…So embrace social media – just don’t abuse it…