Check out my review of SquidLondon's fantastic colour changing umbrella at http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?p=147003#post147003

You know you want one!... ;o

Saw this in the recent (BAD News) Business Advisers' News and thought it was interesting...

Only one in ten UK small firms using social networks
Only a tenth of small businesses are using social networks to promote their firm and communicate with customers, according to a recent study by business software firm Sage. Around three-quarters of those that do use social networks are using Facebook, while a third of active social networkers use Twitter and 27% use LinkedIn.

To read more on this story go to:
http://www.sage.co.uk/PDF/ACT2010_So...Whitepaper.pdf

Join our campaign to support the UK's new breed of entrepreneurs and businesses by buying at least one product or service from another Shell LiveWIRE member this year.

With over 100,000 members worldwide, Shell LiveWIRE boasts the biggest online community of young entrepreneurs in the UK, with the majority of users either running their own small business, on the verge of starting up or seriously considering doing so in the future.

Our big idea for The Shell LiveWIRE Exchange is for each member to buy at least one product or service from another user, helping to support their business, the UK economy and the wider Shell LiveWIRE Community all at the same time.

Over the next few months we'll also be doing all we can to encourage members of the public who are keen to support new businesses and looking for unique items that they can't buy anywhere else to join in, particularly in the run up to Christmas 2009.

To do your bit, use this Shell LiveWIRE Social Network to browse profiles of businesses that are already part of the Shell LiveWIRE Community and search for specific products or services that might be on offer (by clicking on click on Social Network > Search at the top of this page).

We would like to encourage everyone that buys a product or service from another Shell LiveWIRE member to leave feedback for them on their Social Network profile and to post a review (with perhaps photos) in our special Discussion Forum thread at http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23871. Likewise, if you've already done business with another LiveWIRE member in the past we'd love to hear about it here too.

To ensure that all members get the most out of this campaign, please ensure that your Social Network profile contains the most up-to-date information about your business (or idea in progress) including logo/photo, web address, contact details by going to 'Edit Profile Information' (http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/user_editprofile.php).

Also, don't forget to include those all-important Tags/Keywords under the 'Business Information' section as these will help people find you on the site, along with photos or videos of your products or services!

We hope that everyone will gain something from this campaign and look forward to seeing how it all develops over the coming months!

For more information please visit:
http://www.shell-livewire.org/forums/showthread.php?t=23871

Great interview with Shell LiveWIRE Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2007 (Scotland) Pauline Clifford (StarSparkles) http://tinyurl.com/yhaxnne

I've recently recorded a short demo video (8mins 34secs) about our monthly £1,000 Shell LiveWIRE Grand Ideas Awards and how to apply online which can be seen at; 

http://www.shell-livewire.org/network/lordlancaster/video/24

I'd urge anyone who is aged 16-30, based in the UK and has been trading for less than 6 months to watch this video and to apply for the Awards as your chances of winning are actually quite high for very little effort.

Even if you don't win, everyone who is shortlisted for the Awards gets their elevator pitch videos hosted on the Shell LiveWIRE website for future viewing and some good PR opps out of the process.

I'm currently reading 'Marketing to the Social Web' by Larry Weber which is choc ful of great ideas and examples of how businesses and organisations are using social media to market and promote their cause, products and services. Having worked in IT / Web Development since 2001, I can say that there's never been a more exciting time be involved in digital marketing and or web development and there are so fantastic many possibilities for providing better and more useful content for your users and customers.

Having recently set up a Facebook group for Shell LiveWIRE at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=69920482358, I was interested to read the newly added chapter in Larry's 2nd edition of his book titled 'Does Facebook matter?, in which he talks about creating a 'Facebook Page' for your business or organisation which I wasn't aware could be done. This enables you to create a profile which works in much the same way as a personal profile and you can see the new Shell LiveWIRE Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Shell-LiveWIRE-UK/150868873370

If you're interested in creating your own Facebook page for your business or organisation, it's free and easy to do by going to;

http://www.facebook.com/advertising/?pages

Hi everyone,

All registered Shell LiveWIRE members are provided with a free Social Network profile to help promote their business, products or services which they can access by logging in to www.shell-livewire.org/network using the same login details as the Discussion Forum and the main Shell LiveWIRE website.

The Social Network is a fantastic tool to not only raise awareness of yourself and your business (or idea), but to connect with other members and share ideas via personal messages, the Chat room or by creating market interest Groups or Events. You can also post Classified ads and upload YouTube videos of your products or services to your profile.

However, please note that you should only include contact details on your Social Network profile that you don't mind being made public, e.g. contact details for your business and not personal addresses. This is because all pages on the Social Network are indexed and searchable by search engines and the default setting is to make your contact details visible to all, as as way to help promote your business.

To edit your profile click here and to adjust your privacy settings click here (you will need to login to do both).

Thanks
__________________
Paul Lancaster
Web Development Executive
www.shell-livewire.org
paul.lancaster@shell-livewire.org