Cemanthe Harries owner of New Media Angels www.NewMediaAngels.com

When Cemanthe started her business, one of the challenges she had to overcome was the lack of finance – however she says that one can find almost anything online for low cost or even no cost at all, and sometimes you can do a service exchange with other businesses. This is evidence of her initiative and dedication to her own business, which is also seen in the seminars that she presents. She also mentions that the 1 year mark is crucial for businesses starting out – this is the stage where many people feel they cannot go on, but she advises that you should push past this and stick with the drive and ambition. “The freedom and autonomy are well worth it in the end,” she adds. Social media is about building relationships.

Networking is very important to both business people and entrepreneurs – online and offline. It is more cost-effective than an advert that might only get seen once and then thrown away. Cemanthe says, “The key to networking though is to follow up with people you’ve met and what better way to do that than through social media? Social media has allowed us to relax and be our true selves, to represent a friendly and conversational face to the business and connect with our market in a comfortable way”. Being a social media expert, Cemanthe

Now, this is proving to be a useful way to meet people and prospective clients, and getting her name known. It allows people to see firsthand what it is that she does, and it allows her to showcase great content and engage with people from the stage. A lot has been written about the pros and

obviously markets her own business through social media, as well as through face-to-face seminars and meetings. She explains that the key to social media is that it allows you to get to know someone and their business, so that when you meet them in person or have that initial phone conversation, you are already equipped with knowledge about them – and people buy from people! Cemanthe has been giving a series of free workshops and seminars at various business libraries in London. Initially, this was a good way for her to understand what people want to know about, and also for her to build confidence in what she knows.

cons of social media, and how effective it is for businesses as a marketing tool. New Media Angels has worked recently with a company that were both advertising in a magazine on a regular basis and also using social media to get their name out there. They didn’t get any sales through the magazine advert, but they had increased sales and profile through their Facebook page and Twitter account! “The key here is to integrate everything you do – not just put all your eggs into the social media basket. You can have an advert in a magazine, but make sure you also include in the copy that people can join you online.” However beneficial social media is to a business, people do still confuse advertising and marketing with actual selling. According to Cemanthe, the biggest mistake people make is to think that social media is about selling or even about marketing. “Certainly it is part of the marketing process, but not to be confused with the discipline of marketing itself! Social media is more about a two-way conversation between the business and their market, whereas marketing can be very one-sided from the business”. Another mistake people make is to think that the more followers/fans you have, you are going to make more money! This is not true: it’s more accurate to say that the more relationships you build with the followers you have, will get you business. The trend is that people are checking

Facebook before their emails, as Facebook is more about socialising and email is more business-orientated. However, with regards to communication, email is still the best. Cemanthe advises businesses to get people back to their website where they can sign up for e-newsletters

August 2011 | Management Today 67