Small business owners are more savvy about the internet but still need to beware of jumping on trends, says speaker & trainer Robin Houghton

13-3-09

Robin Houghton has seen demand for her services as a speaker and small business trainer change subtly over the last 7 years. Whereas from 2002 - 2004 she was introducing small business owners and entrepreneurs to internet basics - how to do email marketing, how to get on the web - now she finds audiences are ready for the next step.

"There's a fantastic amount of good information available now and most people in business are more web-savvy than they were even 5 years ago," said Robin. "I used to frequently get asked 'do I need a website?' whereas now it's more likely to be 'should my business be on Facebook?' "

Two years ago, when Robin first joined Twitter, she was as unsure as anyone whether it would become a mainstream tool for businesses. Since the recent media coverage of Twitter and the subsequent interest from a wider audience, she now finds small business audiences are hungry for information about Twitter, blogging and the whole social web phenomenon.

"We're all still learning about the social web, and it's still developing. My feeling is that businesses need to understand the changing media and what that means for marketing, even if the new tools aren't for them. And even when a business wants to try something new, it's important to see it as just one arm of an integrated marketing strategy. Good use of resources means looking at what marketing is already in place and trying to improve results, rather than jumping into social media at the expense of a solid search engine or email strategy, for example.

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Notes to editors:
Robin Houghton is director of Eggbox Marketing Ltd (www.eggboxmarketing.co.uk) an online marketing consultancy based in Lewes, East Sussex. Its services include permission email marketing, search engine marketing, online copy writing, online PR and social media marketing.

Robin Houghton's presenting experience includes:
University of Brighton 'ProfitNet' - regular presenter on 'Effective email marketing', 'Effective business websites' and 'Social media marketing', 2008 - 2009
London Metropolitan University - tutor/presenter on 'Getting your business on the internet' for women's entrepreneur courses, 2007 to 2009
London Chamber of Commerce - devised and presented more than 20 workshops on the subject of email marketing for business.
Everywoman - conference speaker, 'Getting your business on the internet'
University of Sussex - tutor of 'Marketing Communications' and 'Introduction to marketing' for the Centre for Continuing Education


Robin on Twitter: @eggboxrobin
Robin's blog: Eggblogg

For more details, contact Robin Houghton, Eggbox Marketing Ltd, tel 01273 470010.

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