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Social Enterprise leaders react to the news of a UK Hung Parliament

Having read the leaders of the social enterprise movements reaction to the news of the election, I remain confident of the enterprise I manage (Gateway Media) continued growth in the coming years. As City Gateway's longest established social enterprise I'm also pleased to have been referred to very positively by David Cameron last year, hopefully he hasn't forgotten the impact that social enterprises can have if properly supported;

I see a really important role for social enterprises, like City Gateway in Tower Hamlets, which takes young adults from local estates and trains them in the skills our economy will need in the future like web design. These social enterprises have the local knowledge, the human touch, and sensitive understanding of the complex and interconnected problems of educational failure and worklessness and I want to see more City Gateways come in, take this recession by the scruff of the neck and help get people into work.

David Cameron, Prime Minister.

That's twitting fantastic! - A case study on bringing business value using Twitter

Here is some proof that Twitter can be successfully used as a business development tool. I gained free marketing exposure and PR through an interaction on the social networking site.

Following the purchase of a new high quality camera stand we Tweeted a photo of the image. The manufacturer of the stand, who already had a presence on the site, viewed the Tweet and got in touch. Here is what the Twitter interaction looked like:

Following a short interaction we put out a joint press release with a photo I had taken and this ended up being used as the cover image for TV technology Europe magazine with a half page spread inside.

So be encouraged, Twitter is a real time way to interact with potential partners, clients and suppliers in a positive way. It has certainly encouraged me to give more attention to the platform. To read the article featuring my interview click here.

Re-designed Gateway Media Newsletter

Having used the same e-shot template for a year now I decided that we should give it a redesign to preempt the launch of our new website next month. This is the first edition of the new look version featuring our little Robot pal, click image to view an online version, it was sent out to our database of nearly 3,900 subscribers. If you want to sign up for the next edition click here.

Viral Video - 1 Man, 1 Reason, 100km

Double click on the video to go through to Youtube and watch it in High Definition.

Managing a media company specialising in both video production and online media could only lead to one thing, a viral video. I was with a friend a couple of years ago when he had a serious skateboard injury, damaging his skull and needing a air ambulance ride to hospital. Luckily he quickly made a full recovery and since then has been involved with a charity that helps people with similar injuries, Headway East London. I also had a trampoline accident a couple of years ago which left me with post concussion syndrome, basically concussion for an indefinite time. It lasted for 3 months and I know that if I knew of Headway at the time I would have gone to them for advice and guidance.

My friend is now running 10km in 10 days to raise awareness and funds for the charity and I wanted to help his cause by getting a viral video online and seeing how far it would spread. This is a personal video, not work done by Gateway Media. 'Going Viral' is an affordable way to get your message out there, you don't need to spend a lot but you do need to be creative.

Selling with Pain

This post was used as a guest blog spot on Dexter Moscow's 'Audience Dynamics' blog, you can view the post here.

It is widely understood that some of the main barriers to selling are:

• Lack of Sales Process
• Lack of Necessary Skills
• Lack of Ongoing Assessment
• Lack of Focus
• Limiting Beliefs in Yourself

During a recent sales workshop with a leading TV salesman (Dexter Moscow, of the QVC shopping channel), I was introduced to a new method that has made me reassess my approach to sales. Dexter only has seconds to sell products so needs to get to the root of things quickly.

Having been previously told to sell with benefits rather than features, I have now been told to sell on 'pain'. 'Pain', in this instance, is the issue or problem that you are resolving for the person you are trying to influence.

Taking this approach affects your whole sales activity. In a meeting situation to make them really think about the 'pain' you might take them on a journey so that they personally relate to a situation when the pain might arise, this means telling a story.

If your not in a meeting you might, like Dexter only have a few seconds. I am going to focus on how this knowledge has changed my 'elevator' or '30 seconds' pitch. This is when you only have a short time to get someone interested in what you are doing, for example if you get in an elevator with a key decision maker for 30 seconds what would you say? You can see how I have developed my pitch below.

Version one
"I work for Gateway Media, a digital media agency offering video, design and online services to leading companies in the UK. We have had great success in improving our client’s communication and marketing strategy."

Notice how this is too focused on me and my business features and not on the benefits to the client.


Version two
"I help companies to communicate more effectively through the use of creative digital media solutions. We are currently working with some of the top names in construction, banking and the legal sector enabling them to enhance their messages through video, design and online."

This makes more of an effort to specify the benefits to the client, taking the focus away from us and onto the client.


Version three
"I am currently working with business leaders who are having difficulty growing their business in the current economy. They are not being noticed in their markets and don't have the time or skills to tackle the problem. I don't suppose you are suffering these problems in your business?

In bold are the 'pains' (problems) that we have identified and are trying to solve. These can be focused on whoever you are speaking with if you know what their problems might be. This new take on an elevator pitch removes the service offering, features and benefits altogether.

The person I am speaking with does not know what services I am offering but if the problems resonate they will, in their response, give me the information I need to make an offer. If they do not have any of the 'pain' mentioned then you have saved time in finding this out up front.

Remember you are not trying to offer solutions at this stage, just finding out if these issues are relevant to them.

Your aim is to take the person from a place of pain to a place of pleasure.