Monday 2 November 2009

The Marmite effect.

I'm taking some time to concentrate on my coaching and social networking strands this week. Not only will it allow the SEO work I've been doing to take effect, it'll be a welcome chance to get back out amongst my local business community.

It's been fascinating talking to people about their perceptions of things like Twitter and blogging. To pinch the Marmite strapline, they either love it or hate it!

I think the most interesting part for me was the fact that people can deride Twitter and pour scorn upon it without ever having logged in to it, let alone learned how to use it effectively. They were particularly incensed that recent Tweetstorms like the one around Jan Moir and Stephen Fry made the "real" news.

Of course, the people that "love it" need little technical instruction and I can concentrate on true networking aspects of the phenomenon.

The people that "hate it" need a tour of the business benefits and also a gentle introduction to Tweeting and Blogging. I'm finding that several smaller sessions are far more effective than one longer "boot camp".

This duality makes it tricky running group sessions. I'm moving towards a proposal that offers 1:2:1 development and follow up support - including Tweet critiques. Persuading the refuseniks will be an interesting challenge, but I'm looking forward to it.