Abaminds Entrepreneurs

Stephen Smith is a small business conversation consultant and public speaker. He helps business owners develop a social media presence and use web 2.0 tools to their own companies’ advantage.

Stephen blogs about marketing, networking and leadership at Business Development In Context. You can find his posts about productivity at Productivity in Context. As you must have guessed, you can also meet him in social media sites such as LinkedIn and Twitter.

Read Stephen’s answers on social media coaching, blogging and productivity:

- If you had to explain the role of a Conversation Consultant to a person who has no idea what it means, what woud you say?

Part of what I do in the Social Media coaching part of my business is inspiring/provoking/catalyzing conversation between a business and its customers. This is accomplished via social networking on the internet (like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and using blogging) to facilitate back-and-forth communication.

Customers and marketplaces are talking about businesses products and services already, whether the company likes it or not. It is in the best interest of the company to enhance the value of the customer’s relationship by getting involved in the conversation.

- Many people still haven’t realised the importance of social media for businesses. When and how did you realise this was an area that business owners should invest in?

I have been interested in “the Internet as a business” for a few years, but I had a sales/marketing job just over 2 years ago that relied on the Internet for connecting customers to our company. I started to read everything I could find about Internet marketing, social media, and online business building. I was planning on launching my Social Media Consulting business in the first part of 2009, but my wife was laid off from her job in mid-September, so I took advantage of the extra time and impetus to get started sooner.

I was initially looking to build websites for small businesses and bloggers, but so many of my clients were finding me through LinkedIn and Twitter that I decided to add Social Media as a category of the business.

- How is your consulting business affected by seasonal events?

It is still a new business, and I have not gone through a full set of seasons so I cannot really speak to that. I will say that the economic downturn has been a fantastic opportunity for many small businesses to increase their web-presence and it has been a good Fall for Business Development in Context.

- What’s the impact of your blogs Business Development in Context and Productivity in Context over your business?

The blogs have been my primary method of learning the skills that I now teach. Productivity in Context was my second effort at blogging, and I started teaching people about workflow practices and new media for almost two years when I decided to branch out and move the social media portion over to its own home. Business Development in Context is now the “business site” for people to learn about the practices and procedures of the new media world that we live in.

2009 is going to see a lot of new content and some remarkable guest posters. How to use audio and video are high priorities that many readers are asking about and short classes in those subjects are in development.

- If you could only give one piece of advice on productivity to your readers, which one would you choose?

Write everything down, every single task, project, call and e-mail. Write them down and then start crossing them off as you do them, one at a time.

- Where do you see your business in 2 years, considering how fast the Internet—and particularly the social media environment—evolves?

In two years I am looking to have several stand-alone web-based products that will create a cohesive learning environment for people that want to learn how to develop themselves and their businesses.

Many thanks to Stephen Smith for this interview!

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