When it comes to social media it always seems to be a case of playing catch up.  No sooner do you get your head around Facebook, then Twitter crops up, master Twitter and it's Linked In, feel like you're getting somewhere and then it's writing blogs, You-tube and now google+!

Fortunately e-factor was on hand last week with a very comprehensive overview of the current trends in social media, and not just information on how to do it, but also thanks to Jonathan Boddy from Positive Impact, how to maintain your professional reputation in this massive on-line environment.

As Rachel Perry pointed out to us all at the start of the afternoon there is an absolutely whopping percentage of people who are social media savvy these days, from the young computer whizzes right through to the silver surfers.

Facebook alone has more than 800 million active users worldwide... so how do small businesses make the most of this massive advertising opportunity?

Fortunately e-factor's afternoon explained everything in enough detail to help us understand the importance of social media, the different platforms within it and, thanks to the break-out sessions looking at affordable Android Apps, Using your staff to help your social media activity, Facebook advertising and the use of You Tube, we all came away knowing where to focus our attention first within the social media sphere.

The afternoon was rounded off by Jacqui Thompson owner of PulseCSI who talked through her very real life experience of social media, and how use of twitter in particular had transformed her business, to the point of getting the opportunity to appear on Dragon's Den.  Her pointers on how to get the best out of Twitter showed us where to focus our time and gave us all some ideas of who to follow, and which competitions to enter.

At the end of the afternoon my head was buzzing with ideas, and since last week I've got appointments lined up to sort out You-Tube advertising for my own business, and, for the first time ever, entered business competitions on Twitter.

Who knows... maybe I'll be presenting next time... (not).

Joanne Smedley
Red Herring Games