Hi there!

I hope that you had a truly amazing weekend! Hubby and I went to see our eldest daughter who lives about 3 hours away. We didn't fancy the drive so we got the train (not the local model railway one, lol), which was much less stressful.

A great time was had all round :) We went out to an Indian restaurant for an "all you can eat" lunch and very yummy it was too.

Then we sat around chatting all afternoon. We did consider seeing how long the staff would let us stay there and whether we could get away with eating dinner there too... Lol!

But some of us (mentioning no names) had eaten rather too much already and were in danger of getting banned in a true Homer Simpson style. Hehehehe!

So, the bizarre news of the day is that The Pope is on Twitter! Google it if you don't believe me!

No matter what your religious affiliation, this is interesting news. Not necessarily because you can now follow the Pope, but the fact that it means that even religious entities can see the value in Social Media marketing...

The rest of us should sit up and pay attention.

There is no doubting that social media can have an enormous impact on a business. Where else can you speak to the CEO of a big corporation and get a reply pretty much immediately?

Social media is changing the way that big companies do business. They care about their public profile on twitter and facebook. So if an unhappy customer complains publicly about them, they are all too quick to do something about it.

In fact I've heard several stories recently of marketers who have managed to sort out limited Paypal accounts by tweeting the CEO. I find that truly incredible! And it's great to know that there is a shining light of hope for anyone experiencing difficulties with Paypal :)

So what is the point of social media marketing?

Among other things, it's a great way to build your brand. And building a brand is an essential part of building a long term sustainable business.

There's a great article on Twitter branding here:

 ==> http://www.openforum.com/articles/5-tips-for-branding-your-company-on-twitter/

The Facebook group is coming soon. I actually started to create it today, but apparently I have to add a member or two before it will let me, so I will have to see if I can find a willing victim, I mean friend, to help me out :)

Speak soon :)

To your success!

Sally