Using social to kick-start your business

Friday, February 17th, 2012

Wednesday heralded one of Social Media Week’s most exciting events: the Nokia Social Innovation Lab. Four young entrepreneurs gave inspiring presentations about how social tools have helped turn their business idea into reality. Each had a different, but equally fascinating story to tell.

Within the packed room, tensions were running high (and so was the air conditioning) as Becky Straw took to the podium. Despite having flown in from New York that very morning, she delivered a passionate and inspiring presentation about The Adventure Project, a not-for-profit organisation that seeks to provide jobs and dignity to people in developing countries.

She explained how social media is “absolutely integral” to her business, not just in terms of spreading the word, but even in the simple logistical task of keeping up with her team – her business partner, Jody Landers, lives more than 1,000 miles away in Iowa.

Social media also played a huge part in The Adventure Project’s “Coal for Christmas” mission. By selling special “festive” lumps of coal for $20 each, Becky and Jody helped provide more than 1,000 charcoal-efficient stoves for families in Africa and Haiti. Now that’s what I call ethical social media!

The second inspirational speaker was Jess Ratcliffe, founder of GaBoom, a video game swapping website.

GaBoom is essentially a social network for those who want to swap video or computer games. It acts as a middle man, matching users to a network of individuals with whom they can swap and trade their games. As Jess put it, social media is not just essential to GaBoom’s business model, it “is the business model”.

She is also a firm believer in social media being a “means to breaking down barriers” between individuals, using examples from her own experience to show how making connections on social networks can have tangible results in the physical world.

Tricia Bertero also spoke passionately about how the “spirit of conversation” prevalent in social media is crucial to the ongoing success of her start-up, TextPlus.

She told of how TextPlus has grown out of the observation that people are actively choosing texting over calling as their primary method of communication; it’s fast, easy and relatively discrete. From this simple insight into people’s behaviour, Tricia and her colleagues have created a booming business. Also, by conducting polls and monitoring usage, TextPlus has the ability to listen to its users and evolve to accommodate their preferences and needs. This is a shining example of how a business can be successfully social.

Being the last speaker up on stage was never going to stop award-winning “soultrepreneur” Andre Campbell, whose community project Enfuse Youth is all about empowering young people with the passion and drive to achieve their goals. His energetic and interactive speech was, for me, the highlight of the day.

Andre was very vocal about the need for businesses to tap into the youth market, calling young people “the most valuable resource in the world”. His passion and insight exemplified how innovation and participation can’t just be online, and that social encompasses both the real and the virtual worlds.

Although each of the four speakers were very different people, with very different backgrounds and very different visions, they were united by their passion for their business and their successful use of social (and not just social media) to promote it. And they each had their individual (social) success stories.