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Twitter

Twitter is bit like having the social to and fro of a networking event happening at your desktop 鈥� 140 characters at a time, in real time, all the time. You can 鈥榝ollow鈥� other participants who catch your eye, see who they鈥檙e talking to, and eavesdrop on what they鈥檙e 鈥榯weeting鈥� to each other. Soon, you鈥檒l be able to follow multiple, multi-sided conversations full of social chit-chat, requests for 好色先生TV Regs information and weblinks to site photos, pdfs or informative sites.

Twitter is searchable via keywords, in the same way as Google, with the difference that you can send a message to the people with expertise on a subject and they鈥檒l talk right back to you.

There is an unwritten code whereby participants are challenged for shameless product-plugging, self-advertising or 鈥榮pamming鈥�. But anyone joining in a spirit of sharing information will be welcomed as a new convert. 鈥業f you give access to some of your knowledge for free, people will then ask you for more 鈥� there鈥檚 a culture of putting things online for people to access,鈥� says Su Butcher of architect Barefoot & Gilles.

From a business development point of view, Twitter is a slow-burner. 鈥楾witter won鈥檛 suddenly create sales leads, but it is an enabler for face-to-face meetings out of which you might get more work,鈥� says freelance consultant Paul Wilkinson.

Jonathan Moreels, architectural designer and Twitterer-in-chief at Niven Architects, adds: 鈥榃e haven鈥檛 had any new projects so far, but we have had a couple of enquiries and we鈥檙e using it to find out what other people are doing.鈥�

Niven uses Twitter in conjunction with its Facebook page and postings on Flickr. 鈥業t鈥檚 difficult trying to build relationships in 140 characters!鈥� says Moreels. 鈥楽o it鈥檚 useful to use Facebook and Flickr to point people to sources of more information. If they鈥檙e interested and hooked, then they鈥檒l contact you.鈥� Since the firm started using the site in March, visitors to its website have doubled to around 300.

Kirk Smith (pictured, left), director of Liverpool contractor 4K Construction, says: 鈥業 can鈥檛 say Twitter has been tremendously successful in drumming up great business, however, we do receive more visitors to our blog and that can only be a good thing.鈥�

The latest phenomenon is known as 鈥榯weet-up鈥�, where people arrange to rendezvous in the real world. PR consultant Liz Male arranged to meet some Twitter contacts at the BRE Insite exhibition. 鈥榃e鈥檝e established shared interests and concerns, and will see if there are business opportunities we can collaborate on, perhaps as partners on projects,鈥� she says.

Twitter is also spawning smaller sub-groups, such as the Architects Twitter League and the Architects Engineers and Constructors Network. By posting a 鈥榯weet鈥� to all 300 or so members listed in the directory, for example, you can get up to 300 responses. These groups can also bypass real-world industry bodies by sharing consultation papers and technical forums.

Andrew McCormick / business improvement manager / Hobson & Porter

There鈥檚 a lot of people talking to themselves on Twitter, but we鈥檙e trying to make it work for real. We鈥檙e encouraging the supply chain to use the blog as the primary source of information about Hobson & Porter, and Twitter as the signpost to our blog. We鈥檙e using them to communicate with the supply chain, the client chain and our internal people.

We鈥檝e set up blogs for all our projects on blogger.com, and the site went public last week. At the same time, we sent an email message to all the subbies, consultants and clients in the supply chains, inviting them to view the blog and follow our updates on Twitter. Twitter will drive people to the blog, so it doesn鈥檛 sit in isolation.

Then we need to get people in the company talking to each other on Twitter. People don鈥檛 really use intranet sites for social networking, so we want to tap into people鈥檚 natural interest in social networking for business reasons.

We want people to answer the classic Twitter question: 鈥榃hat are you doing right now?鈥� For instance, the procurement manager might tweet that he鈥檚 just let the steelwork package to ABC company. So that tells me, as business improvement manager, that I need to talk to them about business improvement, several weeks before the name of the company might show up on the invoice system.

Or I might tweet that I鈥檓 looking at web applications for file-sharing, and other people might be interested in that.

Or a subbie might tweet that it鈥檚 revisiting its site waste management processes. It鈥檚 all about engaging with the supply chain.

But it will be interesting to see if we can actually get people to use it 鈥� most people in construction aren鈥檛 part of the Twitter generation.

Tips

• Remember everything is public and can be overheard
• To search other people鈥檚 tweets, type search.twitter.com into your browser, followed by a search term such as cladding
• Follow 100 people that interest you to get ideas on how to use Twitter
• Build up your own list of followers, who will be able to answer your questions

LinkedIn

In contrast to the open style of Twitter, LinkedIn is more like a gentleman鈥檚 club: the protocol is stiffer, the etiquette more formal and there鈥檚 even an entrance fee if you want to contact people you don鈥檛 have a business relationship with. You need to register and write a profile, then search for other people to link into your network. You can also join interest and discussion groups, regional-based construction groups 鈥� such as the London Architecture Network 鈥� and post questions and answers on technical topics.

James Goddin, a senior consultant at BRE, says online conversations in discussion groups can be converted into new business initiatives. 鈥業t鈥檚 been a great resource for sister company BRE Ventures,鈥� he says. 鈥業t has helped match new ideas with the people that need them, as well as find people with ideas that can be developed.鈥�

The site鈥檚 knowledge-sharing function can also help anyone whose job has a technical aspect. Willmott Dixon planner Rubas Kutty has tapped into the collective database to find tips on construction, planning and project management. 鈥楶reviously I鈥檇 have had to find my technical information in the building press, but I get many of my questions answered here in a simple one or two-hour session each week,鈥� he says. Kutty uses the site with the blessing of his employer, which sees its business-only profile as preferable to Twitter.

But most users focus on the site鈥檚 main function of creating new business contacts and rekindling old ones. Architect Dieter Kleiner, director of small practice RCK Architects, uses LinkedIn to contact former clients. 鈥業 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 had any commercial effect on our business yet, but as a small young practice it鈥檚 useful for reinforcing our image. In the current climate, it鈥檚 a case of 鈥済et out there or die鈥�, so we are using any avenue to get our message out, in the virtual and real world.鈥�

Dan Jarrold, head of marketing at Morgan Sindall Fit-out, has a similar view. 鈥業鈥檇 say it鈥檚 limited from a business development point of view, because it鈥檚 not widely used yet, but I expect it to develop over time. It鈥檚 certainly better than other forum sites I鈥檝e tried like Facebook or Friends Reunited, as it鈥檚 purely business focused. I鈥檇 definitely recommend it.鈥�

Gail Gillatt / marketing manager / Shepherd Construction

I trialled Linked In for a week, spending about an hour on it in the morning and 1.5 hours in the evening. The basic service is free and really addictive. I鈥檝e become obsessed with trying to get more people in my network than other users!

I set up a profile detailing my current job responsibilities, education and career history so people can search for me through the site. The idea is to get relevant people to join your network, which then allows you to share knowledge, identify possible business opportunities and make and receive recommendations for employment.

I imported contacts from my Microsoft Outlook address book, which LinkedIn searches for in its database. I also searched through Shepherd Construction鈥檚 LinkedIn network and contacted people I hadn鈥檛 met before. Once you鈥檝e made contact with these people, they can introduce you to their colleagues and so on.

It hasn鈥檛 yet been beneficial for me in terms of winning new business, although it鈥檚 only been a week, but I have sent invitations to about 70 people and now have 36 people in my network. After
I posted my profile several people found me almost instantly. Many of these were colleagues from previous jobs I did in Holland, Canada and the US and LinkedIn is great for maintaining contact with people you wouldn鈥檛 ordinarily see face to face. I couldn鈥檛 believe it when I was contacted by a Dutch colleague I hadn鈥檛 seen for more than 10 years.

I鈥檓 a member of the Target Construction & Property Marketing Group, and was pleased to see that they have a discussion group on LinkedIn. I鈥檓 going to get more involved with this as it should be useful for sharing marketing best practice.

Many people seem to use the site for recruitment, and you can see why. The profile page is very succinct so you get a quick picture of a person鈥檚 qualifications and experience without having to trawl through a CV. And if someone in your network recommends a person for a job it鈥檚 like a testimonial, so you can be fairly sure that the candidate will be trustworthy and reliable as opposed to a complete stranger.

It鈥檚 definitely a useful site, but it will never replace face-to-face networking events. And I simply don鈥檛 have time to search for contacts in LinkedIn during working hours. A networking event is more targeted so your time is used more efficiently.

Tips

• Companies need to be aware of the information staff are posting, especially if the company logo is uploaded
• Be aware that conversations are either open for everyone to read, or entirely closed to the two parties
• Use it to establish local professional networks that can cross-refer work

Blogging

Blogging is the art of starting a one-sided conversation in the hope that it will become multi-sided 鈥� either by readers sharing their comments directly, or indirectly showing their interest by visiting your company鈥檚 website. It鈥檚 often used by website owners who want to increase their rankings on Google searches: Google calculates website hierarchies by the frequency of updates and the number of links.

鈥業f you have a company website, you can provide a link to this which will also help the search engines find your main 鈥減itch鈥� page,鈥� explains says Kirk Smith, director of 4K Construction in Liverpool. 鈥楢lso remember to keep your blog posts keyword rich with any particular phrases [to be picked up on searches] to help promote your business. People will soon start to recognise you as a reliable resource and your blog posts will begin to carry weight.鈥�

Consultant Paul Wilkinson (pictured, left) says blogging is an important tool for business: 鈥楥orporate blogs can be used to help promote a strategy or change the external perception of a company: from stuffy to casual; traditional to switched on.鈥�

By conveying an idea of the company culture, it can also be used as a recruitment tool. 鈥榃e can provide a view into the company, and show we鈥檙e an attractive place to work,鈥� says Louise Reed, digital marketing manager at Capita Symonds. 鈥榃e don鈥檛 want to be seen as another faceless company.鈥�

Architect HOK has also entered the blogosphere, putting together a team of 34 young professionals worldwide to help change its public image from 鈥楬OK the big company鈥� to 鈥楬OK the creative people鈥� to help attract new employees, clients and partners. 鈥楾he direct benefits for our business have been the dozens of requests through the blog email box about job opportunities,鈥� says John Gilmore, associate. 鈥楾he blog has also built our presence in the news media, having been linked to by many online publications.鈥�

It is left up to individual bloggers to decide what to post and when, and blogging during working hours is permitted. Content can range from a photo of the blogger鈥檚 breakfast to news of new projects. The site 鈥� 鈥� averages several hundred hits a day, with a steady increase since its launch last October.

John Keleher / IT Manager / Crittall Windows

We鈥檙e running two blogs on the free blog hosting sites Wordpress and Blogger. Both are good if you want to set up a straight blog with no fancy stuff, but for more serious users Wordpress allows you to upload images.

The main reason for doing this was to improve our page ranking on the Google search engine 鈥� our main UK competitor had a higher ranking 鈥� as well as to drive traffic to the website.

The content uploaded is mainly case studies of our completed high-profile projects, but I鈥檓 planning to add more input from specialists. There鈥檚 currently no plan to let general employees blog, as we want a consistent company message.

When updating blogs, my advice is don鈥檛 be overambitious but be regular. There鈥檚 nothing worse than people who blog a few times to begin with, then leave it blank for a few months before posting again. Try to do it every two to three weeks.

Unexpected contacts turn up from time to time. We recently had a guy in Shanghai posting comments complaining bitterly about how Western architects are ruining the city鈥檚 aesthetic by replacing steel windows with uPVC. I sent him some images of our Shanghai-based steel window factory from the 1920s, which he鈥檚 now posted on his website. Who knows, it might lead to new business.

Tips

• Blogs can be created easily and for free using a free hosting site such as Blogger or Wordpress
• Younger staff may take to blogging more readily than directors
• Use blogs to highlight your take on a topical issue, but don鈥檛 simply repeat old news