Introduction.
Over the course of the last five years or so, I’ve developed, refined and implemented a strategy for Social Media leadership. That’s allowed us to support and develop social collaboration for business for our clients through, the internet, social networking and cloud computing (all of which has developed beyond all recognition in that time). I’ve been conscious of needing to both focus on large networks and contact spheres but still build strong quality relationships with local business.
When Social Media first became ‘mainstream’ the Societal Web and was adopted by business people from all over the world. There was a strong desire to create high levels of visibility in a wide business audience. Often that desire was resolved through activity but without an underlying strategy to support it. Increasingly, we heard criticisms of social media from groups of local business people for whom it had created an interesting distraction without creating tangible results as its early implementation seemed to promise.
Now, I wouldn’t suggest that social media is applicable to all businesses, nor that you need a well thought through strategy in order to get results. However, for the right businesses that have a well thought out strategy the opportunities are immense. Despite that, the power and benefits of small, well-trusted group of businesses who meet and discuss all aspects of operating a local business cannot be underestimated. It’s existed for decades and, in my view, will continue to exist for as long as people are organising themselves for commercial purposes.
Now they are merging.
Increasingly, the development of groups in social networks mean we’re finding much smaller groups of people coming together with a common interest to discuss local business issues. On-line this happened in wide groups on Ecademy some time ago, more recently in Facebook and LinkedIn, (and now in the form of lists in Twitter). Off-line seemed to lose importance as the lure of the reach of the internet took hold. On-line is not the same thing though, as those groups may be disparate in terms of geography and where many members may be watching and engaging only on the periphery, if at all. In most groups I belong to the activity takes place between a relatively small number of active members with the occasional contribution from others.
Local business groups are increasingly developing a desire to interact face-to-face and increasingly I see small groups starting to develop around local events where the regular personal contact can enable trust and relationships to be built quickly and effectively. The best of these groups have a strong process and culture for their meetings and create a framework in which relationships can develop quickly.
Fifteen years ago, perhaps a bit more now, BNI developed its framework and has grown throughout the world on the principle of building groups of between 20 and 40 members meeting weekly over breakfast in order to help each other through the referrals that can be generated in the network that each member brings to the meeting.
Recently Ecademy launched BlackStar 
Boardrooms, with a framework for the meetings, but with an emphasis on regular local small groups of people coming together in a professional, confidential business environment to mutually support and develop the businesses in the room.
BNI in their turn are developing their website (strapline : Local Business – Global Network) and creating more opportunities for people to meet virtually outside their regular meetings, one could say that these are convergent paths drawn from both ends of the same scale.
The power of integrating social media and face-to-face offline networks; of having both a local close contact personal group of business friends supporting you and to whom you offer support, and the reach of a global social network, such as Ecademy and LinkedIn, is only just being realised.
Whilst for years we’ve heard of businesses becoming more global, of globalization, and all of the issues that come associated with that, it’s my belief that the globalization pendulum has turned and that local is now embedding itself into those things which have become truly global.
It is an interesting time.
William Buist
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