Folks,

Sheffield Forum is the only forum I use, simply because it is the best. However, in the business section, we seem to be a select few (select sound pompous but you know what I mean :loopy:).

Whenever I have a client in to see me, I always make the point that using the forum should be a key part of their on line strategy for lots of reasons (we found our excellent accountant here).

How can we (the usual suspects, ah that's a better description :hihi:) spread the word and get more regular contributors to the business section?

Any thoughts?

All people can do is tell others about it, but forums aren't everyone's cup of tea.

i have found some of the information in this section of the forum invaluable...even if i dont feel able to necessarily contribute with anything useful!

on checking my google analytics, a huge portion of my traffic comes from this site....which cant be a bad thing!


x

SF is great for all sorts of things and I am a huge advocate of business transparency but I would be a little wary of making too much of a recommendation without some caveats. The nature of SF is that you are open to mischief that you might not be able to find an easy remedy to. It's definitely good for research and casting ideas and making contacts but I would be careful about just now much is disclosed in which sections.

The independence of SF is refreshing to the walled garden initiatives put up in certain other places, say LinkedIn or anything offered by quango's.

Can I ask a question? What would you expect people to get out of it for business?

I haven't been on the forum for a while, but I have chatted to and met, some really great people. I think networking is the key to a successful business.

I do like coming on to sheffield forum Business section although i still think that the Merger between Business and Employment sections was a bad idea.

Is there anything interesting posted?

All we see is 'i wanna start a buzniss cos my nan said i shud i could go and get a job but carnt be arassed and want 2 sit at home all day wotching tv. iz this a good idea and wot do u fink of Kleeneze cos me gran says it will make me wich.'

now come on Go4it, thats an exaggeration if ever i've read one!

Threads aren't going to be interesting to everyone - only if you feel you would also like to know the answers to the questions posed, or can help by contributing to the discussion or provide advice and suggestions, etc.

If it's not for you then it's quite simple - you don't look. I don't look in the knitting or gardeners forums (or any other forum on here for that matter) because I have no interest in those topics - but I wouldn't belittle them none the less.

go4it; very funny but Sandra is right..and as someone else has realised this forum is fantastic for link building;)

Is there anything interesting posted?

All we see is 'i wanna start a buzniss cos my nan said i shud i could go and get a job but carnt be arassed and want 2 sit at home all day wotching tv. iz this a good idea and wot do u fink of Kleeneze cos me gran says it will make me wich.'

As a foreigner, I found this Einglish words too difficult to read! too many non-Regular spelling!

Go4it wrote it that way on purpose, because that's how a lot of people seem to write these days, probably from texting too much!

Just found this forum, looks useful so thanks for the contributions so far :)

I don't post a lot, because I don't get to visit every day and invariable a question:
a) has already been fully and very well-answered
b) is on a subject on which I have little or no knowledge
c)is a blatant self-promotion/ marketing exercise (they are rare, but have occurred)

I also think that (prepares to duck back under the paparapet) asking and answering questions in the written format can- sometimes- come across as somewhat aggressive, and maybe some newer visitors to the Forum could be put off by this.

I meet people starting up businesses fairly frequently, and mostly mention the Forum; whether they take a look is a different matter. All you can do is keep on trying. On average, you need to open 100 oysters to find a pearl :-)

I do like coming on to sheffield forum Business section although i still think that the Merger between Business and Employment sections was a bad idea.

I would second that it is now a less interesting section with the change.

i bigged the business section up today when i went to a business link course.

i did say that it can be a really useful tool, especially for information sharing.

i still have yet to find anything that im qualified to give advice on....ill settle for taking it at the mo! lol

x

Sophie,

Rather than have the link in your signature, why not use one of your keywords instead (see the link from Product Design, on mine, is linked to my company website)...thinking you might want to change it to bespoke hats...just a thought :)

I am new to sf but on the couple of posts I have made I have had some good advice and comment, some not so useful too!!!

I keep popping back to see what is going on :)

Like Sophie, you might want to change your autosignature too (plus there is a typo in it!)

Like Sophie, you might want to change your autosignature too (plus there is a typo in it!)

Lol, thanks for that! have done it, do you think that is better?

Sophie,

Rather than have the link in your signature, why not use one of your keywords instead (see the link from Product Design, on mine, is linked to my company website)...thinking you might want to change it to bespoke hats...just a thought :)

many thanks steve- is this the sort of thing you meant?

these sorts of helpful suggestions and advice are one of golden nuggets of this section :)


x

Spread the word :)

Lol, thanks for that! have done it, do you think that is better?

If that is the search term your customers are likely to use to find you then it is spot on...but as I'm a bloke I'm hardly the right person to give you advice on that.

Use the Google adword tool and see what it might suggest.

However, in the business section, we seem to be a select few.It's the nature of the Beast, Steve.

I believe that few businesses have yet realised the potential of the social side of the Interweb, never mind incorporated it within their marketing/PR/Comms strategy. Most will get to it in a few years' time, dragged along as they were with "getting a website" not so very long ago.

I also believe that there is going to be a faster-and-faster uptake of new internet/ICT-based communication models, as older-generation business types pass the hand to younger-generation, "born-with-the-Web" business types.

How can we (the usual suspects, ah that's a better description :hihi:) spread the word and get more regular contributors to the business section?

Any thoughts?The mantra that "people do business with people" is very true, hence the ever-growing success and multiplication of face-to-face networking events, and forum activity, to me, is sort of a virtual networking event, advantageously offering a permanent record of the event.

A possible limitation is that this forum is geo-centric, whereas most 'serious' and well-attended business forums are still activity-centric, so I suppose SF interaction (relative to other forums and/or communication channels) will depend on how much time/resources a business has available for social media interaction as a whole, and their market approach (relevance of catchment area).

I cannot yet think of any effective strategy to bring in more contributors, however this section is well moderated, so maybe let "online word of mouth" work its magic over time? Looks to be working, from some replies in the thread :)

The forum will go as far as the forum owners want it to go, so it's not all down to what members do to refer. We just have to do what we can within the parameters of the forum. I regularly refer here but tbh like other social platforms, it's not for everyone even if it does bring leads they are missing out on.

The rules might stifle some and appeal to others. Some people want a free-or-all "let me post what I want where I want and don't tell me I cant cos i'll get the hump on and slag you off", and there's those that want some decency, respect and order so they dont have to trawl through the spam and put up with trolls that spoil the threads looking to get their kicks from anonymously arguing and purposely incensing others because there is no come back since they are anponymous and can simply re-register under another name if banned. This is all typical of the nature of forums, so you have to decide what you want to allow and what you allow dictates what you will attract to the forum and how it will grow. That said, allowing all and sundry with minor modding does grow the forum larger since you're not removing posts and deflecting spammers and trolls, but the quality is less and does not attract serious and level headed members who contribute quality and substance. You can't really have it both ways.

For me, its value are the rules...I've noticed on Linkedin groups a creeping malaise of self promotion which I switch off from. For me, the compromise on self promotion are the autosignatures, everything else should be based on quality advice and debates.

I have made contacts on here who have profited as a result.

Business is all about contacts, no?
But I just wonder how useful is social networking in generating actual business, as opposed to listing oneself in many business directories or owning a website.

Business is all about contacts, no?
But I just wonder how useful is social networking in generating actual business, as opposed to listing oneself in many business directories or owning a website.

i havent listed in any business directories and ive had 3 custom orders enquiries last weekend as a result of people finding my page on facebook.

ive had another 2 as a result of the website which directs people to my facebook.

i promote all my events and new stock via facebook.....along with a shop on the page which has received one sale today and ive been told will be getting another one tomorrow.

i have had order referrals from shared contacts made via facebook links with wedding planners as well as wholesale enquiries from businesses.

it works for me ;)


x

Stopped using the Business forum on the whole but still chack back like a long lost firiend from time to time. Personally I dont like the new fomat, since it was mixed with employment stuff. It stopped being what It used to be and its very hard to pinpoint why but I got the impression it was heading in a different direction.

My objections are:

1) There is a lot of questions and answers repeated which got tedious / why cant this be addressed with an information section?
2) Its not specialised enough for my needs.
3) My preference is to use more dedicated forums or linkedin / social media that are customer friendly.

These are complaints that might not necessarily concern the owners, depending on which direction they want to take the forum and what target market they wish to appeal to so dont take to heart- its just my preference /opinion.

However, I do like some of the people on here so If changes were made I would come back and use again for sure.:)

Stopped using the Business forum on the whole but still chack back like a long lost firiend from time to time. Personally I dont like the new fomat, since it was mixed with employment stuff. It stopped being what It used to be and its very hard to pinpoint why but I got the impression it was heading in a different direction.

My objections are:

1) There is a lot of questions and answers repeated which got tedious / why cant this be addressed with an information section?
2) Its not specialised enough for my needs.
3) My preference is to use more dedicated forums or linkedin / social media that are customer friendly.

These are complaints that might not necessarily concern the owners, depending on which direction they want to take the forum and what target market they wish to appeal to so dont take to heart- its just my preference /opinion.

However, I do like some of the people on here so If changes were made I would come back and use again for sure.:)
Agree the new format is poor, too varied and not specific enough.
Why did they change it from business only?

well they have advertised for someone to mod the employment section so maybe if they find someone they might consider splitting it off into its own section so that the 2 aren't merged, but I don't know if that is the plan or not, but it would make sense to do that. There is a feedback forum so if anyone wants to voice anything (in a polite manner of course!) giving constructive suggestions and thoughts then i'm sure it will be reviewed. Whether anything can be changed though, is something I don't know.

Hello S.Fs, can anyone tell me this....why do people sit on the forum recommending themselves allday....saying i am busy at the moment but i will look at your job bla bla bla...obviously they are at home ....same names over and over ......now if it was a rec off of a third party fair enough but saying we are the best at what we do and all that is a little bit thin to me....or is there rules that apply to this self promoting stupidness.oh and if you reply to this i'll get it when i get home after a hard day at work as its 7am time to go to work.......hope i have made my point and not offended anyone.

When I spot anyone recommending themslevs or a product or service they sell or even give away for free (which still counts as self promo unles its free advice of course) then it gets removed very quickly and definiately within 24 hrs, since I am only voluntary here so cant be here all the time. So you will rarely see any posts of folk recommending their own product or service and when you do, it will be short lived and only becasue I haven't yet seen it to remove it, so i'm not sure where all these posts are you refer to??

PS where there is a request for a service/product or a recommendation for one, the thread gets moved to the job vacancies forum which is not in this section. Of course there, people may then respond with their recc's and own offers.

When I spot anyone recommending themslevs or a product or service they sell or even give away for free (which still counts as self promo unles its free advice of course) then it gets removed very quickly and definiately within 24 hrs, since I am only voluntary here so cant be here all the time. So you will rarely see any posts of folk recommending their own product or service and when you do, it will be short lived and only becasue I haven't yet seen it to remove it. So ot sure where all these posts are you refer to??


Just to add to this, if anyone does spot people spamming the forum, please use the "Report this post" link to bring it to our attention and that way it will be dealt with as quickly as possible.

Yes good pooint Andy, more people are inclined to post and say 'you know you shouldnt be posting that here, it will get moved or deleted' ...instead of just hitting the report button.

Telling them means nothing to them - people ignore the sticky at the top of the page which clearly states no advertising but it largely gets ignored given the amount of posts I delete every week, but mostly by new people to be fair and rarely by regulars. If we left all the self promo posts in place this forum would be a mess and it would drive people away. So what people think is a way of attracting potential customers would actually drive them away, if they only but knew it.

Well said Sandra, Linkedin is starting to lose its appeal for me as there is so much self promotion going on there.

It is the rigorous approach to this and abusive comments which is why I like to use the forum.

Agree the new format is poor, too varied and not specific enough.
Why did they change it from business only?

This was my first reaction, but I've got used to it now...but I have noticed fewer business related enquiries/questions since the two were merged though.

I'm new to the forum but I love chatting about business so hopefully I can contribute to your discussions.

Please bring back the old Business forum, im nostalgic for that golden era (much like still using fax machines to remember the 80's)

Please bring back the old Business forum, im nostalgic for that golden era (much like still using fax machines to remember the 80's)

I can remember using a Telex machine in the early 80's! :P My longest spool was about 20ft long, that was some quote and it took me about 2 days to type out and hours to send it! (But that was probably before you were born! :D)

Sandra, you've given away your age :hihi:

PS; I remember having a BT phone card and having to stop at service stations to phone into the office to speak to a secretary who used to TYPE quotes and letters and pass on messages...happy days :)

Hey, that must have been me!!!

I fel priveleged to have lived in the 70's though - when you didn't have to lock your doors when you went out, only at bedtime. When lads fired their rifler pellet guns and put a hole in a window and my mother would say "eeeh ba gum, that's that young lad at No. 8 over the backs, his dad 'ill tan his backside if he catches him", and when houses cost £2,000 and when.....

anyway, I digress... whre were we? Oh, yes, this forum. Well, it's like anything really, you get out what you put in. People come looking for answers mostly, rather than discussion but I find its the discussion threads that bring more people since FAQ type threads are much of the same, or it requires a specific answer that not everyone can reply to.

Yeah. Because that's so obviously a forum!

Well i'm pretty new to using this forum, so here's hoping it works!