Loving Social Media – Garry Kousoulou Best Business Enabler Award Application
About us
If the entrepreneur does not possess the inclination or the time to do social media – that’s where we step in. We relieve businesses of the stress of digital marketing by managing it for them and translating their online presence into real-world sales. By nature, our company is about enabling other businesses to grow.
Loving Social Media was formed when the internet and social media still developing area. Our company at the time was composed of a marketer and a web designer. I took on one of the UK’s first apprentices as a social media manager. She ran the company upstairs doing the social media side of things whilst I was downstairs running the opticians. Our company started with friends and family getting involved in social media in 2008 and expanded onwards. Now those partners have gone on to do other things, and the team I have right now are looking after an international clientele. What was originally a spontaneous venture quickly grew into something beyond myself and became a way to connect a community.
Overview
We were the first opticians in the world to look after a page of opticians on Facebook [include link/message/image of achievement]. Although, it was a page of opticians in the name it grew to be something beyond that. Missing a pet cat? A misplaced pair of keys? Or perhaps someone was looking for a vacancy? Our page became a place where people can connect and supply certain demands. This page gave me visibility at the time to be able to leverage groups. After all, the lynchpin of social media is human connection. There are about 19,000 people in Enfield, and I am very integrated into that community. This is down to social media being integral to expediting social connections. Customers that we helped through COVID-19 and stayed loyal to have gotten through the other side stronger. Not one of our businesses ever went bankrupt and they all did very well.
Opticians who have gone from doing eye tests once or twice a week, to five days a week and fully booked. New businesses like Enfield Maid which started out as a brand-new business, has successfully branched out and expanded his business with the aid of the exposure our service provided him.
N0CO2 2021
A charity called N0CO2 which involves planting a tree to absolve your carbon footprint was practically unknown. We hosted a worldwide webinar for this charity where 50,000 people tuned in. Every time we do a webinar, they rake in around a thousand people from all over the world. This in particular has had an influential domino effect. Especially in lieu of the most recent IPCC report.
Kickstarter Programme 2021
More recently, we are facilitating a Kickstarter Programme for businesses. By taking on a young graduate who is trained by us. They in turn work for our business clientele. From there, the business
evolves an online presence and continues to grow. So far, everyone who has gotten involved in the Kickstarter Programme through us right now has grown.
Kickstarter initially began with Gordon Brown, wherein who started a scheme called Young Britain. We went from half a million to eight hundred thousand with their help [you mentioned this in the interview but what does this refer to? The value of the business?].
Also needs some statistics here: how many have applied? How many businesses were impacted?
I was aware that this scheme was making a comeback and so was the first to apply. But I didn’t want to just apply for myself, I wanted to involve other businesses in the opportunity here. Loving Social Media deals with training the graduates and helping with the paperwork. From there, we facilitate the collaboration between the young person and the business. That young person will work 25 hours a week in your marketing department. Marketing is about awareness, so they can then make more people aware of the business’s existence. You can then turn that awareness into a sale.