The private story behind public relations.
When the NACFB's members look back at how we've focused so much on the press, and public relations, and social media, they might be entitled to a degree of scepticism, so can we sway them with the results
Most of our brokers do not find time for social media. By and large they're not convinced of its worth. But it's generally the case that the bigger a firm grows, the more it will benefit from a presence in the press. Maybe that should be the other way around - the bigger a firm, the more damage it suffers by being insufficiently visible on Facebook, Twitter, and so on.
Can we be certain that the focus on press coverage has paid off I'd say so. A month back we were invited to the EU Conference on SME Funding and Bank Relations in Brussels, an event which was part of a wider debate across all the EU states to help small businesses get better access to finance.
This gave me, on behalf of the Association (and, by the way, the whole of the UK), a chance to highlight how well the UK market operates with the Broker market offering easier access to finance for SMEs than any other European country. And there have also been meetings regarding Genesis, the Smaller Businesses Forum, and attending political party conferences, the Leasing Foundation conference and discussions at the Treasury, just during the last quarter.
Don't forget the national newspaper coverage and the BBC and SKY TV and radio exposure, or the Association's Westminster and Parliamentary and trade involvements. We're not saying these opportunities come about because we're active on LinkedIn, of course it's, not that straightforward a correlation. But it doesn't do any harm.
A sole trader without the benefit of a team of eight working on social media has to prioritise the actual day job. If you're a sole trader who is paying his or her NACFB membership fees, then some of those fees will be helping us to attend these conferences and put pressure in the right places. So in a sense we are the PR agency who can fill in the gaps in small businesses' - and brokers' - busy schedules. There's no indication that 2015 is going to be any less busy than the year that's just passed, and although I look forward to one day not writing about FCA regulation, that day's still at least 18 months away!
Adam Tyler is chief executive officer of the National Association of Commercial Finance Brokers.
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