Page 65 - How to write effective business English your guide to excellent professional communication by Fiona Talbot

54 How to Write Effective Business English

He realized how helpful it would be to small businesses in the UK
(known to be the lifeblood of the economy), to understand that writing
with impact on social media – via professional, mobile-friendly
devices and websites – was a powerful tool for networking and
growth.
To this end, he created Small Business Sunday (shortened to the
hashtag #SBS on Twitter). Each week, he rewards small businesses
that tweet him @TheoPaphitis and write about their businesses in one
tweet (with hashtag #SBS) in a dedicated time slot, on a Sunday. He
then retweets his favourite lucky six, judged on how well they have
communicated their message. As he has over 490,000 followers, this
provides them with a massive publicity boost.
Theo continues to build this #SBS community not only with offers
and by staging events for winners, but also by providing a website for
interaction within the community itself. He and his group of companies
actively get involved in the conversation.
In his words:

My vision is that everyone who has ever won an #SBS re-tweet from me
becomes part of a friendly club. Like-minded individuals can share
successes and learnings... I know I have been lucky in business and I am
keen now to spread goodwill to others, of course not forgetting that very
often you make your own luck by making use of every opportunity.

This and similar cases are very exciting applications of business
English writing in today’s workplace. Can you see how, where
English is a common language, such skilful use of social media to
build communities can be rolled out – not simply on a local basis
but nationally and internationally too? We saw in Chapter 4 how
strongly upcoming generations feel about ‘putting something back’
into the world. It’s a great trend for all to embrace.