It would appear that UK men are more savvy than their female counterparts when it comes to professional networking.
LinkedIn, the business network which boasts more than 100 million members, has developed a “savviness” ranking based on the ratio of connections in a person’s network and the ratio of male to female members.
The results make interesting reading for umbrella company contractors, especially when you split them down into industry sectors. For example, you would expect the cosmetics industry to be female savvy, and it does employ more female professionals than male. However, the males are better at online networking. The reverse is true in the agricultural sector where females are savvier than males.
When it comes to social media, entrepreneurs fit into one of two camps. Either they think it is wonderful or they are not convinced it has any value in business.
Andrum Consulting recently carried out research and discovered that 17% of entrepreneurs said social media had helped their business grow but 40% said it had made no difference.
The report, entitled ‘What Makes Entrepreneurs Tick’ suggests that significant sectors of businesses struggle to see the benefits of social media. Considering the segmented nature of UK business, this should not really come as any surprise. New media, professional and web-based businesses are much more likely to get benefits from Twitter than more traditional organisations.
One of Andrum’s partners, David Clayton-Smith, said a lot of well established brands struggle to see how social media fits in, but it is disappointing to find that some innovative firms aren’t making any effort to implement a social media strategy.
The study also discovered that 30% of respondents felt there were not enough hours in the day to devote time to social media, and a massive 82% said they did not have the money available to train people on its usage.
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Image: “HELLO” by Theoddnote
