Fair play to Oliver Astley at the Derby Telegraph for a great piece on social media marketing – which featured a quote from lil ole me.

As you’d expect from a regional daily, it took a look at current national/international developments and then put a local perspective spin on it. There are comments from leading local lights and a promo of an upcoming event being held locally.

The article served as a timely reminder that a lot of this stuff is still new to some, familiar to others and a benchmark for a few.

In all of this the real prize is using social media platforms to deliver a return on investment, which is why, in my opinion, the only downside to Oliver’s article was the lack of a name-check for one sung hero – George Stewart from Apollo Blinds Hamilton.

Clearly its not in Oliver’s remit or interest to start plugging a business just outside Glasgow but George is the true pioneer here for the simple reason that he has taken social media to the heart of his business and is reaping the rewards as a result.

For some social media is about the bragging rights of the number of people who follow them or that they are connected with, but George is a great SME example of someone who has cracked the code and is actually making social media pay dividends.