Mark Northall - Social Media Trainer

Mark Northall - Social Media Trainer Developing Profitable Social Media Strategies - Social Media Trainer West Midlands I’m a Social Media Manager,Coach and Strategist.

For the last 12 years I have developed and actioned strategies for over 600 Small Businesses and Individuals. I understand how to get the best from these valuable platforms and can show you and your Business how to generate real leads from Social Media. Mark Northall Social Media is part of the Dauben Group.

What Happens After Someone Connects With You?Getting a new LinkedIn connection isn't the finish line.It's the beginning....
14/09/2026

What Happens After Someone Connects With You?
Getting a new LinkedIn connection isn't the finish line.
It's the beginning.
You don't need to immediately send them a sales message.
In fact, I'd generally recommend you don't.
Stay visible. Engage with their content. Learn what they do. Look for genuine opportunities to help.
Relationships built over time tend to be far more valuable than an instant pitch.

Social Media Management Isn't Just Scheduling PostsScheduling software is useful.But pressing "schedule" isn't social me...
13/09/2026

Social Media Management Isn't Just Scheduling Posts
Scheduling software is useful.
But pressing "schedule" isn't social media management.
Good management involves understanding the audience, finding stories, adapting messages, monitoring performance, engaging with people and changing direction when something isn't working.
The software distributes the content.
The thinking behind it is where the value lies.

The Best Content Calendar Starts With Your Business CalendarBefore inventing 30 random social media ideas, look at what'...
12/09/2026

The Best Content Calendar Starts With Your Business Calendar
Before inventing 30 random social media ideas, look at what's actually happening in your business.
Upcoming events?
New starters?
Projects completing?
Seasonal services?
Customer milestones?
Training?
Industry changes?
Awards?
Community activity?
Your real business should provide the backbone of your content. Then evergreen educational posts can fill the gaps.

Apparently, I’m just the right age for TikTok…One of the more amusing moments from last week's official opening of Beckt...
11/09/2026

Apparently, I’m just the right age for TikTok…
One of the more amusing moments from last week's official opening of Beckton House in Beeston.
I had the pleasure of meeting Mike Tindall and, when I was introduced as someone who works in social media, Mike suggested I was "just the age for TikTok followers."
I'm fairly sure there may have been just a hint of sarcasm!
What Mike didn't know was that I'm already on TikTok!
And, naturally, a few minutes later somebody managed to capture photographic evidence of me doing exactly what a social media strategist does when presented with a former England rugby captain.
Getting the selfie.
Joking aside, it was a real privilege to be invited to the official opening and to see the culmination of an incredible amount of work by Cassidy Group and everyone involved in bringing Beckton House to life.
But Mike's comment did get me thinking.
Are you ever too old for a social media platform?
I don't think you are.
I've spent more than 15 years working in social media, and I've watched platforms and their audiences change enormously during that time.
The question shouldn't be:
"Am I the right age for TikTok?"
It should be:
"Are the people I want to reach there – and do I have something worthwhile to say to them?"
If the answer is yes, why wouldn't you be there?
So, Mike, the TikTok account already exists.
Whether the millions of followers are on their way remains another matter…

Sometimes changing the format reminds you exactly why networking works.At Business Focus Burton this morning, we dropped...
10/09/2026

Sometimes changing the format reminds you exactly why networking works.

At Business Focus Burton this morning, we dropped our usual feature presentation and replaced it with 10 speed-networking 1-2-1s.

And I really enjoyed it.

When we meet every week, it's very easy to think we know what everybody in the room does.

But do we really?

Give two people a few minutes face-to-face and the conversation can quickly move beyond the elevator pitch.

What's happening in your business at the moment?

What's going well?

What's proving difficult?

Who would you particularly like to meet?

And perhaps most importantly: how can I help?

That's where networking becomes much more than simply exchanging referrals.

I had ten different conversations this morning and came away knowing more about the people I network with every week – and hopefully they know a little more about me too.

For someone who regularly says that social media is networking with a keyboard, this morning demonstrated the other side of that perfectly.

Online or offline, conversations build relationships.

And relationships create opportunities.

A cracking BFB morning – and definitely a format I'd be happy to see us repeat.

Any of my Networking connections want to try BFB on me? If your seat isn't taken join us on Visitor day next week 17th S...
09/09/2026

Any of my Networking connections want to try BFB on me? If your seat isn't taken join us on Visitor day next week 17th September!

Another Your BDM Lichfield meeting done – and once again I came away with a few things to think about myself.That's on...
09/09/2026

Another Your BDM Lichfield meeting done – and once again I came away with a few things to think about myself.

That's one of the things I enjoy about organising these meetings.

Yes, I'm there to run the morning, but I'm also a business owner sitting in the room listening and learning alongside everyone else.

Today we had two very different sessions.

Andy Price of Initial IT gave our Feature Presentation on AI.

One of his messages particularly resonated with me:

AI is an aid, not an expert.

Given how much I use AI within my own business, I liked Andy's comparison with a junior colleague.

You don't just give somebody an instruction and walk away expecting perfection. You work with them – explain, review, correct and refine.

AI should be much the same.

Then Karen Kirby of greenshootHR brought us firmly back to the human side of business with the Johari Window.

Her challenge during our 1-2-1s was wonderfully simple:

Find out something you didn't know about the other person.

And I think the combination of those two presentations summed up modern business rather nicely.

Technology can help us enormously – but relationships still matter.

AI can help us work faster, generate ideas and tackle repetitive tasks.

But it can't replace sitting opposite another business person, asking a question, listening to their answer and gradually getting to know them.

Add in the introductions, our 1-2-1s, plenty of conversations and the usual Lichfield banter, and it was another morning I thoroughly enjoyed.

Thanks Andy, Karen and everyone who joined us at The Owl.

LinkedIn Is a Networking Event That Never Really ClosesImagine attending a networking meeting, introducing yourself and ...
08/09/2026

LinkedIn Is a Networking Event That Never Really Closes
Imagine attending a networking meeting, introducing yourself and then standing silently in the corner for the rest of the year.
Sounds ridiculous.
Yet that's effectively how many people use LinkedIn.
They create a profile, connect with people and then disappear.
LinkedIn works far better when you continue the networking:
Comment. Congratulate. Introduce. Share. Discuss. Help.
The relationship is the important bit.

Are You Measuring the Wrong Things?A post receives fewer likes than usual.Was it unsuccessful?Not necessarily.Perhaps th...
07/09/2026

Are You Measuring the Wrong Things?
A post receives fewer likes than usual.
Was it unsuccessful?
Not necessarily.
Perhaps the right potential customer saw it and visited your website.
Perhaps somebody saved it.
Perhaps it prompted a conversation three weeks later.
Perhaps an existing client noticed another service you offer.
Social media measurement needs more context than simply counting likes.

You don’t need to be creative. You need to be helpful.
06/09/2026

You don’t need to be creative. You need to be helpful.

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14 Greenacre Park
Swadlincote
DE128HB

Telephone

+447854999161

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