Are you hesitating with your social media strategy, unsure of where to start? You are not alone! In this interview David Alston, CMO of Radian6, explains how listening to what your customers are saying to, and about, your company is the best first step to take.

PW: ln our recent survey, social media was seen as the next big thing for marketers with 41% stating that they would be looking at it in 2012.  Yet, many organizations hesitate.  What is the mindset change required within an organization to succeed with this medium?

DA: If companies are feeling overwhelmed and don’t want to jump in to engagement right away that’s normal, and they can start with listening.  

Communities are talking about topics they are passionate about.  You can learn about things that they like, and what they dislike.  At some point you will be compelled to respond perhaps because a customer is looking for an answer or has some feedback that they’d like to share.  Engagement always starts with a single response and with every conversation it will get easier and easier.

The Startup Genome is looking for a critical mass of women to participate in the Startup Genome Project in order to aid their discovery of the DNA of women- led startups. By joining the project, you will be adding the dimension of quantitative data to their quest.

The Startup Genome has already learned that approximately 70% of the startups in their dataset scaled prematurely. I am very interested to see if the same pattern holds for women, because through the interviews I have conducted over the last year, the consensus has been that women tend to be perfectionistic, moving slower but more surely than their male counterparts. Is it possible that the more careful nature of women may cause them to fail less?

A new European network of mentors to promote female entrepreneurship through the sharing of know-how and experience has been launched today by the European Commission.

Women only account for 34.4% of the self-employed in Europe. To raise this share, successful businesswomen will assist women entrepreneurs who established a new enterprise two to four years ago.

Konstantina Zoehrer is a social entrepreneur and the Head Organizer for "STARTup Live Athens". 

Her mission is to rebuild her country's economy by promoting Greece to the European entrepreneurial system and shedding light on the vibrant Greek startup scene.

In 2010 I met Konstantina through a wonderful network called Sandbox that includes roughly 600 young leaders in 48 different countries. It's a network that aims to incubate individuals in an environment where they can build meaningful relationships with like-minded peers, learn from senior leaders and gain access to opportunities that will help them grow.

Konstantina is an individual who really defines what Sandbox stands for and always connects people by facilitating great discussions in online forums and organized meetings across Europe.