I was privileged to be invited by Enterprise Nation to the Facebook Gather event over in Dublin in January. A conference for 500 small businesses to gain insights and training for Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp. It was a really inspiring and uplifting day and I loved hanging out with other Enterprise Nation business owners, strong female entrepreneurs. 

There were some astonishing facts and figures about the amount of time we all spend online, especially in messenger style apps. And on of the key takeaways is that relationships matter more than ever in this digital world. We actually want human connection more than ever and we give our business to those who foster those relationships and those we feel a connection with. A bit of a scary one as a one-person outfit to be honest, with so few hours in the day, how to make sure this area of the business is being fulfilled properly.

Luckily there are loads of tools to help and I learned a lot about how to create high quality content all on my phone. Gone are the days of editing suites and professional shoots, the power is in your palm through apps like Videoshop, Boomerang, Quik and more. The goal being to create compelling but authentic content that grabs the audience in those first 3 seconds. No pressure then...

It was also amazing to see Sheryl Sandberg speak in person. I am a huge fan of her Tedtalk on women and the workplace and I am currently working my way through Lean In. But this time she spoke about how the internet is in a period of reflection, times are changing and we all have to ask ourselves 'what kind of internet do we want'. She spoke of how Facebook hasn't done it's job of protecting users online and that they are heavily investing in this area. Sheryl's keynote was also about the power of community, about coming together and how the internet, although it can do immeasurable harm, it can also do immeasurable good. 

And that was the theme of the day, tapping into community. Whether it is to reach more customers in building stronger relationships or a support network that can help build your small business and your own skills, networks such as Facebook and Instagram facilitate these communities more than ever before.