Welcome to Europe!

Last week was fantastic, and in between the hectic hours, I had a lot of travel time to reflect on things, which is something I always do at this time of year as thoughts move towards the following year's objectives.

It all started with a bet! You may know Nicola Erlich who is a social media consultant in southern Spain. Nicola had been ribbing me for some time about the ocean swims Julie and I do through each summer, and had told me she was waiting for an image to appear online of me in my Speedos. Now, I may be reasonably fit, but I do carry the odd (!) pound or two of excess weight, so I assured her that I would never allow such a photo to go online. I was so confident, that I made a bet with her: If she could find a photo, I would fly in for one of her Marbella Tweet ups.

I'd just completed one swim and was running up the beach towards the finish line, when a local press photographer hurled himself towards me, and fired off 3 quick shots. How did I know the guy would have a Facebook page?

So the bet was lost, and the planning began.

Nicola is also in touch with Laura Stanbridge, who owns and runs an accountancy firm in Marbella called CCG Spain. CCG offer their clients some real added value - they don't simply "do" people's accounts - they look for ways to help their clients improve their businesses. And one way they do that is to hold regular business briefings, with guest speakers. Aware that she, along with her clients, wanted to know and understand much more about social media, Laura arranged two seminars to explain the it all to them. I would cover blogging and multimedia, Nicola Facebook and Twitter, and Laura herself Linkedin.

And so it was that Julie and I set off for Marbella last week, having to fly across to Las Palmas in a puddle jumper and then on to Malaga.

We literally drove from the airport to the Tweet Up, and I was amazed to see close to 100 people there. The event was held in a very nice restaurant called Guey, and it was fantastic to meet so many people we've talked to online. What impressed me most was that contrary to my expectation, this wasn't about a bunch of social media geeks getting together to compare notes on iPads and Blackberries. It was full of business people, from all kinds of businesses, and was also used to showcase a new wine product and a cake making business. It was a genuine, full-on business networking meeting!

The following day, we headed for the magnificent Gran Melia Don Pepe hotel for our seminars. Both were "sold out" and once again, I was pleasantly surprised at the broad range of businesses represented, as well as by the quality of the questions and interaction. These were serious business people, looking for answers and the ROI of putting their or their staff's time into social media.

All in all, it was a terrific trip, and we even got some sight seeing in on our final day. I'm very grateful to Nicola and Laura for the opportunity, and I'm looking forward to going back very soon to do some follow up work.

And now it's time for the reflection. This blog, and therefore a large part of my business, has always been quite focused on the United States. When I started out, it was where the market was - it's where Beyond Blogging sold in big numbers, it's where the bulk of my online friends and clients are based.

But Europe has been like a sleeping giant in terms of social media. Over here, we are perhaps two years behind our American friends in embracing what social media can do for our businesses.

But the giant is waking up now.

European businesses are not only ready to listen and act, but they want to do so with conviction and professionalism.

Since 2008, we have built up a network of very successful websites and a large social media following. We're looking forward to sharing all of that learning with European businesses in 2011 and beyond.

The next two or three years will see a step change in the way business is done in Europe, and for those of us who can help and guide our colleagues, it's a huge opportunity, and I plan to be at the forefront of it, through our consultancy business Camel Media Group.

What are your thoughts on this?