The founders of a British gardening mail order company have scooped the top prize in a worldwide small business awards scheme after impressing the judges with their creative use of social media.
Hereford-based Wiggly Wigglers fought off competition from 12 national winners including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Japan, Mexico and the US to be crowned the overall winner of Dell Global Small Business Excellence Awards 2008.
The Wiggly Wigglers team, which have used techniques like blogging and podcasting to boost sales and slash advertising costs by 80%, were presented with $50,000 worth of Dell technology and services during a ceremony in New York last week.
Speaking at the event, company founder Heather Gorringe said: "Small businesses need to realize there are online conversations happening about their brand every day, and they are more likely to be positive and have impact if you're part of them.
"Social media can be time consuming but it is really valuable, has better longevity than traditional media, and it is a lot of fun.
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