Archive for June, 2009

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A Studio visit – the real thing?

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Today I visited Shepperton Studios with my son, who is interested in moving into special effects.  We met someone who made a living creating animatronics creatures and lifelike corpses.  They make things like Kryton’s head in Red Dwarf.  They can take a pile of metal and wires, add some silicon and hair and suddenly you have an almost real panda’s head.  They study how the human body works and devise tricks to make the viewer see a convincing facsimile.

I think it is sad that this rather reminds me of a number of people I have met who put on the most convincing face and yet it is no more real that the panda’s was.  I’d like to think we are moving closer and closer to a world that actually values authenticity and doesn’t see it as naivety.  I have three children about to enter the world of  work, I’d love it to be a place where people wore their real faces.  Where your face doesn’t have to fit to be successful.

“He who trims himself to suit everyone will soon whittle himself away.”  Raymond Hull

“We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others that in the end we become disguised to ourselves.”  François Duc de La Rochefoucauld

 

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Posted in Business Change, Personal Change | No Comments »

Social Media Entrepreneur’s Interviews No5 – Nikki Pilkington

Thursday, June 18th, 2009

Name: Nikki Pilkington      Twitter name: @NikkiPilkington

What is your main Change challenge at present?

As the business that I run and the industry that I am in is ever changing, it is difficult to pinpoint one area of change that is a challenge. In Internet Marketing change is constant, as new and more effective ways of marketing myself and my clients spring up all the time.

Whether the birth of a new way of promotion, or the decline of an old and previously trusted way, it is important for me to keep up with change, and alert my clients and potential clients to such fluctuations.

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

I constantly research and test my industry, and take advice from my peers. I’m of the mind that no matter how long you’ve been in any business, you can only grow by learning to adapt and change to the climate around you.

Those that refuse to grow, adapt and listen will find themselves left far, far behind when they might have been frontrunners.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

The majority of my business comes from social media marketing, as it should be in my industry! Credible online networking websites such as UK Business Labs and BT Tradespace, social applications such as Facebook, blogging in places such as Business on Twitter and 299 Steps, microblogging on Twitter, as well as participating in a number of private clubs, including Last Thursday, private Facebook & LinkedIn groups, and private Ning forums are just a few of the ways I use social media for my own business and for those of clients.

With the above, and a few extras, I cover all of the important places for my company to be seen in order to develop reputation and gain credibility as well as clients.

What is your top Change tip?

If something clearly isn’t working, then standing by it and flogging a dead horse is probably not the wisest thing to do. Change is a factor of life, learn to accept it, make decisions and move on.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

A huge part, but that’s not to say that I make decisions lightly. If something needs to change, the start of knowing this is probably intuitive and emotional – the ‘how to deal with it’ and ‘what to do’ are logical thought processes and more on the practical side.

So, I may make the decision to stop using a certain method of promotion because my gut instinct tells me it is bad / not working any more. Without researching and putting facts to my emotional theory, I would be mad to change. Once logic and facts are in place, then it becomes obvious whether or not change is needed.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Absolutely; I think it’s true that change can be a scary thing to face, but once a decision is made and the change has happened, then it’s worth looking for the good things that have come out of it, rather than hankering after days gone by. Change happens for a reason, and some of my best friends / clients and business ideas have come about because of change I wasn’t sure about in the beginning.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

To see how change can be a good thing in your business life, read any business book by Richard Branson – the Virgin story is one of constant change and well worth researching if you’re afraid of change

Previous Interviews:

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Posted in Blogging, Business Change, Interview | 7 Comments »

Social Media Entrepreneur’s Interviews No4 – Penny Power

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

Name: Penny Power Twitter name: @pennypower

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Helping business people understand that social networking is critical when they are building their business and brining context and understanding to the way that Social Media is a tool but cannot be used in isolation to networking

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

Blogging, writing my book (Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me, available 20th August 09). Training, speaking, 121’s, basically any way that I can communicate, share and learn

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Totally, by blogging, Tweeting, YouTube, Slideshare, Private Messages.

What is your top Change tip?

To learn the new world philosophies of being open, random and supportive to others and move from the old world of being closed, selective and controlling.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

I am very emotionally driven, I believe change happens in the heart and then the brain interprets it and makes it logical and provides the methods and the means to communicate it

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

I totally believe in serendipity and trust and since I have embraced an open and non-filtering attitude to global networking my life has become richer, both emotionally and financially.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

When I witness people letting go and trusting in their instinct and in others, also when they stop thinking about the money and start to consider the contribution, then the change creates the financial results they used to target but now they achieve without the control they wanted originally.

Previous Interviews:

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Posted in Blogging, Business Change, Interview, Twitter | 11 Comments »

My Twitter lessons .. No 5 (The Experiment)

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Yesterday my daughter came back from university, having just completed her degree in Art History.  She wants to work in an art gallery but apparently, it is hard to get in without an entree.  I thought this might be a good case for trying the power of Twitter as a random engine generator.   So I sent out the following tweet:-

“My daughter needs experience working in art gallery/South of England(pref. Surrey/London)can anyone help? PLS RT!!!”

Now I have about 2,000 followers, and it was retweeted (passed on) to another 8,800 people.  I got back about 4-5 helpful ideas or maybes and eventually had an interesting conversation with a gallery owner in New York about a possible tie-up.  Now We still need to do better, but what an interesting start in 24 hours and for very little effort.

PS>>> if you can help please do get in touch!!

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Posted in Blogging, Business Change, Twitter | No Comments »

Social Media Entrepreneur’s Interviews No3 – Ces Loftus

Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

Name: Ces Loftus          Twitter name:@Ces_Creatively

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Over the last 6 months or so I have done a lot of embracing change. I run Creatively Minded Design with my husband Jay and due to the economic down turn a lot of small businesses in the genre that we had previously worked with were cutting right down on their design and marketing expenditure or cutting it out altogether. However, the current financial climate means there is actually even more benefit to standing out from competitors with a professional business image and a consistent clear message.. Our business has done just that and evolved to really focus on the angle we can deliver the strongest benefits in and now the challenge remains in opening the eyes of other business owners..

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

The approach I have to helping fellow business owners to understand the rewards that from focusing on the right product or service for the right target market. I have written articles and blogs, started groups, I also help people with a business image health check, identifying their best products and target market, and attracting the right customers., ensuring you don’t risk damaging your great business reputation by not looking professional.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Yes, Social Media a provides a great platform for connecting with fellow business owners. Ecademy is a good network for blogging and sharing knowledge. I use Twitter to Tweet direct tips and links to really constructive articles. I have also recently started introducing many of my Twitter followers to the benefit of having a professionally branded twitter profile background in order to stand out on twitter and get more followers. Your twitter profile background can be used to display a clear message about what you do, perhaps display a short testimonial to show your credibility and raise brand awareness through the use of your logo, slogan and business colours. Having a professional image that stands out instead of a generic background will help potential followers to identify you as someone who is confident in the value of their business and is worth following.

What is your top Change tip?

Sometimes change comes as a result of something we have had our hearts set on and been planning and working towards for some time. Other times change is something that is just thrust upon us by circumstance and it may not have been part of our plans at all. My top change tip is to embrace change. Even if at the time it looks like a change for the worse, with the right attitude and drive all change can bring about something good one way or another. The way we experience and deal with change shapes us as people and defines the path we are taking to move on. The way we accept, understand and use change to our advantage in business can catapult us to realising a new and exciting business potential we did not even realise we had.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

Change undoubtedly pulls at emotional strings. Change can be scary. Change can really shake things up and mean you need to take a step back, take a deep breath and re think the direction you are going in. This is true on both personal and business levels alike. I have seen many clients who have been reluctant and resistant to change their business image at all when I first started working with them. They had a set idea about what they liked visually and that is how they had been doing business for some time. They saw change as a risk and not the opportunity for business development and influencing sales growth that it actually was. I worked with them to help them understand that their business image was not just a pretty picture and was a part of their business reputation. Then their intuition kicked in and together we tweaked their business image, keeping a consistent clear message throughout applications so their ideal high margin clients would very quickly see the value in doing business with them.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Yes change can bring unexpected gifts. Many of the professionals I have worked with have found the changes we made to their business image have not only succeeded in immediately attracting the ideal category of clients they wanted but they have caught the attention of even bigger fish and won significant contracts because they were now being taken more seriously and were getting noticed for the right reasons.

A gift I have personally received as a result of our business embracing change and focusing on developing a business image advantages for clients is in several projects I am delighted to be working on at the moment. Due to the success we have been having and steady flow of work from people who understand the value we add to their business, I am in a position where I can afford lessen the pressure on the business accelerator pedal a little and give some time advice and design work to some worthy causes as gifts in kind.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

In life often little changes can add up to make a big difference.

Changing the way we live, reducing water waste, saving electric, recycling, meat free days and so on. Small changes in our work life balance to make more time for family and enjoying life is very meaningful too. From a work perspective, I advise clients daily that making small changes here and there within their business image can have dramatic and wonderful results.

I embrace change now and I know in business, that in opening clients eyes to the changes that will help them develop their business image and really stand out, good things will come of it.

Previous Interviews:

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Posted in Business Change, Interview, Twitter | 4 Comments »

The end of an era

Saturday, June 13th, 2009

Tomorrow we leave to collect our eldest from university.  Unbelievably, this is the end of her third year and we are bringing her home.  It is possibly the biggest change she has ever faced, because when she left for Uni she knew what faced her for the next three years, and whilst it was all new and scary, at least that brought some element of certainty.  Now she faces coming home to an uncertain future, and that is much harder.

The reality is that none of us know what tomorrow brings but we tend to operate on the assumption that it will be more of what today delivered, and that gives us a map of sorts.  When you are embarking on Life’s big adventure the future just stretches out before you with few known landmarks.  The infinite possibilities feel more daunting than exciting.

Only acting today delivers us our tomorrows.  I’d love to hear what you are doing to make tomorrow the day you want it to be…

“One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home”   Pam Brown

“What appears to be the end may really be a new beginning.”

 

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Posted in General, Personal Change | 4 Comments »

Social Media Entrepreneur’s Interviews No2 – Sarah Arrow

Friday, June 12th, 2009

This is the second in this series of interviews.  I can think of few people who have taken to using social media more successfully than Sarah.  Indeed it has been so natural, that i wonder if she realises how big a change it really represents?

Name: Sarah Arrow               Twitter name: @Essex_courier

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Sarah: Our main challenge at present is one of  change regarding the managing processes that we use. My personal challenge is deciding whether to remain in transport and continue with the courier business that I work in with my partner and husband, Kev or whether to go back and work in recruitment for the harder to help.

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

Sarah: We are undertaking a historical review of the processes and working out whether they are essential to the business, this is a very time consuming process. We opted for this method of review as it’s more thorough.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Sarah: Not for this particular change project, but we use social media extensively

What is your top Change tip?

Sarah: Resistance is futile…  🙂 Change happens in all businesses and it’s how you deal with it that makes the difference. Pretending everything is going to stay the same will just get you stuck and that won’t benefit you or your business. In fact it will hold you back.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

Sarah: I get very passionate about certain aspects of the business and when that happens I have to take a step (or three) back and think about whether I am achieving what I want. Kev (husband and work partner) is far more controlled emotionally and his intuition is very good.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Sarah: Oh yes, that’s the best thing about change 🙂 the change in our marketing from offline to online has brought us a consistent stream of work, so that was a gift. We are looking at doing more offline networking again and that is already starting to look really good and that was totally unexpected.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

Sarah: A snow globe, you shake it and it looks different but underneath the snowflakes everything is still there.

PS>  I want to thank Sarah for her idea of doing this series of interviews… just another example of her innovative use of social media

Previous Interviews:

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Posted in Business Change, Interview, Twitter | 11 Comments »

Social Media Entrepreneurs Interviews No1 – Andy Preston

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

This is the first in a series of interviews with some very interesting and successful people who are actively using social media, and as expected focuses on Change:-

Name: Andy Preston                                       Twitter name: @AndyPreston

What is your main Change challenge at present?

Andy: With my company and my clients, it’s adapting to the change in market conditions down to the economy, and also coping with growth of my business.

What is your strategy for dealing with it?

Andy:  Like I’m advising all my clients – time to re-look and possibly re-engineer their businesses to cope with the change in economic conditions. There may well be less demand for a previously best-selling product or service, and it might mean ‘tweaking’ that, or launching a new product or service, specifically targeting opportunities that the change in market conditions have brought.

It’s a good time for companies to look at what’s working in their business, and what’s not – and put a strategy in place for dealing with it. For us, it’s meant more of a focus on working closer with a smaller number of clients than in the past – to focus on generating substantial results for them, rather than small pieces of training with lots of clients. That way, we’ve been able to quantify ROI very quickly and each piece of training is paying for itself immediately – giving a budget to pay for further work with the same client.

It also should be a time for many people to focus on ‘new business’, and many know they ‘should’ be doing so, but lack the knowledge, skills or motivation to do so.

As far as the ‘growth’ challenge goes, we doubled in turnover in the past 12 months, and also went from mainly a 1 person business with support to a small business of 4 people. It’s meant that processes and procedures have had to be put into place that weren’t needed before. It’s been important to get everyone to buy into the vision of the company, to understand what we’re doing, why we’re doing it, and what we’re trying to achieve. It’s meant a lot more focus on strategic objectives and driving those through with individual staff members.

Are you using social media as part of that strategy, if so, how?

Andy:  Yes! When I brought my new marketing person on-board, their first task was to put together a social media strategy and implementation plan. I felt we weren’t taking enough advantage of our website, blogs, twitter, facebook, linkedin, ecademy et al.

We’re now looking a putting a mix of messages out there via these methods, some social, some business and some a mix of both, to help raise awareness of what we do and how we can help people. We’re already seeing a return on the time invested in that.

What is your top Change tip?

Andy:  In the current climate, it’s the more flexible organisations that are doing the best. Sometimes that means the smaller ones, sometimes it means larger ones that are willing to ‘pioneer’ the necessary changes, to stay ahead of their competitors.

Therefore the more nimble and flexible you can be as an organisation, the better your chances of adapting to the changing market conditions you find yourself in.

What role does emotion / intuition play when you dealing with Change?

Andy:  Sometimes you have to take risks. At best some decisions to change are ‘educated guesses’ which have a lot to do with intuition and emotional intelligence, plus the ability to watch closely at the direction you’re taking and make adjustments as you go along. This is far more prevalent for organisations now than in the past.

Do you ever find Change brings unexpected gifts?

Andy:  Yes! The change in market conditions has brought more enquiries and more work for us than ever. By changing some of our offering, we’ve been able to maximise the opportunities presented to us, and we’re already up 20% on last year’s figures – which were double what we’d achieved previously, so I’m pleased with how things are going.

What thing best symbolises Change for you and why?

Andy:  The book ‘Who Moved My Cheese’ – I recommend to a lot of my clients going through a process of change. Fantastic read and short enough to make the point but ensures it gets read.

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Posted in Business Change, Interview, Twitter | 12 Comments »

Fairy Godmother

Thursday, June 11th, 2009

 

“Greetings. I’m your fairy godmother. Today is the day before my birthday and I’m feeling generous. I will grant you one wish today.

What one thing do you wish to change?”

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Choice… is it a good thing?

Wednesday, June 10th, 2009

I, and suspect many of you feel this too, tend to really value my ability to choose.  Free will is deeply enshrined in our social systems and even though these days much of this freedom is illusory, we treasure it.

Yesterday I went to a talk on Behavioural Economics, which is the study of why we make our buying decisions.  However, it touched on some deeper issues, like why do we choose to preserve freedoms even when they doesn’t make us happy.  Just think of the happily married man, with a lovely wife and children who is serially unfaithful.  He has no desire to wreck his happy home or harm the people he loves but keeps exercising that old right to choose… 

He quoted from an experiment with MIT, where students (all very clever chaps), were asked to make a series of choices with aim of maximising their ‘profit’ from this exercise.  Each choice cost them points, and won them variable amounts of money.  The fascinating thing was that even when they were told that limiting their options would make them more money, they still couldn’t resist keeping them open.

I wonder how often in life we delay a choice, wondering if something better may come along, only to miss out in the end.  Apparently, not only may ‘a bird in the hand be worth two in the bush’ but the bird we have may make us happier too!

This kind of behaviour goes very deep, but it is always a good idea to remind ourselves what we are trying to achieve before making, or delaying, a decision; and asking what the cost and potential benefit of doing so is…

Do you have any stories about preserving choices and getting bitten in the bum?

 “There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it’s easy.”

“It is our choices that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”  Joanne Kathleen Rowling

 

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Posted in Hints, Tips & Techniques, Personal Change, Values & Philosophy | No Comments »

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