improve communications

A new way of growing a business -Pitching for Management

2011-09-16T05:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday evening I think I saw the future - and it works!

You have a great idea, you have the finance and now all you need is the people - often the most difficult part of the start-up process.

The innovative Angel News team have come up with an exciting and challenging way for new or expanding companies to find key personnel.

Pitching for Management enables a company to showcase their work to a carefully selected group of professionals.

Last night the format was simple. Meet at six after work. Drinks, three eight minute presentations. Coffee. Three more presentations. Buffet dinner.

The presentations varied but the enthusiasm didn't. I must confess to being lost on one or two of the high tech products but each pitch concluded by focusing on the business's requirements.

Over dinner there was much exchanging of cards and it was obvious that the evening had been a success.

I spoke to several of the audience and was impressed by the breath of knowledge and experience. Somebody had clearly done their homework and created a great invitation list.

This is a great new form of business development and one that I would recommend to both start-ups and professionals. I will predict that we will hear much more about Pitching for Management in future months

Can a PR firm harness the power of blogging?

2011-09-12T07:48:00.000-07:00

Public relations is yet to come to terms with the implications of blogging. All the usual rules apply to blogging that should apply to any other media outlet. It is a big mistake to write bloggers off as of no consequence. Ignore a blog post today and it can come back and bite you tomorrow.

A PR firm in New York decided to try and harness the power of blogging. Ten out of ten for trying!

Bloggers were invited to an upmarket New York restaurant together with their guests. They thought they were in for a gastronomic treat. They were upset to find that this was a ruse to serve up some production line food and film them complimenting the food.

The expectation was to use the footage for promotional videos on YouTube and the client web site, and for bloggers to generate buzz when they wrote about being pleasantly surprised.

The company were using a technique much used in American advertising in the 1980s and 1990s where diners in upscale restaurants unknowingly enjoyed instant coffee instead of the house brew, to more recent Pizza Hut ads, where diners, again in upscale restaurants, unknowingly enjoyed pasta from Pizza Hut.

"But while consumers tend to laugh along with the ruse, ConAgra was about to learn that bloggers, who often see themselves as truth-seeking journalists, find the switcheroo less amusing, especially when it entails them misleading their readers beforehand."

The full salutary story can be found on the New York Times media and adverting page.

How to write a great CV

2011-08-08T03:24:00.000-07:00

by Sarah Daniels

When looking for a new role your CV is the first impression that people have of you so what it looks like and what it says are hugely important. A well written and well presented CV could make all the difference between potentially securing an interview or ending up in the rejection pile.

You would be amazed at the number of poorly written, inaccurate and grammatically incorrect CVs that I have seen over the years. If I open a badly presented CV which the author couldn’t be bothered to check properly, I will hit the delete button. If you can’t take the time to put something presentable together, then you shouldn’t be surprised if an employer won’t take the time to invite you to an interview.

So what should it look like?

· Your CV should ideally be 2 pages or for more detailed CVs no longer than 3.

· It should be typed using the same font and same colour, i.e.black. Don’t bother with tables, graphics or pictures. It will just annoy the recruiter or employer.

· It should be positive and emphasise your achievements, strengths, successes and how you have contributed to your employers’ bottom line in any way (add figures to support facts whenever you can and use positive action words, for example: ‘implementing’, ‘negotiating’, ‘managing’ etc).

· It should be bullet pointed, succinct and factual. Avoid long rambling sentences which will only bore the reader.

· If you have held several contract roles over a short period of time, present yourself and your CV as a professional contractor, listing key achievements within companies rather than in a chronological order.

What should it include?

There is no official set format so how you present your CV is up to you. However, if you follow these guidelines you won’t go far wrong.

The first page should include your personal details, i.e.your name, address, phone number, email address and your profile.

Your profile is a short statement at the beginning of your CV which is where you are meant to sell yourself.

Try and make this as interesting and original as you can and avoid clichéd language and over used adjectives - strategic, commercial, dynamic, visionary are all ones which spring to mind!

Tailor the statement to the requirements of each job that you apply for. There’s no point saying you’re an ambitious, strategic thinker if you’re applying for something which requires the opposite.

I would then recommend outlining your education and if you have them,professional qualifications, starting with the most recent.

Your career history comes next.

· Put your most recent job first and include dates.Employers will be most interested in what you have done recently and won’t be impressed if you write an essay on what you did in 1979. Don’t leave gaps between dates because employers will want to know what you have been doing and may assume you have something to hide. If you had a career break or if you were made redundant, make this a positive thing. Think about the skills you acquired or utilised during this time.

· If you don’t have much work experience do include temporary, holiday, part-time or voluntary jobs. If you’ve had several different jobs, emphasise the skills and experience you have across those jobs (for example, dealing with customers or communication skills).

· Leave off your date of birth as laws on age discrimination mean that you don’t need to put this or your ageon your CV.

The final page should include:

· Any training you’ve received in previous roles or outside work (for example management training or a certificate in health & safety).

· Any IT skills you have (for example Microsoft Office, Photoshop, SAP etc).

· Your interests. These could help support your application to the job you’re applying for but be wary about putting anything too obscure or anything which may count against you in any way, e.g. sleeping! Believe me, I’ve seen this before!

·         References.

      Make a point that you can supply these on request.

Who should you put down as a referee?

Unless you’re a student or at the very start of your career, supply the details of two or more people who can provide a work related reference. If you can only provide personal references then make sure it’s from a professional person such as a professor or lecturer. Peer references and also references from people who’ve reported into you are great ones as they will give a different perspective which may be relevant particularly if you’re going for a management role. Make sure you ask permission from your referees before giving out their details and let them know when they may be contacted.

Where possible ask for written references when you leave a job. This is particularly important if you do a lot of interim work and move around a lot.

Lastly get a friend or someone you trust to read through your CV and make sure it’s accurate and that it presents you in the best possible light.

Covering letters

Research suggests that CVs accompanied by covering letters tend to be more highly thought of than not. A good covering letter, like a good CV, will automatically single you out from the dross than employers and recruiters regularly receive. Your covering letter should include:

· The right point of contact for the hiring of the role.

· The reason why you are looking to leave your current position – don’t be negative!

· Some personalised comments about the company and the role which shows that you have done some research and also shows that it’s not a blanket mailer.

· Some bullet points about what you have been doing recently which gives you right experience for the role.

· An outline of your achievements that are relevant .

And lastly, good luck!

Copyright Sarah Daniels, Director Saffron Resourcing

How to speak to a multi-lingual audience through interpretation

2011-08-08T02:58:00.000-07:00


David Hallam

If you are in the business of making customers, raising funds or influencing policy at a European or international level you invariably have to attend meetings where the participants speak many languages and you are communicating through interpretors.

Even the most seasoned executive can find it very daunting to move from operating exclusively in English. Few senior people, in any case, have ever had any formal training in public speaking.

Mistakes in constructing, delivering and illustrating, a speech or presentation, in a mother tongue are magnified when delivered through simultaneous interpretation.

All the basic rules of good public speaking apply – only more so.

Speeches should be carefully planned and timed to meet both the needs of the audience, and the allotted time slot. Audiences should be researched as far as is possible. The venue should be carefully reconnoitered. Industry or professional jargon should be avoided and sets of initials always spelt out in full.

The classic “three part sermon” is always a good starting point. You say what you are going to say, say it, then recap what you have said.

Unless you have already made a good living as a stand up comedian leave the comedy to those who have. Jokes often don’t work in one language. It is very rare for them to work in several.

If you do use Powerpoint, set it up beforehand and test it, test it and then test it again. Speak to the audience, not the screen, and please, please, don’t read it out.

The Powerpoint help guide strongly recommends using type at least 36 pt. The moment you add translation to your precious bullet points you run into issues of both space and courtesy. Do you just keep to English (seen as arrogant), or do you also translate into French and/or German (and offend the Italians, Slovaks and Finns). Use Powerpoint, to show ruthlessly relevant pictures which are self explanatory and with as little text as possible. Try to manage without it.

Planned speeches do not necessarily mean written speeches. I personally prefer bullet points, especially when I can see the audience reaction and trim the language and delivery accordingly.

Simultaneous interpretation does not always allow the luxury of immediate audience feedback, mainly because, strictly speaking, it is not simultaneous. English speakers in the room will hear the speech as delivered; those speaking major European or Asian languages will hear it a few seconds later. If an interpreter cannot work from English, they may give a secondary translation from another language. Some languages, French for example, are slightly more complex and interpretation may take longer.

Speak slightly slower, and pause for a few seconds, listen and watch out for clues, to gauge when interpretation in second and third languages has been completed. If you are a keynote speaker or chair give your audience time to fiddle with their headphones and interpretation channels, they may be as new to this environment as you.

If you are taking questions from the floor, ensure that you have easy access to headphones, but don’t wear them as you speak, as you will hear your own voice booming back at you. If you leave them on you may well misjudge your own volume and end up shouting.

Even if you think you understand the language that a question is delivered in, beware of relying on your own interpretation. Mistakes in conversation can be quickly rectified on a one to one basis; misunderstandings in a complex multi-lingual environment will only lead to confusion. Leave interpretation to the professionals.

Choose your English very carefully. Avoid jargon, slang and abbreviations. Even within a profession or industry each language has a different way of expressing the same idea.

Nevertheless there are occasions when technical words are unavoidable. Make a list of technical terms you are likely to use and get it into each of the interpretation booths before you speak. That gives the interpreters time to consult dictionaries and each other and is very much appreciated. If you are going to read a speech, let them have an advance copy.

Most interpreters work into their native language. They are trained to deal with Plain English. Their knowledge of English and the various cultures in which it is used will vary widely. They particularly dislike the American habit of using language from the baseball field.

Many interpreters have never played golf, don’t know the name of a football player and certainly don’t know what it means to “bowl a googly”. And if like me you occasionally lapse into rhyming slang or some other regional variation – don’t even go there.

Have a good conference.

ENDS

Blogging for business (3): Content is king

2011-07-21T09:00:00.000-07:00

by David Hallam

You are clear that your business would benefit from a blog, you are certain that you have the capacity, you have taken care of the technicalities. You have already drafted 20 possible posts. Now lets look in detail at what you should post.

First impressions

Whatever you write it may be the very first impression that someone has of your company. Search engines can work in very quirky ways and you have little choice as to how and what is featured. Therefore every post is a possible "landing page" and could be a potential customer's first sight.

Informality and pitfalls

Blogs and other forms of social media can create an air of informality. This can be a productive and relatively relaxed way of introducing yourselves. It has advantages. In certain markets the less formality and fun the better.

Other audiences may not be so open to informality, especially if they have landed with a view to seeking advice, information or possibly becoming a customer. This is a decision that has to be made and managed. A business blog is not a hobby. Obviously there is room for experimentation but be aware that you as the blog owner need to retain control.

Once the publish button is pressed it is out there in cyber-space. Even an immediately withdrawn post may be around in google cache for many years to come. It is as important to have a sign-off procedure for a blog post as it is for a media release or response. It safeguards both the individual and the organisation.

Immediacy

The immediacy of blogging is something to be cherished and used. It means that a company is able to make contemporary statements about its business. Sometimes this could be a timely comment about an event in the news and about which the company has knowledge and interest. Regular readers appreciate being kept up to date. New and passing readers will pick up such posts on the various news feeds, especially if linked to Twitter and will have the opportunity of reading your comments.

Large organisations (and sometimes smaller businesses and individuals) should be aware that if they are suddenly in the media spotlight - major incident, product recall etc - then visitors to a blog will expect to find up to date information. A business blog, together with other social media platforms, should be integrated into the organisation's crisis communications plan. Passwords and the skill to upload posts should be available to several people.

Decisions about content

From the beginning there has to be clarity about who the blog is aimed at and what its purpose is.

There are a number of options:

Diary - this is how blogging began. People put their thoughts and views online. A great way of creating a buzz around an individual or company. Most hobby blogs are created and managed on this basis. Most of this form of blogging has now migrated to Facebook and other social media platforms. A business needs to take this route with extreme care. Unless it is a closed blog - for subscribers or on an intranet - a company may be putting too much information into the public domain.
News feed - this is using the blog technology at its best. A company can highlight and report on events, new product launches or service developments. Blogging technology enables regular readers to receive regular alerts of new posts (see the options in the side bar on right of this page). Some companies use blogs to carry their press releases.Whilst that is an acceptable use, press releases can be deposited and promoted elsewhere on a site under a "latest news" tab. A good blog post will pick up the press release, with link, and then try to add something extra, perhaps a comment or special welcome. A good press release is written in a particular way (more about that in future weeks), a blog post is different and that needs to be respected and exploited.
Soapbox - here the blog owner uses the blog to promote a personal view about current issues. It differs from the diary in that personal information and activities are almost invariably absent. These may range from general political and international issues, a sport such as football, a religion or specific industry matters. One of the disappointments may be that the world is not beating a path to the blog to read the latest view. For those who have that sort of blog it can be deeply satisfying. A business needs to be sure that such a blog is worth the investment of time and reputation.
Campaign - these spring up all the time when people have a particular issue they want to raise. Part soap box, part news feed, a blog is a very public way of expressing a view and gathering support. In the past such blogs have been set up by disgruntled employees or customers. Every business should sign up for a google alert and keep an eye out for when their firm is mentioned. They can die a quiet death or cause a lot of trouble. This will be the subject of a future post.
Technical support - another excellent use of blogging technology. Customers are able to raise issues with a helpdesk who then place the query online and suggest possible resolutions. Other customers are able to comment. This is invaluable when service issues emerge, especially when searched by later customers experiencing the same issues.
The showcase - this is a relatively informal way of showcasing skills, services and products. It is much like a static website, but is updated over time. It demonstrates that a business has the solutions for which a customer is searching. This blog is an example. Over time it will encourage readers to improve communications. One result may be that it encourages visitors to seek the professional services of the blog owner.

The utility of a blog is measured by how many times people land and then return. Content has to be well written, brief (no webpage is ever a second away from being clicked into obscurity) and attractive. Writing a blog post is not like writing a committee report, it is different from a press release, though many of the same disciplines and language should be used. A good test for the non-writer is to read the draft post out loud. If it sounds clumsy, it is clumsy.

One final point: be brief. This post is already over 1,000 words long. Posts of 150 – 500 words should be the aim.

Blogging for business (2): What are the technicalities?

2011-07-20T03:37:00.000-07:00

by David Hallam

Starting a blog is technically very easy and can cost nothing. Both Blogger (now part of the google group) and Wordpress offer simple stand alone solutions, free of charge. Both boast that you can start blogging within minutes, but that's not quite how you should approach it.

There are other platforms and most IT service providers now have some form of blogging as part of their portfolio. My strong advice is that if your business runs to having an IT department or has an external provider you should speak with them first. It obviously makes sense to integrate your blog with the business's own web or CRM platform, especially if, for example, the blog is purely for internal audiences, membership or identified customers.

Blogger and Wordpress provide easy to follow installation instructions. A new blogger should sign up to both platforms and work out which one is most comfortable. For this blog I've gone with Blogger mainly because it provides the package with which I am most familiar. It is just a feeling but Wordpress blogs tend to look visually more appealing.

Name and URL

The first challenge will be to choose a title and URL. Both platforms offer a facility to help you do this. It may come as a surprise to find that your chosen name (even your own name) may already be taken, much as you may have found when you tried to register your own business URL address.

So once again that is a decision that needs to be thought through in advance. However once you have the germ of an idea for a name - grab it! Blogs are being created every moment.

There was no problem choosing "improve communications" for this blog with Blogger. Wordpress insisted I changed it slightly. The URL is www.improvecommunications.blogspot.com. I've also registered www.improvecommunications.co.uk This is the link that I will promote on my LinkedIn profile and elsewhere. It is relatively easy to register a URL and then point it towards a blog.

Dashboard and templates

Once a name is created you will be directed to a dashbord. It is sensible to click every tab and sub-tab on the dashboard to find out where things are. At first they may not make sense but it helps if you know the options. This is where the creative work begins because you have to choose a template. These come in various shapes and colours, each has a different look and feel. The great thing is that it is very easy to experiment with multiple previews as you develop your ideas. And if, after a few weeks you think you've made a mistake, you can change it without loosing data.

Features and widgets

There are other choices to make as you decide whether to include various features and widgets. Most of these can be landed through the dashboard. Sometimes you may want to introduce widgets from a third party such sitemeter in which case you simply copy and paste a specially generated piece of html (don't let that panic you - it's easy). It is worth looking at other blogs to see how these may fit in with your look and feel. My advice would be to keep it simple at first.

Comments

One decision you will need to make is whether to accept comments and if so whether to moderate them or not. There are people who send out spam comments and it is possible to get some pretty nutty comments. If the purpose of your blog is to create controversy to argue for a case, comments are a great way to create interaction and an audience.

However a business blog focused on creating customers will want to take a very different approach.There would be one advantage of allowing moderated comments - it is a great way of getting, and responding to customer feedback. As my old marketing lecturer drummed into us: the customer who complains is the most useful customer and should be valued.

Advertisements

Another early decision is whether to accept advertisements.On Wordpress accounts this happens automatically as it is their way of funding the service that is provided to you free of charge. By paying a small fee you can appear without ads.

Blogger offers the option of google Adsense. This generates advertisements which theoretically match the contents of your post. You get paid everytime someone from your site clicks onto the advert. This can range from a few pence to £s depending on the competition among the advertisers.

The disadvantage is that potential customers may arrive on your site and be confronted with an advertisement for one of your competitors or simply leave your site having been distracted. You may also find that the innocent use of certain words (I shan't give examples here) may generate advertisements which are not acceptable to your company's image.

The advantage is that you make money from your site. But don't book a holiday on the back of it. I've yet to hear of a blogger making a fortune directly from site advertisements.

There are other advertising providers and affiliate programmes. Once again, be aware that they take up valuable space and are unlikely to generate much income.

Your first post

Despite Blogger and Wordpress claims, it is now sometime since you opened the account, nowhere near five minutes! Are you now ready to post? Just hang on a moment. When you press the "new post" tab a box will open. Along the top of that box will be a number of buttons. Once again this is a time for exploration if not experimentation.

Although every template will come with a default typeface and format, it is possible to choose different fonts, sizes, colours and formats. Once again a little piece of advice. Unless you are a good, qualified graphic designer, be vary careful of inserting background colours, reverse type or fancy typefaces. Most of your readers are used to variations of Times or Ariel on a white background. Once they are on your page you want them to read your copy. Don't loose them with bad graphics.

Make sure you know how the link buttons, jump breaks, underline, bold and other buttons work. Never be afraid to use a spell check or dictionary. Try uploading pictures and inserting a video clip from you tube. Both Blogger and Wordpress have a preview facility which gives you the opportunity of seeing what will actually appear before it is published.

It you have no idea what what html is don't worry. As you move along you will sometimes see it but in five years of blogging I've never thought it critical. There are however some occasions when formatting can be problematical. That is when you write an article on Word or Notepad and copy and paste. Most times it will appear without difficulty but sometimes you have to delete the imported html formatting.

Well that's it. You are almost ready. Watch out for the little wavy red lines that appear under British spellings of words like colour and programmes. Make sure you don't confuse their and there and remember that the spell check facility doesn't work on the post title box!

Start blogging!

Blogging for business (1): Can we do it?

2011-07-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

by David Hallam

Blogging may look simple but it requires resources, material and a market in order to be a sustainable business activity.

A blog is the easiest and most cost effective way of getting a presence on the internet. A well written blog can bring business in. A badly written blog can turn business away. An abandoned blog can be evidence that the business no longer exists. A great blog can improve communications, create new friends and generate leads.

I have been a blogger for over five years. In that time I have found that blogs can create great benefits, but also have a downside. My own blog is personal to me, it is about my hobby and carries many of my eccentricities. Over five years I have developed competitors, made friends and had to stretch myself to find new and interesting material. I enjoy hobby blogging, but I know it isn't for everyone and I know that there can be drawbacks for commercial organisations.

A blog is technically easy to set up, but can be difficult to sustain. So the very first questions anyone thinking of establishing a blog has to ask is:

Do we have the time to create good quality blog postings? Blogging is like any other promotional activity. Time and energy has to be expended creating ideas, writing posts and getting sign-off. Before starting a blog the company has to be certain that it has the resources. The business also has to be clear that the blog is the best use of those resources. Time spent blogging may be better spent knocking on doors.

Do we have the material to sustain a blog over many years? Think years, not weeks. Even if you only post weekly for 45 weeks of the year (leave out August and the Christmas period) that's 45 posts. Could you now sit down and map out just 20 of those posts? Once started other posts will automatically suggest themselves, especially if you have a flow of news from or about the business. But you need to be certain that the material exists to sustain the activity and justify the investment.

Do we have a market for our material? Our fascinations are not always shared by others. Whilst the minutia of our business will be interesting to those in the company, it may not be to anyone else - except competitors. So before starting a blog, a company has to be certain that it will both attract readers and retain them long enough to generate business or goodwill.

Setting up a blog is not an easy business decision, even though the technology is simple and free. In future posts I will discuss how to launch the blog, generating material, focusing the content, building a readership, ensuring search engine optimisation, managing comments, and developing contacts.

This is the first post of a new blog which I hope will help businesses and organisations improve communications, not just by using blogs but every other channel of communication.