photo credit: Wonderdawg777

This is the start of a series of bite-size tips for using social media effectively in 2012.

Twitter can seem like a daunting prospect for businesses new to social media. The “noise” of potentially 1000′s of people conversing with you on the platform often feels a bit much and the tendency is to give up and regain some peace and quiet!

The following will help you to manage Twitter effectively and regain your sanity:

1. You don’t have to “follow” back everyone who follows you. A lot of your followers will be competitors or people who have randomly connected with you on Twitter. Be choosy – follow those whom you WANT to hear from.
2. Create Lists to easily find those who matter. Segmenting Lists into groups (say, networking, inspirational people, industry leaders) makes it easy to keep up with those you follow on Twitter. (Lists can be public enabling others to follow your useful resource, or set to private so only you can view them).
3. Use the hashtag (#). Want to start/be part of a discussion around a particular topic? Add a “#” at the end of your tweet followed by the subject (e.g. #SocialMediaTips – don’t uses spaces between words) and you can find your conversation easily amongst the “noise” on Twitter.
4. Set up Searches. The tip above can be linked with setting up a Search for the hashtag subject to keep up to date with the conversation’s progress.
5. Social Media Management Tools. Make the most of tools like Hootsuite and TweetDeck to manage your social media engagement, including scheduling tweets in advance. (Check out mobile apps for both these free tools so that you can also manage social media on the move using your iPhone or SmartPhone).

photo credit: feral rogue

I started 2012 with a week long Buddhist meditation retreat – the purpose of which was to clear my mind and, as my teacher says ” see the wood from the trees”. If you are lost in a forrest which is the best way out? Blindly hacking away at the undergrowth hoping you will find your way, or climbing a tree to gain a bigger perspective so you can plan a route out?

Does this sound like how you run your business?

We spend most our time doing, doing, doing without ever seeing the bigger picture – putting our life into perspective and finding out if all the “doing” is actually getting us anywhere!

The purpose of retreat (from any/no faith perspective) is to step back from the busyness of life and take stock. It gives us breathing space and time to rest from the constant demands of everyday existence. We are able to see in a new way, gain a fresh view of our day to day activities and figure out where we are going.

Unhappy with the direction your business is going – want to forge a new path?

To change direction we have to see where we are right now. What we are thinking and doing. Since everything starts with a thought it’s good to work out in which direction your mind is heading.

Ideas are formed in our imagination, turning into a wish if we really want something to happen. If our wish is strong enough our actions will follow in the same direction and we will accomplish what we set out to do. (To use an analogy from my teacher: a building starts in the imagination of an architect, who then draws up a blueprint, which in turn is followed by the builder who constructs the finished building). Everything HAS to start in our mind…

If we want to change direction, our wish has to be strong enough – as the saying goes “old habits die hard” – we have to really get behind our desire to change. From this wish we will easily develop a plan – we need our blueprint, just as the architect does to create a new building.

A plan helps us to see where we are going and measure how far we are along our chosen path. In the beginning it can seem a daunting prospect – our destination is a long way from where we are right now. It’s useful to acknowledge even our first “baby steps” along our chosen route – encouragement keeps us motivated and helps us stay on track.

Do we have to do this all on our own?

In the end it is only us who can actually make changes in our life. Unfortunately there is no-one who can just “wave a magic wand” and get you from here to there without you putting in any effort on your part!

However, we can get support to help us in our new direction. In my meditation I have the support of my teacher and my fellow classmates on our study programme (my meditation community).

In my business I get support in a number of ways. From time to time I work with a coach, I am part of a business mentoring group, and I take time to develop relationships with other business owners so we can support each other in our business plans.

Who can you enlist to help you in your new direction for 2012?

Do you need to learn new skills to help you reach your new destination? Seek out someone who can teach or mentor you, or find out what classes are available (off or online) to support your change.

Maybe you just want some moral support along the way? Ask a fellow business colleague if they are interested in developing a peer-support relationship so you can help each other stay on track during the change process.

You can of course also work with a coach – ideally, someone who has business experience combined with training in coaching skills, (they may or may not have trodden the path you are embarking upon) and is able to give you impartial support – including challenge, feedback, a fresh perspective, and encouragement on your journey.

Are you being true to yourself?

Coming full circle to seeing the bigger picture – do your business plans mesh with your ideas for how you want your life to be? I believe, this question can only really be answered at a gut-level. We need to ask ourselves how it FEELS when we think about our business journey. Are we making decisions based on what we “think” (or are told) we should be doing, or are we making decisions that are aligned with our values about how we want to live our life?

Everyone needs clients/customers to buy our services/products – so we need to ensure that what we are offering is what people actually want, and that they are happy to part with cash for it as well. (Not to put a damper on ideas, but this can sometimes get overlooked in the excitement of developing something new!)

However, when we are providing a service/product that we love – when our business makes our “heart sing” – we will feel engaged and motivated to develop and grow our business, and marketing will become a natural process of simply enjoying talking about what we love to do.

I’d love to hear about your business plans for 2012 – feel free to add your thoughts in the Comments section below.

photo credit: Globalism Pictures

Thank you for all your support this year.

Wishing you a wonderful Christmas and looking forward to connecting in the New Year!

Love Kate x

photo credit: lightwerk

By the middle of 2011 more people were accessing websites through mobile devices than on their computers, so it’s important to consider how your website looks and functions when viewed on an iPhone or SmartPhone.

From my own experience, viewing a website on an iPhone can be a painful experience. The text is so tiny you can’t read it without “zooming and pinching”, which means it’s difficult to navigate even around most home pages.

How long are potential customers going to spend on your site if your competitors have slick mobile versions that load quickly, are super easy to navigate, and even have the option of saving as a bookmark to the iPhone home screen?

A recent article in Mashable peaked my interest (I’ve been meaning to do some proper research on how to create a mobile version of websites for a little while now). I was pleased to find out that creating a mobile website (from an existing “traditional” version) is actually fairly simple if you use DudaMobile.

The first version of mine “identified” my WordPress site as a blog, so came back with a format that simply enabled easy navigation of my posts. Not satisfied with the result, I republished it in website format which resulted in an easily accessible version of my site based on big (thumb sized) links to my navigation bar headings.

DudaMobile automatically incorporated the colours and fonts of my original site and I was able to upload my website header to brand it even more effectively.

For a monthly fee of $9 you can remove the links to DudaMobile in your header and footer, and even add a link for potential customers to click and call you right away from your mobile site. I’m sure to upgrade to the paid for version just as soon as I’ve sorted out the re-direct to my own hosting company. (The mobile site actually requires a brand new URL – that you have to pay a separate hosting fee for if you want to customise it to your own personal version).

If you want to ensure your online marketing is working for 2012, create a mobile version of your website before you miss the boat!

To view my mobile click on this link (or for best viewing copy and paste the following into your iPhone/SmartPhone browser: http://mobile.dudamobile.com/site/katebacon?dm_try_mode=true)

I’ve been thinking about this in relation to a recent conversations with someone struggling to find out in which direction they REALLY wanted their business to go. What was it they loved, and did this fit with what they had become expert at over the years?

How often do we rely on external influences to shape our decisions – especially around our business? After all isn’t it wise to follow those who have already become successful at what they do?

What if in following someone else’s ideas (because it’s useful to have a blueprint, right?) you realised that it didn’t quite “fit” what YOU wanted from life and work…

Today, I’m re-visiting Nic Askew’s film of Tim Gallwey – one of the greatest influences in my coach training, a pioneer in psychology who wrote “The Inner Game of Tennis”. His whole ethos is about finding the answers within yourself.

How often is this the first place you look? Watch and be curious…

AT THE FEET OF THE WISEMAN from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

I first met Katie MacDonald in 2008 when she trained with me at Pier to Peer Coaching to be a VA. I always knew Katie would be successful as a VA, she has a drive, determination and business ethics that make Virtually Does It stand head and shoulders above most VA businesses. We have worked together since and now even share a client in common!

Katie has kindly agreed to take part in my Authentic Business Series, so here is what she has to say…

Who/what is your greatest inspiration?

I’m inspired by so many different things all the time. It can be a new person I’ve met, an article in a newspaper, or just something I overheard in a shop. I love that ping of excitement you get when you find a new thread that could take what you do, or your interests, in a new and different direction.

What’s the story of how you started your work?

I had worked as a PA since leaving school, falling in to an administration role at an accountants when the course I was enrolled on at university was cancelled. Having never wanted to work in an office, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it, and so worked by way through to Senior PA. I was extremely fortunate to work with fantastic people who gave me many opportunities that probably fell outside the traditional PA role.

It was due to this breadth of opportunity that I wanted to extend my PA career by starting my own business as a virtual assistant (VA), encompassing not just the traditional PA skills, but real business support on all levels without the confines of a job description. And so, Virtually Does It was born. Being able to tailor my skills and experience to each business I work with is so rewarding, and to give that bit extra just because you can, makes all the difference.

And I love it!

I originally started Virtually Does It as a ’5-9′ business alongside my ‘day job’, while I found my footing. And I’ve never looked back.

What’s unique about what you do that reflects who you are as a person?

I put heart and mind into whatever I do, and I want to go that bit extra to get the tick in the box at the end of the day! I’m genuinely interested in the business of my clients, and I’m proud to be a part of their team.

How has being online/social media impacted most on your work?

Social media is a central part of being online – my first client even found me through Twitter! It has opened up the virtual-world ten fold, and I have met some great people who have helped with both starting my business, and evolving it into what it is today. I continue to be amazed by who I meet and what I learn.

Can you tell me about the most interesting connection you’ve made online?

I don’t think I can single one out! I have met such a diverse group of lovely people who have each contributed their little bit to me being online.

What do you want to be remembered for?

For making a difference. Be that in work, or pleasure, or both.

To find out more about Katie MacDonald and Virtually Does It check out her online presence:

Website

Twitter

LinkedIn

Google + 

OK,  I guess it’s not surprising I love fonts, it’s the sort of geeky thing web designers are prone to. I remember in art class at school using Letraset – I think I fell in love with lettering right at that moment.

The combination of fonts and Kickstarter – the wonderful platform that enables projects to get funding from anyone in the world was just too good to miss.

I wanted to share this project as it’s obviously very dear to Julieta Ulanovsky’s heart. Imagine being inspired by the typefaces all around you on a daily basis? Maybe one day I can meet Julieta in Buenos Aires, now THAT would be cool.

Are you leading using all of your bandwith and expressing all of yourself in your business?

This makes fundamental sense to me as I’ve seen clients who bring what they love to their business engaging in a way that is very different from those who don’t bring their heart to their work. Nic Askew expresses this so well in his film made with Kimberley Hare of  Kaizen Training.

What do you think? Watch, reflect and comment below…

FULL BANDWIDTH from Nic Askew on Vimeo.

photo credit: Steve Snodgrass

So, what ARE you doing to get support for your business? It can be an isolating experience, especially if you are running a business on your own from a home based office.

I’ve worked with a number of different coaches throughout my 8 year journey from self employment to company owner – since at each stage of the process I’ve required different support. I have an ongoing relationship with Simonne Gnessen, a financial coach, initially started to help me become debt free (I have been, aside from my mortgage, for the last two years), but also for support for my (newish) business around “the numbers”.

During the development of my Virtual Assistant Coaching & Training business, I worked with a virtual business coaching support group – although we did actually meet face to face once during the year as a group. This was one of my most creative periods, and the support I received from fellow business owners in our weekly calls was invaluable. Never, ever, underestimate the power of a group of like-minded people as a sounding board for your ideas/concerns!

I’ve missed the input of a group since 2007, so last month I joined ProfitNet in Brighton – a local support group for business owners who wish to develop and grow their enterprises. Monthly meetings allow you access to your own “Board”, and gain valuable peer support for issues that arise in the day to day and longer term planning for your business.

ProfitNet is run by Brighton University and has been so successful over the last few years that groups have continued meet, evolving into ProfitNetPlus.

To join, you commit to attend 3 hour monthly meetings over a 12 month period. It’s important to develop trust in the group, which is supported by a code of conduct and confidentiality (preventing the potential leak of any business secrets!)

Action Learning is a key element of each month meeting – whereby 2-4 members bring up a current issue, which the group clarifies through questioning, and then it’s open to the floor to throw out suggested solutions. The business owner in the “hot seat” is not allowed to interject at this stage (quite difficult, I assure you) and gets to decide which actions to take away and report back on the following month.

I was fortunate enough to work on an issue in the introductory meeting (how best to follow up with client proposals) the result of which is that I now have a new client intake process, to provide clarity for both the potential client and myself on how we work together – result!

The group also decides on areas where they need additional learning and expert speakers are invited to share with the group a few times during the year. It goes without saying that informal networking also take place, and as you get to know each other opportunities for client work and joint ventures will organically develop.

Please share in the comments section below your own experience with accessing business support – it’s always good to hear what works (and even what is not so effective).

photo credit: brockvicky  

Searching for an image on Flickr I found pages and pages of “boring” looking graphs – exactly what put me off web statistics in the first place I have to admit.

If the last time you looked at a graphs was in maths class at school, you might want to re-visit those carefree days when your biggest worry was what was going to be on the next test paper. As a grown up, you can use those same analytical skills to find whether anyone who ever visited your website turned into a client!

Although charts, graphs, and statistics may not be the most exciting aspect of business to focus upon, they provide some very useful data about how your web presence and whether it is working for your business.

Setting up a Google Analytics Account is easy

To sign up for an account with Google Analytics is free, simply click here to visit the website. Once you have opened an account, just add your website URL (web address) and within 24 hours Analytics will be doing all the work for you.

Your website traffic will be analyzed for you and you can find out an amazing amount of information including:

• Which pages your site visitors land on
• How long (on average) they stay on your site
• Where your site visitors are located in the world by country
• Percentage of new visits (versus returning visitors)
• Search engines visitors used (not all Google)
• Keywords they used to find your site