Communication

Communication has never been easier. With phones, sms text messages, email and social media it’s now possible to communicate with people instantly all over the world.

With the ease of email and texting many people seem to have forgotten the human voice. We all know that the value of building real long lasting relationships is based on getting to know people as they are. The best way to do this is to meet with them. If that is not possible we can now use video phone services like Skype, conferencing such as Talk Fusion or at least a standard voice call.

Good communication works best when both sides can see and hear each other, second would be voice only – all other methods come below this.

Image courtesy of Ambro / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Communication – face to face

There is something much more positive when we can see people that we are speaking to to. The ability to look someone in the eye, whether in person or on camera creates a better bond. Communication is not only words and sounds, it is visual. The way a person looks back at us can help us to decide for example whether they are truthful and sincere.

Communication non face to face

Use things like social media to start to get to know strangers but for business purposes at some time set up a phone / video call to further the relationship. For people you already know by all means use all other methods to keep in touch and up to date but don’t allow long periods to go by without at least a phone call.

It’s good to talk so keep that in mind with your communication methods.

Blogging is a great way to add content to your website and get traffic. It does however take a lot of time and effort. There is a way that you can use blogging to drive traffic to your website faster.

What is it?

It is the Empower Network.

By using the Empower Blogging platform your blog posts will get ranked by search engines like Google much faster and higher. The amount of posts being put onto Empower make it highly ranked. You can also use the Empower blog to create back links to your website(s) and increase the search results on it because of using Empower. Using the WordPress based Empower Network platform makes blogging much easier. You can also with limits duplicate your posts that you have already written on your website and by publishing that on Empower can increase the rank of the original post. You will learn more about this once you start with Empower.

There is much more to the Empower Network if you want to take advantage of it. Empower provides incredible training and coaching to help you learn how to market your business online. These courses are incredible value and I would recommend that you take a look at them.

With Empower too you can also become an affiliate so that you can soon turn your Empower Network into another income stream. You are welcome to ask me any questions and I shall be pleased to answer them for you.

To start blogging today for just $25 per month follow this link.

You can take a look at my Empower Blog here: Roland’s Empower Blog.

Twitter Chats for Business

 
Twitter Chats – A Top way for businesses to gain more business.

When people join Twitter they are looking perhaps to gain new followers, meet new people to chat to, find new suppliers, locate local businesses to theirs, banter with people with similar views, find people with similar interests and to demonstrate their expertise and knowledge. Without any doubt running or taking part in a Twitter Chat should form part of the way of achieving most of these things.

What is a Twitter Chat?

A Twitter Chat is a simple idea. People on Twitter following Twitter updates that all have the same #hashtag in so that you don’t necessarily need to be following anyone involved, although part of the reason you have joined in is to start to follow new people met through the chat. Twitter Chats are usually at a pre defined time, on a specific topic and the #hashtags are known in advance. It is a virtual world where you can virtually chat to anyone in the world – Twitter chats have no boundaries.

There are two types of Twitter Chat – Those that are more formal and those that are not. 

The more formal ones, have a moderator who usually asks a few questions to get the banter going. Participants join in and answer those questions and banter with other participants all by making sure that all their tweets contain the pre defined #hashtag for the Twitter Chat. The informal Twitter Chats are simply that. People joining in at a predefined time without any agenda. Perhaps some have business issues, some want to chat about their week, let off steam, have a laugh, have some fun, meet new people etc..

Why Run a Twitter Chat?

One of the best things about Twitter is that it allows you to demonstrate your expertise and knowledge to others. One way you can do this is to run a Twitter Chat. You are now effectively in charge in a loose way. You invite in questions on your area of knowledge and you answer them. Because everyone is following the Twitter chat with the predefined #hashtag you are now appealing yourself to a much wider audience. Over time you will become more known, memorable, gain more followers, and possibly become a go to guy or gal for that issue. You are also bound to create advocates for you and your business if you do a good job.

How Do I Start a Twitter Chat?

This is easy. Firstly do some research on the # hashtag. Although hashtags cannot be owned by anyone like a domain name, you don’t want to have the #hashtag of another Twitter Chat as confusion will reign. Once you have decided on the #hashtag, then a time and date. Then you need to start telling people. Simple as that.

How Do I Find a Twitter Chat to Join in?

One of the issues with Twitter is that there is no central place that gives times, dates, topics and the #hashtags of the Twitter Chats. So it can be tricky to find ones that you want to take part in. However a new service has just started to help with this. @theChatDiary is a Twitter account that finds loads of great Twitter Chats. Simply follow @theChatDiary and it will help you to discover all the Twitter Chats going on and remind you of the times.  It will also tell you the #hashtag to follow and a brief synopsis of what the Chat is about.

Do I need any tools to take part in a Twitter Chat?

Twitter Chats are in real time. Because of that the tweets can sometimes be flying around pretty quick and it can all get a bit messy. I would suggest checking out Tweetdeck or Hootsuite, you can also try OneQube who offer a free Twitter Chat room with tons of extra facilities which will help you. All you do is create a search on the #hashtag being used and have a column that displays those results. You can then follow along, reply to others, write your own tweets, find new people to follow and so on. Make sure though that all tweets you send have the pre defined #hashtag in and above all remember to have fun.

Remember to Follow The Chat Diary for Twitter Chat Alerts and Reminders

A big thank you to Mark Shaw for contributing this post.

Mark Shaw –Bio

Mark Shaw is a Twitter Consultant, speaker and troubleshooter. Founder of @TheChatDiary which helps people  to discover new Twitter Chats. Mark has appeared extensively on the radio as a Twitter expert, has authored a book called Twitter Your Business and has spoken all over the UK on why every business should be on Twitter.

In business we are always looking for ideas. You may have it heard said that “so and so is a good ideas man this is someone who can take the business forward”. Is this a rare talent? Well maybe not as rare as you might think.

You don’t have to be an Artist to be Creative

We often link the idea of creativity to artistry. However all of us have imagination and once when we were young we were full of imagination. Sadly as we get older we often get pushed into doing more things mechanically rather than creatively. Each of us though has the ability to use our imagination. It may not make you a good sculptor or painter as they need other skills added to imagination but your imagination can help you in your business.

Image courtesy of Danilo Rizzuti / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

When Inspiration Strikes

From time to time you will be working on something when an idea pops into your head. It might be something that will improve the way you do this task or it might be something not related to it but something else. The important thing now is to write that idea down! An idea is something very transient. Often they can be lost in our memory almost as quickly as they entered so writing it down or recording it on a memo electronically in some way is vital.

Many companies actively ask for suggestions on how the business can be improved. They know that those involved in the every day operations in the business understand it and can see ways to improve. Often the idea is so simple that everyone asks “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Brain Storming Ideas

Many good ideas have emerged from brain storming sessions. A group of people in the business meet and discuss and suggest ways to improve the business. Sometimes these sessions can come up with the most ridiculous of ideas and may make you wonder “what am I doing here?”, but stick with it because often the weird, whacky and strange ideas may germinate a seed of an idea in another mind that leads to something truly wonderful.

With the world ever changing it seems that there is no shortage of of ideas at the top. What about in your business? If you work alone you might need to meet more people and bounce off ideas to help you develop your imagination and grow your business with those new ideas. Networking groups can be a good place for this. Use people that you know and trust to be honest and help each other by forming your own brain storming team.

So now you know that you don’t have to be an artist to be creative – you are creative!

Marketing on a Shoe String – Part One

Most businesses are looking for new customers or need to spend time on keeping existing ones. This requires effort and a marketing strategy but we all know that cost and time is a huge factor in what can and can’t be achieved.

The multi-national companies have huge budgets to spend on marketing and probably waste millions of pounds in the process. The vast majority of businesses in the world are relatively small and the cost of marketing is prohibitive. So how can a business do its marketing on a shoe string budget?

My favourite starting point is to start with the customers you already have by giving them exceptional service so that they feel ready to recommend you to others. Asking for referrals does not seem to be a natural thing to many especially here in the U.K. However there are ways that you can suggest that people recommend you.

Business Cards

I have had considerable success using the humble business card. I have always made it a habit to enclose business cards after thanking a client for their business with a p.s. at the bottom of the thank you letter. In that p.s. I mention that I have enclosed some business cards which they can freely pass on to their family and friends. Many do! Keeping in touch with customers is often missed by businesses even large ones so do send out at least a couple of times a year a letter or newsletter and once again have a p.s. and enclose your business cards. It may be that some businesses fail to keep in touch with customers because they feel that they wont be buying from them again either ever or for a long time. For example if you have replaced the roof on the house and you don’t offer any other service you might well think that way. Don’t adopt that thinking as these customers will likely forget you and what you did unless you keep in touch. By keeping in touch you are likely to get referrals.

If you can get the confidence to ask a customer outright for referrals then do so in a relaxed way. You could ask a question such as: “Have any of your friends or colleagues mentioned that they are looking for a new widget?” Follow that up with, “let me give you are card and brochure to give them”. When a customer is happy with your product or service at the time of purchase or completion of a project they will be more than willing to share the experience with others so “striking whilst the iron is hot” is a good idea.

Referrals cost from little to next to nothing to obtain. The cost and effort of finding new customers is another matter. Therefore start working from your customer base immediately. In part 2 I will write more about how you can find new customers without spending one penny.

To be able to use Talk Fusion products in your business please take a look at the Talk Fusion page on this website.

If you join Talk Fusion using the links from Roland Millward you will be given help in making them work in your business.

What are Bitcoins?

 
In this video I would like to tell you about Bitcoins and why you need to exercise care.

Bitcoins – why the sudden surge?

With the problems in banks across Europe it appears that people are looking for an alternative home for their money. They fear that what has happened in Cyprus may well happen to them. But is Bitcoin a safer alternative? 

Have you used Bitcoins?

I would welcome your comments on this blog about your experience with Bitcoins.
 

Spring is here and my lawns needed cutting. However the last year has been a bad time for lawns. With so much rain and lack of sunshine here in the West of England the grass has mostly been replaced by moss.

Image courtesy of Graur Codrin / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A few days ago I had a leaflet through my letterbox advertising a lawn care service. The cost of this when compared to the amount of lawn treatment chemicals and fertilizers means that doing it myself is not going to be cheaper. This company has better lawn care products and tools to do the job in less time than I could and will therefore save me money as well as time. I actually like gardening so I don’t want this service to get me out of doing the work I find relaxing. The point will be that they will also get a far better result than I will get due to their expertise. This will leave me more time to spend on the parts of the garden that I can add benefit to.

In business we can take a lesson from this.

Bring in experts where you need them. Let them help you to build your business with their expertise where it is better and more effective than yours. You can then spend your valuable time and expertise on areas of your business that will have the most effect.

Personal Branding – Why?

On of the most important principles in business that I have found is that “success breeds success”.

People like to deal with successful people. Your customers and potential customers want to know that you are good at what you do. Your personal branding needs to let people know that you are successful and a leader in your field. Now I have a word of warning. This does not mean displaying arrogance. How can you achieve good personal branding?

Personal Branding – How?

To build your personal branding  you need to have something to offer. It is pointless building a reputation that you cannot live up to. You need to be good at what you do. Your knowledge and expertise is your first starting point. This takes time and effort and once learned does not mean that you can rest on your laurels. You need to refresh your knowledge and keep up to date with changes and of course in some areas of business change is very rapid. You don’t want your personal branding to show that you are out of date or old fashioned.

Once you are in a good level of knowledge it is now time to let others know. Personal branding involves demonstrating that you have this knowledge. This is where social media can really help along with attending networking events and other opportunities like trade shows. In fact wherever  you can come into contact with people on or offline you can be a good time for personal branding. Always remember that people buy people, so even though you are not always out selling you can be that nice person that people enjoy meeting and talking to.

Here are some ideas that will help you to build your personal brand.

• Take time to share your knowledge. Social media is great for this. Use Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, your blog and Linkedin to share information that can help people. Use press releases, be prepared to appear on radio and TV as an expert that can be called upon.
• Help people achieve their goals with good advice.
• Connect together people that need help. Use good networking skills to help people match up their business needs when you personally cannot meet that need. For example you might be a plumber and someone needs a carpenter. Put them in touch with a good and reliable carpenter. It raises your profile in both parties eyes.
• Always give 100%. Never short cut or short change a client. In fact over deliver and people will talk about you as they now view you far more highly that when you first dealt with them.

Personal Branding – Be seen as a leader

The most successful people are seen as leaders in their field of business. This is by customers, potential customers, fellow business owners, and others. Once you achieve this growing your business becomes much easier. People will be seeking you out to do business with and quite likely many entrepreneurs want to set up joint ventures too.

Personal branding takes both time and effort but the rewards are well worthwhile. Plan ways now that you can spend time working on your personal branding.