Finding time in your day, your week, your month to just PAUSE is rare. Until recently I would have said to you – I just don’t have time to think. I felt “full-up” – my brain wasn’t able to take in or process any more information. Then…I met Duncan Wardle of ID8 & Innov8.

Creative thinking is the key to innovating…evolving your service, your delivery, your products and the way in which you care for your clients/customers.

What I haven’t completely gotten on a logical level is that you need the space for thought. I know you will say: Isn’t that obvious? But I have literally been so busy in my business and deep in delivering my service to my clients that I have made no space for thinking at all. That is, the clear, clean space to allow my creative juices to flow.

Barriers to creativity

I went to a workshop at Social Media Marketing World run by Duncan Wardle, who has 25+ years of working for Disney behind his name. The world leaders in creative thinking and imagination. I adore much of the Disney philosophy so I was inspired to go to this…just for that alone. The first part of his session was focused on what the barriers to creativity are. This really got me. (Check out his impressive drawings below).

Here are his top barriers to creativity:

(a) Process

Ideas, Duncan says, are diluted by process. That right there folks is where he had me. I am a process girl born and raised. Everything in our business is process driven in order to get things moving swimmingly for clients and for managing a team. BUT, says Duncan, don’t let process over ride creativity. Allow a free flowing space where you can think and dream…and leave process to the side. Consider: “What if”….or “Imagine if”.

(b) Budget

This is a biggie. When you are running a small business and small team…or growing at a steady pace with limited resources – budget drives everything. Having no budget tends to demolish the capability to think big…or dream without limits. So…sometimes entrepreneurs are stumped before they have even considered being creative.

(c) Time

Allow for the space for free flowing thought and the quintessential brainstorming time. Book time in the diary for thinking! I wrote this down specifically to take action on. I know that I KNOW this…but when he said it – it really shouted at me: Shelley, remember when you used to do this? DO IT.

(d) Consumer Insight

I guess this one was for larger organisations, but we could view this at really getting feedback from clients/customers. He said that so many businesses under utilise consumer insights when looking at how to innovate and look to the future. By bringing your customer/client into your creative process – you are getting valuable third dimensional feedback.

(e) No common definition of creativity or innovation

One man’s desert is another man’s paradise. Not sure if that is a saying, but it makes sense to me. Basically Duncan shared that often in business, when someone says: “Let’s get creative, and bat around some ideas” – there needs to be some parameters in understanding what everyone’s understanding is of “innovate” “ideas” or “creativity”. This way you can be sure that everyone’s contributions will be valued equally.

Guess what? I found the workshop – he has done a very similar one for IZEA Fest. So if you have about 50mins and would like to get inspired – watch the video below.

Build creative thinking into your business

I am very interested in how you have perhaps ensured that creative thought is baked into your business. I always thought I was a creative at heart and I’m wondering if all my “processing” activity has driven away my creative little heart. It’s time to build some clear space for thinking time each week I think. There is time…I just have to allocate priority to it. Will you join me in getting our creative spark back into our business?

The post Pause for Creative Thought appeared first on Social Intelligence.

Designing for “mobile” is key to reducing friction and holding the attention of your audiences. This concept is at the heart  of everything we do and advise our clients on here, at Social Intelligence.

As a business, you need to keep an eye on global trends on (1) advances in technology and (2) the behaviours of the users of that technology.

Today, you cannot ignore certain inalienable truths – i.e. that you are affected by:

• software,
• hardware,
• social media and
• human behaviour

…and this is unrelated to what business or industry you are in. That means…the ice-cream shop in Florida (like Vicky Jeavons’ “Haze Ice Cream” that just got the other side of Hurricane Irma); the chocolate shop in Sydney (like Chocolate Johnny’s); the accounting firm in Rugby, UK; the health and safety consultants in Leeds; the fashion boutique in Paris; and even the manufacturing business in Germany.

Now , this is a chunky post, so you may want to get a coffee – or go and sit in a Starbucks (or suitably lovely Independent Coffee shop) to work through this. It’s my insight into ComScore’s latest Mobile Trends Report.

Some background before reading…

While reading this short 54 page report (sigh) – there are some interesting trends here to note for the UK who are still lagging behind somewhat in the mobile usage department. You would think not (as a first world country) – but here are the facts as ComScore have found them to be.

Before I delve into them – I thought it best to mention the “bigger picture” things going on in the background that more than likely are having an impact on these mobile and app usage data results:

Facebook – Aquila Solar planes

One of Mark Zuckerberg’s big missions is to make the world a more open and connected one. He is doing this by investing in high-altitude solar planes to bring internet access to remote parts of the world. He has called it the “Aquila”. The Aquila weighs less than a car, has the wingspan of an airliner and when cruising it consumes just 5,000 watts – the same as three hairdryers. You can read about the first flight here on this Guardian article.

On top of that, his team of developers put together a lighter version of Facebook, which can be used for older Android phones and where the internet connection is spotty at best. It’s called Facebook Lite and uses less battery time and data. Obviously it won’t be the full all singing and dancing version, but its useable and you can be connected and share with your friends as normal.

One of his goals for Africa came to fruition by June 2014, where they could see 100 million people in Africa were coming to Facebook every month, and 80% of that through mobile usage.

Google and Project Loon

Project Loon is a Google initiative. They have partnered with the French Space Agency to extend Internet connectivity to people in rural and remote areas worldwide. They rise more than 60,000 feet above the Earth’s surface, placing them far beyond the reach of airplanes and atmospheric storm systems. Read more about it here, or on the Wiki Page.

The mobile trends of 2017

Knowing the activities of the big guys in getting the internet (and more importantly their product) into rural and/or poorer nations – the figures of mobile usage are somewhat skewed. But, it’s interesting to then look at how the more “1st world” nations are comparing on their usage. You would think that their mobile and mobile internet penetration would be better.

Let’s dig into ComScore’s findings

I’m going to note a statistic and then comment on it to help you map this information back to you and your business:

• Mobile has established primary position around the globe (over desktop)

Indonesia has the biggest amount of digital minutes spent on mobile with 90%; the USA is in 8th place with 65%; UK in 10th place with 61% and Canada at 59%.

• App time (i.e. the amount time people spend on mobile…through an App) is universally a larger contributor than mobile web

Now, again, what we need to bear in mind is the huge user base of Apps like Facebook…which has 2 billion users globally (outside of China). Also that Facebook (and potentially Google) has helped to get more “lite” use (and cheaper) mobiles into the hands of people in remote areas of the world. So it may be that Facebook’s Lite App would also help that these communities are able to use Facebook more than other apps. (Just conjecture on my front of course!)

• More than 1/4 of global users measured are now mobile-only

This to me, is a fascinating statistic and has a huge impact on so many things. Some of these are: building websites; providing customer service; delivering your products and services; streaming your business processes; engaging new audiences; and basically…surviving!

A metric to look at is that only 8% of people in the UK are mobile only, with 22% of China (the “admired” economy force) and 70% in India (“up and coming” tech economy in a stage of fast growth).  To me – this screams: “UK, pull your big girl pants up…step up, and innovate faster”.

• Mobile-only usage is NOT restricted to “the young people”

I love this statistic, because this will help me when encouraging businesses with older target customers, or avatars, (like 40+) that they MUST NOT generalise their views of digital to young people. We are past that point my friends. The “young ones” are actually now the disposable income decision makers who are your customers now. This statistic shows an average of mobile usage % over an age demographic:

(a) 18-24 (the so called “Gen Z” & start of Gen Y1) = 25%
(b) 25-34 (the so called “Gen Y2”) = 28%
(c) 35-44 (the so called “Gen X”) = 26%
(d) 45+ (mix of Gen X and Baby Boomers) = 24%

(Here’s an interesting Huffington Post article about Generation Z versus the Millenials you should read. Also I found this good, clear career based KASASA article about the differences between Gen X,Y and Z – glad I can figure out what the heck I am – as I think I’m a hybrid!)

• Ladies are more likely to be mobile-only internet users (except in India, where male usage dominates)

I can relate to this personally. Late night furious ordering, fact finding and problem solving before my head hits the pillow. The only few uninterrupted minutes I get to actually think about something outside of my business. If you are pitching to, or trying to reach women – are your efforts mobile friendly?

• Certain content categories (i.e. what people are using mobile for topic wise) are driven by mobile-only usage.

Notice that Instant Messenger features highly here (screenshot below from ComScore’s report). Facebook owns its own Messenger and WhatsApp (both each having 1 billion users). Also in China – they only have WeChat – but people’s whole lives are run through it (booking hair appointments, chatting to friends, organising their diaries, paying for and buying groceries – you name it.)  Facebook has opened its API developer platform to Bot companies now – which means that if you have a way of building AI into part of your customer service / support – you should.

• Mobile’s Hierarchy of Needs – tap a bit of Maslow!

Wow – this was a first for me, seeing someone actually map technology to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs! Fascinating. I have many a conversation with my good friend and Master NLP trainer and all-round fantastic business coach Lisa Brice on a similar vein. Lisa’s interest is in how people are losing the ability to display and feel empathy for other humans, because of the way they are growing up on devices. So – looking at this mapping is significant and I would hope some emotional intelligence is put behind extending this model.

• Categories outside of “Mobile Hierarchy of Needs” actually still have a prevalence on Desktop usage.

This is a very good metric to stay on top of if your business is a bit trickier than most or has a larger business audience (old school “B2B if you like). From what I can see, if your information is something that needs a bit more consideration, or weighing up – desktop is more prevalent for you. (Although I would still say, ensure that its easy to navigate…keep it slim, trim, and to the point..and encourage call to action.)

ComScore have put together a general industry “mobile first” pyramid – which may give you a better idea of where your business should sit in the scheme of things when it comes to mobile strategies. So the higher the %, the more users tend to access these businesses via mobile (rather than desktop). Remember that mobile is also tablets…not just smartphones:

(a) Social Networking (78%)
(b) Retail (60%)
(c) News/Information (59%)
(c) Travel (48%) – this will definitely grow in the next two years
(d) Apparel (44%)
(e) Banking (40%)
(f) Real estate (38%) – I think this will grow…big time
(g) Portals (33%) – Assuming this is something like comparison sites

• In some markets (countries) games are flourishing for more mobile minutes than even Instant Messenger

ComScore’s results show a big surge of growth particularly in Canada, France, Germany, UK and USA. Man – I desperately want to go to a ComiCon, just to watch and sink into the world to understand their mobile usage more!

M-Commerce (Mobile Payments)

This is the notion of bringing payments to mobile. While I am, as a user, still reluctant to do any banking or paying from my iPhone, I’m sure in time I will do it. But, many businesses are successfully engaging their customers to trust them when it comes to buying on mobile. Don’t get me wrong I do all my Amazon purchasing through mobile – but I trust Amazon’s security.

ComScore has a section on mobile commerce, so I thought I would do a quick highlight on the two trends that stood out for me in this arena for you as well:

• Global retail time has generally shifted to mobile, with 4 out of 10 people actually clicking to buy from mobile
• Mobile retail shoppers, tend to be more comfortable to then do other mobile finance activities (i.e. they are twice as likely to perform finance activities)

Interestingly the UK is one of the highest performers here – where 38% of the 68% of mobile shoppers (click to buy) are doing their banking on their mobile.

App Usage

A few results on this subject were good to look at (in the scheme of things). The report shows:

• Individual users spend over 95%  of their time in their top 10 apps
• The most significant  number of apps are games (!!) – even more so than messaging and social media.
• The most amount of actual minutes per app (however) is weighed disproportionately towards Instant Messaging and Social Networks
• Adoption of Messaging Apps is almost binary – i.e. there is one established leader in each market (e.g.  the three main contenders are Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and WeChat – and each country will favour one over the other. Facebook has no penetration in China at all, but has a pretty dominant position  across all other markets – as they own both of the other contenders). Watch this space!
• App share of time has plateau’d – which means that less new apps are being downloaded. With 35+ year old users being less likely to download a new app, and quickest to delete apps
• Although app time is flattening out, there is surge of a growth in app audiences for some categories. In the UK, the beauty/fashion/style industry has seen the biggest upsurge. In Canada the fragrance/cosmetics sector has had the clear growth spurt; with Newspapers (!!) and Entertainment (two categories) in the USA; Travel in Brazil; and Personal Finance in Spain. Interesting mix there! I suspect The Kardashians have had something to do with the USA’s figures (little sigh).

The next thing I would like to see around mobile trends is the absorption of Augmented Reality, although I suspect this may extend outside the use of mobile devices. Facebook is spending a significant amount of time on developing their “camera” functionality to personalise live streaming, video and pictures – within Messenger and across Instagram and Facebook. Generation Z is definitely taken in by this, and businesses targeting this group will be looking at ways to build their knowledge and application of AR into their comms and marketing with their audiences.

Is mobile something that keeps you up at night? Do you worry about whether or not your business is mobile friendly enough? Pop your question (or angst) below, or just drop me an email and I’d be happy to have a quick chat to see if I can help.

The post Mobile and App Usage Trends appeared first on Social Intelligence.

This is a series where we go out and have a Facebook Live interview with a local business owner. We talk about their business, what the story is behind why they started their specific business and how they are using social media to support their ambitions.

In this interview, we talk to Lisa Brice, who runs her training and consultancy business from Pitsford in Northamptonshire. She is a Master NLP Trainer and a Personal Performance coach. Her clients are brands like Philips, Carlsberg and Ernst and Young.

Lisa Brice’s background…

Lisa and I go way back, so I was really keen to share her wonder with you in this interview. Her background stems strongly in the property industry – with her first job being as a negotiator for Connells. Within 2.5 years of working for Connells she was made a partner and then her first introduction to training came about. In 1994 she was offered to formally train with the CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development) and also got her first taste of NLP on an introduction programme.

The rest, as one might say, is history. Lisa rose in the ranks with Connells to eventually becoming the National Training Manager and being invited to help create a “Modern Apprenticeship Scheme”. She became qualified as an internal verifier, external assessor and got very involved helping to develop the Occupational Standards for the Industry. I met her while I was working for the Franchisor of Winkworth Estate Agents and I was very fortunate to have her as my trainer to develop a training academy.

Lisa is a continuous learner and has since her property days, she has gone on to qualify as a NLP Business Practitioner and Master Practitioner; and is a certified Trainer of NLP and Master Trainer of NLP. She also has an NLP Coaching Diploma, a Chartered Management Institute (CMI) Diploma in Business Support and Diploma in Strategic Business Coaching. And, in case you thought that was enough – she also has a Certificate in Lifelong Learning in Leadership Capability from Coventry University.

Being a business owner…

In 2000, Lisa married her husband Adam, and wanted to alter the amount of travelling she was doing – so she resigned and set up her own training business (Choose2b). In addition to running in-house leadership, sales and customer service training programmes for a wide variety of industries, she was also the Chief Internal Verifier for RICS’ NVQ Centre for 9 years. For the last 4 years she has been the Learning and Development Lead Consultant for Get Living London, who converted the Athletes Village within London 2012 Olympic Park into residential homes for private and social rent.

The big “aha” moment for Lisa which led her to her specialism today came from researching a “City Slickers” get away for her and her mother (who was turning 60). In the video she tells you how she came across Lane Moore from the Lazy M Ranch in Canada, and how he completely blew her away with his natural horsemanship approach. (And Horses for Courses was born). She is a registered Instructor with the British Horse Society and has ridden since she was a child.

In this screenshot from the interview below Lisa demonstrates why horses are a good mirror to use for her NLP work.

How does Lisa use social media in her business…

Lisa actually worked with me to start up Social Intelligence, we used her skills and expertise with emotional intelligence and my knowledge of the social media channels to set up the business in 2010. So Lisa’s journey with social media started a good while ago and while it’s been a slow burn, today she is clearer on what she really enjoys about it and what she finds challenging.

She mainly uses LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook and is very much looking forward to implementing a stronger video content strategy to keep up with the demand for this across all social channels.

We move around in the interview from seeing her horses outside, to her bespoke training room (see picture below) and then finally into her gorgeous kitchen where her delegates have their timeouts (and yummy lunch).

I hope you enjoy watching the interview

The interview is around 45mins long, but you get a real insight into Lisa’s knowledge base, and how passionate she is about looking after her client’s needs. She is a highly trained and proficient trainer and coach and I think that comes across very well – do let her know what you think and ask some questions. We will still be answering your questions even if you are watching this months or years later!

Remember that you can still ask questions on the recorded interview – she and I will still happily answer your comments and questions.

You can find Lisa here: Website | Facebook Page | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email

Here is the Live interview that we did on the 18th August 2017, on our Facebook Page:

If you would like to get a reminder or notification when our next Live interview will be – be sure to go over and “Like” our Facebook Page to get those reminders. We will be posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about our next interview – which will be with Sarah Plackett, who owns and runs Swanspool Ceramics in Castle Ashby, UK.

You can also read my resource blog post all about:  Facebook Live and how to use it in your business.

Do you know a business who would be interested in being interviewed live on Facebook? We are keen to talk to businesses who are either enjoying the social media space or would love some insights into what they could be doing on social media. Contact me by email, Facebook Messenger or by commenting below.

The post Local Business Interview: Lisa Brice appeared first on Social Intelligence.

This is a series where we go out and have a Facebook Live interview with a local business owner. We talk about their business, what the story is behind why they started their specific business and how they are using social media to support their ambitions.

In this interview, we talk to Caroline Prout, who runs her Hypnotherapy Practice from Islip (near Thraptson) in Northamptonshire.

Caroline Prout’s background…

In the video, you’ll learn about the three career Caroline has had – and what her journey to entrepreneurship has been like. Like Ellen, in our previous interview, she has had quite a tough personal path to choosing the business she specialises in today. Her passion going forward is to help other people who may have felt the way she did about her health.

Caroline started out as a veterinary nurse in London and had a dog walking (and animal behaviour training) business on the side.

She is the kind of person who gives 150% to everything she does, so it was inevitable that she would run out of steam at some point. In the interview, Caroline shares her journey back to health, after being diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. This also leads to her finding hypnotherapy and to the business she runs today.

Hypnotherapy is one of those complementary therapies which I think a lot of people don’t really understand, so a lot of Caroline’s digital content work is based around educating her prospective clients on her approach.

If you have wondered about what a hypnotherapist does, and what it actually means in practice then be sure to watch the video.

Being a business owner…

Caroline talks to me about starting her current Hypnotherapy business and how she has applied her learning from previous businesses and experiences to this home based therapy business. She is (at the point of this interview) about three and a half years into the business, and is incredibly enthusiastic and energic when talking about the differences she has brought to her clients’ lives.

How does Caroline use social media in her business…

Caroline is a pretty tech and digitally savvy lady and very early on she realised the benefit of having a solid web presence and really understanding the backend to websites and systems.

She mainly uses LinkedIn and Facebook and is very much looking forward to implementing a stronger video content strategy to keep up with the demand for this across all social channels.

I hope you enjoy watching the interview

We really enjoyed our time with Caroline and while the interview is around an hour long, it is packed all sorts of different information for you. You’ll find:

• your frequently asked questions answered about hypnotherapy,
• you’ll get an insight into how an associate based business model works
• and hear a bit about some challenges that Caroline has with content (much like most small businesses)

She is a joy to be around, and her therapy room is just built for the wonderful calming brain work that she does. Please do watch the video and if you have any questions to pass on to Caroline – you can still post a comment on the video, or below and she and I would be happy to still answer your questions.

Remember that you can still ask questions on the recorded interview – she and I will still happily answer your comments and questions.

You can find Caroline here: Website | Facebook Page | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email

Here is the Live interview that we did on the 27th July 2017, on our Facebook Page:

If you would like to get a reminder or notification when our next Live interview will be – be sure to go over and “Like” our Facebook Page to get those reminders. We will be posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about our next interview – which will be with Lisa Brice, a Master NLP Trainer, based in Pitsford, UK.

You can also read my resource blog post all about:  Facebook Live and how to use it in your business.

Do you know a business who would be interested in being interviewed live on Facebook? We are keen to talk to businesses who are either enjoying the social media space or would love some insights into what they could be doing on social media. Contact me by email, Facebook Messenger or by commenting below.

The post Local Business Interview: Caroline Prout appeared first on Social Intelligence.

This is a series where we go out and have a Facebook Live interview with a local business owner. We talk about their business, what the story is behind why they started their specific business and how they are using social media to support their ambitions.

In this interview, we talk to Ellen Bletsoe, who runs her own Image Consultancy business from her beautiful studio in Thrapston, in Northamptonshire.

Ellen Bletsoe’s background…

In the video, you’ll learn about Ellen’s journey to entrepreneurship and that she has had quite a tough personal path to choosing the business she specialises in today.

Ellen gained her Textile Design Degree at Leeds University and went on to work for an enviable list of catwalk designers like Prada, Hugo Boss, Boden and Hackett.

Her job took her to many places around the world and one of her favourite memories was of being given a personal shopping experience by Prada in Milan.

But, once Ellen started her family – she had to make a decision to change her focus to being a stay at home mum. Her daughter was diagnosed with Batten Disease which is a life-limiting neurodegenerative disease, and soon also went blind. Ellen decided to home school her and learnt braille to do so.

In the interview you will hear about Ellen’s path of being a carer for 10 years, and working for the Batten Disease Family Association charity to help raise awareness of the disease and of course funds.

In 2015 Ellen got to a turning point and then looked at what her options were to regain the creative inside her and find a professional that suited what she wanted going forward.

If you have wondered about what an image consultant is or perhaps have heard about “getting your colours done” – then watch and learn all about the process.

Being a business owner…

Ellen talks to me about starting this business and how she is enjoying transferring all her learnt skills and experience to put smiles on people’s faces. She is (at the point of this interview) only two years into the business, but is loving the feedback she gets and the partners she has fostered relationships with.

How does Ellen use social media in her business…

Ellen is really conscious that she was for a span of 10 years outside of the commercial world – and that she has started on the backfoot with the “digital age”. None of the social media channels (as they are today) were that prevalent when she was in the working world.

I have been working with her on her strategy and she’s slowly and steadily working through her action list. She has been brilliant at getting all her foundational elements in place and is starting to feel the fruits of reward in terms of time-saving and stress relief.

I hope you enjoy watching the interview

I have worked with Ellen – in terms of her digital strategy, but also I am one of her clients. It was an absolute pleasure to help showcase her professionalism and her approach to image consultancy to you in this video.

Remember that you can still ask questions on the recorded interview – she and I will still happily answer your comments and questions.

You can find Ellen here: Website | Facebook Page | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email

Here is the Live interview that we did on the 7th July 2017, on our Facebook Page:

If you would like to get a reminder or notification when our next Live interview will be – be sure to go over and “Like” our Facebook Page to get those reminders. We will be posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about our next interview – which will be with Caroline Prout, a Clinical Hypnotherapist, based in Islip, UK.

You can also read my resource blog post all about:  Facebook Live and how to use it in your business.

Do you know a business who would be interested in being interviewed live on Facebook? We are keen to talk to businesses who are either enjoying the social media space or would love some insights into what they could be doing on social media. Contact me by email, Facebook Messenger or by commenting below.

The post Local Business Interview: Ellen Bletsoe appeared first on Social Intelligence.

This is a series where we go out and have a Facebook Live interview with a local business owner. We talk about their business, what the story is behind why they started their specific business and how they are using social media to support their ambitions.

In this interview we talk to Barbara Hodgson, who is a Franchisee of the Women in Business Network (WIBN) and owns and runs 8 groups:

• Leicester City
• Loughborough
• Market Harborough
• Stamford
• Kettering
• Northampton
• Towcester
• Wellingborough

It is a women-only networking group format, with a profession “lockout” and structured meeting agenda.

Barbara Hodgson’s background…

In the video, you’ll find out a bit about Barbara’s background as the European Product Manager for Avon Cosmetics in Northampton. She was also involved in the joint-venture markets of Turkey, Greece and Saudi Arabia. Her entrepreneurial light bulb moment happened in part, because of being made redundant as part of an Avon team move to Madrid.

She talks about the adjustment from working in a big brand world with established product channels – to a world of small business. She was fascinated with all of the types of businesses that are out there and impressed with how supportive women business owners are with each other.

Barbara was attracted to the women-only proposition because she came from a very female based business environment so it was a natural progression for her.

If you have wondered about the differences between the types of networking, I ask Barbara to clarify these for you so you know why there are differences and how to choose what’s right for you.

Being a business owner…

Barbara shares what it’s like to take on starting up your own business and what she very quickly learnt she was good at…and what she wasn’t. Multi-tasking and being on top of so many things become a skill that most business owners need to learn fast.

How does Barbara use social media in her business…

She started her business when social media was in its infancy and hadn’t become as vastly implemented as it is today. She says that it has definitely made the marketplace a lot more competitive. As a result, she has had to revisit her marketing and communications strategy in order to properly incorporate these channels. In the past, she has been very active on Twitter but hadn’t, as yet, utilised Facebook as much as she perhaps she could have.

Because Barbara’s business is very much a community-based business – there is a natural progression to using a solid Facebook Group strategy. I talk a bit more in the interview on this point.

What is fantastic, is that Barbara has been very organised with her data – so this is a massive plus when it comes to then progressing to paid campaigns on social media. We talk a bit more about this too when answering questions from the Live audience, as well as some questions about how to win some PR opportunities.

I hope you enjoy watching the interview

I really enjoyed this interview with Barbara, and love being a proactive member of her WIBN Wellingborough Group. Please do watch the video and if you have any questions to pass on to Barbara – you can still post a comment on the video, or below and we’ll be happy to still answer your questions.

You can find Barbara here: WIBN Website (scroll to see her) | Facebook Page | Twitter | LinkedIn | Email

Here is the Live interview that we did on the 21st June 2017, on our Facebook Page, give the video a minute or two to just propagate – this is based on the quality of the data connection in the beginning:

If you would like to get a reminder or notification when our next Live interview will be – be sure to go over and “Like” our Facebook Page to get those reminders. We will be posting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about our next interview – which will be with Ellen Bletsoe, an Image Consultant based in her own beautiful studio in Thrapston, UK.

You can also read my resource blog post all about:  Facebook Live and how to use it in your business.

Do you know a business who would be interested in being interviewed live on Facebook? We are keen to talk to businesses who are either enjoying the social media space or would love some insights into what they could be doing on social media. Contact me by email, Facebook Messenger or by commenting below.

The post Local Business Interview: Barbara Hodgson appeared first on Social Intelligence.

If you have not yet looked seriously at Facebook as a channel for your business – I would urge you to start paying some serious attention. In this post I am focusing on the product within the product – i.e. Facebook Live. This is basically – going “live” to your audience and getting an instant two-way dialogue or conversation going.

How do you go Live?

Just about everyone should have the ability to go live by now, if you don’t have it – its on its way.
You are able to go live:

• as YOU (the human) through your Personal Profile (and you can select to go Live to the Public, your Friends…or a specific list of Friends)
• through your Group (or if you have the settings on your Group set up for it – any of your group members can go live to the group)
• through your Business Page

You can physically go live on:

• your Mobile (or tablet)
• your Desktop
• or through third party tools like OBS (free);  Wirecast (paid); Ecamm Live (for Mac) or BeLive.tv

Here are some screenshots for you (as of time of writing) as to what Live looks like on mobile (as a person) and on desktop (from Business Page):

What is the big deal about Facebook LIVE?

In case you are reading this and thinking to yourself: “Shelley, that’s all very nice – however, why should I be bothered with Live? I don’t understand what it is?”

Here’s the deal: when you start a live stream with your audience – all of your fans get a little notification in their notification “world” icon to say that you are now “live” and talking about “x” (x = the very good title you give to your Live stream session). If they pop over to your page or see you in their newsfeed and click over – they will be able to participate in your live stream. This means that your Page Likers can comment on your live stream as you are talking and ask you questions and take part in your discussion. So you could have a live FAQ session with your audience. How cool is that? If you are chef – you could live stream a cooking session and answer burning (see what I did there) questions from your audience. Remember though – if you are doing all of this through your mobile – so you may need some help holding the phone or answering the questions if you are demonstrating! (Can purchase a nifty little tripod for your phone!)

Facebook is (right now) rolling out two-person live (on personal profiles only at the moment – and only on mobile) – so check if you have this!

*** Note: any live stream session will have a very favourable influence in terms of newsfeed algorithm – which means that, by live streaming, you will reach more of your audience than with any image, text or pre-recorded video *** (correct at time of posting!).

Facebook Stories and Messenger Day

These are two adjunct things to think about – they are Facebook’s answer to Snapchat. Basically both of these only work on mobile and are there to give very quick, off-the-cuff insights to your friends and connections about your day. They only last for 24 hours (like Snapchat) and you have the ability to add filters, masques, text, emoticons, etc to your images and videos. Your audience can watch them and then comment back to you on them. They are not live – they are prerecorded.

Try and have a think about how you can use these in conjunction with your Live strategy – as one might lead into the other – as teaser for example. (Which The Body Coach, Joe Wicks does.)

At the time of writing these two products are only available on personal profiles and in FB Messenger (as a user…not a Page).

I reckon choose which one of these you will do – because it may be overkill to do both. BUT – you may have connections on FB Messenger that are not necessarily Facebook Friends…so something to keep in mind.

Your Live strategy

This strategy is not just about Facebook – it’s about looking at the other ‘live’ channels and seeing what your wholesome Live strategy is going to be. The only other contenders worth looking at are Periscope (i.e. Twitter) and YouTube.

Have a look and see which channels will work for your audience. My advice – take the path of least resistance and most acceptance. In the social world that means – do not waste your time re-building a ship that you have already built – just learn to steer and navigate the ocean you are on.

If you already have an audience that you have built (for example on Facebook) – do not spend months trying to start all over again on a different platform – especially when you have to spend tedious amounts of time convincing your fans to move over to.

Facebook has a great website just about Live…where you can see some good examples as well as some tips on – make sure you have a look at it: https://live.fb.com/

Get started:

Once you have checked exactly what you have or don’t have in terms of the Facebook Live functionality then you can get going…

1 – Start with what you have

With the work you have done on your Avatars (target audiences), what themes of content do you already work with? How could you repurpose or take a bit from that to do a Facebook LIVE session on? Perhaps there is something that is drill on subject which has legs for more conversation on.

2 – What does your audience like, love and adore about you (your business, your service, your product)?

Write down what these things are – create FAQ’s; behind the scenes; “how-to”s; Topic of the Week; Solution Spots; Live Q and A; you name it.

3 – Do your Live Stream and then repurpose it

Once you have broadcasted your Facebook Live session – then use it. Create a blog post which you can embed the Live video into, or direct people through an email marketing campaign to your latest Facebook Live session (remember you have a unique URL for every piece of content you create on Facebook) and invite them to join you on your next session. You can also download the video and then clip it to make other shorter clips you can re-use for Instagram or Twitter.

Resources to help you on your way:

1. My friend Ian Anderson Gray at Seriously Social is just brilliant at testing tools – and he has created a full resource for you on Facebook Live (specifically) and how to use OBS (free tool which you use on your desktop to go Live and you can share your desktop with your audience) or Wirecast (paid tool). Read that bumper post called “How to Broadcast from your Computer to Facebook Live” now.

2. Luria and David at Livestreaming Pros are the people to follow on Live streaming as a whole. They have a great description about the different levels of streaming and a quiz to help you work out which level you are (or want to be). Read “The 4 Levels of Live Streaming” now. Lucia also did a behind the scenes Live on the 5 sets they have within their house if you want to check that out too!

3. Mari Smith (the “Queen of Facebook”) does a lot of Live streaming and has put together a bundle of kit that she uses for her mobile Live sessions (when she is out and about). She has an iPhone 6+ (currently) and uses this kit for great sound, lighting and a steady hand. Dave Basalt at iOgrapher has put together a Mari bundle you can check out.

4. Joel Comm did a really comprehensive blog post on Social Media Examiner’s Blog zooming in on going live in 360 (think panoramic…but on epic scale). Read this post “How to Facebook Live 360 video for Marketing” as soon as possible if this is something up your alley.

Got any questions? Pop them below and I’d happy to help.

Yours in social consistency,

The post Facebook LIVE for Business appeared first on Social Intelligence.

Digital trends are what define businesses like mine and how we service our clients in the future. My challenge (and joy) as a digital agency owner is to narrow my attention on the things that warrant investing time and effort in, for the longer term. In the web and social media industry technological shifts are a weekly occurrence, and new channels or platforms hit the scene often. The key is to rise above the “immediate” excitement and look overall how people are digesting information and also how they share their stories online.

My job is to help my clients to be efficient with their time and therefore the energy they spend on their digital channels. The value we ultimately bring to the table is that we steer our clients to where they will get the most benefit in terms of time and money investment in the short term – but with a keen eye on the long term value.

Here are the 10 trends which I think you need to have in your awareness when you are planning your digital strategies for the next 12 months:

1 – Mobile first

With everything you do, think “MOBILE” first…before anything else. In 2014 the number of people accessing the internet on a mobile device over took those that access it on a laptop or desktop. Think about it. You need to focus on “less is more” and – what will be easy to read and digest on a mobile phone. You need to question the need for pop-ups and tiny images (for mobile versions of your content).

An important thing to think about if you run Facebook Ad’s is that if your landing page isn’t optimised for mobile, your ad performance will be seriously impacted. If you don’t know how mobile friendly your website is, Google have a cool little tool to help: Test My Site with Google.

2 – Open for Business

If you haven’t embraced social media, you are reflecting a persona that you are “closed for business” to those of your audiences who are looking to connect with you on social media. Also, if you have a page or account but never look at it – you are slamming your door in their face. Pay attention and invest time and energy in getting your social media strategy in order.

You have been avoiding it for long enough – you are ignoring a big demographic of new customer. Ensure that you have activated your Facebook Page to accept messages, and you can also set-up some nice auto-reply messages, or even install a message bot (like: OnSequel) that can answer some quick FAQ’s, if suitable, for your business.

3 – Organic is in decline

With more and more businesses utilising social media (big and small), the space is getting “full” (of course). So, the chances of you posting something on your Twitter or Facebook account and getting 1,000,000,000 people to see it “just because” – are about close as me being invited to have lunch with the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. You need to stay on top of how to be as good as you can be in terms of blending your digital strategy. Look after the basics – so that you are doing all the right things (like: good SEO practices and cultivating loyal audiences).

4 – Paid content promotion

A follow-on from the above point about organic traffic/reach being in decline. If you are still throwing £3 on a Facebook post and hoping to get some more “engagement” – this is not enough. Facebook and other online advertising needs to be thought through properly, you need to get extremely vigilant about testing and not afraid to spend the money to do it. The rewards can be outstanding – but you need focus, clear objectives and investment of time and money. Social media is “pay to play”…not “play-to-hope-to-be-paid”. If you get my drift.

5 – Audio, Video and the written word

If you are not settled on one of these three main “hero” routes to share your content – pick one now, and start to hone your skill in expressing your value to your audience and of course giving value to them at the same time. Choose one of these to be your main route to creating viable and meaningful content and therefore a connection to your audience:

1. Podcasting (audio),
2. Live streaming or video (Facebook Live, YouTube, Vimeo)
3. Blog

It takes time to really nail your tone, angle, purpose and voice. Start – otherwise you will be left behind. It doesn’t need to be perfect, you will learn from your audience as you go along. Podcasting is a growing channel – and probably one of the last remaining ones where you have a close personal connection with your audience (other than the face to face option!)

6 – Build a “social team”

Have you been “getting by” on social media by doing a bit here and there?  Have you possibly delegated this to the youngest member of your team – because “they know how to do that stuff”?

This is not enough – digital is not going away, and nor is it really just “one person’s” job to get it done. This is a team effort. Most of all it needs your buy-in as the business owner or senior manager to give it the right impetus of importance.

Your future clients or customers are judging you (right now) on how good you are based on how you are appearing on your digital channels (website, social media and email). How do you stack up? Mmmm…I thought so. Grab that pen and paper and start to map out how you should be positioning yourself. Then – allocate an actual team (one with the skills and head on their shoulders) to help you fulfil your commitment.

7 – Story Telling

I can’t stress this point enough. Operating your business in a digital environment is a completely different ball game to traditional marketing and sales. Social and digital – is not about selling you and your product/service. It is a very clever way to foster loyalty and display your expertise in a way that doesn’t have you beating your chest loudly. Keep it simple – tell your story…and that of the people you have helped. This will support (not CARRY) your other marketing and sales efforts.

8 – Virtual Reality

Mark Zuckerberg has been investing time, people and money into virtual reality in the last few years. As a result the industry has had an explosion in 2016. While I haven’t quite gotten my head around is how businesses will use this. I am paying attention by watching any videos Mark puts out, as well as read other blog posts on the topic. There is no doubt that this is going to have more of an impact going forward. Obviously for retail it will be a big thing, but I’m eager to see what other applications there will be. I’ve embedded a video (below) of the demo that Mark did at his Occulus Connect event in October 2016. You will see how you can interact, take “selfies” in VR and even check-in at what’s going on at home while you are at work…all from using the VR headset.

9. Rise of Wearables

Fitness wearables like the Fitbit have grown significantly in the last 18 months. There is a growing market for even smarter wearables though. We all know that our phone screens have gotten bigger – mostly to allow for the level of significant internet and social media usage (as well as video and picture taking). This does spur thinking about some kind of sleeker option that’s easier to access. (Without digging into your bag or briefcase to find the ringing fiend which is too big for your pocket now.)

There are various aspects to wearables that do start to sound interesting for businesses.  There are bluetooth beacons that could communicate with apps on your smartwatch (to let you know about special offers or facts pertaining to your location) for example. Watch this space – and just notice how people use different devices to:

1. Keep track of their own activities during the day (to aid: fitness, time management, etc)
2. Stay in “contact” – through social media
3. Stay connected – quick actions for internet based activity (Google Maps searches maybe)

10. Flexible work groups

Work environments are evolving and if you are thinking of recruiting in 2017: sit back and have a look at how flexible you can actually be. Think about who you need to be in your team – and where they need to be based. When it comes to digital and social media skills – you are going to need a clever mix of different skill sets. This can (if you are lucky) come in the shape of one person, but often..its not. Until the UK (specifically) catches up on the skills gap in this area – you may well have to look at creating a social team which is a mix of different work groups of people.

Open your mind up to the use of ESN’s (enterprise social networks – see Facebook’s answer to this) to help you to bring a remote team closer and help you to manage collaboration. Yes, you can use tools like Skype and Slack too – but you need to work out which groups you need to communicate with and what you need from them. Then match the right solution.

My message is: you do not need a team member to be in your office, tied to a desk and in front of you. Our team for example is based in Northampton, Cambridge and Melbourne. I recruit for SKILLS…not location. While we do have some office based team members – I’m not limited by this. I have the tools to manage team meetings, task management and collaboration. What can you do?

Have you noticed something that others are doing with their digital channels that has your interest piqued? I’d love to hear about it. if you would like to also have a chat with us to see how we could possibly support you to get smarter about your use of social, and even help you train your team to get them sharp and up to speed – feel free to schedule a no-obligation conversation with me. I’d be pleased to see if we can help.

The post 10 Digital Trends to Watch appeared first on Social Intelligence.

Facebook for work. Yes, you read that correctly. Not Facebook for Business (which is Pages and Ads). This is Facebook’s next big move in terms of product. ‘Workplace’ by Facebook has been long coming and I, for one, am very interested to find out more. This is a solution to the inter-colleague conversations that do not need to be on email and currently are being “managed” through Skype, Facebook Messenger and Slack. Let’s dig in and find out about how this form of Facebook will work for your organisation.

I first caught a glimpse of this idea of using Facebook for work in September 2016, when Julien Lesaicherre (‘Workplace’ by Facebook’s EMEA Lead) talked about extending Facebook’s vision of connecting people, to the workplace environment. (He presented at Social Media Week in London). He shared how Facebook could see that employees and organisations were already trying to do this in the shape of Facebook Groups. Businesses like Tesco and other large employee heavy organisations were creating groups for 6,000 to 15,000 people. Somewhat untenable in terms of “keeping up” and ensuring everyone is seen and heard.

The trouble with Groups is you can lose important announcements within the feed right? So, Facebook has buckled down and re-imagined the workplace to give organisations the beauty of Facebook – but give them the ownership of their own space and data.

Enter:

The post Facebook for work appeared first on Social Intelligence.

This is a little step-by-step help to get you going, so that you can be posting awesome 360 pictures today. Honestly, it is that easy – once you know how. I have listed the steps as well as done a little video to show you exactly how to take the 360 picture (on your phone) and then share it on Facebook.

Now, the thing to remember is that there are different levels to this whole new world of 360 images (and video). What I’m going to show you below is literally how you can do a Facebook 360 picture today on your mobile without much thought or equipment needed – except an “aha moment” of where you are going to shoot your image, and you capturing it on your phone and then finally sharing it.

Step-by-step Facebook 360 tutorial

How to take a 360 on your phone and how to share it on Facebook:

1. Open your camera on your phone
2. Select “Panorama” or “Photosphere” – whichever is your phone’s preference
3. Choose the landscape / space that you want to shoot (try and keep people out of the picture for now – unless they can stand still for this picture taking)
4. Press “shoot” or the button that starts the photo
5. Move the phone from left to right (or – on the iPhone you can also go from right to left – just tap your screen where the arrow is and it will swivel the direction for you)
6. When the arrow has reached the end – click stop
7. Now the picture is saved in your photos folder
8. Come out of camera and go into your Facebook App (or if you want to share direct from there – fair enough)
9. Click to create a new post, and describe what you are about to share (always good to give your audience a bit of perspective of things you are sharing). Attach the image you have just taken and then click “done” or “share”.
10. Your friends will now see the image you have shared and there will be a little icon on the image which will allude to the fact that it is a 360 image and that they can interact with it. (They can click on it and move it around.)

Your friends or Page likers can now interact with that image

Below is my 360 picture of Pitsford Reservoir which I shared on my personal Facebook account for the tutorial video. If you click on it and go to Facebook – you will be able to interact with it – by clicking and dragging your mouse:

There is a higher level to this

While you can just shoot an image you have taken from your Smartphone, you could invest in some equipment so that you take a true 360 image or video and then you can do things like this example from National Geographic. They did this 360 video and shared it on their Facebook Page:

If you click play, it will play in the window and the you can click your mouse on the video and drag it around and you can see how gorgeous this video is.

There are Facebook approved camera’s that you can buy in order to be able to do this – here is a list of those camera’s for you.

Have you taken any 360 /panoramic images which have worked well to get a response from your Facebook audiences? I’d love to see them – share a link to them below (as long as you made it a “public”post on your personal FB account I’ll be able to see them).

Give me a shout in the comments below if you have any questions about how to take and upload a 360 image to Facebook.

The post How to create a 360 image on Facebook appeared first on Social Intelligence.