In the last couple of months I have been paying close attention to Linkedin as it is becoming more and more important to business people who are looking to create credibility for themselves. In one month (June 2010) Linkedin added over 5 million new users, taking the total to 70 million users. The great thing is that these are serious business owners and professionals on here. These are potential clients, suppliers and referral sources here. This is a serious business network. Having a good profile on Linkedin is crucial part of your social media strategy. Here are my 5 top tips for creating maximum impact.
Make sure you have a good professional headshot. A good picture speaks a thousand word. Dress like you would if you were meeting your best potential client. Make sure it is easy to see your face. It is worth getting a professional to take some good head shots. This will enhance your credibility. It surprises me to see so many people still not having a photo on their profile. People may suspect that you might have something to hide. Continue Reading »
Recently while reading “Good to Great” by Jim Collins I can across one of the key differentiators of what makes a company great. Great companies are very focused on what they can be the best at the world in and more importantly they understand what they are not good at. Now read carefully as I’m about to share the one distinction that is worth its weight in gold: Great companies have a list of things that they decide to STOP doing! Yes that’s right - they have a STOP doing list! While most of us have a to do list, how many of us have a STOP doing list? Continue Reading »
One of the biggest complaints I get about social media is that it can be so time consuming to manage. How do I as a business person get a a great ROI on social media without it seeming like I’m wasting my time? Fear not for help is as hand. One of my secret tools to manage social media is Hootsuite!Hootsuite is a brilliant little tool that allows you to post updates on your twitter, facebook and linkedin account without having to log-in separately to all of them. It has 4 very cool pieces of functionality:
(a) It allows you to create mini urls for web links that are very big
(b) It allows you to create posts or status updates in advance and then decide on a date and time when you want it posted.
(c) It allows you to automate feeds from your blog or any other favourite blog of yours and post them to whichever social media account you want. This feature is one of my personal favourites!
(d) It allows you to monitor multiple social media accounts through one dashboard
Simple & brilliant! Try Hoosuite out today and save time while managing social media effectively!
With Facebook now having over 400 million active users and Twitter growing at a crazy 700% Social Media is changing the way in which we live and work. More and more BNI members and other small business owners are joining the social media bandwagon and finding business through these media.
Recently one of our members, Sampath Iyengar put on his status update that he had been to his BNI meeting and who was the 10 minute speaker who had a particular USP which he added in this update. Within minutes of posting this Continue Reading »
If networking is not part of your strategy, please reconsider. Here’s 7 top tips for successful networking by Rick Armstrong.
1. What’s Your Reason?Don’t network for the sake of networking. What is your goal for your networking? For example, you might be in it to find new business, key people who can help you step up the career ladder or to keep up with the latest developments in your industry. Whatever your goal, know what it is and make sure your networking takes you there.
2. Be Patient. Build your network in good time. Don’t rush out to network to fulfill a sudden need. You will be so focused on that urgent need that you won’t be building relationships. People can sense the difference between someone out to use them for a short-term fix and someone who is looking for a long-term, mutually beneficial relationship. So, build your network in advance, so that it will already be there in time of need. Continue Reading »
I have to say I was amazed when I heard the other week that Dell has generated over US$1 million in revenues through using Twitter (to read more about this click on this link ). Twitter has been making waves in the last few months on the social media scene and many people swear by it. I’ve been using it for a couple of months now, but it’s only now dawning on me how useful it could be. I thought I would give you a low down on 4 important social media tools out there that can help you collaborate, communicate & network better. Continue Reading »
With the extraordinary set of events unfolding across the world, I’m sure it has put a dampener on the festive season. What are business people to do in these tough times? I thought I’d share some tips and strategies that have helped me in tough times. One of my businesses was in the commodities market trading in beans and rice in Kenya. Overnight because of change of legislation in India that allowed export subsidies we were suddenly not able to compete in the world market. We were faced with suddenly having to grow US$3 million of new revenues from alternative sources. The good news is over the next year we were able to completely turn our 100% export business into a leader in the local market with no loss of revenues. Read my 10 top tips here Continue Reading »
At a recent networking meeting I met the owner of a housekeeping company after 3 years. I was instantly able to remember her name, profession but also where and when we had met. She was really amazed. It made a great positive impact on her and now I will be etched in her mind. I had a little trick up my sleeve Continue Reading »
In the last couple of months I have been paying close attention to Linkedin as it is becoming more and more important to business people who are looking to create credibility for themselves. In one month (June 2010) Linkedin added over 5 million new users, taking the total to 70 million users. The great thing is that these are serious business owners and professionals on here. These are potential clients, suppliers and referral sources here. This is a serious business network. Having a good profile on Linkedin is crucial part of your social media strategy. Here are my 5 top tips for creating maximum impact.
