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Archive for May, 2012

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Why prepare for bad news?

Thursday, May 24th, 2012

By Sarah Whitelock, Green Apple Communications.

You think it will never happen, after all, it’s really, really hard to get the attention of the media to help with the marketing of your business so surely the day will never come when a crowd of reporters and photographers  will be standing outside your door demanding an interview?  Most of the time that’s right but for the unfortunate few an unexpected event linked to their business can lead to some very unwelcome media attention and damage a brand to the point where it will never recover.

Archers fans will remember the despair felt by Tony and Pat when they had a case of E Coli at Bridge Farm.  Although the Archers is fiction the scenario is not uncommon and it’s a particular risk in any food related business.  But it can happen anywhere – there could be an accident on your premises or one of your customers might go to the press with a complaint before they come to you.  So it’s important to prepare ahead.  Here is a brief summary of the steps you need to take.

  1. Sit down and do a risk assessment, you may already have one prepared as part of your business plan.
  2. Consider which of those risks are likely to attract media interest.  Use your judgement to decide whether or not they are going to lead to local or national interest.  If a customer slips and breaks a leg in your shop the local press may pick it up but if a child develops E Coli and becomes seriously ill as a result of some food you have prepared the national press may start following the story.
  3. Draw up an action plan and responses to the press for each of the significant risks that you have identified.  You should draft a press statement for each risk which you can alter and send to the press if you are asked for a comment on the event.  This statement, and any more that you need to make, will be critical in forming public opinion about your business. For example, if a customer has gone to the local press because their child was taken ill after a visit to your premises you will need to express regret at the incident and promise to investigate it thoroughly without prejudging why it happened. Dealing with an event like this is very stressful and having some words prepared for such an eventuality can make all the difference to the image you project.
  4. Consider who will be your press spokesperson.  This is fairly straightforward within a small business as it would normally be the owner but if you are in a partnership or you have several employees you may want to agree on one or two key spokespeople.
  5. Ask yourself if the spokespeople are going to be comfortable doing interviews?  If you have identified risks that could lead to national press interest bear in mind that Channel 4 news would be a tough place to start!  Consider some media training.  A good trainer will help you talk through the key messages you need to communicate within the interview and give you experience in all types of media.
  6. Think about the ways you would communicate while the incident plays itself out.  It may only be a case of a short news story in the local paper but even then it is helpful to already be active on social media so that you can be aware of what is being said about you and correct any mistakes.
  7. If the incident is serious you will need help – keep the details of an agency you know and trust (perhaps the person who did the media training with you).  The agency should be experienced in this sort of situation and will work with you to help you come out of the situation with your business – and your sanity – intact.

1. Looking for the perfect job or want to change? ‘ Know your reasons for working-’one man’s meat is another one’s poison.’

Thursday, May 24th, 2012
Thanks to WiRE member: Pavlenka small from smallsteps

Whether you have been made redundant, are seeking a career change or want to find the right job for you, developing a successful plan of action to find that ideal job or career is more than simply tailoring your CV to suit the job requirements, applying for numerous jobs and attending interviews.

A starting point is to be really focused on what you want your work to give you and taking responsibility for making the changes you want to see in your work, actually happen.

It is easy to think about your work in the same way as you did when you were 20, 30 or 40, but are the things that were important to you then, as important to you now? For example, as the main breadwinner with a young wife and family to support, significant considerations might be to earn a realistic salary, work reasonable hours and have job security rather than the key priority being total job fulfillment and a means of expressing yourself.

However, just as your personal circumstances change, so too can your reasons for working change, so this blog takes a look at some of the things to consider when looking to move onto a different job or make a career change.

Just as we are all unique individuals, we also expect different things from our work. For example, I was coaching two very different clients at the same time whose reaction to the money they earned was very different. Client A, (a petite French shepherdess), told me how fortunate she was to be out in all weathers tending  her lovely sheep and also having been so lucky to have just received a pay increase to take her annual salary up to £12,500.  On the other hand, client B,  (a professional, single 30 year old female who had paid off her mortgage), was very disgruntled because not only had her £50,000 salary been frozen for that year due to the effects of the recession she was only going to receive half of her expected annual £20,000 bonus.  As my late mother used to say: ‘one man’s meat, is another man’s poison!’

So when you are considering a career move/change, think about WHY you want to change-is it to do something completely different? To do a job in a similar or different environment?  To utilise existing skills or develop new ones?

Here are just a few of the questions I ask my career change clients to enable them to consider what is truly important to them at work and what they expect their work to give them.

  • Do you want to earn enough money to live?
  • Do you want to earn  a lot of money and enjoy a high standard of living?
  • Do you want something between the above 2?
  • Do you want to reduce your travelling time and distance?
  • Do you want to do something more fulfilling and rewarding?
  • Do you want to work in a similar/different environment?
  • Do you want to gain better recognition for what you do at work?
  • Do you want to be more successful?

Each and every question needs careful consideration so this is just a guideline. For example, we might discuss what the client considers to be success, where they might have achieved it before and what success might mean to them in the future.

So what are the reasons why YOU work?

If you feel you could do with some objective support, do contact me so I can show you how to discover YOUR  reasons for working as your life stands NOW.

Nice legs boys…

Tuesday, May 22nd, 2012
Thanks To WiRE member: Chloe Giles
Hubby Henry and my horse Rex on Sunday afternoon.
Henry’s off for a jog after getting Rex in for me, he’s not just flashing
his legs about in competition with Rex for the fun of it!

Social Media Mayhem

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Thanls to WiRE member : Beryl Pettitt

A free evening of social media basics, food, drink and networking on Tuesday 29th May at 7pm

OutKlass Fitness, in association with Naomi Johnson Social Media and Ridgeway Marketing, presents a FREE evening of social media basics, food, drink and networking.  This will be followed by 2 Workshops (Beginners & Advanced) on 19th June & 10th July.

This really is a not to be missed opportunity for small and large businesses and sole traders alike – viral social media and marketing is one of the best ways to stay in contact with your customers and business associates, share your updates, run competitions and attract new business.  Did you know that most Facebook users have on average 100+ friends – what better way to maximise your marketing, create interest and increase your reach?

This FREE introduction to social media and marketing will be brought to you by:

Beryl Pettitt has worked in marketing for over 25 years, she has an MA in marketing, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, a SFEDI accredited business mentor and member of the Institute of Enterprise and Entrepreneurs.  www.ridgewaymarketing.co.uk

Naomi Johnson’s proprietor of NJJ Social Media and social media manager/trainer and is the social media “specialist” for the Lincoln Marketing Club.  To read more about Naomi please follow this link. www.naomijohnsonsocialmedia.co.uk

Our essential follow on Social Media and Marketing days will be as follows:

Terrified of Twitter? Fazed by Facebook? Panicked by Press Releases?

An absolute beginner’s workshop

Tuesday 19th June – C.O.R.E Centre, Nr Retford, Notts

Want to Focus on Facebook, Trend on Twitter, and Market on Mailchimp?

An Advanced Social Media workshop with Email Marketing

Tuesday 10th July – C.O.R.E Centre, Nr Retford, Notts

Each workshop will cost £67 if booked on or before the 29th May, £87 after the 29th May 2012. This includes including unlimited parking/refreshments, locally sourced home cooked lunch, and the marketing and social media course

To book your place on the free taster event, please contact Martin for further information on 01777 249346 or email martin@coreconferencing.co.uk

www.outklassfitness.co.uk – www.coreconferencing.co.uk

Intuition/Gut Feeling/Knowingness our 6th Sense

Monday, May 21st, 2012

Intuition/Gut Feeling/Knowingness our 6th Sense

‘…your most valuable tool – intuition’ Albert Einstein

So how often have you thought ‘oh I wish I had listened to my gut feeling’ regretting something that you had gone off and done?

There is much to be said in taking a little time and tapping into that skill which we often deny because we have been indoctrinated with the need to follow our left brained liner processes and go off along ‘the way its always been done’ taught both by educators and others.

Do you listen to those clues you get and the signs that jump out at you?

We all get flashes of knowingness in both our personal and business lives; when did you last listen to what the inner you were saying?  Remember these insights come as feelings, words, thoughts, sensations, dream; or that hunch you might have (I get feelings strongly by ‘listening’ to my intuition which determines who I will work with and what I will do). So take note of your physical and emotional feelings associated with it; whatever form it takes listen to it,

Tuning in to your intuition will take practice as many of us have blocked it over time, just practice, and take a few minutes thinking/feeling each time you need to make decisions.  You ultimately know when something is right or wrong, so trust and accept what answers you get from deep within yourself.  Keep practicing too as it becomes part of your everyday skill set and is a great way to develop your decision making. It’s worth keeping a note of your instincts and the decisions you make and share them with someone that you really trust. You will begin to spot connections and patterns over a period of time.

Through listening to your intuition you can certainly save time, make fewer mistakes and find that you will start doing the right thing at the right time!

If you look back over history, people have always used intuition to survive, it’s only since we became more advanced and moved into a world of technology have we lost track of our 6th sense.

A few tips to get you started:

  • Just take 5 minutes and pay attention to what your thoughts are focused on (mindfullness)
  • Pay attention to synchronicities, signs, symbols and feeling that  emerge regularly don’t dismiss this – ask why!
  • Listen actively & watch for information that is meant for you
  • Ask questions related to you intuition

Have a go and watch how you become more balanced and centred.

Until next time

Donnah

Frictionless sharing and the implications of ‘Intellectual Privacy’

Monday, May 21st, 2012
Thanks to WiRE member : Eillen Brown

imageIf you have ever been slightly disturbed by sharing information about your location, the movies you watch and the books you read, take care with what you write.

Frictionless sharing will share information about your activities amongst your Facebook friends without you even knowing that it is happening.

But if we are subconsciously sharing something that we might not want to share, should this give us cause for concern?

I recently unfriended a friend on Facebook to show her what total strangers could see about her activities.

She was worried that one of her ex-partners knew way too much about her. It was disturbing her.

This ex had even called one of my friends connections to shout and rage about a comment that the connection had posted on my friend’s Facebook feed.

This was an invasion of her privacy and needed to be addressed by removing everything from her public timeline and setting strong default settings. Now she can relax.

Frictionless sharing, whilst different to privacy gives rise to similar feelings. But is frictionless sharing healthy orare we peeking into private lives?

The Kurzweil blog talks about intellectual privacy – the ability to think for ourselves.  If our friends know what we read then the fear of being judged for the things we read and watch might stop us from being inquisitive and curious about the world we live in.

Perhaps we should share in a better way. According to Neil Richards in his paper ‘The Perils of Social Reading’we are setting a worrying precedent for the future.

Thinking about our social sharing activities, the paper says:

Social reading takes us a step further. Not only are our friends with us when we watch movies at the cinema, but they’re now there when we watch movies on our computers, and also when we read on our computers. They never leave.

An always-on regime of “frictionless sharing” means we are always at the movies with our friends, even when we don’t want to be.

It means we’ll always watch the movie they choose, and we won’t choose the movie we want to see if they’d make fun of us for it. We might never get to see that film we’re curious but shy about.

This is the case whether our film is fluffy like “Gnomeo and Juliet,” political like “Bowling for Columbine,” racy like “Black Swan,” or something even more explicit.

If we’re always with our friends, we’re never alone, and we never get to explore ideas for ourselves. Of course, the stakes here go beyond movies, to reading, web-surfing, and even thinking.

Inadvertent disclosure of something that we might not want to share will cause us friction in making efforts to ensure that our information is not broadcast without our consent. The app is broadcasting information without our explicit consent.  Is this undermining our right to privacy?

Millennials might scoff at our need to keep things private.  They were born into an age of sharing everything they do with their friends.

But as job offers get withdrawn due to embarrassing Facebook posts and authorities question your choices of name and hobbies, it becomes good to have your own head space.

Having our own private space will slow down the prophetic scenario forecast by George Orwell in his Book, 1984and give us somewhere to be our real selves

Eileen is a social business strategist, ZDNet columnist and author of Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business. Contact her to find out how she can help your business extend its reach.

Credit: katerha

Advertisers continue to run campaigns on Facebook but GM pulls out

Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Thanks to WiRE member: eileenb

Creative agencies are all in agreement. Facebook is the place where they intend to run their advertising campaigns.

According to the All Facebook blog the graded results were:

  1. Facebook 85.1 per cent
  2. YouTube 44.8 per cent
  3. Twitter 39.1 per cent
  4. Google Plus 24.1 per cent
  5. LinkedIn 21.8 per cent
  6. None 10.3 per cent
  7. Foursquare 9.2 per cent
  8. Other 3.4 per cent
  9. MySpace 1.1 per cent
  10. Digg 0.0 per cent

Facebook has dominated social media advertising for some time and these figures are far ahead of YouTube.  The figures seem stable, as this eMarketer report from 2011 shows

Social Networks Used for Ad Campaigns by US Marketers/Agencies, May 2011 (% of respondents)

The eMarketer results show a preference for advertisers to show a broader social channel advertising spread with two and three channels used.  Interesting especially in the wake of the news that General Motors will stop advertising on Facebook due to disappointing results and no impact on customers. it paid $10 million to Facebook in 2011.

Ahead of Facebook’s IPO on Friday this could be bad news for the social networking site which is looking to raise an estimated $104 billion from its IPO

Ten Foods that Speed up Weight-Loss

Thursday, May 17th, 2012


Thanks to WiRE member: Anna Mason



Adding in foods that help to boost your metabolism is ideal. However, these foods mentioned below have incredible nutritional benefits. Read about the super spice, cinnamon.

If you really want to lose weight there is no substitute for a healthy balanced diet.

Chilli peppers
Adding a bit of heat to your diet can give you a weight-loss boost. Studies show that having a spicy start to your morning, i.e. eating chillies as a part of your breakfast can make you opt for a smaller lunch. Apparently it’s down to capsaicin which is found in chillies and red peppers that has appetite suppressing properties. Granted – chillies aren’t the easiest of items to face as your morning meal but how about as a part of a spicy egg-white omelette or stirred into scrambled eggs for a spicy weight loss kick.

Grapefruit
We’ve all heard of the grapefruit diet but you don’t have to live on a diet of grapefruit alone to lose weight. It’s been found that that eating half a grapefruit before each meal or drinking a serving of the juice three times a day can help you drop the pounds. The magic ingredient is the fruit’s phytochemicals and their effect of reducing insulin levels which stimulates your body to convert calories into energy rather than storing as flabby fat.

Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a super spice when it comes to boosting your wellbeing as it has many health-giving properties. In terms of weight loss, it’s all to do with controlling those post-meal insulin spikes, which is what make you feel hungry. And you don’t need to get much of the stuff to get the benefits; studies have shown just a quarter teaspoon of cinnamon a day can lower the blood sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. To up your cinnamon intake either sprinkle it on to your breakfast cereal, or maybe mix it into your morning latte.

Fennel tea
Again fennel tea is a food stuff that boasts a list of health giving benefits; it’s packed with good levels of potassium, magnesium and calcium as well as the vitamins B and C. But when it comes to the weight-loss stakes fennel has a double benefit: working both as an appetite suppressant and a metabolism booster which really are both useful if you’re trying to lose weight. Fennel tea is widely available in supermarkets so add it to your daily diet to stave off cravings and boost your fuel burn.

Salad
Eating a low-calorie salad before your main meals can help you to lose weight and ensure you get recommended daily intake of veggies. And it’s not rocket science as to how it works for weight loss, the key is the sheer volume of a salad, which makes you feel too full to pig out when it comes to your main meal. You need to make sure you don’t drown it in a fatty dressing though – a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar makes the perfect healthy accompaniment to a fresh salad.

Green tea
Another powerful brew – green tea really has a multitude of health and wellbeing benefits. And if you are into fitness it makes the perfect pre-workout drink; it’s been found to increase endurance by as much as 24%, allowing you to exercise longer and burn more calories. But in terms of boosting your weight loss, a study carried out by the Journal of Nutrition, drinking five cups of green tea per day can help you lose twice as much weight, most of it where we want to lose it most – around the middle.

Celery
Celery rates well as a weight-loss food as you can burn more calories eating it than your body will take on consuming it. But by no means does that make celery low in nutritional value; it’s super-packed with fibre (great for digestion) and folate (the essential nutrient for the care and production of new cells within the body). Get your celery fix by making sure it’s featured in your pre-meal salad, as an accompaniment to your lunch or as a healthy snack when you want to satisfy that ‘munch’ craving.

Lentils
Lentils are great weight-loss food as they have the power to really satisfy your hunger without packing your body with loads of calories and fat – that’s often why lentils feature heavily as a meat substitute – they can make you feel like you’ve had a meaty dish minus the calories and saturated fat that come with eating meat. Again like celery, lentils are full of fibre and foliate so as well as giving you the full feeling, they are great for digestion and healthy cell growth.

Dark chocolate
Granted chocolate is not low in calories nor in fat, but dark chocolate has two major dietary positives that can lead to long term weight loss. First, it’s quite difficult to scoff massive quantities of high-quality dark chocolate as compared to the milk chocolate. Secondly, dark chocolate is very high in health-promoting antioxidants. In terms of a weapon in your weight-loss armoury you can use dark chocolate as a way to curb any sweet cravings, just a few small squares to quell a full on chocolate pig out is well worth the modest calorie intake.

Quinoa
Pronounced ‘Keen-wah’ quinoa is known as the ‘mother grain’ by the ancient Peruvians. Quinoa is good for weight loss as it has the power to keep you feeling fuller for longer due to its high protein content. Also the carbs that are present in the grain are released slowly into the body so you won’t get that rush of energy after eating quinoa as you would with other foods like white rice or pasta. You can eat quinoa raw but we reckon it’s best when it’s cooked in a similar way to rice or couscous.

How to do a Performance Appraisal … well

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Why do Performance Appraisals have such bad press?

It’s not only from employees either – there are just as many business owners and managers out there who don’t seem to have a good word to say about them – one Shropshire business owner actually said to me with a deep sigh: “Oh no, not appraisal time again … I’d rather walk on burning coals!”

Yet, what’s wrong with taking time out to review progress, recognise successes, identify training and development needs and look for better ways of doing things?

I think the problem lies in TWO places: the WHAT and the HOW of performance appraisals.

The WHAT – a 12 page performance appraisal form and accompanying explanation booklet, the size of War and Peace, will frighten off the bravest manager and employee.

The HOW – a one-off annual performance appraisal with no other interim meetings, exchanges or management feedback, is rarely of value to employee, manager or organisation.

How to do a Performance Appraisal … well!

I challenge you to try this 6 Point Plan on How to do a Performance Appraisal … well! and see what a difference it makes!

1) For starters, KEEP IT SIMPLE – anything more than a couple of sheets of paper and you’re setting yourself up to fail before you begin.  A concise prompt form (see below) – ideally a page long is all you need.

2) Focus on 2-3 WORK OBJECTIVES – anything more is a waste of time (in my opinion!) – yes, it does help if they can be specific, measureable, achievable and timed!

3) Include a couple of STRETCH OBJECTIVES – something that will excite, challenge, stretch or develop your member of staff, not frighten them to death.

4) Be radical and APPRAISE more often – a shorter more regular appraisal meeting can be far more motivating than a once a year, three hour epic conversation.  They should also be supplemented with ongoing, good ‘ol face-to-face, two-way communications.

5) Give ALL-ROUND FEEDBACK a go (360 degree feedback sounds too much like geometry!) – managers really should know what their staff think of them and employees should know what their peers think too – a simple anonymous list of strengths and areas for improvement can be extremely valuable.

6) TRY IT! – a process can always be changed and improved, but the challenge is to make Performance Appraisals an important part of the business process, not an irksome add-on – that only comes with practice.

Still not sure, well add a comment below or pop a note on my contact form and I’ll send you my FREE one sheet Performance Appraisal Prompt Sheet to get you started. No excuses!

Look forward to hearing how it goes.

Kay

50 per cent of Facebook users go mobile

Monday, May 14th, 2012

Thanks to WiRE member: Eileen Brown

imageFacebook is responsible for some staggering usage numbers.  It is due to cross the billion user accounts milestone in summer, just after its IPO.  One billion users.  That is, one in seven of everyone across the world are on Facebook in some form or another.

And lots of us use Facebook from our mobile devices too.  488 million of Facebook users access the social network from our mobile device according to the socialbakers infographic on their blog.  Here are some more jaw dropping stats from the infographic:

  • Over 901 million active users log on to Facebook every month. That is user accounts, not brand pages.
  • 488 million users log on to Facebook from their mobile devices.  That is 54 per cent of the total number of Facebook users.  Of course, some users use Facebook from both a PC and a mobile device
  • Android and iPhone lead the stats for logging on to Facebook with 19 per cent penetration each. Blackberry is at eight per cent and iPad, five per cent, which is lower than i expected
  • Active feature phones get 17 per cent of the active users with ‘Others’ at 32 per cent
  • The US leads the way with mobile users.  It has almost 106 million out of 157 million active users.  This is followed by Indonesia with almost 29 million users out of a potential user base of 42 million, India at 23 million mobile users out of a total Facebook population of 46 million and the UK at almost 21 million mobile users out of 31 million Facebook accounts
  • However, in percentage terms, Nigeria leads the way with over 81 per cent of mobile users.  Singapore and Japan have an impressive 72 per cent each.  The rest of the world trails far behind…

Some impressive numbers, and certainly totals that will grow as Facebook turns into a commercial powerhouse after it floats.  Will be interesting to see the numbers 1 year down the line…

Eileen is a social business strategist, ZDNet columnist and author of Working The Crowd: Social Media Marketing for Business. Contact her to find out how she can help your business extend its reach.

Credit: tlaukkanen

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