Friday, July 31, 2009

Hope Springs Eternal - What and How




A sunny winter's day as I write this, considering a tweet from a friend asking me how my day was. "Fine sunny winter day... that has to be good." And indeed it is.

By nature, I tend to be a Responder, and writing blogs often comes up as a response to something that happens then prods me out of my current trance-stream-of-events and moves me to commit to a post on a topic. One consequence of that may be, to emphasis the downside of business, the pitfalls, the traps to watch for and the Beware-there-be-beasties-here topics. Which may seem that there is no upside to business, but of course that would be to miss the great wonder of what Is possible...and I would hate to leave anyone with that impression.

Hope and Encouragement, should be the gift we all spread everywhere we go. That's not the fantasy kind, but real hope and encouragement.

The truth is, you can do far more than you give probably understand is possible. You might need help to uncover what you need to do that, and it might require you to do things that are outside of your regular habits, but that just means you may not yet know how to do that thing you want to be able to achieve.

But that's a kind of identification of a "What". Once you have defined what it is that you want to have happen in your life, then you can find out what the "How" conditions are.

You can wait for inspiration to come to you, or you can get help to identify the What. And the How.

Now that's encouraging!

First step? Ask for help.





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Lindy Asimus
Design Business Engineering
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Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Your Social Profile: Tips




Different social platforms will have different information they call for. A template will help you quickly copy or copy and paste your information. Use this information selectively, to bring your story to life on your business website too.




Name


Your personal name is usually preferable on social media.
If you have a personal account on Facebook then you can add your business Fan Page with your business name there.

Similarly, on Twitter, people first and foremost, want to Follow a person – so build your personal network and use a Business Twitter ID to complement your personal account.


Address

Business or postal address is preferable to your home address – you don’t want people knowing where you live. Identity theft is something to always be on guard against giving away too much information. With a few discreet bits of information, people can build an identity very easily!


Contact Details

Your business phone – never a home phone landline should be used. Safety first!

Your email address should be one that you use for general business online use. Make it something that you check regularly and for preference, not a hotmail or yahoo account. You never want to add your email to show up on a business listing as somethingsleazy06@hotmail.com


Date of Birth

As with your home address, your date of birth is a security risk if you broadcast it online. Many sites allow you to add your day and month of birth only. If you want to display your birth month and not your year of birth, but can’t selectively show it on that site, consider choosing a birth year that is obviously not yours (like 1919) – note: most sites will not let you put in a recent year as birth year since usually members have to be over the age of 13 or more. NOTE: Make a note somewhere that you keep your log of online passwords etc in a diary etc, with this date, if not your real date of birth, so you can always use it if you need to provide proof that this is your site, to the site administrator

Remember, without being paranoid, your business is your business and being aware of security issues online is good practice. Don’t advertise your date of birth, your home address, your home phone number or anything that will indicate to robbers that you will be away from your home or that you have bought new expensive items, if there is any way for your residential address to be found online. Tip: Google yourself and see what IS already online about your personal details.


Business Name


When adding your business name, think if it describes the business too. So if your business name is ‘JB Holdings PTY LTD’ Might be better to leave off the Pty Ltd, and add a descriptor, so your listing might show as JB Holdings – Architect (or Home Builder, or Hairdressing Salon or Widget Manufacturer)


Business Description

This is one of the most critical pieces that you will write and you should think long and practice how to best tell people about your business in this section. When you do that, you have a great way to describe what your business does, not just on this profile online, but in conversation, or your print material, or even your business card or website. Make this really work for you – and it will also work well for Google indexing your site.

The following two points may need to be incorporated into the main description, or could have a separate space. Work your profile accordingly.

• What You Do

Use clean, clear language, specific and concise. What you do, and for whom you do it.

• How You Work

Let people know how you work. Do they come to you, do you go to them, is there something special in the way you deliver your product or service?

• Locations You Service

Does your business service just a 20 mile radius, or are you open to business state-wide, nationwide, or globally? Spell it out. (If you only serve locally – think – could you sell further afield?)


Education

Sites like LinkedIn are geared to educational qualifications and if you have some to add, they can be useful to complete this section. If you don’t have educational qualifications, then you can add your trade qualifications if you wish, or may be able to leave this section blank. Adding your schools and universities can help others connect with you, so this has several functions.


Recommended by

If you don’t already have any written recommendations, this is a good reminder to get some! Testimonials from happy customers are an important marketing tool, and Linkedin provides a good way to ask customers to recommend you, and a process that allows them to do so easily. Don’t just leave it at that though – add some to your website and your marketing material, and make it a policy to ask for endorsements from customers.

Your Experience

On Linkedin your profile will allow you to list your previous work and the experience that you gained in each field. This can build a solid picture of your diverse skills, or your special area of interest.


Your Websites


Add your website and your blog URL here.

Make sure that it follows the protocol required on that site (some require http://www.yourwebsite.com while others just want the www.yourwebsite.com ) Double check that you have no extra . at the end of the URL and test to make sure that the links work before you leave the profile editing page. [Learn to notice that . – it can be the cause of a lot of problems if added to the end of email addresses for example, where it doesn’t belong and can cause a lot of frustration ‘breaking’ otherwise good email addresses or web URLs)

If you don’t have a website, now is the time to seriously give some thought to getting one. Your customers expect you to have one, even if it is a modest one. Don’t disappoint them.

A blog is another good thing to have and takes some effort and is best considered as part of your entire online strategy, which is itself, a component of your business marketing plan. Like babushka dolls... this should be part of your overall working business plan. One element fits inside the next, but your success vehicle for the business, contains them all. That’s what your business plan should be. Your business success vehicle.


Your Interests


Think about the context here. If you are adding a profile to MySpace, you might add some items that are a little removed from business, but on Linkedin you might want to be a little more selective on what you add as your hobbies or interests. In both cases, if you are using your own name on a site, you might want to skip the more suggestive or less conservative ones. You may not want everyone who looks for you on Google to find out all of your ‘interests’ ;-)


Associations & Groups


Again, list the clubs and groups that you belong to, but be selective. Not everyone will enjoy knowing if you are a member of the KKK


Keeping a template of the answers you use for profiles can be a time saver for you if you decide to join multiple online sites. Either a hardcopy as a prompt sheet, or a file copy so you can copy and paste.

Check your profiles regularly and update as things change.


Ideas you'd like to add? Leave a comment!



See also Why You Should Be On Linkedin

Thinking Of Getting A Business Coach?
Lindy Asimus
Design Business Engineering
Get Help For Your Business


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Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Coaches Do This.




“Just what is coaching, anyway...?”

Here’s the question that comes up all the time. From those who may need a coach, and for those who would coach them and are tasked with delivering a definition that has some meaning that may be understandable with those who might like to access such a service.

Personally, I am a bit ‘over’ the sporting analogies and frankly think the name is actually a bit inconsequential, since the coaching role can cover such a wide variety of contexts, and because each coach may cover within a specific niche and in some ways, may operate in a way that is slightly different from other coaches, and indeed, differently depending on the client, it may vary from case-to- case as different scenarios demand. I am given to understand that some coaches don’t vary the way they coach, but I cannot speak to that. In my own work with clients, I have a range of tools that I have developed that address certain issues within a business and still others that I custom-create to fit the need. Since I work with businesses in different sectors and with different products and presenting dilemmas, this seems to work well for us.

Coaching as a vocation is an interesting business. Like any business owner knows, there is providing a product, and then there is running a business...Two very different ‘animals’.

Today the topic came up as several of we coaches held a meeting to nut out some issues in putting together a network for coaches in the Newcastle and Hunter region. It is an interesting bunch of people, with interests, and expertise across a wide spectrum of topics. The coaches are quite different as are their respective focus areas and work with clients on issues ranging from personal/life stuff, through couples, family relationships and different shades of business, large and small, family businesses, corporate business, employee coaching, and more. With clients ranging from individuals facing transition in their lives, business owners looking to develop their business to the next level, or just plain get organised and shed some unnecessary stress from their lives. All good people all facing their own particular challenge.

Perhaps our greatest challenge as coaches is in creating an awareness, that we’re here. We’re here for the business owner who wants to finally get some systems in place and run their business like a ‘real one’. For the single mother looking to grow and raise her personal esteem and be a good model for her children. For the newly divorced man who finds himself on the outer and no real skills to move forward toward a loving healthy next relationship – with himself – and later with another.
What do coaches do? Well that depends. What do you need? What is it that you want to do that you haven’t been able to manage alone? That’s what coaches do. Help you achieve whatever it is that you want. Sometimes, it begins with helping you understand and articulate, just what that is that you do want.

As simple and as complex as that, is the answer to what coaches do.

The real point, perhaps in our coaching network, is to create a focal point, so that those looking for help – of whatever kind – can find the starting point to connect with someone who can help them to do just that thing they have a desire to do. I hope they find us.


I think that’s quite a good start... Don’t you think?



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