Sunday 31 October 2010

Taking Quality Time out to Think

I love to take time out most days to have some quiet, quality time to gather my thoughts and get my head clear. The day to day noise of business can often be difficult to cut through when trying to resolve an issue or get your head clear for quality thinking and new ideas to form.

I shot this video on holiday last week to share with you how I like to take time out to gather my thoughts:



I also take our Jack Russell puppy out for walks at lunch time or late afternoon and on these walks I usually take my iPhone and headset with me so I can listen to motivational audios or talks I'm putting together. Today, I went on one such walk and listened through the talk I'm doing next week in Bristol. I record my talk onto audio using the Voice Memo app on my iPhone and then I can listen to it anywhere I'm on the go; even in the car.



The photo on the left was taken on my walk today and I love this tree. We're lucky to live on the edge of some wonderful countryside.

So take some time out this week and spend it quietly, gathering your thoughts and leave all the clutter behind. Just zone out and let your mind clear and you'll be amazed at how you can then allow new thoughts and ideas to flow in. It's also a very effective way of getting your mind straight when you have an issue you're trying to resolve.

Please let me know how you get on.

Tuesday 12 October 2010

What's Your Story?

Every business owner has a story; a story about why they started their business; what the key reasons were at the time and what drove them to make the decsion and to take the first step.

Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart had his story, Fred Smith, the founder of Federal Express had his story and Ray Kroc, the founder of MacDonalds had his story. In fact Ray Kroc would sit down with his future MacDoanlds Francishees and before they went on their training and before they got the keys to their new store, Ray Kroc would share his story with them.

Michael Gerber recently started his new business at the young age of 73 and he calls it "The Dreaming Room". His latest bestselling book, "Awakening the Entrepreneur Within" explains his latest story.The book is excellent and takes you on the whole journey of creating a new business from the initial idea right through to getting going. Part of this process is creating your story. It must be compelling and passionate so that people can buy into it. Especially important if you are going to be employing staff. Your new recruits need to know your story - you will need to tell it to them so they know your dream; your vision and they can join you on your journey.

It's often difficult for staff who don't know the owner's story. They do their job but it would be way more fulfiling if they knew the story of the business, the reason why the company is doing what it's doing. Can you imagine how much more exciting it would be if you knew your boss' dream and vision for the business? How many bosses have sat down and told each member of staff their story? Think about how your staff would feel if you took the time to actually sit down with them in the next week and told them your story and how important your business is and what you want to achieve in your business and how you need their help. You're on a journey together and you want their help and their committment. During these tough times you can explain why it might not be possible to give them a pay rise, but by spending some quality time with them, telling them your story, you'll be surprised at how much happier they will be and how much more effective they will be at their job.

If you run your own business then you need to have your story and be ready to tell it at every opportunity. Martin Luther King, Jr had a dream. He knew what his story was and in telling it to the world on 28th August 1963 he changed the course of history.

People buy people and if you have a passionate story then people will warm to you and will be more ready to help you. It will help you when you engage suppliers - they will understand your story and know what you're trying to achieve and be more likely to help you if they can. If they love your story and buy into your story they will be almost as enthusiastic about it as you and be pleased to partner with you.

What's My Story?
I call myself an Internet Evangelist! I love everything to do with the Internet. I'm passionate about helping business owners get back control and stay in control of their online business. So many people don't know where their website is hosted or if the domain name is even owned by them. See my Blog post from June - http://blog.dickiearmour.me.uk/2010/06/are-you-in-control-of-your-online.html . I spend every day helping people get back control of their domain names and it gives me a massive sense of satisfaction. The Internet is perceived to be quite complicated and people get really confiused about domain names, websites, and email and so I love to help our customers understand and I give them help and advice on how they can remain in control which helps them avoid many of the pitfalls.

So what's your story? What's the story of your business and why you started it? Take time out today to hone your story and then go and tell the world! If you have staff make a promise to meet with each of them within 1 week and sit them down and tell them your story and the vital part they play in it.

Tuesday 5 October 2010

Personal Domain Names & Why you Should Own Yours

It still surprises me the number of people I meet who do not own their personal domain name. I own:
dickiearmour.com
dickiearmour.co.uk
dickiearmour.me.uk
richardarmour.co.uk
and my wife and daughter have their personal domain names too.

A domain name is a finite source. There can only be one dickiearmour.co.uk and once it's been registered no one else can get it, as long as I renew it at the time of renewal, or I forget to renew it! You never know when you might want to use your own domain name and if you haven't protected it by registering it, then you could be disappointed when the time comes that you do want to use it and try to register it.

The obvious two main uses of a personal domain name are for:
  1. Email
    and/or
  2. A website

You Don't have to use your Broadband email address!
When you get broadband you automatically get an email address from your broadband provider. So if I was with BT or Sky my email address might be dickie.armour@sky.com or dickiearmour134@btinternet.com. Now that's all well and good but what happens when I change broadband provider to say Orange? I lose my old email account and have to set up a new email address with Orange and then go through all the hassle of telling my friends and family, many of whom won't remember and will still continue to send emails to you at your old email address!

With your own personal domain name this doesn't happen. I'm with Tiscali - now TalkTalk - for my broadband and even though I do have a tiscali.co.uk email address I never use it. I don't need to. I use an email address on my personal domain name - dickiearmour.me.uk. So if and when I change broadband providers it makes no difference to me that TalkTalk will delete my old tiscail.co.uk email account because I don't use it. And, I won't have to bother telling my friends, family and business contacts because they all use my dickiearmour.me.uk email address already.

My wife rides dressage horses and has represented GB on numerous occasions; in March 2007 on The Spanish Sunshine Tour, August 2007 at Hickstead and May 2009, at the Royal Windsor Horse Show. She hasn't got a website but does have a personal domain name which she uses for email. But she is now considering getting a website designed and as a rider she wants to use her own name for the website because like most sports people they promote themselves using their brand - their own name. So she has no worries on that score because she's already got her own domain name!

Update: 2013
My wife now does have a website - www.nicolacooper.co.uk   

Perhaps there will come a time when you want to set up a website on your own personal domain name. You might want to start blogging and use your own name for your blog or perhaps you are a business coach or a consultant or a trainer. It makes sense to use your own name as your business and therefore a personal domain name would be needed. 

The other area where I'm a huge advocate of getting a personal domain name is for our children. I bought the .co.uk and .com in our daughter's name and I'm really pleased I did. She is already beginning to use it with friends at school and even had to send her maths teacher an email of some photos of shapes last week. He was so impressed she had her own email address! I bought her domain names soon after she was born. It appears there is a Doctor in the Midlands with the same name. After a year or so I got a phone call from her asking if I was prepared to sell my daughter's domain name as she wanted to use it! There can only ever be one version on any domain name extension and my daughter has all the main ones for her name. I politely declined the doctor and so she'll have had to look for alternative domain names. 

In America there has been a trend of buying domain names for newborn babies since about 2007. See this article from the Fox News website - Parents Rush to Register Newborn Babies' Internet Domain Names and I'm surprised more people here in the UK don't do this. The children of today and tomorrow are going to be living and breathing the Internet and will no doubt have websites and blogs of their own. The other thing you can do with your own domain name is point it to your Facebook, Twitter or whichever social network page of your choice. With the younger generation embracing these social networks I think we'll see a lot more of this in the future. 

So protect your's and your children's Internet identity today and get your personal domain names before someone else does.