Saturday 24 December 2011

Have You Productised Your Business yet?

I'm constantly looking to stretch myself and learn more from life. I think this is one of the ways we grow; become better people; become more successful. I'd hate to stagnate. I'm never going to be someone who accepts life as it is. I believe there are people who go through life accepting the cards they have been dealt; accepting mediocrity. This is a crying shame.

I'm the opposite - I strive to further myself and to grow and become the best I can be. Thanks to this way of thinking I chose to attend one of Peter Thomson's brilliant seminars in London in September 2010. It was a product creation seminar.

Every Business Should Have Products
Peter spent the day explaining how important it is for every business to have products which it can sell and what he means by products is physical products such as books, CD Audios and DVDs with content based around your business and your area of expertise.

My Book
My book "31 Mistakes Every Online Business Makes" is a great example of a product which I created to share my knowledge and help other people. I've already had it turned into a Kindle version so people with a Kindle and people with an iPhone or iPad can download it via the Amazon Kindle website. And thanks to Phil Clarkson, a Bristol based business trainer, I'm now creating an audiobook version of it.
Phil saw my book and congratulated me but explained he would never buy it. At first I was a tad upset, but Phil immediately explained that he doesn't like to read books, but he loves to listen to books in his car! So one product very quickly turned into three products!

Leverage
Brad Sugars, the CEO and Founder of ActionCoach shared with me at one of his seminars the secret of "Leverage". Brad explained the beauty of leverage was only doing the work once and getting paid over and over and over again! Brad's written over 14 books on business and he gets paid each and every time somone buys one of his books. Compare this to any consultantcy or training based business where you get paid for your time. Sure, the money can still be good, but we only have 24 hours a day and most people only work a maximum of 10 hours so you only really have 10 hours to bill out your services. So you have to keep on keeping on!

Every time you get paid, you have to do the work all over again. If you run seminars you have to keep doing the same seminar over and over again. However, instead, you could record a video of your seminar and then sell it on DVD. Now wouldn't that be cool? Think how many times people have said to you, "I'd have loved to come to that but I can't make that date." If you had a DVD of your seminar you could sell them a copy to watch at their leisure! 

What Products can you Create?

So think about your business - what products can you create? When I ask people this question I usually get the standard repsonses of "I can't write" or "I don't have anything worth sharing" or "I don't want to share my secrets; my competitors will copy me" etc.

Lucky for you Peter Thomson says you can; you do and you should share! Each and every one of us is unique with a wealth of experience, advice and guidance we can share with our target market. If you're a business coach, your experience of life and business and coaching is completely different to any other business coach out there.

So get your thinking cap on and start creating products for your business. No matter what your business is, you can create a product or products which will provide useful advice to your target audience.
  • If you're a car valeter, you could sell DVDs showing people how to polish a car properly.
  • If you're a personal fitness trainer, record your exercise sessions and create a DVD.
  • If you're an estate agent, start using video to market your client's houses.
  • If you have a blog and been writing it for a while now, use your blog posts and turn them into a book!
What products have you created for your business? Please share them by adding a comment below.

Thursday 10 November 2011

Why You Should @Reply on Twitter

Did you know that if I start a Tweet with the @ symbol when I reply to somebody, for example:

@jamieforster Yes let's do that; good plan mate.

only people who follow both Jamie Forster and I will see the tweet in their Twitter stream.

A lot of people worry about being "too noisy" on Twitter and so don't want to reply to people or carry on a conversation with people on Twitter for fear of filling other followers' streams with the tweets.

By knowing this, more people will engage with each other in conversations on Twitter without having to worry about drowning the streams of their other followers.

You can watch the video below on this by Gary Vaynerchuk - "The @ system, do you understand it?" where Gary explains that most people he speaks to had no idea about this aspect of the @ reply feature.


You'll see that Gary is very passionate about this!!

So start to use the @ reply and don't worry about drowning your followers with your conversations. Actually, it's quite important that you do @ reply to people - one of the criteria I and many others use when choosing to follow people on Twitter is whether they have conversations. The @ reply in your timeline shows me that you engage with others and I like that.

If your Twitter feed is just full of broadcast message then I won't follow you back.

The screenshot below shows you what I mean:


However, if your Twitter feed has @ reply messages as well as content then I am way more likely to follow you back. 

The screenshot below of @thebrandbuilder shows you a good mix:


So don't worry about replying to your Twitter connections with the @ reply. In fact, I suggest you should do it more often. Not only does it show to potential followers that you'll engage in conversation with them; it will make your Twitter connections deeper and more enriched.

Monday 7 November 2011

4 Steps to Help You Develop Persistence

As many of you know, I'm a huge fan of "Think and Grow Rich" by Napoleon Hill.

If you would like a copy of his book you can enter my FREE prize draw here -




This was me finishing the Windsor Triathlon!

www.thinkandgrowrichoffer.co.uk

The following is an excerpt from the book which I hope you'll find useful.

How to Develop Persistence
There are four simple steps which lead to the habit of persistence. They call for no great amount of intelligence, no particular amount of education and but little time or effort.
  1. A definite purpose backed by a burning desire for its fulfillment
  2. A definite plan, expressed in continuous action
  3. A mind closed tightly against all negative and discouraging influences, including negative suggestions of relatives, friends and acquaintances
  4. A friendly alliance with one or more persons who will encourage one to follow through with both plan and purpose
These four steps are essential for success in all walks of life. The entire purpose of the thirteen principles (from Think and Grow Rich) is to enable one to take these four steps as a matter of habit.

There is a magnificent reward for all who learn to take these four steps. It is the privilege of writing one's own ticket, and making life yield whatever price is asked.

I speak to hundreds of business owners in the UK and most of them don't have a definite of purpose, or a goal of where they are heading. Without knowing this how can you back it with a burning desire?

I have had huge success from applying many of the 13 principles in Napoleon Hill's book and the 4 steps laid out above are one of the key "secrets" to success.

I urge you to get your hands on a copy of "Think and Grow Rich" and begin applying Hill's 13 principles as soon as you can. I'm giving away a FREE copy of a beautiful, hard back version of the book, every fortnight until the end of next year, 2012! Go to www.thinkandgrowrichoffer.co.uk to enter your chance of grabbing your FREE copy.

Wednesday 26 October 2011

My New Business Book!

I justed wanted to share with you this video blog which is a quick plug for my new book - 31 Mistakes Every Online Business Makes.


You can register your interest today by going to www.31mistakes.co.uk

Tuesday 11 October 2011

Twitter Spam & How to Avoid It

There has been a recent wave of Spam on Twitter.

The main way the spammers use Twitter is by hacking into accounts and sending Direct Messages (DMs) to people with links to dodgy websites. The website will ask you to enter your Twitter username and password.

PLEASE NOTE: Twitter will NEVER ask you to download something or sign-in to a non-Twitter website.

You receive the DM and because it's from someone you know you can be tricked into clicking the link and because the website seems like a Twitter log in page you think nothing of it and enter your details.
The recent one doing the rounds was like the one in the example below.
I've hidden the id of the sender to protect them. The tweet reads: "I saw a bad blog about you. Have you seen this?" Followed by the link.

I use Hootsuite to manage many of my social media accounts such as Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, which is what I recommend to every one. You don't need to download any software - you just go to www.hootsuite.com.

In the image above you'll see there is a + symbol to the right of the URL in the tweet. If you click on this it expands into a box like the one in the image so you can check the URL and see where it's actually going. In this example you can see the WARNING sign and so you would never click the link.

So DO NOT click any links in DMs unless you were expecting a message with a link from the person and if you use Hootsuite you can check the URL first by clicking the + symbol first.

What to do if you are hacked
On speaking to some of the people I know locally who have had their Twitter accounts hacked I realised that many of them didn't know what to do about the hacking and how to secure their Twitter account.

I also realised that many didn't fully understand why these spammers or hackers do this. So I'm just going to explain and hopefully this will help a lot of people.

If your Twitter account is compromised go to the Twitter support site here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/31796

The hackers and spammers do this to get your password. Once they get your password they can then log in and send more DM spam to other unsuspecting people on Twitter and capture more passwords.
They want your password because way too many people use the same password for other website such as PayPal. If the hackers can get into your PayPal account they can spend your money!

So be warned. If your Twitter account has been compromised make sure you change your password on all the websites where you use the same password. And STOP using the same password for everything.

If you want a brilliant new system for creating and remembering passwords go to the Oxford Internet Institute website here: https://passwordcard.oii.ox.ac.uk/ This is a fantastic system!

Monday 10 October 2011

The Circle of Life - How Family Support Helps Breed Success

I was watching the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend and saw a few shots on television which got me thinking.

Jenson Button's dad was there. Sebastian Vettel's dad was there. Mark Webber's dad was there. Felippe Massa's dad was there.

They were all there supporting their son's in the race. There was something special about it, it felt good to see the dad's all intently focused on the TV screens in the pit garages as they cheered their sons on. I'll never forget the passion John Button showed at Brazil when his son Jenson won the World Champioship.
This photo was taken in Japan as Jenson's dad and Sebastian Vettel's dad watched their sons on the podium.
My Dad's Support
It reminded me of my school days when I played football for my school and a local league club team. My dad came to every home game we played. It was magic to have him stood there on the sidelines cheering me on. I was a goalkeeper and his cheers when I made a great save filled me full of pride and  his encouraging words as I picked the ball out of the back of my net after the opposition had scored were a huge help to me.

There is no doubt when dad was at a game I stepped up my efforts and played much better in those matches. He was great with the other players too and I often got comments from some of the others such as "I wish I had a dad who was cool like your's." And "My dad never comes to our games, you're so lucky."

Affect our Parents Have

And it got me thinking about our businesses and the affect our parents have had on our success. Now don't get me wrong - I'm not giving you an excuse to blame your parents on any lack of current success!

My dad was always there for me and never stole any of my dreams; quite the opposite; he encouraged me to reach for the moon. In fact, when I went to him back in 1988 with the idea to join me in an MLM business, NSA, selling water filters, he came to a meeting and joined there and then. We built a great little business when his doctor and accountant joined the network. It was so cool to be working with my dad on a part time business.

I lost my dad to cancer in 2000 and I really miss his support, advice and guidance. But I'm lucky; I've got a great step-father who is also always there for me and his constant support and advice has been priceless. Thanks Al!!

Amazing Support of my Step-Father

My day to day business activities are varied and now I'm a non-executive director of Nominet my work load has increased dramatically and it's been invaluable to have my step-father to talk to and get advice and opinions.

To have had great advice and support during those moments when a key decision in my life has been needed, have made a huge difference in my life. We've all been there when we reach those crossroads and we have to decide what the right next step is. When we get head hunted or when we've been made redundant - what next? What do we do? These are my options but which one is the right one? To have our parents there for those key moments is priceless.

My Wonderful Mum
My Mum is always there for me. We speak every other day on the phone and she is the best listener in the world. I ring her and tell her everything and she just listens and then offers her support and opinion. She's amazing. I love you Mum! xx

Cancer Research UK

When dad died I decided to raise money for Imperial Cancer Research, now Cancer Research UK, in his memory. To date I've raised just over £20,000 for CRUK and I'm so, so proud. I took up triathlon in 2001 and have done 8 triathlons all for charity to raise money in dad's memory. My website
www.formydad.co.uk has more information if you're interested.

I'll never forget doing the Crystal Palace triathlon and my mum and step-father came along to cheer me on. Having swum and biked I then had to run 6.5 miles and the final part was a couple of laps inside the awesome Crystal Palace athletic track. As I entered the stadium I was struggling; my legs hurt and my breathing was really laboured. Then I saw my step-father going nuts, shouting and cheering me on and I nearly broke down in tears there and then. It was amazing and although I was on my last legs his encouragement got me round those last laps of the track. A really special day.

My father-in-law has made a huge difference to my life too. As a successful businessman his advice has been so valuable and he too supports and encourages me. He came along to my very first triathlon in Stratford-upon-Avon and he printed two huge banners with my name on with an image of a runner!

This photo of it is in a bar when my wife, father-in-law and friends enjoyed lunch whilst I was racing round the countryside on my bike!

So our parents are so important in our early lives and I am blessed to have a gorgeous mum and wonderful step-father and to have had the best dad in the world. They made me the guy I am today, their encouragement and support was life changing and I thank you Mum and Al and Dad from the bottom of my heart. Our parent-in-laws can also make a huge difference too. I love you all so much xxx

However, other guys I know weren't so lucky and aren't so lucky even now. Many of the guys I've met didn't have a decent relationship with their dads and it's proved critical. I know two such men from my city days who's dad's were never there for them. Too busy working or away on business and one dad who was just so old fashioned that they had never hugged or embraced. How sad is that?

Now I know I'm more tactile than most but the bond with a father and son is special and those hugs are so important. And their help and support is vital in our up bringing.


The circle of life

Its made me realise that we need to be there for our children and we need our parents to be there for us too. It's like the circle of life. I need the support, encouragement and advice of my parents and my daughter needs the same.

I'll never miss another of my daughter's swimming galas or any future sporting occasion. Recently I've taken her karting in Bristol and she really enjoys it. Who knows - one day maybe I'll be flying round the world to support her as she races in F1!! Now wouldn't that be cool?!

I work from home a lot of the time and I am so thankful for that. This gives me the flexibility to be able to go along to her school to support her, like my dad used to support me. Recently she was playing her guitar in a school concert. I moved heaven and earth to be there and her face lit up when she saw me and my wife walk in. That meant everything to me and more importantly, it meant everything to our daughter.

Be there for your children

So think about your business and your life and if you have children then think about the positive affect you can have on their lives. Life is so fragile - here today, gone tomorrow. Don't let work rule your life. If your son or daughter has sports day or a football match or hockey game, then drop everything and make sure you're there on the sidelines cheering them on.

When you come home from a busy day at the office and your son or daughter comes running up to tell you all about their day at school, make sure you take the time to listen to them. And I mean really listen to them. Give them your undivided attention and show them how much you truly care.

And as they go out into the world to make their fortune remember how important your love, encouragement, support and advice is in helping their success.

Start making a difference today. When your children come home tonight, tell them how proud you and how much you love them. Hug them. And make sure you're at their next big school occasion.


Call them today
If your children are older and working, stop what you're doing and call them and tell them how proud you are. It will make their day. Make the time to meet up with them and spend time with them. It's so easy in today's busy world not to make time for family, but it's the bed rock of the circle of life.

And don't forget your parents - even if they haven't always been there for you - just pick up the phone and call them too. Call them and tell them you love them and thank them for all their support and tell them how proud you are to have them as your mum and dad. And then book a date to go and see them and make it one to remember.

If you haven't got children and you've lost your parents - then call me and I'll tell you how proud I am of you!  My mobile is 07976 614043 of you can email at dickie at dickiearmour.me.uk

Don't let life take over and smother you - take time out to tell your loved ones you truly care and that you are so proud of them. Take time to be there at those major events in their life to support them. Support your children emotionally and thank your parents for everything they've done for you.

You can't imagine the difference it will make to them.

Friday 23 September 2011

I'm So Sorry I Don't Always Notice Your Retweets!

I just wanted to post a quick blog post to say thank you to you if you have been retweeting some of my tweets on Twitter. I'm so sorry I don't always notice your RTs.

I've realised over the last few months that many of you have been sending out RTs of my content and yet they don't appear in my @ mentions feed in Twitter, Hootsuite, Tweetdeck or any other 3rd party Twitter app.

It will be the same for you too. If you're on Twitter and you're sending out tweets with interesting content you can bet that people will have retweeted your tweets and you won't have noticed either.

This is because there are 2 kinds of retweets on Twitter.
  1. The straight forward retweet where you just click the RT button
  2. The retweet with a comment

If you just do a straight forward RT they will not appear in the mentions feed of the person you retweeted.

So for all of you who have been RTing my content but I haven't thanked - then I'm truly sorry. Please forgive me - truly; I didn't notice. It's not that I'm NOT listening. Far from it. It's just one of the many quirks of the Twitter platform.

So if you want to make sure the person you are RTing notices the fact that you've retweeted his or her content, make sure you don't use the Twitter website. Instead use a 3rd party app such as Hootsuite or Tweetdeck.

When I'm RTing I usually like to add a comment at the end of the RT so people actually know I've taken the time to either read the article which they tweeted about or make a relevant comment. I think it's a nice thing to do.

If you just use the Twitter website then when you click the retweet link you have no option to add a message. The tweet is just retweeted without any comment from you.

The other reason I like to use the newer method of RTing via Hootsuite is because sometimes people's original tweets are too long, so I have to precis the tweet before I can RT.

So always make sure you don't go over about 104 characters with your tweets. You can read more about the reasons why in a previous post - Twitter Retweet Advice

So again, I'm so sorry I don't always notice your RTs, but thank you so much for sharing my tweets and I look forward to staying connected with you online and off line too.

Thursday 8 September 2011

I'm Going to Miss Y'All, Trey

Trey Pennington
I won't forget Sunday 4th September, EVER. 
6:15pm UK time. I lost a friend and mentor - Trey Pennington.

We are all new to social media but social media isn't new. As Nick Tadd put it at What's Next - Cardiff in May - social media has been around since the cavemen days. We've always used different media to be social. But today's tools such as Twitter, Facebook, Google + etc have changed social media into an instant, on-demand, always on world.

I like the Social Media Train journey analogy which I first heard at Like Minds in October 2009. I wrote a couple of blog posts about it back in Dec 2009 and Jan 2010.
Social Media - Why You Need to be On Board

The Social Media Train Journey - What to do Once You're On Board

My "birth date" on Twitter is 23rd Jan 2009 so I'm fairly new, like most of us. And thanks to Like Minds I met Trey in October 2009, quite early on. Only 2 years ago, but such is the power of Twitter and Facebook and the telephone and email - during those 2 years Trey and I became good friends. He was my mentor in many ways on social media. I always had huge respect for him. He was just the nicest guy you could ever wish to meet. He was someone who made you feel special, he gave first without ever questioning what he would or could get in return.

Thanks to Trey's busy UK speaking schedule we were able to meet up and hang out quite a few times. One of my fondest memories of Trey was he always had his video camera with mini-boom mike at the ready!

Spot his video camera on the shelf behind him in this photo of us in Bristol, UK in June 2010.
And I loved the fact he was so keen to interview as many people as possible. He was great at that; at giving exposure to others first.

At that first Like Minds conference in Exeter I remember meeting Trey and Olivier and we hit it off right away.

Dickie, Trey and Vanessa - Like Minds 2010
Please do read Olivier's amazing blog "Heartbroken" to give you an idea of how close they both were. One of the founders of Like Minds, Scott Gould aslo wrote a lovely blog - Trey Pennington - Like Minds Loses a Piece of it's Heart. Two very moving blog posts!

I remember Trey came out with a phrase "Dollars and cents - pounds and pence" and liked it so much he asked someone to tweet it. My tweet appeared on the TwitterFall behind Trey; he turned round to look and laughed.

I also played a very small role in chauffeuring Trey to a couple of events. The first was to a social media monitoring conference in London.

Trey's comment in reply to me.
The other was in May this year when I picked him up from London Gatwick and drove him to Cardiff for the What's Next event. Unbeknown to me, Trey was filming in the airport as he came through Passport Control and wrote a blog post featuring it. What’s the ROI of social media? How about exploring the VALUE of social media?
In just a short time we met up face to face on 9 seperate occasions and with all the tweets and Facebook posts and blog comments we had between us, were able to build a strong bond. I looked up to Trey and used him as a mentor. He set some brilliant examples of how to use social media. He always talked about the three fold need of humans:
  • Everyone wants to be heard
  • Everyone wants to be understood
  • Everyone wants to know his or her life matters
    Trey was the perfect example of making sure he helped as many people achieve this and I can't thank him enough for everything he did for me.
    I was so devasated to have been out on Sauturday night when Trey posted a couple of posts on my Facebook wall. I didn't know it then, but less than 24 hours later Trey would be gone and I missed my final chance to speak to him and I am gutted. :-(



    Trey was a real modern day "George Bailey" who's life affected so many others in such an amazing way and positive way. If Trey had never been born, the world would have been a very different place. The Social Media landscape would have been completely different. Trey contributed so much to so many and sadly, because of that, perhaps never took enough time to spend on himself. To make sure he was heard, understood and recognised.

    And I so, so wish Trey's "Clarence" had come down to save him in time. To have been able to show him that his life, really was a wonderful life.

    Monday 15 August 2011

    I Don't Have the Time to Use Social Media!


    It still amazes me how many businesses aren't using social media. Last week I was on an online forum where a lady was saying social media is just a waste of time. I gave a talk recently and I asked 4 questions:
    1.      How many of you are on LinkedIn? Everyone raised their hands.
    2.      How many of you are on Twitter? Half the hands dropped
    3.      How many of you have a Facebook business page? Only 5 people kept their hands up.
    4.      How many of you have a YouTube channel? Only 2 people kept up their hands and one of them was me!
                                                                           
    Most of the audience had smartphones; iPhones and Androids etc and yet they weren't really using social media and one of the biggest reason people give me is they don't have the time. And the answer to question 1 is a bit misleading. The fact that everyone put their hands up doesn't tell the full story. We might all be on LinkedIn but in most cases all we have is a profile. To find out how you should be using LinkedIn see my blog post - How to use LinkedIn Effectively for Your Business

    It takes too long - where do you find the time?
    I get this question quite a lot. I try to answer it honestly. To begin with it can take a few hours out of your day whilst you learn how to use each platform but once you are familiar with Twitter, Facebook, Google+ etc then you can dip in and out throughout the day when you have a spare 5 or 10 minutes.  And don't even begin to pretend you're too busy and never have 5 minutes spare!
    Think about your average day
    It's the same for all of us - we only have 24 hours each day! And in fact, many of our daily routines are the same. Travelling to work, waiting for the kettle to boil, going to the loo, waiting for a train or bus, and waiting for a meeting.
    There are always 5 or 10 minute gaps in our day which we can use to dip into social media.

       How do you get to work? Train, tube or bus?
    Then you've got time whilst you're travelling. I know London Underground only has reception on limited parts of the network but if you're travelling by train you normally get 2 or 3 minutes on the platform when waiting for your next train. I see people on the bus everyday who just sit staring out the window. This is a perfect time to dip into Twitter and Facebook to see what conversations are going on.
       Making a cup of tea or coffee
    The kettle takes about 3 minutes to boil. Perfect time for a quick look at Twitter.
       Going to the loo!
    The perfect sit down time to catch up with your social media activities!
       Whilst printing multiple documents
    On my printer it can take 4 to 5 minutes to print out hand out sheets. This is a perfect time for me to dip into Google Reader and find a few good blog posts which I can schedule to send on Twitter.
       Whilst on hold to a call centre
    This can take hours sometimes & people say they don't have time! I was on hold this morning to ADT, our alarm company to book a routine inspection. I was on hold for 6 minutes. I had the handset on loudspeaker and used that time to catch up on LinkedIn, accept connections and join in a conversation in one of my groups.
       Waiting for the start of a conference or training session
    We've all been in the situation where we're at a conference, sat waiting for it to begin. This is a great time to get out your smartphone, iPad or laptop and quickly check Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+ and Twitter.
    When I'm at a conference or training day I like to take photos of the presenters/speakers and post them to Twitter. 
       During a conference
    Nowadays it's become acceptable that members of the audience will be tweeting during the conference. This can be seen by some as being rude. People on mobile devices tweeting are not concentrating on the speaker! Whilst I get that; I prefer to flip it on it's head and think of all the free publicty the speakers and the conferences are getting nowadays, with many people tweeting about it. (Assuming that it's good publicity! It works both ways of course!)
       Waiting for an appointment
    The great thing with smartphones is we always have them with us and they are so quick and easy to use. Sitting in a reception area waiting to go into an appointment is a good time to check in.
       Sat in your car between meetings
    I often arrive early for some of my meetings. I love using this time on social media. I just sit in my car and catch up.
       On the commute home
    Great time to wish people on Twitter a nice evening and see how their days have gone. It doesn't take long to jump into Facebook and add some comments and Likes to your contacts' pages.
       Watching TV in the evening
    This is the time when I go through Google Reader and choose the articles and blog posts which I'm going to post on Twitter and Facebook and Google +.
    I use Hootsuite and I schedule a lot of my content and I like to do this in front of the TV. My wife often likes to watch stuff I'm not into so I can still sit with her, but instead of wasting time while a TV show I'm not interested in washes over me; I sit and schedule some of my daily content for the coming week.

    You CAN Find the Time
    You have to change your thinking on social media - it's just another tool in your marketing tool box so you must spend some time on your strategy and creating your content. But people I speak to don't think spending time on social media is real work! It absolutely is real work and the sooner you reset your thinking on this and realise it is work and time spent on social media is a good investment of your time, the better.
    Only then will you start to take it seriously and begin to find the time in your day when you can dip into social media.

    Please share how you find the time.
    How do you use social media? What are the times in your day when you dip into Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and LinkedIn?

    Thursday 4 August 2011

    7 Brilliant Business & Personal Development Audio Books


    I love reading and my current focus has been on business books across quite a wide range from business, Internet marketing, personal success, positive thinking and social media. But a few months ago a good friend of mine, Stuart Edmonstone, introduced me to Darren Hardy. Darren is a best selling author and the founder of Entrepreneur Magazine. His audio series, "The Compound Effect" is excellent and in one section of it Darren refers to how we can better spend our spare time. For example whilst driving he suggest instead of listening to the radio or a music CD we would be wiser spending that time in our car listening to business and personal development audio books.
    I have followed Darren's advice and thought I'd share my top 7 Business and Personal Development Audio books with you.

    Business
    1. Awaken the Entrepreneur Within by Michael E. Gerber
    2. The Most Successful Small Business in the World by Michael E. Gerber
    3. Flight Plan: The Real Secret of Success by Brian Tracey
    4. Motivation: The Key to Accomplishment by Zig Ziglar

    5. Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill



    6. The Compound Effect by Darren Hardy



    7. The Mental Game of Life by Topher Morrison


    These are not listed in any particular order but my favourite is without doubt Think & Grow Rich. I downloaded my copy from iTunes and I have to say it's a great source for brilliant audio books.
    I hope you'll try some or all of these audios and please share your favourite business and personal development audio books.

    Thursday 7 July 2011

    How to Use LinkedIn Effectively for your Business

    LinkedIn is one of the most popular social media networks especially for business. There are over 101 million people on it, with the UK being the 3rd largest country of users with just over 6 million.
    For full stats from January 2011 see http://www.slideshare.net/amover/linked-in-demographics-and-statistics-2011

    But I've found from talking to loads of local business people that most people tend to just have a profile and in many cases they haven't got a 100% filled in profile.

    I was lucky enough to attend a brilliant Social Media conference - What's Next 2011 - in Cardiff a few weeks ago. There were some incredible speakers and for me the 3 highlights were Trey Pennington, Mark Perl and Nick Tadd.

    Mark Perl did a brilliant session on LinkedIn. Mark's energy and enthusiasm is infectious and he showed us how to use LinkedIn for business. And I thought it might be useful to share my 4 top take homes with you.

    1. Your Connections' Connections
    Mark pointed out the importance of our connections. He explained that they all know people who we could do business with. It seemed so obvious after he pointed this out to us!
    We spend time each week cold calling and trying to get in front of key decision makers and yet we've got a huge pool of potential customers right in front our noses on LinkedIn.
    Mark shared with us how we should spend some time looking at our connections' connections to see who they know. Assuming we know who our ideal customer is then we can look for them within that pool of connections.
    Mark explained how he'd been trying to get hold of this guy - John Smith- and after a search on LinkedIn he saw that one of his connections - Steve - was connected to John Smith. So Mark called Steve and explained he'd love an intro to John Smith. Mark explained what he did and how he was going to help John and Steve was so impressed he said he'd be happy to get in touch with John and tell him all about Mark.
    A few days later imagine Mark's surprise when he got a call out of the blue from John Smith, the guy he'd been trying to connect with! Steve had called John and because they knew each other; liked each other and trusted each other, John took Steve's word that Mark was a good guy and John was happy to get in touch.
    So instead of Mark having to cold call John, the opposite happened! John called Mark and was a very warm lead thanks to the power of the referral from Steve.
    Isn't that much better then wasting time cold-calling and trying to get past gate keepers?!!

    So take a 15 or 20 minutes, at least once a week, to go through your connections and see if they know the people you're looking to connect with and if they do, ask them for an introduction. You'll be amazed at what can happen.

    2. Join Groups & Get Involved
    One of the other areas we often over look is Groups.
    There are thousands of Groups on LinkedIn and so there will definitely be a few which are relevant to you and your business.
    For example, I'm a member of a Group called Business Link in the South West as that's where I'm based and its a great group for connecting with other business people in my area.
    You can also create your own group. If you want to create a Group based on your area of expertise you can. You can then invite your other connections to join your new Group.
    Once you've found some groups which are relevant to your business, get involved by posting a question if you need help or dive in and answer a question that has been asked by one of the other members of the group.
    When you do this your photo appears next to your posting along with a link to your LinkedIn profile page. So it's a great way for people to find out more about you.
    If you are answering questions and being as helpful as possible the chances are other people will notice you and want to find out more about you.
    The only downside to some groups is you see people trying to answer questions just to position themselves and offer their services or products. As with all social media platforms; it's NOT about broadcasting or touting for business. If you try and do this, you will be found out very quickly.
    Try to remember the Know - Like - Trust mantra. People tend to do business with people they know and like and trust so there is no point at all in trying to sell.
    Be a genuinely nice person and be as helpful as you can with your advice and you will build a good reputation. Then, and only then, will the business flow.

    3. Give Testimonials
    This was another gem from Mark Perl. I tried this last week and it felt great and I got some wonderful messages back from people.
    The other good thing about giving testimonials to others is that some of the people will return the favour. Now please note - you don't just give testimonials because you want them to give you a testimonial in return!! You have to genuinely want to give someone a testimonial because you think and believe they truly deserve it.
    Have a look through your connections and see who you've done business with who you think deserves a testimonial from you; or find a work colleague and give them a testimonial. Try to find two or three people each week and give them a testimonial. This isn't a hard and fast rule; you might only do 2 or 3 a month. Just go with what feels right for you.
    It is a great feeling when you do give someone a testimonial. I knew they would be happy and I imagined their reaction as they got the email from LinkedIn telling them about my testimonial. I love it when I receive a nice testimonial from others; it sets you up for the rest of your day.
    So get cracking and start giving testimonials to those people you think deserve it.  

    4. Complete your Profile
    There are a couple of reasons for doing this.
    • Other people looking at your profile want to know as much about you as possible. The more information you can give the better. If you are using LinkedIn to find other job opportunities then obviously you must give a full career history as possible.
    • Whenever you update your profile, your connections will see this in their timeline. LinkedIn also sends out a weekly email update which tells you which of your connections have updated their profile; changed photo etc. It also tells you who your connections are now connected to.
    • Your profile will appear very high on the search engines results. If you search my name "Dickie Armour" on Google you'll see my LinkedIn profile appears 5th on the search result.
    So make sure you complete your profile and update it often. Every time it's updated your connections will be notified and this brings you back into their minds again.

    These are just my 4 top take homes from Mark Perl's brilliant talk at the Social Media conference - What's Next 2011 in Cardiff. If you really want to learn how to use LinkedIn properly I highly recommend you get in touch with Mark Perl. He'll give you all the help and guidance you need.


    So get going - make sure you spend time looking into your connections' connections and asking for referrals to those key decidion makers you want to speak to. Join the Groups you're interested in and get involved in the conversations going on there. Please give testimonials; you'll feel great and you'll feel even better when people start giving you testimonials and get your profile completed to 100% and keep it updated.

    If you know me and we're not already connected on LinkedIn my profile is http://www.linkedin.com/in/dickiearmour Please do connect and if I know you I will of course accept.

    Please do add your comments below and share how you're using LinkedIn.

    Tuesday 3 May 2011

    Think and Grow Rich - Very Special Offer!

    I've been a big fan of Napoleon Hill since I first read his brilliant book Think and Grow Rich back in the late 1980's.
    It's amazing that it was written nearly 100 years ago! Everyone should read this book and in fact I have a very special offer for you at the end of this blog post.

    Parallels
    I love the parallels between the depression of 1929 and today, as we struggle out of our current ongoing recession, which many have referred to as a depression. With the last budget, it seems that we're not quite out of the woods yet!

    Hill refers to the 1930s as being a time of great opportunity and it very much feels like that today. In his book he runs us through his thirteen steps to riches, but it's not just about the money. Each step has so many tips and tricks on how we can simply set ourselves up to succeed.

    The New Way of Marketing Services
    In the chapter on Organised Planning Hill refers to "The New Way of Marketing Services". This section blew me away! He was so ahead of his time on this stuff. He refers to how companies need to care more about their employees and their customers and how we should be treating our customers with courtesy and great service. He refers to his QQS rating which is brilliant!

    Q uality
    Q uantity

    S pirit

    Summed up, it means we should give the best quality of service in the quantity we are capable of (meaning to do everything we possibly can) and in the best possible spirit by being courteous and caring and with a smile.

    This was 1929 remember! I was constantly amazed as I read Think and Grow Rich and had to keep reminding myself that it was written such a long time ago. Hill even refers to how the bankers have had to change their attitudes and how they engage with their customers. It could have been written last week!!

    The book was originally priced at $2.50 and the publisher ordered a print run of 5,000 copies which was a bit optomistic at the time. These 5,000 copies sold out in just 3 weeks! And it's gone on to sell millions of copies all over the world!

    It's amazing to me that all those years ago Hill claimed that thoughts become things and stated the now well known quote:

    "Whatever the human mind can conceive and believe, it can acheive."


    He made these claims at a time when people were locked up for out of the ordinary thinking and claims!

    Here's a wonderful video of Napoleon Hill explaning how he met Andrew Carnegie and he outlines the main theory behind his book.




    You get what you focus on

    Many people I know still don't accept the simple fact that our thoughts can and do become a reality. I used to play a lot of golf and it's a great example of getting what you think about and focus on. Imagine lining up to play your next shot which is over water. If you don't catch your thoughts in time, you won't be able to stop yourself from focusing on the water and saying things like, "I must not go in the water. I must not land in the water. I must not hit my shot short." This is not ideal and you can imagine the end result. You'll land your golf ball in the water because that's what you were focusing on!

    Instead, you should focus on the green and just ignore any hazards such as water or bunkers, but human nature leads us to focus on the things we don't want. Think about it, whenever we ask people what they want they easily come back with a list of the things they don't want, but very few people know with absolute clarity what it is they DO want.


    Think and Grow Rich is a truly remarkable book and if you haven't read it then I urge you to get yourself a copy and take time out to read it from cover to cover.

    My Offer!!
    So as promised earlier, I have a very special offer for you. Every fortnight from May 3rd for the rest of 2011 I am giving away a FREE hardback copy of Think and Grow Rich.

    To be in with your chance of winning a copy you just have to do 2 things:
    1. Follow me on Twitter - @dickiearmour
    2. Like the Business Mentors Club Facebook page

    That's it. As long as you've liked the Business Mentors Club Facebook page and you're following me on Twitter, your name will be added into the draw every two weeks for the rest of the year. So you'll have 17 chances to win!

    My eight year old daughter will randomly select a person every 2 weeks from a hat and the winner will receive a copy of the book.

    Please go to www.thinkandgrowrichoffer.co.uk for more details.

    Monday 11 April 2011

    It's NOT about me - it's all about YOU!

    This week I've decided to start a little bit of promoting via Twitter.

    I've got a few followers now and I was thinking about how I could help them. What's the point of us all being connected if we don't get to know each other? But it's tricky.

    We are all mega busy, running around each day, running our businesses, wading through hundreds of emails, arranging meetings, looking afer customers, more meetings, business networking, tweeting, Facebook postings, LinkedIn discussions, Q&A on Quora, conversations on Ecademy, wandering aimlessly around Second Life, recording videos, uploading them to YouTube and Viddler and Vimeo, tweeting, recording audios, uploading them to audioboo or burning them to CD, or trying to figure out how to get them onto our website, tweeting, writing blogs, writing books, writing eBooks, writing posts on forums, email marketing, writing press releases, arranging your new business cards, doing your accounts, keeping on top of your cash flow and so on and so on and so on!

    And that's just the business side of things. Our personal lives can be just as hectic and we often have to find time to make arrangements for that during our working hours too. Looking after our loved ones, arranging parties, booking holidays, school trips, children's activities during the holidays, arranging the Mum & Dad taxi service for all your children's parties and functions, shopping, family visits etc...

    So I know you're all busy.

    Which is why I thought I'd spend some time this week helping you.

    I'm going to radmomly promote 2 of my followers' businesses on Twitter every day this week. At 11:30am and 2:30pm  and 11:45am and 2:45pm each day, UK time.

    I love people and I love helping people and I realised that whilst I do ReTweet a lot of people's content; I've not done much promoting of other people's businesses.

    Zig Ziglar said "If we help enough people get what they want, we'll eventually get what we want".

    I hope this will bring me closer to some of my followers and we will get to know each other. I think that's one of the wonderful things about life; it will be great to surprise a few followers with my tweets and it's just nice to help people.I know how it feels when I get a testimonial from someone or when someone says something nice about me and my business.

    It's those random acts of kindness that we don't often make enough time for in life. So many people are too busy bigging themselves up and trying to sell and promote their own products and services that they forget about the other people. It's NOT about me! It's all about YOU!

    So I'm sorry I can't help with your hectic daily schedules in your business and family lives! But I hope my random week of kindness will at least put a smile on your face and who knows - we may go from just being followers of each other on Twitter to real life friends.

    Friday 8 April 2011

    2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report

    Have you ever asked yourself any of these questions? “Where are my peers targeting their social media efforts? What benefits are they achieving? Where will they focus their future activities?”

    Look no further.

    All of the answers (and more) are right here in this free social media report from Michael Stelzner at Social Media Examiner.


    Social Media Marketing Industry Report 2011 from Michael A. Stelzner on Vimeo.

    To understand how marketers are using social media, Social Media Examiner commissioned the 2011 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.

    They set out to uncover the “who, what, where, when and why” of social media marketing with this report.

    A significant 3,300 social media marketers provided valuable insight you won’t find elsewhere. In this free report, you’ll discover:
    • The top 10 social media questions marketers want answered
    • How much time marketers invest with social media activities
    • The top benefits of social media marketing and how time invested affects results
    • The most used social media tools and services
    • Marketers’ future social media plans
    • Activities social media marketers are outsourcing
    • And much more!
    If you’re responsible for marketing your business, you’ll want to closely analyze the pages of this free 41-page report and use it to persuade others.

    Remember, the nature of social media is to “share,” so if you like the report, please let your peers know about it.

    >> Download the report here by right-clicking (control click on Macs). NOTE: Having trouble downloading? The file is large and may not display properly in some browsers. Try right-clicking (or control-click on Mac) to save it to your hard drive.

    What do you think about these findings? Please share your comments in the box below.