Social media expert or wannabe? ... or how to spot a fake social media expert.Let me start this piece by saying that I am not a social media “expert”. I use social media for marketing and promoting my business, but It is not a service that I routinely do for people. What frustrates me is people that claim to be experts in helping businesses in social media, but are blatantly not.The more you look around, the more people there are that proport to be “experts” in this area. Why are there … [Read more...] about Social media expert or wannabe?
How to get 1000s of followers on Twitter
How to get 1000s of followers on Twitter So just how to get 1000s of followers on Twitter.. quickly? Well maybe you can't - at least not in the way you are expecting or many spammers will have you believe is possible.One of the ways that smaller (and big) business can attract customers is through social media. Twitter for a variety of reasons has become very popular. A short lesson from history about twitter In the past when we wanted to market we needed mailing lists of thousands or … [Read more...] about How to get 1000s of followers on Twitter
7 reasons why I might follow you on Twitter
7 reasons why I might follow you on Twitter I have been asked on several occasions why I follow people. This list may seem strange to many reading this article, but it fits MY strategy for the @rapidbi account. It may not be right for you.When using any social media/ social business platform or technology, it is important to understand its strengths and weaknesses in the organisation (or culture/ context) in which it is being used. Then for each of us to develop a strategy or methodology as … [Read more...] about 7 reasons why I might follow you on Twitter
15 reasons I will unfollow you on twitter
Reasons I will unfollow you on twitter Following a post on connecting or more accurately not connecting on LinkedIn a few weeks ago, this prompted me to write a short series on other social networking tools.Please read this in the context of how and why I use Twitter. My/ our context for Twitter For me and the RapidBI team, Twitter is both a marketing and engagement tool. I (RapidBI) use twitter to reach potential customers or website users. My interest in you is as much about what you … [Read more...] about 15 reasons I will unfollow you on twitter
November 2011 Top 50 Business Coaches to Follow on Twitter
Evan Carmichaels' November 2011 Top 50 Business Coaches to Follow on Twitter Evey month Evan Carmichael publishes a number of top 50 blogs or tweeters to follow.http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4492/November-2011-Top-50-Business-Coaches-to-Follow-on-Twitter/November 2011 Top 50 Business Coaches to Follow on Twitter#1) @richardbranson - richardbranson - Founder of Virgin Group:@virgin#2) @DeepakChopra - Deepak Chopra#3) @tonyrobbins - Tony Robbins … [Read more...] about November 2011 Top 50 Business Coaches to Follow on Twitter
October 2011 Top 50 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter
Evan Carmichaels' October 2011 Top 50 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter Evey month Evan Carmichael publishes a number of top 50 blogs or tweeters to follow.http://www.evancarmichael.com/Business-Coach/4492/October-2011-Top-50-Leadership-Experts-to-Follow-on-Twitter/ #1) @richardbranson - richardbranson - Founder of Virgin Group:@virgin#2) @HarvardBiz - Harvard Biz Review - The latest Harvard Business Review blog posts, Management Tips of the Day, Daily … [Read more...] about October 2011 Top 50 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter
How to use Twitter for great customer service
Social Media & Customer Service Over the past few months I have been (un)fortunate enough to have experienced some very poor customer service in the context of relatively high value purchases. In each case after failing to have the problem acknowledged by the appropriate customer service channel I have put up a direct tweet or two, and the reactions have been curious.From a direct point of view I have had everything from very quick resolution through to being completely ignored. However … [Read more...] about How to use Twitter for great customer service
The Dangers of Social Networking – Duplicity
Social Networking Destroyed My Life Some months ago we published a humorous piece on "The Dangers of Social Networking in 2010". This was generally well received, and has been linked to by several other authors exploring the problems of using Twitter, FaceBook and other Social networking tools as part of business or education. There are some real dangers and some real opportunities in the business and learning contexts.Recently I have been reading more and more about teachers being … [Read more...] about The Dangers of Social Networking – Duplicity
Making Twitter Work for Business – #connectingHR
Making Twitter & Networking Work for Business At a networking event last night in London #connectingHRamonst the many discussions were several on Twitter and its use in HR and business. The event was the first independent HR based tweetup in the UK and was very successful and well attended - over 100 registered and I would estimate that approximately 60-70 people were in attendance.One comment I heard was "I expected it to be a room full of people on laptops and geeks, but these are real … [Read more...] about Making Twitter Work for Business – #connectingHR
Twitter as a marketing tool for training courses & events
Using Twitter to market your training event As the training market changes, increasingly more and more trainers are looking to promote their on-line and open courses events, But how do you get people to attend and how do you keep costs down?If you are a member of TrainerBase or Training journal (TJonline), both have the ability to promote your events, however it is doubtful if either can fill a course. Some use paid for services, where a high percentage of the revenue goes to attracting … [Read more...] about Twitter as a marketing tool for training courses & events
Twitter as a marketing & CRM tool
Twitter: your CRM & marketing channel. It's about more than just followers...Over the past 12 months in my twitter contributions I have often included tips to help those involved in using twitter for their business (marketing). I often get requests to publish a full set - so here is a list of my current thinking about using twitter as a tool for building relationships for future business. In no particular order (other than alphabetical)...Add value - share interesting or useful … [Read more...] about Twitter as a marketing & CRM tool
Twitter as a marketing tool for SMEs
Low cost marketing for smaller businesses on TwitterBudgets are tight, time is short and the emphasis for many businesses is sales, sales, sales. And this is correct - for today... but what about the sales next week, month, year?Gaining sales from existing customers is by far the most effective cost per sale according to much of the research, however gaining access to markets is getting harder. In the UK once upon a time it was easy:2 commercial TV stations Few commercial radio … [Read more...] about Twitter as a marketing tool for SMEs
Top Trend Survey – Top tools for learning in HR
As we get more and more connected, the tools we use for learning and finding learning are increasingly online and on mobile. I have recently completed an online CPD session focused on trends in learning. As well as hearing the views of top people in the industry, participants were invited to list their own top learning tools.Background to the Top Trend Survey module The session featured a video interview with Jane Hart from the Centre for Learning & Performance Technologies. Since … [Read more...] about Top Trend Survey – Top tools for learning in HR
Modern Marketing – You don’t know what you don’t know
The world of business, sales, marketing and communications is changing, the question is are you 'up' with the new strategies or will you be scampering around for the scraps after the main pack have eaten?Use of social media as a part of an organizations marketing and sales strategy should not be overlooked. 10 key questions to ask your senior managers (or yourself)Do you have enough information to decide whether to ignore or engage new technologies? Do you know what your … [Read more...] about Modern Marketing – You don’t know what you don’t know
make-the-most-of-social-media-for-marketing
Make the most of social media for marketing Ok so you are one of those people (like me) that uses social marketing sites as part of your marketing strategy?Is your approached integrated or haphazard? Did you know that you can feed your blog posts to your twitter account or face book etc?You have to be careful about content as each is a slightly different audience, however if you can have more activity with less effort all the better.Tools like Twitterfeed help take your blog … [Read more...] about make-the-most-of-social-media-for-marketing
Twitter as a training and learning tool – some examples
How to use Twitter as a training & learning tool In the last couple of weeks I have written a number of articles on the use of Twitter (micro-blogging platforms) which have proved of interest. Now is the time to take this further.Before we even look at how twitter can be used for learning, training and education, we need to understand the context before the content. While at a conference this week #iitt09 I was amazed at the number of 'trainers' that did not appear to understand the … [Read more...] about Twitter as a training and learning tool – some examples
Twitter as a learning aid – learning beyond university to informal learning
Learning beyond university to informal learning using micro-blogging Twitter can be used as a great aid to learning, but is it a replacement for traditional learning strategies?Following the publication of a recent post Why Twitter is good for learning we have received a significant amount of supportive feedback. However some academic based sites have criticised the piece without understanding some of the fundamentals of learning and what Twitter and other micro-blogging platforms are capable … [Read more...] about Twitter as a learning aid – learning beyond university to informal learning
Why Twitter is good for learning
Twitter the real brain friendly approach to informal learning Can Twitter be used as a training tool?The traditional approach to learning is to identify end to end learning that is required to achieve a new task. While this works for structured learning it is not very effective for informal or personal learning.The human brain does not think in large logical 'articles', instead it thinks of information in small chunks, of which they form the whole picture. the process is not logical. indeed … [Read more...] about Why Twitter is good for learning
Attracting clients in a freelance market space – lessons from MLM
How do we attract and retain clients when we are working as a freelancer? As trainers or consultants we get a meeting booked, we have a successful meeting and we are asked to submit a proposal. Often after submission of a proposal we are disappointed when we are not successful, thinking that it was a 'done deal' when we left the initial meeting. But how do we get the initial meetings? the more meetings, the more proposals, the more proposals the greater opportunity of a contract being … [Read more...] about Attracting clients in a freelance market space – lessons from MLM
Freelancing in training, coaching & consultancy: How to stand out from the crowd
Freelancing in training, coaching & consultancy Over the summer time (and early in the new year) we often reflect on our position and of our career options. Some of us start looking for new roles, others for different challenges like going freelance. In the current economic climate of course some of us may not have a choice.In this article I collate my experiences and those of other freelance providers. The list is presented in a (near) logical order, however the order presented is … [Read more...] about Freelancing in training, coaching & consultancy: How to stand out from the crowd
