About four years ago I decided that I would re-join the ranks of the self-employed and set up a consultancy business that was focused on giving other companies the knowledge and skills to use the Internet and the web more effectively to grow a business. I called it Grow a Better Business which now, four years later it has merged into another called Internet Mentor. However, the important thing about this was not the fact that I started this business, it was that I happened to live in Dorset which is one of the few counties where the Business Link service (soon to be defunct) provided real and tangible value to local business people. That value could be summed up in just two phrases ‘BusinessXchange‘ and ‘Rural Clubs‘. These were two networking groups (one breakfast and one supper) where you could go to meet others just like you. (more…)
4 key behaviours to adopt when posting links in LinkedIn Groups
7 SepIn the past I’ve posted a number of links to various things in relevant LinkedIn groups that I’m a member of and it occurred to me as I was doing this that it may be possible, in some really off the wall way, be construed as spamming the group. As a result I now face a dilemma as there is always more than one way to skin a cat as they say, when it comes to working with the network of people you have on LinkedIn. (more…)
Missing presumed dead: ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ have left the social web
11 AugWhen I was a child I looked forward to Christmas and birthdays with much anticipation because I knew that I would be showered with gifts from family and friends. However, one of the small inconveniences that my mother insisted on was that we neatly noted down who had sent the gift so that we could then spend a day following up with thank you letters. At first those thank you letters were written by my mother with a drawing (actually, more a scribble) from my siblings and I, later we progressed to writing our name, in large red crayon normally and finally we were tasked with the responsibility of managing our thank-you notes ourselves, choosing the day we wrote and then posted them. (more…)
Please don’t add me as a connection on LinkedIn unless you REALLY mean it!
1 JulIt’s not the numbers the count on LinkedIn but the relationship and being connected for the ‘right’ reasons. I’m particularly fed up with receiving the canned ‘I’d like to add you to my professional network‘ message that almost everyone sends. My immediate thought is always, ‘No you wouldn’t, if it were professional, you’d be approaching this in a professional manner’! (more…)
Building Brand YOU with Linkedin
1 FebTowards the back end of last month I was invited to present to the Dorset branch of the Chartered Institute of Marketing at a brand new event they were promoting designed to introduce members, students and academics to the benefits of digital marketing. My 15 minute slot was to be about Linkedin strategy, but what can you really talk about in just 15 minutes. Never one to pass up a good challenge though I set forth on the journey to condense the wonder that is Linkedin into just a quarter of an hour, hoping along the way to motivate those present to get started on building their personal brands. (more…)
LinkedIn Made Easy and a Kiva Update
22 MaySome time ago, you may well remember, I undertook a challenge to raise money for charity through the sale of my ebook, LinkedIn Made Easy. Whilst I didn’t reach the dizzy heights I’d hoped to, I did raise a reasonable amount and it has now all be distributed. (more…)
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