How networking changed my life AND my business

20 Sep

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. Continue reading →

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4 key behaviours to adopt when posting links in LinkedIn Groups

7 Sep

In 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. Continue reading →

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For Alex

3 Sep

Almost twelve months ago my cousin Alex died and the choir she belonged to sang this at her funeral.

I wrote about Alex many moons ago in Life, Death and Becoming a Writer and here Diamonds in the Desert of Cancer.

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How to make the ‘social’ in the social web work for your brand new book

15 Aug

I’ve been writing for a long time now; five non-fiction books written since 2005 and one short story (I’m also working on my first novel – but that’s a whole different kettle of fish it seems).  All are self published and one is a top seller on Amazon in the UK and the US, it’s been a hard road to travel but it’s been worth it and I’ve discovered that I love writing, I think I was born to be an author.  Continue reading →

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Missing presumed dead: ‘please’ and ‘thank-you’ have left the social web

11 Aug

When 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. Continue reading →

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The achievements that matter in life

29 Jul

When you are paid a compliment, no matter what it is or from whom you receive it, it makes you feel great.  You get a lovely warm glow inside that makes you go ‘ahhhhhhh’.  Even if you are one of those who find it difficult to accept, you still feel a million dollars and as if all the world is paying attention to just you.  Well I’ve been paid the most amazing compliment by a whole bunch of people who really matter to me.  The ladies of the Hysterectomy Association, who are the stalwarts of our forum and the Hysterectomy Association Facebook page have said publicly that they like me and it not only gives me that glow, it also makes me cry – quite a lot actually! In fact I haven’t stopped crying off and on since I first heard. Continue reading →

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