Business owners and entrepreneurs are renowned for having big dreams and ideas, but execution is another matter all together.  How can you succeed in executing those ideas?

How do you eat an elephant?

…One bite at a time

A simple answer often to complex questions:

How can we hit our 5 year goal? How to start the big project you have been putting off? How to grow to X?  Or how to turn your big dream into a reality.

Break it into manageable steps and focus on completing each step before moving onto the next.    It will allow you to start and you will be one step closer to succeeding.

Don´t underestimate the power of negative energy

We talk a lot about the power of positive energy but the same can be said for negative energy.

Feel overwhelmed?   Feel it is impossible?  How can you really expect to do that? What if you don´t succeed? What if you fail?  You fear the unknown. I am not qualified/experienced to do that. 

All of this uncertainty will hold you back and hinder your chances of success. It is natural, we all have doubts so we should recognise that it is the case for everyone not just us.  But instead of being beaten by them and focusing on the “what if” scenario, chose a small step forward and make that step this week.  You may still have the same nagging doubts after the first step but you will at least be one step closer to proving to yourself that you can do it. It is like crossing a river jumping from stone to stone, once you start you will find your path.

So what is your elephantine goal?  Are you hungry to eat it?

Here are 7 inspirational business videos on YouTube.

Sir Alan Sugar –  His words of wisdom on how he started his business empire given in his traditionally direct style.

Richard Branson´s advice for entrepreneurs

The Most Inspiring Thing Ever Said…

Brendon Burchard – Success and winning streaks on how to be an expert in your field by an internationally-acclaimed business guru

Inspirational Speeches in Pop Culture – 40 in 2 minutes

Dr. Marshall Goldsmith -  named winner of the prestigious 2011 Thinkers50 Leadership Award – as the World’s Most Influential Leadership Thinker, additionally ranking #7 on the overall list of Thinkers50 world’s top 50 business thinkers

American self made millionaire at aged 14 (I don´t know if I like to hear such business wisdom from a kid or not)

Hope you enjoyed them!

Everyone who lives in and around Barcelona will have received several telemarketing calls from the competing telephone and banking sectors. As someone who is interested in effective business techniques, I always make an attempt to listen to their pitch – after all, I want to hear how they are selling what they’re selling – and the product or service may be of genuine interest and benefit for me.

But I admit that there are times when the pitch is so poorly presented that I cannot bear it any longer and feel an overwhelming urge to hang up the phone. Other time, you hang in there for what feels like ages until they get to the ”real information” – what benefits it will bring you, what are the terms and conditions and how much it will cost. As well, the times of their calls can sometimes be considered questionable, going well outside standard “business” hours and intruding into personal time.

Learning from their mistakes

There is a lot we can learn from these kinds of calls. If they irritate you as a customer, it’s important to understand why. If you were put off, why exactly? Which of the elements put you off? Then, with your business hat on, go over your cold calling technique to try and understand if you have been doing any of them yourself. For example, are you timid or not forthcoming about the cost of your product or service? Are you presenting it in a way which may transmit that you are hiding important information? Are the benefits presented clearly and early on? Is your call appropriate to the circumstance and time of day?

There are many excellent sales techniques available in books, seminars and courses – some of which we ourselves produce – and it’s also helpful to learn from our day to day interactions with telemarketers.

Sometimes it’s easier to learn from other’s mistakes that your own!

(and sometimes why they don´t like it too) 

A summary of a few of the interesting stats from: BARCELONA EN CIFRAS 2011 by the Ajuntament de Barcelona.

• Average annual temperature in Barcelona  18,1ºC

• Barcelona has more than 1.600.000 citizens and is the central nucleus of a metropolitan region of close to  5.000.000 citizens, which represents 11% of the spanish population.

• Barcelona is home to 458.918 companies, that is to say, 14% of the total number in Spain.  They are made up of principally SME (small or medium-sized businesses – 98%), characterised by a high degree of flexibility and adaptability to a shifting business environment.

• It takes 48 hours to set up a new company in Barcelona.

THE BEST EUROPEAN CITIES IN TERMS OF QUALITY OF LIFE FOR THEIR WORKERS

1.  Barcelona
2.  Munich
3. Stockholm

Source: Cushman & Wakefield, European Cities Monitor 2010.

PRINCIPAL COUNTRIES TO EXPORT GOODS AND SERVICES FROM BARCELONA

1. France – 9,1%
2. Italy – 8,8%
3. Germany – 8,0%
4. Portugal – 4,9%
5. UK – 4,6%

FOREIGNERS IN BARCELONA BY COUNTRY OF ORIGIN (a selection)

•  Italy  - 22.002

• China  - 15.001

• France  - 11.524

• Argentina  - 8.107

• Brazil  - 7.178

• Romania –  6.592

• Germany  - 6.413

• UK  - 5.387

• Chile – 4.843

• México  - 4.227

• Total foreign population –  278.320

 RANKING OF EUROPEAN CITIES (in amount of visiting tourists) 

1. London 24.900.000
2. Paris 14.416.395
3. Berlin 8.262.957
4. Rome 7.737.404
5. Madrid 7.175.784
6. Barcelona 6.997.718
7. Dublin 5.476.000
8. Munich 4.983.632
9. Vienna 4.756.442
10. Amsterdam 4.627.700

• Barcelona occupies the 2nd position in the world rankings of organising meetings, conferences, trade-shows and congresses (Vienna is number one) and is also the second urban area with most hotel plazas in Europe.

 AVERAGE HOUSING PRICES IN BARCELONA

To rent (€/m2/month) 12.93

To buy a new home(€/m2) 5.242

To buy a second hand home (€/m2) 4.046

And these are the reasons why we live and work here

“European Cities Monitor” (2010)

5th best European city for business

2nd most progressive European city

1st European city for quality of life for its workers

4th most recognised European city 

“Scorecard on Prosperity” (2010)

3rd placed city in the global prosperity ranking

1st place ranked city for its attractiveness to work there.

“European cities and regions of the future” (2010 – 2011)

5th place city in Europe

1st place in Southern Europe

“World’s happiest cities”

3rd placed city in the world

“World’s best cities to eat well”

5th placed city in the world

“World Country & City Rankings”

2nd placed city in the world for organising international meetings.

“Best Conference Destination” (2010)

Silver – Barcelona (2nd position)

But the big shame…

“Prices and Earnings” (2010)

Worldwide comparison of net salaries

29th city in the world

So there are the statistics about Barcelona.  Now we must continue to improve on the current situation in Barcelona and I guess that is best done by hard-work and being ambitious.

Good luck,

Edward

p.s. you can download the entire presentation about Barcelona here (it is in Spanish):

www.freegreenbeans.com

(y a veces por esto que no les gusta) 

Un resumen de varias cifras del informe: BARCELONA EN CIFRAS 2011 del Ajuntament de Barcelona.

• Temperatura media anual en Barcelona  18,1ºC

• Barcelona, capital de Cataluña, cuenta con más de 1.600.000 habitantes y es el núcleo central de una región metropolitana que se acerca a los 5.000.000 de habitantes, que representan el 11% de la población española.

• Barcelona es sede de 458.918 empresas, es decir, el 14% del total de España. Se trata mayoritariamente de pymes (98%), caracterizadas por una mayor flexibilidad y capacidad de adaptación a entornos complejos.

• En Barcelona ciudad el tiempo necesario para la constitución de una nueva empresa es de 48 horas.

MEJORES CIUDADES EUROPEAS EN CALIDAD DE VIDA PARA LOS TRABAJADORES

1.  Barcelona
2.  Múnich
3. Estocolmo

Fuente: Cushman & Wakefield, European Cities Monitor 2010.

PRINCIPALES PAÍSES DE EXPORTACIÓN DE BARCELONA

1. Francia – 9,1%
2. Italia – 8,8%
3. Alemania – 8,0%
4. Portugal – 4,9%
5. Reino Unido – 4,6%

EXTRANJEROS EN BARCELONA POR PAÍSES (una selección)

•  Italia  - 22.002

• China  - 15.001

• Francia  - 11.524

• Argentina  - 8.107

• Brasil  - 7.178

• Rumanía –  6.592

• Alemania  - 6.413

• Reino Unido  - 5.387

• Chile – 4.843

• México  - 4.227

• Total población extranjera –  278.320

 RANKING DE CIUDADES EUROPEAS (en cantidad de turistas) 

1. Londres 24.900.000
2. París 14.416.395
3. Berlín 8.262.957
4. Roma 7.737.404
5. Madrid 7.175.784
6. Barcelona 6.997.718
7. Dublín 5.476.000
8. Múnich 4.983.632
9. Viena 4.756.442
10. Amsterdam 4.627.700

- elaboración de Turisme de Barcelona a partir de datos del TourMIS

• La ciudad cierra el año 2010 con máximos históricos en indicadores clave: 7.133.524 visitantes debido fundamentalmente al mayor número de viajeros extranjeros, y más de 14 millones de pernoctaciones, un 9,6% más que el año anterior.

• Barcelona ocupa la 2ª posición en el ranking mundial de organización de acontecimientos feriales y congresuales, y es también la segunda área urbana europea con más plazas hoteleras.  (Viena es numero uno).

 PRECIOS MEDIOS DE LA VIVIENDA EN BARCELONA

Alquiler (€/m2/mes) 12.93

Venta de vivienda nueva (€/m2) 5.242

Venta de vivienda de segunda mano (€/m2) 4.046

Y por estas razones que vivimos y trabajamos aquí

“European Cities Monitor” (2010)

5ª mejor ciudad europea para los negocios

2ª ciudad europea que más progresa

1ª ciudad europea en calidad de vida para los trabajadores

4ª ciudad europea más conocida 

“Scorecard on Prosperity” (2010)

3ª ciudad del ranking de prosperidad global

1ª ciudad del ranking de atractividad para el trabajo

“European cities and regions of the future” (2010 – 2011)

5ª ciudad de Europa

1ª ciudad del Sur de Europa

“World’s happiest cities”

3ª ciudad del mundo

“World’s best cities to eat well”

5ª ciudad del mundo

“World Country & City Rankings”

2ª ciudad del mundo en organización de reuniones internacionales

“Best Conference Destination” (2010)

Silver – Barcelona (2ª posición)

Y la verdadera lastima…

“Prices and Earnings” (2010)

Comparación mundial del salario neto

29ª ciudad global

Bueno, son las cifras pero ahora debemos avanzar la situación actual en Barcelona por ser trabajadores fuertes y ambiciosos.

Que tengas suerte,

Edward

p.s. se puede descargar la presentación entera de las destacadas de la economia de Barcelona aqui:

www.freegreenbeans.com

Durante 2011, expertos del mundo del marketing han reiterado que la pequeña empresa debía reconocer el cambio en la conducta de compras del consumidor. Tanto sus clientes son otra s empresas como si son el consumidor final, 2011 ha sido el año en el que se ha marcado a diferencia entre cómo se solían adquirir productos y servicios en el pasado y como se adquieren en el presente.

En la actualidad, los compradores el 70% de las pesquisas para comprar un producto o contratar un servicio antes de contactar con el proveedor potencial. De ello se desprende que es crucial para cualquier empresa conocer a los clientes más profundamente y a un mejor nivel. Ello permitirá a las empresas una visión desde dentro de las necesidades reales de los clientes y estarán mejor situadas para posicionar su mensaje y ajustar correctamente su oferta.

Si incrementar las ventas es uno de sus objetivos de crecimiento, puede utilizar estas herramientas gratuitas online  para tener un mayor conocimiento de su audiencia

1. Obtenga los datos de España

Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE): http://www.ine.es/en/welcome_en.htm

El INE, el organismo oficial de estadísticas del Gobierno español, tiene una página web bilingüe con acceso directo a datos de los diversos sectores de la industria. Sus fuentes se actualizan mensualmente y por ello puede obtener información concreta y actual sobre personas, lugares e industrias.

Por ejemplo, si su empresa ofrece servicios de asesoramiento personal para viajeros, puede obtener datos sobre los que tipo de persona viaja a Barcelona, de qué país, cuánto gasta y las razones por las que eligen esta ciudad como destino.

2. Comprender las tendencias globales de consumo 

Observar las tendencias: http://www.trendwatching.com

Trendwatching, la página que creó el término “popup” para describir un restaurante temporal tiene una oferta fascinante y analiza las tendencias globales. Su Newsletter es un resumen fácil de leer y entender que puede darle ideas sobre cómo posicionar su empresa, cómo crear nuevos productos que se ajustan a las tendencia emergentes y a comprender mejor las conductas de los compradores y los intereses de los consumidores

3. Herramientas Demográficas

Alexa: http://www.alexa.com

Puede averiguar más elementos sobre su clientela potencial si observa quien consulta las páginas webs de su sector industrial. Si echa un vistazo a algunas de las mayores empresas de su sector, puede identificar segmentos potenciales de audiencia y adivinar con conocimiento de causa quién toma las decisiones a la hora de comprar. Personalmente, me gusta mucho esta página porque tiene mucha información sobre cómo la gente encuentra su empresa o las de la competencia en Internet y también muestra quién incluye enlaces en sus páginas a esas empresas lo que la convierte en una lectura interesante.

Los perfiles demográficos pueden ser un poco limitados para las pequeñas empresas que no tienen muchas visitas online pero puede registrarse en Alexa de forma gratuita e ir recompilando datos demográficos de su página web.

Ejemplo: Si tiene un negocio de interiorismo, puede consultar la página getdecorating.com para saber cuál es el lector tipo. Según Alexa, 3.4% de los lectores de esta página son de España (alrededor de 340 visitas por día). Alexa tiene los datos sobre género, edad, nivel educativo y contenidos web. Puede utilizar estos datos internos para ajustar los mensajes promocionales de su empresa a los compradores y lectores de su sector.

4. Herramienta de gestión de fuentes de datos

Junar: http://www.alexa.com

En estos tiempos es muy fácil perderse en montañas de datos y hojas de cálculo. La startup Chilena Junar ofrece una interfaz sencilla para ayudarle a gestionar las fuentes de datos. Recientemente han introducido nuevas funciones gráficas que pueden también ayudarle a analizar los datos de estudio de mercado. Una de las mejores funcionalidades que ofrece herramienta online es que convierte automáticamente los datos de cualquier página web en una estructurada hoja de cálculo. A partir de esa hoja de cálculo puede elegir datos específicos y crear un gráfico.

5. Herramienta de visualización de información y datos

Popplet: http://www.popplet.com

Cuando se han recopilado de las diversas fuentes los datos e informaciones de su estudio de mercado, necesitamos reagruparlos para poder visualizarlos en su conjunto.

Popplet es una herramienta amena de ayuda visual e información organizativa que puede ayudar y ponerse en relación con el estudio de mercado y así dirigir sus mensajes a determinados sectores de audiencia. Pueden usarse popplets  para organizar toda la información como un mapa visual. Organizar la información de forma visual puede ayudar a relacionar determinados conceptos en los que no habíamos pensado y el uso de datos e imágenes puede poner en marcha todos sus sentidos para realizar un análisis más profundo.

La herramienta de análisis de Mercado más importante para el crecimiento de su empresa

Si bien todas estas herramientas gratuitas pueden ayudarle para analizar el mercado y su sector industrial con mayor profundidad, no hay que dejar de lado la más importante de todas: el tiempo. Se ha de intentar reservar un par de horas semanales para tener tiempo de efectuar tareas de análisis de mercado y conocer mejor a la audiencia. Herramientas como Junar and Popplet hacen el proceso más fácil y ameno. Intente integrar el análisis del mercado en sus actividades corrientes y podrá aumentar su clientela de base. Conocer su sector de mercado es esencial para hacer que su empresa siga desarrollándose y creciendo de acuerdo a las necesidades del cliente.

Artículo redactado en colaboración con Mark Boyd. Mark Boyd es un redactor freelance en Barcelona especializado en el uso de datos para ayudar a las empresas a crear contenidos y analizar resultados.

Throughout 2011, experts in marketing circles have been urging small businesses to recognise the changing nature of consumer buying behaviour. Whether your customers are other businesses or end consumers, 2011 has been the year that has drawn a line in the sand between how we used to buy products and services, and how we currently make our purchases.

Nowadays, as shoppers, we do 70% of our research about buying a product or hiring a service before our first contact with a potential supplier. As a result, it is crucial for all businesses to understand customers at a deeper and more accurate level. For businesses, this will give them insights into their customers’ real needs allowing them to better position their message and accurately focus their business offering.

If generating more sales leads is one of your business growth goals, you can use a range of free, online market research tools to better understand your audience. Let’s look at how you can cast a virtual net over the sea of data available to help you understand your market and better target your business opportunities.

1.         Get Spanish statistics

     National Institute of Statistics: http://www.ine.es/en/welcome_en.htm

The Spanish Government’s statistics agency INE has a bilingual website with ready access to data across a range of industry sectors. These sources are often updated monthly so you can get current, localized information about people,places and industries.

E.g.,if your business offers concierge services to travellers, you can get statistics on who travels to Barcelona, what country they come from, how much they spend, and their motivations for choosing this city as their travel destination

2.         Understanding Global consumer trends

    Trendwatching: trendwatching.com

Trendwatching, the website that termed the phrase “popup” to describe the temporary restaurant has a fascinating offering that examines global trends. Their newsletter is an easily digestible market research summary that can help guide your ideas about
how to position your business, how to create new products that match emerging trends, and how to better understand buyer behaviours and consumer interests.

3.         Demographic tools

      Alexa: www.alexa.com

You can learn a lot about your potential audience by seeing who reads the websites in your industry sector. By looking at some of the bigger companies in your industry, you can identify potential audience segments and make some educated guesses about who is responsible for making the buying decisions.  I really like this site as it has a lot of information about how people find you or your competitors online and it also shows who links to them which can make for very interesting reading.

Demographic profiles can be a bit limited for smaller businesses that don’t have a lot of online visitors, but you can register for Alexa for free and over time they will start compiling demographic data for your website.

E.g.if you run an interior decorating business, you could look at the readership of getdecorating.com to see the average
reader profile. According to Alexa, 3.4% of this site’s readers are from Spain (around 340 visitors each day). Alexa has data about the gender, age, education level, and website content topics. You can use these demographic insights to improve how you pitch your business promotional messages to readers and buyers in your market.

 4.         Data sources management tool

      Junar: www.junar.com

It is easy these days to drown yourself in data or bury yourself in spreadsheets. The Chilean-based startup Junar has a simple interface to help you manage your data sources. They recently introduced new graphing functions that also help you analyse your market research data. One of the best features of this online tool is that it can automatically turn any website with data into an organized spreadsheet. You can then select specific items in the spreadsheet and create a graph.

5.         Data and information visualization tool

      Popplet: www.popplet.com

When you have collected your market research data and information from a variety of sources, you will want to be able to lay it out in a way that draws all the components together.

Popplet is a fun visual aid and information mapping tool that can help you collate and connect your market research, so you can refine your business messages to particular audience segments. You can use popplets like a mind map to lay out all of your information. Seeing your information visually can help you make connections you may not have thought of, and the mix of using data and images can engage your left and right brain to deepen your insight.

The most important market research tool for your business growth

While all of these free tools can help you investigate your market and industry sector at a more accurate and useful depth, there is no escaping the most important tool of all: time. Try and allocate a couple of hours every week – or perhaps schedule a meeting-free day each month to give yourself time to carry out market research activities and get to know your audience better. Tools like Junar and Popplet make the process easy and more enjoyable, so start integrating market research into your operations so you can keep growing your customer base. Knowing your market is essential to keeping your business in development and growing your business to the needs of the consumer

This article was written in collaboration with Mark Boyd.  Mark Boyd is a freelance writer in Barcelona specializing in using data to help businesses create content and analyze results.

Un objetivo inteligente SMART es un objetivo, concreto, mensurable, alcanzable, importante y con un plazo determinado.

Concreto y Mensurable

Hace que su objetivo sea concreto y mensurable. Ejemplo: “aumentar las ventas por internet un 10%! es un buen ejemplo de objetivo concreto y mensurable mientras que “atraer más clientes” es un objetivo no concreto y mensurable.

¿Por qué hacer que el objetivo sea concreto y  mensurable ayuda? Si no es así, ¿Cómo se sabrá cuándo se ha alcanzado? No podrá valorarse su consecución si los objetivos son demasiados subjetivos. Fíjese un objetivo que le pueda demostrarse y que poder decir después “bien hecho, lo he conseguido”. Ese refuerzo positivo le ayudara para los objetivos de los próximos 90 días.

Alcanzable

Fíjese un objetivo realizable. No diga “quiero ser tan grande como Microsoft”  porque es irreal y no le motivará. De hecho, fijar objetivos imposibles tendrá el efecto contrario sobre usted y sus colaboradores: los desmotivará.

Fíjese alguna cosa que sea alcanzable pero… por otro lado…no  elija un objetivo tan fácil de alcanzar que no les empuje a usted y a su equipo a ser buenos ni los motive. Los objetivos han de suponer un desafío que logre sacar  lo mejor que hay en nosotros. (imagínese a usted mismo enrollando las hojas para hacer frente a su objetivo).

Relevante

Sus objetivos han de ser relevantes. ¿Para qué? Para usted y su equipo, el conjunto, su negocio. No elija un objetivo que no vaya a repercutir positivamente en alguno de ellos. Está eligiendo objetivos para los 90 días que también le sirvan para alcanzar los objetivos a largo plazo. No fije un objetivo pro el mero hecho de fijar un objetivo. Fíjese un objetivo que le ayude a lograr algo que realmente desee.

Plazo Determinado

El objetivo ha de contener una declaración relativa a cuándo se piensa alcanzar el nivel de rendimiento acordado. Por ejemplo “aumentar las ventas en una determinada zona un 10% no es un objetivo con un plazo determinado, porque no existe un límite temporal. Si añadimos tal límite “a finales de Diciembre” les dará a sus empleados la sensación de que es urgente.

Un ejemplo de Objetivo SMART : El Bank Of America se fijó recientemente el objetivo de reducir sus gastos en 2 millones de dólares antes de finales del 2013.

Piense en objetivos inteligentes que le gustaría conseguir.

AHORA… 3 Otras formas de lograr sus objetivos inteligentes.

Información

Para ser más efectivo, usted y su equipo necesitan  estar informados sobre el progreso que se ha realizado en vistas la consecución del objetivo. Cualquier gráfico cuantitativo que muestre el avance alcanzado será de gran utilidad.

Aptitudes

Hay que tener las aptitudes necesarias para alcanzar los objetivos. ¿Cuáles son los conocimientos o capacidades que usted o su equipo necesitan? ¿Cómo pueden adquirirlas? ¿Pueden adquirirse internamente o en el exterior?. Trabajar para alcanzar un objetivo es también un momento ideal para trabajar en su desarrollo o el de su equipo.  Sin embargo externalizar el conocimiento o las aptitudes dependerá en sus necesidades y los plazos que tenga.

Compromiso con el objetivo

Los objetivos inteligentes SMART son más o menos efectivos de pendiendo del nivel de compromiso con los mismos.

EL compromiso del objetivo se refiere al grado de compromiso de una persona con el mismo para su consecución. ¿Qué es lo que hace que la gente se comprometa o dedique a un objetivo? Responsabilidad  frente al manager colegas/amigos o socios externos. Cuando el individuo tiene  relación de apoyo y confianza con la persona al que han de rendir cuentas (no es bueno decir “o lo haces, o estás despedido). Ello permite que la persona tenga confianza en lograr el objetivo l participar en la fase de establecimiento de los objetivos por último recompensar a la gente por haber logrado el objetivo (eso le incluye a sí mismo no solamente a los miembros de su equipo).

Ahora ya ah fijado los objetivos…¿Cómo los va a lograr? ¿Qué nuevas estrategias va a probar? ¿Qué es lo que va a cambiar, mejorar y cuántos recursos va a invertir para alcanzar ese objetivo?- Como especialistas en el crecimiento de empresas ese es el momento en el que trabajamos con los propietarios de pequeñas empresas para enseñarles cómo conseguir sus objetivos–en cada ocasión.

Buena Suerte,

Edward

Telling someone exactly what the difference is between coaching and the other four helping professions (consulting, mentoring, counseling and therapy) is one of the many challenges I face as a coach.  Doing that in a clear and accessible way has been one of my constant pursuits.

While reading page 11 of Coaching with Colleagues (de Haan & Burger, 2011) today, I felt inspired to write about butterflies that go to the five helping professionals in order to tackle four questions they face.

The four questions are (Witherspoon & White, 1997):

• The desire to learn new skills,
• The desire to perform better,
• The desire to develop itself,
• The desire to reflect on itself or on what it does.

My attempt to clarify the differences in the approaches of each of these valuable professionals has resulted in a chart with 20 different stereotyped reactions which, in my opinion, exemplify how each professional works and what one could possibly expect from them.

Here they are:

To a butterfly who wants to learn new flying skills, for example hovering in mid-air like a hummingbird,

A SMART goal is a goal that is Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

Specific and Measurable

Make your goal specific and measureable. E.g. “increasing online sales by 10%” is a good example whereas “wanting to impress more customers” is not so specific or measureable.

Why does making it specific or measureable help? If not, how would you know when you have reached your goals? There would be no accountability as they are too subjective – therefore set yourself something which will allow you to prove it and say “well-done, I did it” at the end. That positive reinforcement will set you up for your next 90 day goals too.

Attainable

Set something that is do-able. There is no point saying you want to be “as big as Microsoft” as that is just unrealistic and will not motivate you. In fact, setting impossible goals will have the opposite effect on you and your work-force, it will demotivate you.

Set something that is attainable but…on the flip-side… don’t chose a goal that is too easy as that won´t push you or your team to excel or motivate you either. Goals need to be challenging to really pull the best out of us (imagine yourself rolling up the sleeves to tackle your goal).

Relevant

Your goals should be relevant. To what? You, your team, the big picture, your business. Don´t choose a goal that won´t have a positive effect on one of them. You want to choose 90 day goals which are helping you build for the long-term too. Don´t set a goal for a setting a goal´s sake. Instead make it something you really want to achieve.

Time-Bound

The goal should contain a statement regarding when the proposed performance level will be reached. For example, “increasing sales to a region by 10%” is not a time-bound goal, because there is no time limit. Adding a limiter such as “by end of December” gives you or your employees a sense of time urgency.

A sample SMART goal: Bank Of America recently set a goal to reduce expenses by $ 2 billion by the end of 2013.

Think of a SMART goal you would like to achieve.

SMART goals motivate for a variety of reasons.

NOW … 3 more ways to make your SMART goals even more effective.

Feedback

To be more effective you, or your team should receive feedback on the progress you are making towards the goal. Any quantitative figures that can show you the progress you are making would help.

Ability

You need to have the abilities to reach your goals. What additional knowledge or skills do you or your team need? How can they be taught? Internally or externally? Working towards a goal is a great time to work on personal or team development too. Or outsource the knowledge or skills depending on your time frame and what is needed.

Goal Commitment

SMART goals are more effective depending on the level of commitment to the goal.

Goal commitment refers to the degree to which a person is dedicated to reaching the goal. What makes people dedicated or committed to a goal? Accountability to a manager, team/peers, or external source. When the individual has a supportive and trusted relationship with the person holding them accountable (so no good saying “do it or you are fired!”). Allowing the person entrusted to reaching the goal to participate in the goal setting and finally rewarding people for accomplishing their goal (that includes yourselves too, not just the team).

Now you have set the goals… how are you going to achieve them? What new strategies are you going to try? What are you going to change, improve and how many resources will you put to this goal? As business growth specialists this is when we work with small business owners to coach them to achieve their goals – everytime.

Good Luck, Edward

Over the past weeks I did a Twitter trial to define a small business strategy and to see whether I recommend Twitter as a small business solution. 

My Goal:  To get 500 followers in 50 days.  – I finished with 531 followers and the majority are within my target audience.

My Ultimate Business Goal – Make a relationship that improves my business results in some way.  – Still Unfulfilled. 

What I Learned

1. Buy an app to build up your follower base.  I used TweetAdder and I was able to better target and follow up to 10x faster than manually – if Twitter is for business reasons then it is worth the investment (as it saves time and is focused).

2. Twitter is content driven – great for those businesses that can provide education, content, interesting articles or ideas but difficult for those small business that don´t work with much written, video, music, design content.

3. Having a Twitter account makes you think about your business message and target market. Since conducting this trial I now have a better understanding of my niche and business message. Once you start on Twitter, you realise it is too vast not to focus in on what you are looking for.

4. Twitter is not for everyone.

5. You have to enjoy twitter and be dedicated to it to make it work – it is about building relationships and that takes time.

6. It can be a good way to get more exposure in your industry, area, or profession.

7. Some people are making great use of Twitter – even good money, the majority are not.

Likes

• Very easy way to disseminate information, Twitter appeals on its simplicity.

•  If you like a common topic (i.e. football team, movie, specific current affair) you can engage and read opinions from thousands of people from different walks of life.

•  Twitter gives you ideas.  It is easy to learn from others (especially other  peoples social media techniques).

Dislikes

•  You have to be organized. If you don´t stay on-top of organizing (i.e. via lists) if you follow say 500 people then it can get overwhelming and difficult to create relations with others as it just seems like a wall of twitter.

•  You have to be dedicated to get something out of Twitter ( I am not just talking about having an account but making money from it).  It needs resources and so small businesses need to prioritise their marketing and lead generation techniques accordingly.

•  I think it will always have a bit of a feeling of tweeting into a black hole (unless you become one of the top respected tweeters – which is well under 5% of twitter users)

•  You feel like a tadpole in a big pond.. and there are a lot of big fish out there.

My Conclusion

Small Businesses (including myself) will probably have more success with Twitter as a complimentary way to:

1. Gain more exposure and brand awareness within their target customer profile
2. Enhance reputation as modern small business using social media.
3. Improve SEO rankings
4. Make private contact with some potential customers via twitter interaction

However, at what price?  All chosen marketing and lead generation efforts should have the highest return on investment possible (in regards of time and money).  I don´t feel Twitter fits into that bracket for most small business owners and therefore it should not become a distraction from other more profitable techniques.

But Twitter is for some people….You can make money on Twitter if:

• •  You or your marketing team really like it and enjoy tweeting
• •  You dedicate marketing resources to it – and become a big fish
• •  You connect what you do via Twitter into business.

Also, I have talked about Twitter as a business tool. However, if you enjoy Twitter and making friends via social media then it is a fun community to be part of and enjoy it for that primarily and if business comes of it then congratulations.

My Plan Going Forward

Now I have over 500 followers and a way to build on that I will continue to use Twitter as a complimentary lead generation technique. 

i)  I will tweet (and re-tweet) things of interest  (as it is really quite easy to do) but will not be under pressure to tweet. 

ii) Iwill promptly follow up with any Twitter interaction to see whether I can develop a relationship to turn into business (this is still my primary goal). 

iii) I will incorporate it within my new content-focused educational marketing plan (includes more regular helpful blogs, newsletters and seminars so it fits well and will not be a distraction but a complimentary way of disseminating my educational material)

If you do decide on using Twitter either as a priority technique or just a complimentary lead generation technique (like me) then I would strongly advise that you initiate your own twitter trial where you set specific goals so you can build a follower base and define your strategy.

These are just my opinions based on my initial Twitter trial.  All opinions in this blog are just that, opinions. They are not everyone´s my opinion may change over time also, but I wanted to give my honest feedback and I hope I have not offended anyone.

Good luck.

Success is not something that only a chosen few can achieve. Everyone can be successful you just need to do things in such a way consistently. You need to be a certain type of person with certain characteristics.

The successful person thinks in a certain way, talks in a certain way, and acts in a certain way. The list below briefly outlines 10 of those ways. Anyone who consistently applies these principles to any area of their life *will* experience success in that area.

1. Vision: Start with the end in mind. Have a clear picture of what exactly it is you want to achieve. Keep this picture at the forefront of your mind. Doing something because you want to do it, will motivate you to succeed at it.
2. Belief: Believe without a shadow of a doubt that you can do it. Stay away from negative influences (people, books/articles, anything negative), which make you doubt your ability to succeed. Surround yourself with things that remind you that you can, and will, succeed.
3. Responsibility: Realize that you alone are responsible for your future.  Don’t look for anyone to blame. Feel free to ask for help as you need it, but remember the final decision is up to you. It’s your life, after all.
4. Affirm: Make a habit of saying out loud what you hope to achieve. Speak of it in the present tense, e.g., ‘I am fit and trim’, as opposed to ‘I will be fit and trim’. If you feel awkward speaking out loud to yourself, write down the affirmation. Then look at it (or better still, rewrite it) several times each day. This helps your mind stay focused on the goal. It also builds your self-belief and confidence.
5. Commitment: Make a firm commitment to action. Decide to take whatever steps you need to take to help you achieve your goals. Then honour the commitment you’ve made.
6. Set a SMART goal: Your goal has to be Specific, Measurable (you need a standard to help you know when you’ve achieved it) and Motivational (it’s got to inspire you and keep you motivated), Attainable and Attractive, Realistic (no point setting an unrealistic goal such as “I want to be a millionaire this evening”) and Timed (State when you hope to achieve it).
7. Plan and Take Action: Work out a plan of action. Break down the plan into baby steps. Take a step or two each day, reminding yourself that each step is bringing you closer to your goal. Be consistent.
8. Persistence: Do not give up until you have achieved what you desire. In the course of things, be willing to change things that aren´t working. Thomas Edison did not give up in inventing the light bulb, even though he’d ‘failed’ 10,000 times. Now that’s persistence! See every failure as a stepping-stone to success. Learn from it and push on towards your goal.
9. Gratitude: Maintain an attitude of gratitude, knowing that your dream is about to become a reality. Refuse to grumble when circumstances look contrary. Be grateful for where you are now. Look around for things to be grateful for. You’ll be surprised to find quite a few.
10. Become a giver. In your relationships, always think in terms of what you can do for the other person. What goes round comes round. Be kind and generous to all; you never know where your breakthrough will come from.

Bonus Principle. Be in the know: Find out everything you can about your situation/goal. Read books, listen to tapes, and talk to experts, whatever it takes. This will help you make wise decisions and keep you confident as you go along.

So there you have it. I have given you a summary of principles which, if you apply consistently, WILL guarantee you success in any endeavour. Don’t just take my word for it, though. Prove it yourself by actually applying it to your life situation.

Knowlegde is not powerful until you act on what you know. Think about that. Better yet, act on it! You’ll be glad you did.

Going from entrepreneur to successful business owner, there are multiple forces that prevent you from breaking through to your next level of Success in business. These forces may include insufficient management systems, communication gaps, declining innovation, employee resistance, fear, bottlenecks and a misaligned organizational culture.

Another key obstacle to your company’s success may be you. Often the personality traits that predispose you to entrepreneurship are the same traits that prevent you from creating a highly successful company. For example, entrepreneurs tend to be impulsive, highly creative, bossy, unfocused, controlling, risk taking and perfectionist. Some are self-confident to the point of arrogant.  These traits allow you to launch successful businesses but may not be ideal for managing a winning loyal team.

To break through, you should assess your behavior and consider how you may be contributing to your company’s growing pains. You may need to be more humble, open to new ideas, collaborative, kind, considerate and compassionate. You may need to be more goal oriented, organized, decisive, focused and determined.

Bottom line: You may need to change as much as your employees and business need to change.  That is ok as personal development is aligned to successful business, so taking the time out to understand your personality strengths and weaknesses and then designing a management structure and style accordingly can help you in the long-run.  There are many different leadership styles and are all easily researchable on the web.  However, to make it to the next level you need the buy-in from your employees therefore leadership becomes an important trait of the small business owner, you won´t succeed on your own or without a loyal and focused team.

A cause of your business problems may lie in the fact that your organization is disorganized that is influenced by employees that do not share your mission, vision or values. To resolve your stress, frustration and anger at its root, you need to retrofit your company with the management infrastructure it needs to grow without sacrificing quality or customer satisfaction.

However, there are lots of articles written on the value of Twitter and as a Business Coach it is my duty to understand the value of it for my clients.  Therefore I am going to do a Twitter trial and blog my findings along the way.  I hope to gain a better perspective about its possibilities, share my experience with you and my clients, create a valuable Twitter strategy and learn what is great and annoying about the medium.

My Goal:  To get 500 followers in 50 days (I started on 48).  To define a Twitter strategy that works for me (and possibly other small service-provider business).

My Ultimate business goal – make a relationship that improves my business results in some way.

The Parameters:

20 – 30 minutes every day.  And I will blog my experience, progress, Twitter knowledge, Twitter strategy findings every few days.  In 50 days that will be 25 hours dedicated to Twitter – half a week´s work!

People say 500 is too high a target. But I need a goal and I want something in exchange for 25 hours work.  I will re-evaluate the goal at the end of 50 days (maybe it shouldn´t be related to number of followers).

Day 18 – 23   178 followers – Up 130

While asking others for twitter help (including other coaches) I have been told that: “One shouldn´t focus on number of followers.”

While I couldn´t agree more, afterall it is not a popularity contest but instead a way to make money (if tweeting for business purposes) I still maintain to get started  you need to:

1. Pass a “critical mass” of followers to make sure your tweets are being heard;
2. Need a specific measureable goal to target  to keep up the motivation to hit your goal; and
3. There is a correlation between your twitter-value and number of followers

Having said ALL THAT, I always maintained my main objective is to make relationships that improves my business results in some way.  And while I will be still working on my 500 follower goal (I recap my strategies at end of this post) I feel now is the time to start shaping my strategy to deliver my Ultimate Twitter Goal.

My Twitter Strategy – Monitoring and Feedback

But before I focus my strategy  I need to improve my Twitter monitoring so I can measure, test and receive feedback to continuously improve my efforts.  So these are the ways I am now monitoring my twitter value.

• http://bitly.com/ - this website allows you to shorten links AND then track who opens each link you tweet (it will also show stats on other people tweeting the same link). GREAT TOOL -  I want to know that my followers are interacting and reading my tweets and if not, what type they are ignoring.  Easy to set up (just go to website) and easy to track once you post, just add a “+” sign to the end of the link to view stats i.e. (bitly.com/oWX8l7+ – I had 317 views of this link).
• http://tweetstats.com graphs average daily tweets, what time of day, who you most retweet or interact with.  Easy to read format but takes a little while to receive the graph
• http://twittercounter.com graphs and documents your Twitter progress, shows daily/weekly new followers, tweets, your twitter rank – good if you have a follower target as keeps track of your progress. 

Fact: having an active Twitter profile does help your Google Page Rank (the big debate is by how much).

• Twitter´s a great way to improve the Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) of your  website.
• Why is that important?  Most people find business websites today through doing a Google search (looking at your website stats will show how important Google is to your visibility).
• The Google Page Rank is a rank out of 10 which shows how Google ranks your page: the bigger the ranking the higher the positioning.
• As we are talking about stats I did want to share with you two interesting sites:
• http://www.prchecker.info/ - allows you to check the page rank of your website (and don´t forget your competitors)
• http://www.iwebtool.com/backlink_checker you can check which websites are currently linked to you AND their google page rank (the higher their page rank the higher value their link).  A good tool to see how much visibility your website has and to do some competitive research to see what great sites they are linking too. One known good way of improving your page rank is my having more back links (i.e. other websites linking to your website).
• Finally, I am checking the stats of my webpage to see how many people link through to my page from my Twitter profile.  I have been very happy with what I have seen.

Recap of Search Techniques to Find Targetted Followers

1. Looking through the followers of others in your target market
2. Looking through popular community profiles in your target market
3. Looking up #hash tags – #smallbiz and going through the latest (shows they are active) comments feel I can find interesting people.
4. Searching geographically –    http://www.geochirp.com/
5. Away from Twitter – Direct targeted audience from other social mediums and blog forums to follower your “content-rich” twitter profile
6. Twellow.com, as recommended, was a good place to search and find people with like minded interests.
7. Looking through Twitter daily recommendations – go to “who to follow” and look through suggestions. Quite good at giving you recommendations based on your current following profile.
8. By a new paid search service I plan to review next week and blog my findings – thanks @modernmethods

Day 10 – 17    127 followers – Up 79

This week I overcame my first Twitter wall. I have been caught up with a lot of client work and with little time to think.  Perhaps, under other circumstances my social media posts and especially tweets would have taken a back seat. This is a typical complaint from my clients that they start eagerly then the number of posts just slowly tail off when things get busy.

However, having set defined Twitter goals and time-constraints I was able to maintain my Twitter campaign even when I was swamped in work.  Why, because I knew it would be no more than 20-30 mins and I was organized and had a strategy to post my delayed tweets.

First thing in the morning I looked for interesting articles, which went along with my Twitter profile and then I used Tweet deck to post them once or twice over the course of the day.  I looked through my twitter feed and buffered any interesting tweets to retweet during the course of the day and then looked at my “main” twitter friends private list and interacted with them on their specific tweets.  I spent no more than 5 minutes searching for new people to follow (and hopefully follow me) and that was it.

So while perhaps this week I don´t have much new Twitter info to report I can say that having a goal, plan and a simple procedure will help you keep your long-term vision, maintain a Twitter presence, not lose the value of your previous tweeting (via inactivity) so you can rebuild your Twitter campaign when things return to normal.

Day 9: 102 followers – Up 56

My Twitter Strategy

I am now looking at Twitter 3 times a day.  20 mins in the morning. 10 mins at lunch and 10-15 mins towards the end of the day.  During these times I try and be interactive real-time. I then send @messages, retweets or interesting articles then or delayed to go out later. Finally I am spending 5 minutes searching for interesting people.

The time goes quickly. However, I like it. It is easy, structured and within my time allowance so I am not distracted from my other business.   While I feel I am making progress lets see if it will be enough.

Within that time frame I have sent:

Yesterday: 7 tweets (includes 2 RTs; 3#s; 4@s;)

Day Before: 10 tweets (includes 2 RTs; 3#s; 2@s; 1 my blog)

Day Before That: 16 tweets (includes 4 RTs; 5#s; 6@s; 1 my blog)

What do you think? Too much, too little?  I feel it is a presence but I am starting to see what you need to do to be successful on Twitter but I will explain next time.

Day 8:

So I am in a rhythm and getting more followers daily.  Finding the time is the key.  Recently read a report that 95% of twitter users have less than 500 users.  So actually my goal would put me in the top 5% of users.   http://t.co/TVoYyLk Worryingly, 32% only have between 0 -5 followers.

Best get tweeting and searching then.

Day 7:

7 Days in and I am finding tweeting much easier and interaction too.  I am starting to find Twitter friends (i.e. people´s tweets I enjoy reading and/or retweeting making comments).   I also enjoy looking at my Twitter account, although I make sure I don’t go over my allotted time.

Twitter App update

A recent tweet said that there is a new twitter app every 5 minutes. I can believe it and it is tough to keep up with them.  Some quick reviews.

Bufferapp.com –  Easy to download, use and with google chrome you can right click the mouse and buffer a page.  However, only 4 set times it will be tweeted during the day so a little limiting there.  I am still using this as it is easy but will probably upgrade as I get more sophisticated.

Twibes.com – twitter community trying to organise tweeters into activity groups.  Nice keyword searching but as it is not that universal there wasn´t enough activity to get me going back to the site.

Tweetdeck.com I know this is the big daddy and I will take the time to learn but for week 1 of tweeting it was a little Twitter list overload and too many pop-ups.  I will relook at it later and write a better review but for first-week tweeters I would stay away.

Twellow.com, as recommended, was a good place to search and find people with like minded interests.

p.s.  @brianhurley – added “if you follow me I will follow you in his profile” maybe not best for Business branding purposes but a good way to get followers I suppose, he was up to 34,000 but decided I would use this as a last resort tactic only.

Day 6:

So today I did what I said I was going to do and searched for people to follower.

My Twitter Strategy

So what is the profile of my ideal followers?  – (Although I said that I would follow people just for them to follow me back it still needs to be targeted).  So my criteria:

1. THEY ARE INTERACTIVE AND HAVE TWEETED RECENTLY
2. English speaking tweeters – difficult to keep an audience in two languages
3. People in Barcelona – particularly – interesting people, small business owners,  interested in coaching tips, expats
4. Coaches/consultants to share with and develop/collaborate.
5. UK business owners, interesting people, people interested in improving personal finance ( geographically  I will talk mainly about Bcn, Spain, UK).
6. News tweeters – current affairs, Bcn, business, my interests etc.

Secondly, my ultimate goals from Twitter.  What I would like my followers to do:

1. Sign up to my monthly newsletter or Free Emini Series
2. That I get to know a Barcelona interesting person/small business owner and we meet for a coffee/talk.
3. That a small business owner from UK (or elsewhere) looks at my website and gives me a call enquiring about coaching over phone.
4. That a follower looks at my website and sees my (coming soon) online course about understanding their personal finances and  decides to sign up for the €39 course.

So now I have my profile and goals I went about searching for followers to also follow me. I found it much easier to search when I knew what I wanted.

***TIP*** My best search tool to date was looking at a popular community Tweeter (ie. @Businesszone for UK business owners or @AI_Barcelona for Bcn community) and I looked through their followers and followed those that looked interesting to me.  I chose 50 to follow.

Day 5: 64 followers – Up 16

At first sight this may seem like little progress, but what I have learnt in 2.5 hours (remember my time parameter ) has been very rewarding.

Content, content, content.  That is what Twitter needs – this might give us a clue to which types of small businesses may find more success than others on Twitter.

So in order to add more content, I wrote a new blog post today “Are You Your Companies Own Worst Nightmare”.  I am also tweeting my older super useful blog posts which give tips and ideas on personal finance and business ownership.   Fortunately, I believe offering free advice and helpful content to become “an expert” in your field is one of the best ways small business owners can get noticed and found. Therefore I don´t see this as just a Twitter strategy but just a great Small Business Lead Generation strategy and recommend to everyone.

New Twitter Strategy – already goes against one of my earlier twitter complaints.

So my new strategy is that you should follow to be followed.  This goes against my complaint of the follow-me/ I follow you syndrome.

Just a quick look at some of the more popular figures on Twitter (excluding people already famous outside of Twitter) and you will see most are following thousands and are being followed by thousands.  I am sure that they are not that interested in all those they follower but it is a way to expand their networks and after all Twitter is a social network.  It is just as easy to unfollow as it is to follow so I will leave it in the hands of my followers to decide if I am interesting.

I realise better business value will come with a targeted following but with 64 followers I think it is right that the focus is on building followers i.e. quantity and not worrying about quality just yet.  Although I will continue to search quality, I will not be discriminate.  Remember some people may look at how many you follow before they follow you – i.e. they want to know you will open up to their network too.

With the Private List function I can get around my complaint about tweet overload – everytime I follow someone now I put them into a private list (i.e. a filter) – Friends, Barcelona, Coaching, Educational, Prospect, Competitors, or no list. That way I can just read my twitter list timelines to make sure I am up-to-date on the people I want to follow.

Also, which doesn´t help the find quality over quantity is that I DON’T like Twitter´s search function, or at least I haven´t figured it out.  I want to follow my brother in-law, I know his name, his email address and even where he lives. Can I find him on Twitter? Can I hell.   @DanilleMellor suggested twellow as a way to find more interesting people to follow so I will try that in the coming days.

I joined the Social Media Marketing LinkedIn group today. With 187,000 members and hundreds of discussions hoping this will help in my quest for the best small business Twitter strategy.  (If you are on LinkedIn go to the group section and search Social Media Marketing to join).

Day 4:

Busy at work today, so could hardly find time for Twitter but managed my 30 minutes.

I am still in research mode.  I posted a Twitter question in some LinkedIn forums and got some great tips.  Thanks fellow coaches – @daniellemmiller, @janekstephenson and @lachlancotter

Twitter Strategy

Interaction is key.  It makes it more fun and makes you much more personable.  Also, people like to help each other on Twitter so be helpful and interactive.

ALWAYS reply to a mention, DM or a retweet. If someone has taken the time to interact or promote your tweet it is worth at least a thank you and a shout-out or better yet a comment expanding on their comment.

Have a number of keywords that you want to be associated with or follow.  This way you can use the # tags so when you tweet something which is relevant to your keyword then it will come up in other people´s Twitter searches for that keyword. I wrote up a list of keywords to help me stay focused.

Twitter Knowledge

Twitter Lists – You get 2 types and they serve different purposes

Public Lists – (easy to create lists just go to the List drop down option and click “create new”).  Public lists are a way to publicly group people together. If you start it you can add your favorite tweeters in the category and others can add themselves at a later date as it is open for everyone.  People can then follow a public list, so if you are in a public list and it is followed they receive your tweets even if you are not connected.  A secondary benefit of setting up a public list is that it starts with your name so if it is associated with a group you are interested in then followers see your name (and hopefully your profile too).

I started a public list @freegreenbeans/expatbarcelonabusiness to try and connect English speaking small business owners in Barcelona.

Private Lists – Only you can see and no one knows they are added to the list.  These are great for helping you filter your Twitter timeline so you can read tweets from all those you are following in a specific area (i.e. coaching, social media, friends).  It also means you can follow competitors without them knowing you are following them under a private list called “competitors”.

Day 3:  58 followers – Up 10 followers

Being Monday morning I tried the #mondaymorning topic tag as it is obviously a popular topic on Mondays.  Scheduled some other tweets about business throughout the day.  Allotted time to tweet but faced a mental block so instead have download a Bufferrap app so during the day as I find things to tweet I can just right click my mouse and queue up a tweet to send.  So far so good.

I decided not to include Saturday and Sunday as Tweet days. However, for next Friday I will schedule a few informal tweets through next weekend to create a continual Twitter presence.

Tweeted my blog post about better networking. I realise material is key so will have to blog regulary.  Still finding my feet though.

Twitter Strategy – Finding LinkedIn contacts on Twitter

Signed Up to follower some of my LinkedIn contacts (easy to do) go to: https://twitter.com/#!/who_to_follow/import – if you are signed into Twitter it allows you to search your other contact databases. Don´t worry, you get to individually choose who you would like to follow.  Scrolling over the twitter name of each contact shows you when they last tweeted (anything over 3 days and I assumed they were not active).

Day 2:

Still early days so it is about building contacts. Before this trial I was following just newservices but I think the staying power for Twitter is if you create actual twitter friends.  I realise that interaction is very important for twitter so I have changed my focus on what I follow from news-services to people with who I can interact with.

Through RT had my first “twitter conversation” which led to them suggesting 2 other interesting people to follow.  I enjoyed the interaction, I think that is why people get more addicted. It is social after all.

Twitter Strategy – Send each tweet 4 times

Bufferrapp.com.  A friend @wmongie suggested signing up to bufferrap.com.  This allows you to delay tweeting until optimal time of the day and also tweets each tweet 4 times in a day – giving yourself more exposure for each post.  It appears 4 times is optimal and it is unlikely that people will see your same tweet more than once or twice.

Twitter Strategy – “Interesting” donating to charity for each new follower

I followed someone who was donating €1 for every new follower that signed up in a week.  I was forwarded his twitter name by someone who endorsed him and who I trust @JeremySAskew.  He reported that he would donate €225 to charity so obviously the strategy works (although it needs to be genuine).

Day 1:

Spent 10 minutes updating my profile – Went to Settings – Design – And chose a basic background template to give my page a little more colour.

Read up on Twitter shorthand (see below).

Tried to “launch” my trial idea.

Posted the blog to my website, FB (personal & business), LinkedIn.

Posted blog in three LinkedIn groups (UK Business Professionals / Expats in Spain / Barcelona Networking).

Wrote to 3 regular twitter users I follow to tell them about my trial.

Followed 5 more friends.

And my 20 mins is up.

Twitter Knowledge

Common Twitter Shorthand which I plan to use.

@ symbol is used as a public reply to or mention of another person on Twitter

# symbol is used to designate a topic. Anyone can create a topic. The # designation will then allow others to search the topic.

RT stands for Re-Tweet. When you  re-tweet someone else’s Tweet, you give credit to them.

DM – is a direct message from one tweeter to another, they are not public tweets.

There is also a lot of twitter shorthand (similar to what people use in texting) to reduce word count too but I won´t list those here.

http://tinyurl.com/ – takes long urls (i.e. name of links) and makes them much shorter so possible to tweet.

My Twitter Strategy –

(Day 1 will develop over the 50 days)

• I will be interactive. I will RT interesting things. I will use @ to write personal messages, I will say thanks.
• I will not tweet self-promotional material (but I will link my website and any blog posts from time to time).
• I want to be educational, intelligent (try), opinionated, ironic and friendly.
• I will give progress updates of this trial, but also how my business is going – I personally like hearing how others are doing.
• I will comment on things relating to improving/understanding business, personal finances, current affairs, helpful tips, observations.
• I will not post personal updates (i.e. “standing at the airport”) nor about sport, restaurants, celebrities etc.
• I will follow people that interest me.  My following focus will be on Barcelona business people, interesting business service providers, financial gurus, investing ideas, comedians (I like funny people), inspiring people, intelligent people.

My 3 Top Complaints With Twitter (Day 1)

1. It is just a lot of twitter.  I am not a natural tweeter, I don´t feel the urge to tell people what I am doing all the time.
2. The follow me I´ll follow you syndrome – I want qualified followers who are interested in reading my tweets.
3. I am verbose – (ok more a complaint about me). So this will be a great challenge for me. Write less – deliver more – the ultimate business tip.  Twitter can help me with that.

Lets see if I will be singing Twitters praises in 50 days from now or not?