Category Archives: business

Ask a Question, business, Marketing, Relationship, work

Could your Company be the first to break the Twitter mould and really interact and develop your Business?

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What is it that people do these days? If you are to believe the headlines twitter is all the rage. What defines a good twitter profile? What defines a good online profile? Is it the fact that one may have 2000 followers. Is it the fact they have almost twittered over 10,000 tweets. What characteristics would define someone that you follow?

If you’re a famous off-line celebrity say for example Schwarzenegger or Stephen Fry then without much ado it easy to be successful online. An example of this is Oprah Winfrey who set up an online Twitter profile only three days ago and already has over 10,000 followers. This is all probably very predictable.

What about from a personal point of view those of us who work every day and do not suffer from celebrity status. Is there really any benefit to using twitter. I am amazed at just how many companies and people use twitter try to sell me things most of them don’t understand the first thing about permission marketing. Can one really build a relationship in just 140 characters. It is not easy and like any relationship takes time and mutual interest.  To put it in perspective this idea I suggest that you are only as successful on-line as you are offline. Some of my best relationships that I have online also exist in the real world when I go to a restaurant or the cafe. I think that I am just staying in touch. As it is not always possible to see people on a regular basis.

twitter-queastionsWhat about the business development and customer care opportunities. Out of experience I will never follow anyone unless I have a particular interest. Ones that use a company name I will not follow. In my experience the company never offers or interacts in the way an individual would. There is always a feeling that they are protecting or selling something. A company that could break this mould could achieve a significant amount of followers and would have a real story to tell to the media. Plus this would certainly gain a lot of extra free publicity. It is conceivable that a company could employ a group of people just to respond to people’s questions on twitter.

If you are going to stay the distance it is about quality. It is better to have 10 followers that are really interested in what you got to say then 10,000 who are not. An example of this is the Velvet Underground whose first record only sold a couple of hundred copies. Their influence though is felt by just about every major rock band that has ever made music. Although comparatively they are still not that well known.

So in summing up if you are genuine and have a genuine interest  to interact. Then it is possible to build a quality network a word of warning though when I survey the number of people that follow me 90% are not  interested in a two-way conversation and significant less amount are operating highly queastionable/fruadelent activities.

Consultancy, ideas, Personal, Quality, Relationship

Cannon Law – Sensible Reformation of Attitudes

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It is truly fascinating Canon Law in relation to Blair’s comment about a change of the Catholic out dated doctrine on Gay rights. It can be done according Anthanasius, Benedictus PP. XVI. He may change the teaching of the Church at any time he pleases, as could any Pope. The immaculate conception and ascension are two doctrines that have since become dogmatic teaching. (Such changes can only be accomplished by the Holy).

Tony Blair’s recent conversion to Catholicism may seem surprising to many, but his faith has been the cornerstone of  his  adult creative  life. If one examines faith in more detail we can make much more sense of it. Religion in modern day society is regarded as being the cause of war over the past centuries, this doctrine or idea is largely correct. Why would people go to war and risk their life for an ideal or belief. Interpretation of these events that happened over 2000 years ago in Jerusalem is where  we must look. The problem lies arguable in the misuse of these ideas and knowledge. Religion is powerful and gives a small minority great power. There is no doubt that almost all modern day conflicts and animosity between differing groups are based upon religious idealism.

Biblical events are the founding of much of western culture they represent a learning and creativity that enables people to achieve their full potential. This creativity has often been taken out from the bible and used in many self empowering everyday courses and learning centers. Some people prefer to disconnect that creativity from religious group. We should note that difference between the physical events as recorded in the Bible from the interpretations of different religious groups. In this modern information age the every person is empowered to have direct access  to the  events that occurred. So that they can create a personal interpretation. This is important in understanding the way forward for faith in the 21st century.

The interpretation of events is still very much open, any church or religious group can change their by laws to interpret  the teachings correctly. Tony Blair from a legal perspective was certainly correct in stating that the church can and should change its doctrine to provide proper pastoral care to all people that seek it. It is logical that different people are drawn to different groups because of what they represent, this itself does not make that group correct. So here you have a balance between what you believe or would like to believe and what really happened. Interface foundations such as the one begun by Tony Blair represent a move forward in the right direction. The different groups can focus on the forgiveness and love that they understand from their teachings/biblical events.

In some respects modern day democracy within the church is highly questionable. They have not traditionally encouraged their members to think outside of the box. This will honestly have to change in the future with modern technology raising questions over a large number of subjects from cell cloning to sexuality. I don’t believe that any God would encourage people not to live up to their full potential. Church law is now in need of urgent reform to provide a full service that God and its people expect from it.

development, ideas, Relationship

Creating The Life You Want

I have recently been following some very interesting creative technology not involving computers/programs or such like. This technology has been pioneered by Robert Fritz. Creating the life you want is easily possible according to Robert Fritz. I am sure that many of us are familiar with the idea that what we think about we end up creating. This can apply to positive as well as negative thoughts. I was recently listening to a seminar given by Mr Fritz. Where he talked about a number of subjects. He started off by talking about how the first thing that dictators do is to ban the arts. This easily understandable as the arts represent creativity and by banning them a dictator can keep control. Another of his ideas is structural tension and we as human beings seek to resolve discrepancies in our life. Robert Fritz explains this phenomena with an example of what we see on the news. The newscaster will tell us the news and then seek to explain  it changing the news as more facts come to light. This demonstrates clearly how we like to avoid discrepancies. We want to know where we are and what we are doing. According to Robert Fritz if the newscaster was being totally honest they would say here’s the news and we have no idea how it happened.

One of the many concepts that Robert Fritz talks about is the inner and outer of self and how we experience life on these two levels. Our outside experience of life can be very different from the inside one. We can be experiencing difficulty in our life and yet be surrounded by peace and tranquillity. The outside experience is dictated by events going on in the world. The inside experience we can determine for ourselves. By focusing on things that are truly important to us we create the kind of experience and world that we would like to live in. As we become familiar with these concepts and the creative process in the  inside world it is safe to assume that that experience will permeate to our outside world.

I have been a familiar with the work of Robert Fritz for over 20 years now. Starting off with his DMA technology. I do recommend to read some of his books and familiarise yourself with his work.

brand, Generate, Relationship

Social Media – The Importance of Being Ernest

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I came across a really interesting interview today with Reputation management expert Andy Beal which summed up simply how to make the most of online social media. I do not think I could say it better. It has so many benefits establishing a social media policy.

“When a company creates an interactive online profile, it’s effectively telling its stakeholders -customers, investors, employees, etc- that it cares about the community and wants to be a part of the conversation. When an online reputation crisis hits, companies that have an social media profile are more likely to be given the benefit of the doubt and more likely to be able to respond quickly, within that channel.

I advise my clients to look for the “centres of influence.” Where are their stakeholders hanging-out online? When you understand the types of social media your stakeholders are using -maybe they prefer blogs over forums -you’ll increase your chances of successfully engaging them.”

Social media channels that you may find useful for establishing a thriving social network, depending on your market and your niche, include:

FaceBook

MySpace

Twitter

Plurk

FriendFeed

Linkedkin

What networks would you add to this? Which ones do you enjoy the most?

ideas, Quality, Relationship

Best Practices for Commenting – Say What You Mean

epicfailToo often we come across badly informed opinions or just sloppy writing in what we are reading on the Internet. The most obvious choice is to move on quickly to our next destination/blog post.

But what if we were to say exactly what we  are thinking?

For example that a blog post is incorrect or badly written and cite the relevant sources to back up our information. A critical comment can be ten times as valuable as a general “oh this is interesting” or not commenting at all when you think it is poor.

Comments  speak volumes about us all in a positive way be them positive or negative in meaning.

Below is a slightly adapted take on what I wrote to a group that  I am member of that discusses social media.

There is a balance to be struck in my view. Obviously I do not expect anyone to push something that they do not like or agree with. With commenting you can always express that point of view you if  you think it is not very good etc. Hence why I prefer comments rather than social bookmarking. (digg, delicious,  Stumble Upon)

Social bookmarking is a one way action but it fundamentally express the middle road. In the sense you can not vote downwards. Maybe blogs should implement that sort of tool. If we are voting and it is not having any noticeable effect on our thoughts than maybe it is better to make a comment.

Honest criticism and voting does give a meaning to what we are doing in this medium.

If one is too busy  to do it, than does it really matter if you read it all?

I also run a company, study law and have a Son. If  I am going to do something, I am going to make sure it has an effect.

Relationship

Amazing Presentation In The Most Ordinary Way

creativeJust got back from a presentation from four23 which is multi discipline creative studio. The presentation demonstrate the difference between corporate and creative lifestyles and how they by working together they achieve each other goals. Something that I hear constantly is how companies are looking  for the right person. It was noted  in the presentation how developing ones self is  one of the most important aspects in work/life balance.

What was also fascinating was the style with which it was delivered. I think often if you just want to explain something the best way is just talk about it. Too often people get caught up with how they think it should be rather than what it simply  is.

business

Second Life, A Differnet View

I have just watched the video which you can see below from Ted about what is happening at Second Life – virtual world. The next big area of growth will be virtual worlds in the coming decade. In fact I would go so far as to describe it as Web 3.0. The complete immersion of ones self into internet reality. Not only having two way communication but body communication too.

It interesting to wonder what sort of world would people create given the free reign of their imagination. Unfortunately just before  christmas I read some where that down town on second life had became exactly the same as any major city in the world. Predictably? possible. As quoted from the website “The Second Life Grid™ provides the platform where the Second Life world resides and offers the tools for business, educators, nonprofits, and entrepreneurs to develop a virtual presence. Headquartered in San Francisco, Linden Lab has over 250 employees spread across the U.S., Europe, and Asia.”

So it is a business tool. The technology has still has long way to go but it is very interesting hearing from Philip Rosedale the founder of this.