7 tops ways of promoting your website

7 key ways to promote your business & website

It is all very well having a website – but how do people know its there – and more importantly do the great modern gods (Google, Bing, Yahoo etc) know you exist? do they think your site is important?

• Relevant – Does your website CLEARLY say what you do & don’t do? – its all very well people finding your site – but you need them to contact you. Ensure your offer is obvious – ask for friends & family what they make of your site.
• Articles – write articles and put them on ezine sites – make sure they are spread across several sites & all link back to your site with key words
• Participation – let people get involved. Have a blog that allows people to comment on your views and ideas
• In – is your site LinkedIN ? Do you have both a personal profile on LinkedIn and a business page? Do these pages have links to your site?
• Directories – many will think these are a distraction – but look to see any relevant trade directories for your sector or the sectors in which your customers operate. Only use local ones – and be careful to avoid overseas directories.
• Blogs – Have 2 – one on your site and one off – use WordPress or Blogger for your offsite blog. have different content here to your site but ensure they link back to your site
• Interact – Use Twitter to make contact with potential customers – the link back is of value too

 

 

 

 

 

 

These activities are not one off’s – but an ongoing strategy.

Aim for at least one article a week – ideally two. These articles should perform at least three functions:

1. Show you know – demonstrate your knowledge or competence
2. Be of value to site visitors – given them a reason to stay even if they do not need your product yet
3. Puts your name in their mind

Aim to tweet useful material everyday – only promote a link every 10-15 tweets – you want to interact with people not sell to them – social media is best when done progressively.

Marketing plan for a training company

How to develop a marketing plan for your training company

What is a marketing plan?

A Marketing Plan is sometimes called a marketing strategy, in essence it is an action plan of what it is you are going to do to promote your business. Like any SMART goal  it is a written plan that states the marketing goals and the objectives to be achieved over a specified period of time.

So if you are currently in business or looking to set up a training company or starting out in freelance training, the one thing you need is a clear plan – well in fact two plans… a business plan (a simple one page plan will do) and a marketing plan.

A marketing plan looks at three factors:

1. Where is your business now?
2. Where do you want/ need your business to be? (and why)
3. How are you going to get your business there?

Jumping straight to step (2) or three is a waste of time without REALLY understanding (1) – where is your business now (are you now)? What do you do? Who do you do it with? For how much?

We need to follow some sound principles…

Knowledge -> Understanding -> Action

We need Knowledge of where we are – we need to understand or make sence of this in order to take appropriate Action

 

A  Marketing Plan Template (example)

 

Executive Summary - What is the plan about – one or two simple paragraphs

Business Overview 

- What do you do – be specific (to say you run management training courses is too vague)

Target market - who do you do it do/ with? The narrower & more specific the better

Vision – what do you want to be ?

Mission – Why are you in business? what is your purpose?

Current Analysis - where are you now ? what do you do? who to? for how much?

External Analysis – What is happening in the environment in which you are, or want to operate? 

Conduct a PEST/ PESTLE analysis

Internal Analysis

Conduct a PRIMO-F analysis

Use the PESTLE & PRIMO-F data to complete a comprehensive SWOT analysis. Use this to consider where you are, where are you going and how are you going to get there?

 

Marketing Strategies – your plan

Consider what approaches (strategies) are required to achieve your desired goals. Look at:

• Marketing Mix (4 ps – product, place, pricing, promotion)
  • Your target market
  • Service/ product strategy
  • Pricing  approach
  • Promotional strategy- how do people know you exist?
  • Customers – acquisition, maintain – also see Ansoff matrix

  

Implementation Plan

What needs to be done. What actions.. by who… by when

Resourcing requirements

• How much money/ cash you need for your business plan
• Investment from you ?
• The people involved – is this just you? associates? partners?

This template will work equally well for a coaching or consulting company.

leadership-and-management-models-download-page-3

Leadership and Management Models Download PowerPoint Slides – page 3

At RapidBI we use many management and leadership models and through the process of using them we have developed a library of 100′s.

These pages have proved so popular that we now offer unbranded PowerPoint slides for you to download and use.

Please note many of the models on the slides are copyright – please use appropriately.

Go back to page 1 of the models

Go back to page 2 of the models

[wp_eStore_fancy1 id=1]

Norman’s Reaction Model	Organizational Effectiveness Under Change	Product Placement – Change	Performance Management System	Performance Management Model
Change reaction model	Managing Change	Product lifecycle	Performance management system	Performance Management
Personal Change/ Transition Curve	Personal Competence Awareness Model	Power Influence Model	Price Quality Model	PRIMO-F Holistic Review
Managing Change				PRIMO-F SWOT analysis model – culture and values

 

Project Management Cycle	Risk Management / Assessment	Risk Management / Assessment	Spend Effort Model	S-Curve
Project Management model	Risk assessment and loss control leadership	Risk, Innovation		Product life cycle
Client Sales Organization	Scenario Analysis Planning Model	Schamner Change Model	Schein Culture Levels	Service Cycle
		Managing Change	Managing Change

 

Service Delivery	Stakeholder Mapping Model	Strategic Planning Model	Successful Change Model
		Strategic planning model	Managing Change
Strengths Attractiveness Model	Support Challenge Model	Tannenbaun Schmidt Leadership Model	Technology Learning Model
		Leadership continuum

 

Training Team Integration Model	Transactional Analysis OK	Transactional Analysis PAC	Trust Risk Model	Tuckman Team Development Model
	TA.. i’m OK you’re ok	TA… Parent Adult Child model		Team development model
Turner Model	U-Curve Presentation Planning tool	RapidBIDiagnostic Process Map	RapidBI Business Growth Model
	Presentation planning curve		Managing Change	Marketing and strategy

 

			Lewin Change Model
Marketing and strategy	Talent Management – nine box grid	Talent Management – nine box grid	Lewin Change Model
Kotter eight step change	Kotter change model	The J-Curve	The dynamics of flow – Csikszentmihalyi	The map of every day experience
Kotter eight step change	Kotter Change Model	The J-Curve	The dynamics of flow – Csikszentmihalyi	Csikszentmihalyi – The map of every day experience

 

 

leadership and management models download- page 2

Leadership and Management Models Download PowerPoint Slides – page 2

At RapidBI we use many management and leadership models and through the process of using them we have developed a library of 100′s.

These pages have proved so popular that we now offer unbranded PowerPoint slides for you to download and use.

Please note many of the models on the slides are copyright – please use appropriately.

Go back to page 1 of the models

[wp_eStore_fancy1 id=1]

Conceptual Model	Continuous Improvement Cycle	Core Quadrants	Creativity Cycle	Culture Presentation
			Creativity in Innovation	Organisational Culture

 

Deming Cycle	Debrief Cycle	Developing Consulting Skills	Development Cycle	Development Cycle
		consulting model

 

Development Cycle	Dilts Logical Levels	Dunn Dunn Learning Model	Dynamic Coaching Model	Effectiveness
	NLP model		Coaching framework	Management effectiveness
Effort Reward Model	Motivation Energy Model	Entrepreneurial Balance	FIRO-B
	Motivation		FIRO-B psychometric model	Force field analysis model – Lewin

 

Goal Setting – Comfort Stretch Goals	GROW Coaching Model	Growing Winners	Growth Cycle Model	Guilford Learning Model
Coaching Model goal setting model	GROW Coaching Model	NLP model	Business and individual growth	Learning Theory
Hertzberg Motivation			Byrd’s Innovation Drivers	Creatrix Innovation Model
Motivation theory	Learning Cycle	Learning cycle	Innovation Model Coaching	Innovation Model Coaching

 

Innovation Paradigms	IT Services Management Model	Johari Window	Kirkpatrick Evaluation Model	Knowledge Transfer Model
Innovation Model	Outsourcing	Managing Change	Training Evaluation model – ROI – Return on Investment	Innovation and knowledge transfer
Kolb Learning Styles	Kolb Learning Theory	Kubler Ross Transition curve	Leadership Model – Will-Skill	Learning Delivery Model
Learning cycle	Learning cycle	Managing Change Kubler Ross change model	Leadership models	Learning Delivery

 

Learning Model	Management Cycle	Managing Accidents	Managing Multiple Change	Managing Risk
Learning Model	Management Cycle	Health and safety, risk and loss control leadership	Managing Change	Risk and Innovation
Maslow Needs	MBTI styles	McGregor Theory X Y	Managing Time Urgent Important	Noelle Neumann
Motivation Theory	Psychometric test model Myers Briggs Type Indicator	Motivational theory	Time management

Next set of modules>>>

 

Business Debt line Fact sheets

Fact Sheets

The Business Debt line in the UK is a great resource to small business. They provide some excellent fact sheets as well as telephone advice and support.

As well as the advice contained on this site, and the extra help available to you by phoning one of our advisers, we have also published a range of fact sheets giving you more information on different aspects of debts and arrears.

All fact sheets are available for you to print off and use for future reference.
Type of business

• Dealing with Debts of a Limited Company
• Partnerships
• Sole Traderships

Recovering Payments

• Credit control
• Claims in the county court

Priority debts

• Bailiffs and the Council Tax
• Business leases
• Business rates
• Dealing with tax debt
• Dealing with debts in the High Court
• Domestic mortgage arrears
• Domestic rent arrears
• How to deal with hire purchase debts
• Magistrates court fines
• Time orders in the county court

Secondary debts

• Administration orders
• Attachment of earnings in the county court
• Charging orders
• Credit reference agencies
• Free Debt-Management Plan (DMP)
• Harassment
• How to make offers in full and final settlement
• Mortgage Shortfalls
• Replying to a county court claim
• Suspending a bailiff’s warrant and reducing the instalments on a county court judgement
• What if a creditor refuses my offer?

Insolvency

• Bankruptcy
• Individual voluntary arrangements
• Dealing with a statutory demand

UK Court processes

• Administration orders
• Attachment of earnings in the county court
• Charging orders
• County court bailiffs
• Dealing with debts in the High Court (206KB)
• Interest charges on a consumer credit judgment (139KB)
• Setting aside a county court judgment (67KB)
• Replying to a county court claim (6.15MB)
• Suspending a bailiff’s warrant and reducing the instalments on a county court judgement
• Time orders in the county court

Business Debtline (BDL) is a charity — part of the Money Advice Trust (MAT) — formed in 1991 to increase the quality and availability of free, independent money advice in the UK. Call them in confidence and free on 0800 197 6026

Different Types of Coaching

Types of Coaching

Coaching has evolved into several very different directions and has become an absolute priority in each and every sphere of life for many people. Coaching has thus been categorized into specific varieties and there are definite coaches who handle their particular fields. There are various kinds of coaching which has come into the limelight in the recent years and the most important varieties of coaching include Business Coaching, Life Coaching, Sports Coaching and Executive Coaching.

Business Coaching

The aim of business coaching is to support a particular individual or a team of individuals so as to make the necessary progress in the business division. Business coaching has evolved into several branches such as Executive, Team, Performance and Leadership Coaching. However, the techniques and strategies adopted by a business coach are totally unique and distinct. It is the approach of a business coach which distinguishes him from the crowd. The strategy of a non-directive business coach is totally different from that of a business coach who will actually permit his/her clients to recognize their own solutions so as to move forward in their venture. But, a business coach takes up a directive approach and offers its clients numerous tools and options such as business solutions, tools, models and strategies and in fact, these coaches can be referred to as business mentors or even business consultants for the predominant role they play in the progress and development of the business operations.

Executive Coaching

One of the sub-varieties in business coaching is actually termed as Executive Coaching and is mostly aimed at enhancing the skill sets of senior managers, directors and key players in a specific business domain. Through this approach, you can be sure of enhancing the performance levels, skills and abilities of the executives who are covered under this program and will also offer these individuals to adapt to newer and unknown situations and will also address situations of poor performance. The focus of this coaching is to address both personal and business issues and by addressing these issues, the performance level in business will certainly improve and thus, for this type of coaching, one-to-one conversations are vital and this is the reason why Executive coaching is relatively expensive and is only restricted to the senior managers of the organization.

Sports Coaching

In simpler terms, it can be defined that a sports coach is fully involved in directing, instructing and in the training of either an individual or the entire sports team. The coach is a very experienced person in his field of sports and is a very special person with specific skills. The purpose of sports coaches is to train sports personnel by analyzing their performances, instructing and directing them in the right direction so as to develop their relevant skills and the coaches also offer encouragement to the athletes during their progress. Coaches are responsible for offering guidance to the athletes and also play varied roles which is that of the instructor, assessor, mentor, facilitator, friend, demonstrator, adviser, supporter, organizer and also as the Fountain of Knowledge.

Life Coaching

This branch of coaching has evolved gradually over the years. The focus of this type of coaching is to aid in recognizing and attaining personal goals and objectives which includes every domain of life. Life coachers take up a holistic approach and they work by identifying that every area of life can impact each other and that improvement in one arena will gradually lead to achievements in other career goals. Every life coacher has a different way of working but all of them concentrate in assessing the client’s current satisfaction in the various aspects of their life, investigating what they would like to grow and attain, their skills and strengths and by assessing all this data, a life coach can formulate the strategy for developing their clients’ future.

It should always be remembered that coaching is the ability and practice of motivating, rejuvenating and assisting the performance, learning and development of an individual and thus utmost significance should necessarily be attributed to coaching. This specialized domain is not only limited to the business and corporate sections but has certainly spread its roots in all the spheres of life.

History of Coaching – A True Insight into Coaching

History of Coaching

Coaching is everywhere. It is the hot topic of management, leadership and people development. This article explores the history of coaching through the ages.

There are as many forms of coaching methodologies are there are coaches, so is there a “right” way? Or is the term “coaching” a generic word for one-to-one guidance, help or support?

A True Insight into Coaching

The origination of the term ‘Coaching’ started in the later part of the 1880s and this term has been mostly associated with the sports profession through its varied forms. The first thought which rushes to our mind when we think about coaching is about sports coaching as this profession is very well-developed in the sports arena. The term ‘Coach’ was initially started in 1830 and the Oxford University put forth the meaning of this term as slang for a tutor. Coaching can be defined in several ways and methodologies depending on the area where it is utilized but the need is to define it in layman’s term so as to understand the gist of the subject. A very simple definition to this broad term is the fact that Coaching is a true methodology which concentrates on directing, instructing and training either an individual or a group of people with the only aim to attain certain goals and objectives.

Coach –

Meaning “instructor/trainer” is c.1830 Oxford University slang for a tutor who “carries” a student through an exam; athletic sense is 1861. The verb is from 1610s, “to convey in a coach;” meaning “to prepare (someone) for an exam” is from 1849

 

Coaching through the Ages

The emergence of coaching was a very gradual and slow process and there are several theories which support the initiation of this methodology and the Grounded Theory of the Roots is one significant theory which commemorates the foundation of coaching. Strong roots of coaching have been noticed in several perspectives such as psychology, social sciences, business and several others. Let us split up this journey into the significant time periods in which this method emerged into a major stream as in the current times.

History of Coaching – Prior to 1900

During the end of the 18^th century and towards the start of the 19^th century, it was noticed that philosophy emerged as a separate branch from social sciences and thus exclusive studies were carried out to study the intricacies of the human society and the individual as such. Psychology emerged in its initial form during this period wherein which there were vague descriptions of mental functions and perceptions. In 1879, Wundt and James carried out exclusive work on philosophical traditions and during this period, psychology did experience growing pains just as what coaching seems to be experiencing as of now. The contemporary branch of modern management certainly had its roots put out in the 19^th century and it was towards the middle of this era, that theories and structuring such as training, motivation, organizational structure, etc. were laid out and brought to notice during the industrial revolution. Personnel management also emerged during this period along with consulting and it was in between 1880s to 1950s that the first variety of management consultants came into picture. There were not many changes which occurred in other disciplines during this period such as sports, performing arts or also in the field of education.

History of Coaching – 1900s through 1920s

This was the period for technological advances and the scientific perspective was at its peak at this time. In fact, you can even perceive that the root disciplines of coaching were even founded during this period. Industrialization took an advanced turn during this period and the discovery of the theory of relativity in physics played a great role during this time. In fact, this time was actually referred by Goldman as a ‘shift from mechanical model to the organic model of the world’. Freud who took up an enhanced interest in Psychology became the first person who interpreted psychotherapy during this time. By the end of this century, there were five sub-disciplines from psychology which is a huge achievement in itself. From the 1900s, there was a marked difference in how managers utilized scientific theories in managerial functioning which was to a greater degree in response to Industrial Revolution which certainly demanded work specialization, unity of command, proper hierarchical chain and coordination of activities. In fact, in the 1910s, one observed scientific and classical management perspectives started to emerge and in the 1920s, the human relations movement also initiated. The famous Hawthorne studies were developed in the 1920s and business theories and practices also started adopting psychological theories and models to run the business.

History of Coaching – 1930s through 1950s

Advances in technology continued during this period as well and objects of modern production started invading our lives and almost all the aspects of life such as management, education, consulting and even development started to accept the military model of control and command. This time period actually saw a difference of opinion in the field of psychology and in fact many of the Freudian theories were opposed during this period. The second force of psychology, Behaviorism, also rejected the theories of Freud and actually offered an empirical approach through scientific methods. In fact, the emergence and establishment of behaviorism during the 1910s to the 1950s was as a reaction to the Freudian theories. It was in the 1950s that Maslow and Rogers came up with a humanistic approach in psychology which is known as the third force of this sector wherein personal and phenomenological aspects of human experience were given great precedence. During this time, Perls also popularized the Gestalt therapy and Cognitive psychology also took shape during this time.

History of Coaching – 1960s through 1970s

The humanistic movement took place in the 1960s and it advised employers that people need to be treated well and it was during this period, that there was predominant importance attributed to coaching in business literature as well. In fact, references to coaching evolved out from human resource journals and started appearing more in training and management journals. In the time period from 1960 to 1979, 15 of the 23 articles written on the topic of coaching were published in training journals. Coaching began to get primary importance and there were four management books which were published on coaching and the main subjects captured in the essence of these books were on how managers can utilize coaching to improve performance. Before the 1970s, the term ‘Executive Coaching’ was not in use but rather the term ‘Counseling’ was exclusively used in the business domain. Initially, companies used to recruit Counseling executives who were like psychologists so that managers could have one-on-one sessions with them. The coaching approach was later introduced and was unanimously accepted in the business use.

History of Coaching – 1980s

It was in between the 1970s and 1980s when the United States understood the potential of the coaching process in the business sector and concluded that coaching is essential to support and aid managers so that they can attain their performance requirements and can also contribute directly towards the survival of the business. It was Kinlaw who emphasized that all forms of coaching necessarily includes two main features which are one-on-one conversations and concentration on performance or subjects related to performance. In Britain, the subject of coaching received a fresh meaning and referred to the process wherein which you can conduct direct discussions with your colleagues in an attempt to solve problems and thereby complete the required tasks. Coaching and counseling were often used interchangeably. The 1980s definitely saw the growth of coaching and its complete domination in to the business literature. Discipline journals greatly accepted the success of coaching and published numerous articles on this concept and it was during this time as well that the inception of coaching was traced to its roots of leadership development training and management practice of learning skills and understanding. Even the collaborative model of consultation was referred to have certain similarities to that of coaching.

History of Coaching – 1990s through 2004

It is surprising to note how the concept of coaching progressively spread during the nineties and references to coaching were continuously mentioned in journals and the increase of such articles drastically increased during this period. The development in the coaching industry has been tremendous and has reached a maturation level during this point with respect to the accumulated coaching experience, increase in the number of coaching professionals in various arenas and the enhancement of sophistication in management and human resource professionals. Several coaching books hit the market at this time and journal articles written on coaching started getting flooded in the various publications and this number rose drastically in the early 2000s. 39 books on coaching were also published in the 2000s and contributed heavily towards the strong development of coaching. Whitmore in 1992 his book “Coaching for Performance” popularized the GROW model and made coaching more accessible to the workplace.

History of Coaching – 2004 to 2010

In the recent years, the sphere of coaching has adapted several models wherein which the root disciplines of coaching can be employed in the various business sectors and theories in the psychological section have been exclusively utilized for the purpose. There were also influences of coaching from disciplines such as sociology, linguistics and anthropology and the coach-client relationship is being extensively studied and monitored as well. Business coaching has become a must in the corporate world and companies understand that they cannot progress in the correct direction without including coaching in their development. Organization psychology further strengthened coaching by offering numerous strategies and also supported developmental counseling for key management personnel.

As we can see coaching is not new, we do not need “specialist” training or accreditation, what we need is experience.

References used include:

The Inner Game of Tennis By Tim Gallwey 1974
The Power of Positive Thinking By Dr Norman Vincent Peale, first published in 1952
Freedom and the college By Alexander Meiklejohn 1923
Coaching for Performance By John Whitmore 1992
Educational review, Volume 60 Doubleday, Doran, 1920 Vols. 19-34 include “Bibliography of education” for 1899-1906, compiled by James I. Wyer and others
The Journal of the National Education Association, Volume 1 National Education Association of the United States, The Association, 1916

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 concerned about being connected with their students and Human Resources (HR) professionals connecting with staff employed in the same organization. This lack of awareness is concerning. It seems that across the world 10s of millions of people are using a tool and they have no idea of the dangers just around the corner. used in the proper way, most social networking tools can add a lot of value to an individual, their learning and the organization for which they are attached (student or worker), however, go into this with rose tinted spectacles and many find themselves deep in problems that are difficult if not impossible to solve (without resorting to very expensive solutions).

I discovered this in a small way some years ago in LinkedIn. I was open to connecting with anyone that asked me to connect – all perfectly harmless I thought, until one of these individuals started to contact all my connections and started to spam marketing messages to them. It upset several of the people I knew well, and understandably so – they trusted me with their details.  Today I only connect with people I know in the real world. I am glad that my learning was relatively uneventful – unlike some that find their students bullying them, casting viscous roomers for schools and workplaces to read.

Blocking the use of these tools is not an option – they are a valuable too, but learning how to use them effectively is vital. It should IMHO be core education for all 11 year olds, teachers and professionals alike. the future of marketing is as much about security and reputation management as is its selling and brand building.

The Power of Social Networking

In this piece I hope to highlight three factors:

• Dangers of Social Networking in Business & Education
• Opportunities of Social Networking in Business & Education
• Some Solutions to effectively use Social Networking in Business & Education

What is Social Networking?

In this context I am looking at any technology that:

1. Is open to the public – FaceBook, Twitter etc…
2. Allows people to interact and send text, files, images or movies to each other

So this excludes any internal software that runs on organizations servers – or is strictly limited to registered users only.  The reasons for this are simple, if an organization implements software on its servers or network, it has full responsibility and configuration for what can and cannot be accessed or published etc – ie full moderation.

So lets look at some of the Dangers of Social Networking in Business & Education

• Time wasting
• Irrelevance
• Bullying/ Predators
• Cheating
• Age/ appropriate content
• Scams/ Pishing/ Security issues (viruses etc) – much easier than you think on FaceBook & Twitter links!
• Privacy
• Negative comments/ Reputation tarnished/ Rumours
• Identity theft/ Burglary
• Lost Job/ Opportunity

Opportunities of Social Networking in Business & Education

• Networking
• Collaboration
• Idea generation
• Speed
• Problem solving
• Creativity
• “Just in Time” learning/ skills development
• Lead generation
• Job Search/ Head hunting
• Build relationships – with people, customers
• Builds individual user (esp learner) confidence and competence
• Transferable learning into the real world
• Data mining and research

Some Solutions to effectively use Social Networking in Business & Education

• Separate “business” or work use away from “social” contacts – Dual accounts
• Use privacy settings – learn what they do and how they work
• Consider having 2 profiles – one for “work” and one for close friends & family
• Never have too much personal data available
• Only share online what you are happy to put on a poster outside your home (unless the group/ network is security water tight)
• Never just open files unless you can confirm (live online) that they had just sent a file – i.e. you were expecting it

The only real solution is education and awareness.

I hope that this article has highlighted some of the fears as well as showing that the positives of social networking tools far out-way the dangers to an educated and savvy audience.

Single take away message…

Social networking is here to stay, and much like any core knowledge we need for our job, social media is just a new part of that job “core”.

If you are a teacher, a student, a trainer, HR professional, sales rep, engineer, doctor, nurse, paramedic, …. etc have 2 accounts – one for sharing “professional” stuff with your network.. one for family and VERY close friends only… note if there are more than 50 people on this list it is probably too big to be “personal”!

Remember – Social networks are not solutions in themselves just tools – the better and more effectively you learn to use them, the more they will do for you. Like any craft tool – practice makes… permanent – so learn effectively!

Business Mentoring What is it?

What is Mentoring?

Is mentoring a fad or here to stay as a valuable organizational development strategy?

87% of businesses in the UK utilised mentoring according to a Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) Survey (1999), (Klasen and Clutterbuck 2002)

This trend has continued, however some organizations call mentoring interventions “coaching” to appear leading edge, but that is a piece for another article.

Mentoring in a business sense is a vehicle for self development. Having a formal/ official relationship with a respected senior within an industry or organization is valuable to both the mentee and mentor, and had advantages to the organization in that it is an effective people development strategy and one that can support succession plans.

Mentoring is in essence the sharing of experience and learning from one person to another. Working on the learning needs and agenda of the mentee – not that of the organization (in the short term).

It is interesting to observe that often in education mentoring is used for those that are under performing, whilst in business mentoring is used for those with potential – the high fliers in an organization or for supporting people starting their own business.

 

Two schools of thought on mentoring

There are in essence two basic approaches to mentoring and how it is best applied.

1. Mentoring should be structured or developmental for example a formal, facilitated process that can be managed and monitored
2. Mentoring can only occur naturally, that is an informal process which involves individual choice like sponsoring

These two differing approaches can be portrayed as the American and the European methods or sponsoring (informal) and developmental (formal).

The informal approach is more associated with the roots of mentoring, emphasises the need of a more senior, experienced and wiser person, “the mentor”, to pass down their skills, knowledge and experience to a younger individual appropriately named as a protégé rather than a mentee. The relationship between mentor and protégé is naturally developed often by choice of how and whom the mentor wishes to take under their wing. The pace of the relationship is controlled by the mentor and consists of a more authoritarian and influential approach.

 

Some quotes and definitions from well known people and places on mentoring:

Mentoring is one of the best methods to enhance individuals’ learning and development in all walks of life – Klasen and Clutterbuck

 There is considerable confusion over what mentoring is and is not. – Clutterbuck

Mentoring is to support and encourage people to manage their own learning in order that they may maximise their potential, develop their skills, improve their performance and become the person they want to be.  – Eric Parsloe, The Oxford School of Coaching & Mentoring

Mentoring is unique in its place as a method of supporting people in learning and career development in that it does not exclude other methods, but exists alongside them, complementing them and adding value. – Lewis

Mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. The receiver of mentorship was traditionally referred to as a protégé, or apprentice but with the institutionalization of mentoring the more neutral word “mentee” was invented and is widely used today. – Wikipedia March 2010

“A mentor is a couple of steps down the path you wish to travel and is close enough to say, ‘I was where you are now…you can be where I am now.’” – Forbes

 

Some Mentoring Quotes:

• Be the change you want to see in the world. - Gandhi
• Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction. - John Crosby
• We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill
• Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person. - Mother Teresa
• Because there is a larger awareness that transcends time and space, an awareness is available after death. -
• One thing I know; the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve. -Albert Schweitzer
• One of things I keep learning is that the secret of being happy is doing things for other people. - Dick Gregory
• You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
• I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. - Maya Angelou
• The unselfish effort to bring cheer to others will be the beginning of a happier life for ourselves. - Helen Keller
• In every art beginners must start with models of those who have practised the same art before them. And it is not only a matter of looking at the drawings, paintings, musical compositions, and poems that have been and are being created; it is a matter of being drawn into the individual work of art, of realizing that it has been made by a real human being, and trying to discover the secret of its creation. - Ruth Whitman

Some useful references:

ALRED, G., GARVEY, B. and SMITH, R (1998) Mentoring pocketbook. Alresford: Management Pocketbooks.

CLUTTERBUCK, D. (2004) Everyone needs a mentor: fostering talent in your organisation. 4th ed. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development

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 people!” – but not one (laptop) was in sight – sure occasionally people tweeted on their phone – but this was about real people building real relationships and connections. Social networking is just a gateway to real relationships – not some plastic world of not real friends. Real business was taking place but at a level of respect and trust.

So what makes twitter work for business?

Firstly we need to recognise and understand that there are several reasons why people are on twitter:

1. To market themselves/ their business
2. To market a product
3. To connect with like minded people
4. To meet with like minded people
5. To learn new things
6. To show the world they are important 
7. To try something new

And for may of us it is a blend of the above with varying priorities. As typical in the 90-9-1 “rule” some are VERY active in the environment - others are passive. All forms of interaction are valid.

What MAKES Twitter however is the ability to connect with others. At the event last night the energy in the room was palpable, a real buzz. People were networking, connecting and building relationships without the usual pressing of a hand full of business cards and “minute to win it” style sales pitches. It was meeting with people for the sake of meeting people. No real agenda. This is powerful stuff. The added advantage is that in many cases at some level we had already known each other, and knew how to make contact - an another level we were real strangers (at the beginning of the event).

Why was this better than many traditional networking events?

Traditional networking events from my experience fall in to one of two forms – the “high pressure” sell – and the “stay with the people you know” format. With those based on social networking, many of us had “met” on line, shares a tweet or two and we recognise the name. The introduction or ice breaker is done.. and real conversations can start easily. This format worked well for those that were socially confident as well as those there were less confident meeting “new” people.

Much like Twitter and other discussions, it felt right to wander around and join and leave conversations to talk with “old names” but with “new faces”..

Even if individuals were only known by reputation, it felt like meeting an old friend. (And  did that too meeting someone I have not spoken to for almost 20 years)

How to make Twitter work

The simple thing about making twitter work as a business tool is for the tweet stream to have a personality (or range of personalities). So if you are having a company based tweet stream have a personality – show you are human. Have a profile page you tweet to occasionally. Talk about your hobbies etc.

If you operate a tweet stream with several posters – encourage them to use their initial as hash tags – for example #mdm so that followers can really interact. Have a profile page for each one.

There are many many fully automated tweet streams out there and Twitter is about to change approach with its growth – and the “faceless” corporate tweet streams will slowly lose popularity and the RTs that many using twitter for marketing crave after.

Stephen shaperio on his blog has identified what he calls Twitter personalities or poker types:

• Clubs -   Methodical/ Competitive – competitive using Twitter to help them be successful
• Hearts - People – more interested in the connection with other human beings
• Spades – Analytical – those involved and interested in gathering data – more interested in topics than people/ individuals
• Diamonds - Creative – because it is new and cool

We all have a primary and secondary type.

If in business you are Diamond first and Club second – you will lose in the long run. If on the other hand you are hearts with clubs – that can be a very powerful combination.

Me… I think I am Clubs with Hearts as a secondary, I used to do a lot of Spades – but that is very much in the background now. Getting the balance of hearts and Clubs is a challenge.

So how are you going to make twitter or other social networking/ web 2.0 tools for your business now… and in the future – remember just because one web 2.0 tool works this week doesn’t mean to say it will work next week.

Addendum -

to read som more views on this event have a look at:

http://garethmjones.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/the-connectinghr-tweetup-a-real-tweet
http://strategic-hcm.blogspot.com/2010/03/connecting-hr-tweet-up.html
http://callumsaunders.blogspot.com/2010/03/connecting-hr-tweet-smell-of-success.html 
http://donaldhtaylor.wordpress.com/2010/03/30/hr-tweet-up-connectinghr/

Some of the “official” pics from the event…

What is a business blog? A marketing tool?

What is a Blog?

Lets look at the background behind this technology, so we can understand where it is coming from.

Research into the history behind blogs suggests that it was Pyra Labs is the company that adopted the word Blogger, and made the service a big success (now known as Google blogger/ blogspot).

The people that were the co-founders of Pyra Labs were Evan Williams and Meg Hourihan. “Pyra” was also the name of the company’s first product. It was a web based application which combined a simple project manager, contact manager, and to-do list.

In 1999 the product, while still in beta, were re-engineered (changed) to become an in-house tool which eventually became known as Blogger. The service was launched to the public in August of 1999.

It is believed that the term is actually weblogs was originally coined by Jorn Barger in 1997.

The rapid adoption of weblogs started in 1999 when several companies & developers made easy to use blogging software and tools. Since that time, the number of blogs on the Internet has exploded.

Blogs or weblogs are usually one of two forms:.

Personal Blogs: a mixture of a personal diary, opinion posts and research links.

Business Blogs: a corporate tool for communicating with customers, potential customers or employees to share knowledge and expertise. Blogs that are internally available are increasingly being used as knowledge management ‘pots’.

For a blog to be an effective tool to small businesses we need to understand the nature of weblogs, a definition if you like. Here are almost as many definitions as there are commentators on social media. For a weblog or blog is a social media – it is used by people for people. An effective blog article encourages interactions and collaboration, even if at a basic level.

There are many features which make one blog distinctive from another (apart from the basic design)

• Personality – people write blogs – formal, informal, facts or opinion biased?– not the corporate engine
• Voice – each contributor will have their own style
• Links – what are the nature of the links – internal, external mixed?
• Conversations – are the contributions tell or engaging, do the authors encourage discussion?
• Frequency – how often there is new content, is it from the ‘personality or owner’ or is it a collection of personality-less rss feed provide data

The only real difference between an individual and business based blog is the goal. The purpose of the business blog is to support the goals , aspirations and business plan of the host organisation.

Blog at your web domain or not?
It’s a difficult one – the new and varied content is valuable to your visitors and to the search engines, but it will limit what you can say as you will need to protect the ‘brand image’.

Some business have several blogs – the main one on the site is more about “giving value”, off site blogs may be the personal views of key insiders, views on the industry. This can then link to your site. One advantage of this is that because it is not seen as “your site” you reduce the risk of people perceptions if they dislike or disagree with the content of an individual post. – It is also valuable for search engines if you point your blog at the company site every now and again!

Summary

So a blog is a less formal vehicle for communicating information – facts and opinions to your current and potential customer base, as well as being a key part in your marketing strategy and a vehicle for increasing web traffic.

This is part of a mini-series on Blogs for small business, trainers and freelancers

Developing entrepreneurial skills into business people

HAVE-DO-BE or DO-BE-HAVE?

In business we often hear terms like ‘business person’ or ‘entrepreneur’, but what do they mean and can we train these skills. Let’s look at what these terms mean before we explore any route to development: Business person “a person engaged in commercial or industrial business (especially an owner or executive)” Entrepreneur “An individual who, rather than working as an employee, runs a small business and assumes all the risk and reward of a given business venture, idea, or good or service offered for sale. The entrepreneur is commonly seen as a business leader and innovator of new ideas and business processes“. Definitions taken from www.answers.com

  “First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.” – — Epictetus

If this is true, the key difference in ‘common understanding’ of the terms ‘business person’ and ‘entrepreneur’ include:

1. Running or owning the business… and
2. Assumes all the risk and reward… and
3. A leader… and
4. An innovator of ideas, products or processes

This could mean that with having achieved the right experiences and doing the job they become a business person.

Where as an entrepreneur becomes the innovator, does something to get the idea or product to market and as a result has (have) achieved the acquisition of skills and knowledge.

In the book The reality game: a guide to humanistic counselling and psychotherapy  by John Rowan published in 1983, the authors say:

“Most of us think that if we have enough worldly goods, then we can do what we want to do, and then we can be happy. The sequence “HAVE-DO-BE”. But what we say in humanist psychology is exactly the other way around. If we can be who we really are we will find ourselves doing things which genuinely satisfy us and give us enjoyment, and then we shall have all we really want. The sequence for us is “BE-DO-HAVE””

 

So how does this translate to business and entrepreneurship?

Over the past 10+ years I have been fortunate enough to work with 1000s of business owners and entrepreneurs. The difference is often striking.

The business person wants evidence, facts, resources. They often wait for you to go to them to initiate the relationship in some form. (Have information, do… be)

The entrepreneur wants ideas, thoughts. The entrepreneur will often seek out like minded people; they do not wait to be approached. (Be inquisitive, do … have)

Is this the missing link? All to often we are asked to develop entrepreneurial thinking, to encourage innovation and to generate empowerment. We often look at skills and culture, but do we really look at the psychology of the individual(s) and explore their current thinking preferences?

Developing the skills

The HAVE-DO-BE approach (which is where most employees are) is there, and this seems to be culturally driven. The shift to an entrepreneurial approach of DO-BE-HAVE seems to be one of attitude, and so can be developed.

A development programme would then take the existing journey HAVE-DO-BE for many things and develop the confidence to DO-BE-HAVE. Reflection on each step as well as coaching and mentoring can support the development process.

One approach may well be to coach individuals to take some risks, to challenge current thinking and to adopt a DO-BE-HAVE approach. We need at the same time to put in mechanisms to support the risk-taking and the increased likelihood of errors and mistakes – i.e. the output from learning taking place!

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 indicative and not a prescription. Not all elements will be necessary for your business or business model so use this as an ideas base and not a prescription.

There are several business models available to you, you should choose the model which best suits your skills. For example if sales is not your thing then direct contact with a client, persuading them that you are the right provider, writing proposals etc may not be your thing, so consider the temporary or associate market, where others do the selling and you do the delivery. However be aware that the money is made in the selling and account management phases, so do not expect high day rates (although you may be lucky).

Do:

1. Decide on a trading name: This is important and needs to reflect your proposition and values – doing something too ‘samey’ or quirky will go against you unless you are in a particular niche (make sure the web site is available)

2. Decide on a specialism – subject or sector: The more you specialise the easier the sell. People buy solutions not opportunities.

3. Hire a (good) accountant: getting the books right from the off is vital, they can also save you more than they cost.

4. Get a logo or brand developed: this is essential if you are going to have a web presence. – Don’t do this yourself

5. Decide a day rate and stick to it: develop your business model and ensure that your business is sustainable. At £100 per day you will be earning less than national minimum wage by the time tax etc is taken away.

6. Develop terms and conditions and stick to them: always charge for cancelled dates. It is critical to have a business policy, something that is clear and understood by your customers and potential customers.

7. Get a website: increasingly people are buying trainers from the web, make sure yours gets seen.

8. Set up a blog for content: this should be part of your web strategy as it helps purchasers know you exist and, more importantly, what your believe and your approach.

9. Decide your business model: the percentage of associate work, direct etc

10. Get business cards & other key stationary – quality counts – don’t do cheap!.

11. Network with people you know: let them know what you are doing and that you are available.

12. Ask your network who they know who would benefit from your offer: referrals will mean the difference between long-term success and failure.

13. Use forums and other community sites to raise your profile: TrainingZone.co.uk, TrainerBase etc, but don’t spam them. Identify and comment only on topics in your specialist area to build your reputation.

14. Develop standard documents: proposal, invoice etc, this saves time.

15. Start a contact database and write quarterly/ monthly newsletters that add value, not just to advertise (again a form of spam if you are not careful).

16. Develop yourself: go on courses, visit exhibitions, attend conferences, read books, and then write each one up in your blog.

17. Get all travel and accommodation booked and paid for in advanced: It’s cheaper for the client and saves you hassle.

18. If you are a member of a professional institution, attend local events irrespective of the topic or relevance. It’s about networking and relationship building.

19. Involve other people: your spouse / partner, accountant etc. You have many strengths – and weaknesses – it’s a team effort not a solo act. Identify what it takes to provide a rounded offer.

20. Understand what it is that you offer and others cannot or do not: how can you articulate this?

21. Learn to say no to clients: if you are not the best person or you are uncomfortable ethically, don’t do it.

22. If you are not already qualified get some recognition of what you can do: TrainerBase’s CLP, TAP, the IITT’s TPMA – the best ones require you to be re-assessed every couple of years – purchasers like badges and so external recognition is important.

23. Always explore the ‘value added’ what can you bring to the party: Web 2.0 solutions, workbooks, experience, certificates, etc.

24. Build a Twitter profile for developing and growing relationships (as well as marketing)

25. Have a cancellation clause in your contract – a day in the diary cannot be charged for again if cancelled at short notice

26. Consider asking for a percentage of the fee up front.

27. Free work today does not equal a contract tomorrow….

28. Don’t accept all work – only accept work that you can do – be a specialist, avoid being a generalist – there are 1000′s of them.

29. Outsource – be prepared to pay or barter – avoid doing it all yourself.

Don’t

1. Get involved in a joint venture unless all parties put in the same time and exposure.

2. Put all your eggs in one basket: set a limit of a maximum of 25% of turnover from one client.

3. Discount unless it is conditional on volume (delivered not promised).

4. Wait for an associate to be paid: you should accept and expect payment 30 days from invoice or less.

5. Spend hours a day on social networking sites and forums. Be strategic in your use.

6. Try to deliver every course under the sun: you must specialise.

Finally: Remember – this is not personal – it’s business, but people buy people. The market is challenging and those best prepared and connected will be the ones that will survive. Good luck if this is the journey for you.

Based upon an article first published in TrainingZone.

Mike Morrison is director of RapidBI Ltd, a consulting and training company specialising in organisational development and the development of high performing teams and individuals. Mike was a business adviser for six years and has run his own consultancy company. For more information go to www.RapidBI.com

How to select the appropriate business improvement diagnostic

The RapidBI team have developed a range of diagnostic tools suitable for identifying business planning strategies and management culture improvements for many organizations – but how do you select the one that is right for you?

The BIR is a strategic diagnostic tool which looks at all parts of an organization, with a view to identifying areas for improvement. The BIR can also be used to measure the effectiveness of organizational change.

 How do you choose which one is right for you:

1. Is your organisation managed by an owner manager?
   • yes – use the BIR-C
2. Is your organisation managed by a board or committee?
   • yes - use the BIR-S
3. Do you only want to look at the management skills, style and culture of the organization?
   • yes – use the BIR-L (only suitable for board or committee managed organisations)

How is this best managed:

1. Are you looking to facilitate this on your own organisation?
   • yes – buy the BIR-C or BIR-S from the product page
   • no – email us through the contact us form 
2. Are you looking to have someone facilitate this with your organization?
   • yes – email us through the contact us form
3. Are you looking to use this on a client organization?
   • yes – email us through the contact us form OR buy the appropriate version through the product page

We hope you find this quick guide of value. For full information on the Business Improvement Review visit our BIR  pages

Why to use Twitter as a business marketing tool

Use a new tools in the market as a key strategy? – you must be mad!

In a changing economy, it might seem wrong to experiment with mediums such as Twitter for marketing and customer outreach. After all, the more well-established Facebook has a documented 800 million active users, while estimates place Twitter (which twitter doesn’t disclose such figures) at around 5 million users.

** update Dec 2011 – Facebook is now 800+ active users and Twitter is 100M active users

But while Twitter’s user base might seem small, the return on engagement from Twitter fans is substantial, Most Twitter users are hyper-connected, They are influencer’s and really want to share opinions with others. Many of them keep blogs. They are very different than the mainstream Facebook users.

For most companies, the decision to use Twitter will depend on the type of products or services that they offer.

Gathering Twitter wisdom from social media analysts and companies that have enjoyed success via Twitter, we’ve rounded up the key steps your company must take before it can enjoy a viable Twitter presence. In most cases, companies that started Twittering with clear objectives – or at least listened closely to the Twitter user base after they got started and adapted their strategy accordingly – have reaped the greatest benefits and (more importantly) helped their customers in the process.

 

Listen and Learn About Twitter – to use twitter as a business tool

Before you can identify the main objective for your organization’s use of Twitter, you first must understand the Twitter community and what they think of your company.

Get some search tools and start listening to the Twitter community before you do anything else and above all else listen to what they’re saying about your company and your industry.

Before you go out and set up a business based system you would be advised to set up a personal Twitter account to see what makes this community tick.

Establish Your Twitter Objectives and Metrics for Success for using twitter as a marketing tool

Like any effective marketing strategy, you need to establish what goals you hope to accomplish by being on Twitter.

The expectations you set should be two-fold. The first goal: internally justify your efforts to your company. Twitter remains a nascent technology, and in a tough economic time, you need to make a good case as to why someone should be dedicating his or her time to it, in addition to traditional marketing and customer service channels such as e-mail, web advertising (through Google) or even Facebook.

In general, companies that just push marketing deals or links to corporate press releases won’t gain much traction, experts warn.

Twitter users said, ‘we want a conversation with you, not faceless marketing.’

To build a good presence on Twitter, most companies must be responsive to questions regarding their service.

In some cases, the decision to travel the pure marketing route can be fine – as long as you’re up front about it to Twitter users,

 

Set Up Your Company’s Twitter Profile

The first step for your company’s Twitter profile will be selecting a user name. As is the case when you search for available Web URLs, your company name may already be taken by another user, either as a hoax account or because the person blogs about or follows the company closely.

In general, the more personal a company’s Twitter account appears, the better. Traditional mediums such as corporate websites, advertisements and promotions typically lack the sort of human feeling that Twitter users crave.

Twitter is not a forum to throw up press releases, your tweets should be real people who are real representatives of your company

All Twitter profiles have a field for a URL. While it might be tempting to insert your company’s homepage, this might not be a good use of the space, some recommend having a link to a custom page on your website that explains why you’re on Twitter and what you hope to accomplish by being there.

Users say businesses need to be conversational on Twitter, and you should be seen to provide value add.

Mind Your Twitter Etiquette

You should learn the rules of Twitter etiquette for individuals who use the service. Many of the same principles apply for company profiles, with a few notable exceptions.

One main difference is over the issue of following people.

• On your individual Twitter account, you should only follow people who bring you value personally.
• On a company profile, the rules change. Once people decide to follow a company’s Twitter updates, companies should generally follow them back. It shows you’re listening.

One proponent of twitter as a marketing tool said “It makes sense to follow people back in most cases, If someone walks into your store, you wouldn’t ignore them. You’d go and greet them and ask how they are.”

Ideally, it’s better to tweet publicly and avoid direct messages unless it’s absolutely necessary. Most problems or questions that people tweet about will be common, and the group can benefit from knowing the answer.

Finally, be prepared to make mistakes. The Twitter community is temperamental, but passionate. They may evangelize your product if you respond to their criticisms thoughtfully and in a way geared toward helping them. Since every message must be 140 characters or less, it’s easy to create misunderstandings. You must clarify your thoughts when necessary.

If you make a mistake, the important thing is to acknowledge it and say what you really meant, after all that’s what you’d do if you were talking to someone in person.”

Keep it balanced – business & human (“real”)

To be really effective keep your tweets not to the 140 character limit but to under 120 – this allows followers to ReTweet messages they feel are of value. You should aim for your messages to be ‘of interest’ and retweetable rather than direct sales.  Remember that while this may well be a business based twitter account – it is a human supplying data – so ensure something of the individual posting is there too – keep it human.

If all you do is sent business data then many will get bored and unfollow – keep them interested. Personally I aim for the 60-10-30 balance -

• 60% value adding
• 10% direct push sales
• 30% personal

Never just push links – you will get followers but the wont click & retweet often)

Twitter takes time, Twitter is not understood by many – but the proof is in the pudding – it is a well connected channel to market that works – it is very low cost – but to do well involved a significant time commitment (certainly at the planning stage).

based on an article originally written by C.G. Lynch at IT world