Archive for the 'Business & Finance' Category

Self-employment in a cold climate

I’ve been speaking with a number of solo professionals recently and many of them told me that they have been badly affected by the economic downturn. Business was going along quite nicely until around March this year when everything seems to have dried up. In some cases, companies that had been contracting these professionals for long-term projects are now bringing that work in-house. In other cases, businesses were no longer planning more than a couple of months ahead so these self-employed professionals - who had gotten used to having work lined up for the next 10 months - are now finding that they have to live from hand to mouth, with the contract work being drip fed to them from time to time.

I asked them what they are doing to market themselves and to get themselves “out there” in these difficult times. A number of them have been going through their address books, cold calling contacts and making arrangements to meet up and network in the hope that there might be some work thrown their way — or at least some leads that they could then follow up. It was painstakingly slow and long, hard work — with as many as thirty “no, thank yous” to every one “maybe”. Depressingly, in one case, the contacts that this one professional called up said, “I’m so glad you called. I want to pick your brain. I’ve just been made redundant”. Another professional sighed and said that he really should try to get networking but he wasn’t very good at it and he really didn’t like pushing himself on other people.

What, no website?

In quite a number of cases, none of them had a website.

When I asked them why they didn’t have websites for their businesses, the responses all had a similar theme:
• business had been good up till now, they didn’t need one;
• they didn’t want to spend the money and now in the downturn, they didn’t have the money to spend;
• they had been getting all their work through contacts and existing clients so there had never been the need for a website;
• they were too busy with the work to think about marketing and commissioning a website.

Benefits of having a website

I urged them to invest the time and money in resourcing a website, especially now that they had a bit of spare time to think about what they wanted to say about themselves on a website and what they wanted for the design of it. While personal contacts and real-world networking is extremely valuable, its reach is limited to the number of people you can personally talk to or spend time with. A website - literally - makes your credentials and services available 24/7 to the whole wide world. Also, when one of your contacts recommends you to a company, they can easily include a link to your website so that that company can easily check out what you offer and your track record - which may be critical to their decision about whether or not to hire you. In fact, if you were that company and you weree considering hiring a new consultant, would you go for the one with the website you can check out or rely on a recommendation that you can’t verify in any other way?

Case studies via Twitter and Facebook

I thought that the best way to make a strong case for how important it is for self-employed professionals to have a website it to offer them some real world case studies. So I opened up Twitter and sent the following “tweet” to the whole wide world:

If you are self-employed, how important is it to have your own website? Pls help me advise some solo professionals I know

These are a couple of responses I got back within the hour:

barrieingramacc: @fusionview I have site www.barrieingram.co.uk and its helped me get networkin people get to know what you do I have got podcasts as well .

I don’t know Barrie but he caught my “tweet” because he was on Twitter. I checked his website and see that he offers “Complete Accountancy Service specifically for small business”. Now he is getting some free publicity from my blog post! By engaging online, you can definitely widen your reach as Barrie has done.

gilescolborne: @fusionview Put it like this: when was the last time you looked up a number in the Yellow Pages? And on Google?

Giles is my cousin-in-law who is a usability expert and Managing Director of cxpartners, based in Bristol. What he says is so true. I hardly look up a business in the Yellow Pages - instead I google, because Google throws up businesses actual websites and other information about them such as articles, blog posts etc whereas Yellow Pages only gives me their address and phone number. If you don’t have a website, you miss out on potential clients who may be googling right now in the hope of finding someone just like you.

My Twitter feed also automatically appears in my Facebook profile so I also received these other responses via Facebook.

Moyra Weston at 11:36pm July 1
I launched mine 2 weeks ago and it has already given me 4 positive leads. We can manage without if we have great links and networks, but it appears that a professional looking website gives credibility and allows us to spread our message - especially when we use blogs/newsletters. I’ve had a lot of feedback on mine and am definitely seen as a professional with it… www.westoncoaching.com

Moyra is a client for whom my consultancy provided a website and associated blog as well as blog training. Weston Coaching is “Committed to supporting the development you need through coaching, training, consultancy and facilitation.” I’m thrilled that her website has already generated four positive leads within two weeks of launching!

Susan Macaulay at 12:38pm July 2
I think it’s great. gives people a place to go and get a bunch of information fast and easy. They can look at what they want. Saves time for you and for clients. Mine has been up about 4 years. Soon to be revamped based on experience. Haven’t used it as fully as would like to in the past, but will in the future….

Susan is a friend and Managing Director of Strike Communications, a public speaking consultant based in Dubai. She also runs Amazing Women Rock, a social network for, well, “amazing women”. Interestingly, I was going to put one of the solo professionals I met in contact with Susan before I got this message - but found that I couldn’t give Susan “a bunch of information” by merely forwarding that professional’s web address - and so I haven’t gotten around to writing Susan an email about this person yet because it’s so much more hassle for me to set out that “bunch of information” myself. Make it easy for your contacts to spread the word about you and your business by having a website.

I rest my case

So, if you’re self-employed - I hope that with these additional voices from small business owners and solo professionals, I have been able to make the case for investing in a website as soon as possible, if you don’t already have one! And please do pop back and let me know how it works out for you and your business.

Photo: thanks to Librarian By Day on flickr.com (CCL0

I’m pleased to report that my article about Blogging for the Finance Sector is being included as a chapter in The Handbook of Internal Communication, edited by Marc Wright of simply-communicate.com, which will be published by Gower on 6 June 2008.

The article is a case study of THFC Space, the online discussion space which I created and currently edit in my day job at The Housing Finance Corporation. The site uses blogging software (Wordpress) and is members only space for senior housing finance professionals to discuss finance related issues relevant to the social housing sector. Wordpress is well-suited to being styled and designed as an online magazine with the opportunity for reader comments while allowing multi-media items to be uploaded easily.

Do check out the article and if you know of any other finance related blogs, please add a comment here with a link.

My associate Silvia Cambie has asked me to pass on an invitation to an event that she is speaking at. Because of the wonders of modern global communications, you can attend this conference no matter where you are in the world.

She will be speaking at “A Brand You World”, the Global Telesummit that will be held later this week on Thursday November 8th from 3pm local time in the form of a free Teleconference that is expected to draw more than 100,000 professionals from throughout the world.

Silvia writes:

“I will share the lessons I learned from my years in post-communist Eastern Europe where I had to tune into a complex society. Working as a reporter in a place where speaking openly to foreigners had been tabu for 50 years, I had to learn to listen very carefully instead of asking questions.

I still use the ‘tricks’ I learned then every time I have to operate in a culture I am not so familiar with.

In my session I will cover how to:

* Develop the kind of sensibility needed to operate in a cross-cultural context
* Identify and nurture the skills required to build an international career
* Relate to the needs of employers/clients/investors/etc. in the global village
* Use international networks, both on-line and off-line, to promote your personal brand, jump-start your career or grow your business

I am delighted to be able to contribute to an event that is encouraging participants to make a donation to Kiva, an organisation that provides microfinance loans to enterpreneurs in developing countries.

Join me at the Global Telesummit!”

I’ll certainly be phoning in so maybe I’ll see/ hear you there.

by Angie Macdonald

The hype around social media continues to grow as millions of people globally join social networks and online communities. The marketing value of these tools is enormous yet many businesses are still not sure what they are and how they can use them.

On Thursday evening I went along to a talk at the City Women’s Network entitled Social Media: Online Communities and Your Business to hear three experts explain how businesses can take advantage of all that social networks and online communities have to offer.

First up was Giles Colborne, Managing Director of cxpartners who explained what online communities are and how they work. There are many different types of communities on the web; communities of support like the American Cancer Society and Trip Adviser, communities of friendship like Facebook, communities of ideas such as Boxes and Arrows, where professionals exchange knowledge, and finally, communities of expression, as in sites like Flickr and Last.fm.

What makes communities different is the issue of control. Unlike the authoritarian approach of most corporate cultures, control in online communities lies in the hands of the people using them.

The best way to approach starting your own online community is to treat it like organising a party and to think of the kind of people you’d like to attract, from an attentive host to lively social hubs and of course, your loyal friends. It is the type of people who join and participate in your community that will make or break it.

Kristin Berg, Planning Director at Euro RSCG 4D spoke about why communities and social networks are important.

If you are a business, chances are your target audience are already spending their time online in social networking sites like Flickr and Facebook. Word spreads fast in these online communities and companies need to monitor what people are saying about them and try and influence what they can.

Also, consumers are starting to interact with brands online in a manner which involves interaction, involvement and co-creation. The result is that consumers show more loyalty to the brands they feel a part of.

The benefits for businesses wanting to make use of online communities are numerous, including market research, the PR value that comes from being seen as the first to do something and advertising in the form of pre-launch product buzz, as in Microsoft’s new ZuneScene rival to the iPhone.

Companies like Sheraton Hotels and Coca-Cola have created brand engagement and engaged consumers online by asking guests to send in video stories about their trip for the Sheraton website and contribute design ideas for a new Coke bottle. The possibilities are endless.

Yang-May Ooi, Partner at Social Media Consultancy ZenGuide told about The Housing Finance Corporation’s blog or online discussion space, THFC Space, which she was involved in setting up along with CEO Piers Williamson.

A blog seemed the perfect platform to replace the quarterly newsletter that was emailed out in PDF form and promote the image of THFC as a modern, forward-thinking financial organisation.

It was decided to target the key influencers in the Housing Finance sector and gear the content towards what the members are interested in. The “bloggers” on the site include the key influencers in the sector as well as THFC staff.

Ensuring the success of THFC Space involves an editorial management policy with a blog editor and the CEO as the Managing Editor, who plays an active role in driving the project forward.

Outcomes of this project have included membership growth, an increase in discussion and increased marketing awareness amongst all at THFC.

The talks were followed by a lively discussion which touched on the issue of security and how to decide which social network to use. All in all, I thought the speakers made the idea of social media and business less scary and more accessible. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening and really encouraging to hear such enthusiastic and positive comments around social media from the businesswomen in the audience.

Following up on my promise to list some great blogs for you to explore as a disprove the theory that “it’s all rubbish out there”, here are some intelligent blogs that make worthwhile reading:

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Marketing

http://marketing.corante.com/ - a hub for blogs on marketing by A-list marketing professionals.

http://bpr.typepad.com/a_view_from_abroad/ - An intelligent French view on marketing and social media: how much more French can you get than a blog post entitled Social networking causing personal existential crisis?

Business and Economics

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/ - by Stephen J Dubner and Steven D Levitt, the co-authors of the book Freakonomics and part of the New York Times suite of blogs, this blog continues the book’s exploration of “the hidden side of everything”. Well-written (as you’d expect), topical as well as personal.

http://accountancymatters.accountancyage.com/ - Accountancy blog from Damian Wild, Editor-in-Chief of Accountancy Age magazine. I don’t read this one avidly I have to confess but the occasional dip into it reveals a mix of accountancy and business related commentary, personal opinion and newsletter style notices about the magazine.

http://nakedlaw.typepad.com/naked_law/ - UK technology law laid bare by Cambridge lawyers. Informative and clear discussions on topical issues on their area of expertise, including posts on Facebook, Skype and copyright as well as more specialist tech topics.

http://www.businessethics.ca/blog/ - A blog about business ethics. Well-written and intelligent, with blog posts like “Evolutionary Psychology and Corporate Philanthropy” - so much to chew on.

Brain Candy

http://blogs.britannica.com/blog/main - the blog from the Encyclopaedia Britannica has the tagline “Where Ideas Matter”. Their mission statement is to be “a place for smart, lively conversations about a broad range of topics.” Their categories include Culture, Science, International Affairs, Movies and Humor. High quality discussion and writing.

http://anthropology.net/ - using blog technology to create “a cohesive online community of individuals interested in anthropology” with great tagline: “Beyond bones and stones”. Fascinating articles at expert level on anthropology including discussions of human genetics, neanderthals and using algorithms to trace human ancestry - all still readable and understandable by a lay person.

http://bps-research-digest.blogspot.com/ - the blog of the British Psychological Society brings news and commentary on latest research in that field, complementing their subscription only magazine.

Pic: thanks to Peter Gene on flickr.com

This is a cross-post from my arts blog Fusion View

Do you know any Malaysian businesses that blog or use social media? Or are you a business-owner, corporate executive or professional person in Malaysia who blogs as part of your business? I need your advice!

I’m writing an article for Communication World, the journal for the International Association of Business Communicators, (IABC) about business blogging in Malaysia. I have a couple of businesses in mind that I will focus on in the article - businesses based in KL who are actively engaging with bloggers and who have blogs themselves.

But I am keen to discover other Malaysian businesses that blog or use social media to promote their enterprise or to engage with their customers.

If you live in Malaysia or have a connection with Malaysia, can help me flesh out the article with some of your thoughts:

# Are there businesses or professional people (eg lawyers, architects etc) do you know of that are engaging with bloggers eg via their own blogging or by making contact with local bloggers?

# Are there any businesses using other types of social media to connect with their clients and customers eg podcasting, video, social networks?

# Do you have any advice for businesses wishing to engage with Malaysian bloggers?

If you are a blogger and you think that your community of bloggers around your blog could help with these queries or may have any experiences/ ideas they can add, please do blog about this query.

Communication World goes out to around 14,000 professionals in PR, marketing and communications around the world as a glossy magazine and also, some of its articles are available as pdfs online. IABC also has a Malaysian chapter. This will be a good opportunity for Malaysian innovation in the blogosphere to be seen world-wide and a good platform to showcase MPH and local litbloggers. I will give full credit to you - and any of your blogger contacts whose information I use in the article.

The deadline for my finished article is the end of July so I hope you’ll be able to let me have your thoughts as soon as possible eg in the next few days so I have a chance to write them up into the article. (Sorry for the short notice - I only got the commission to write the article a couple of days ago!)

Please add a comment or you can email me via the Contact link at the top of this page.

PS. I am going to keep mum about the two businesses that blog that I know of for now as I would like to get fresh ideas from you

Photo: thanks to kleinmatt66 from flickr.com

Continuing the Conversation from the social media discussions in Slovenia….

One of our round table participants held that one of the core values of blogging is its openness for everyone to take part, to add their comments, to disagree or disagree, to share ideas. That gives blogging and social media its vibrancy and energy and it is through open conversations without centralised control that fresh ideas emerge, freedom is embraced and exercised and democratic principles are lived out in the flesh.

Is there a place for private blogs or private networks? Can an online space that is public and open to all in some situations restrict one’s freedom to express oneself fully and truly? Some possibilities come to mind:

• a forum where bloggers who have experienced cyberharrassment might want to share and support each other.

• a business network where financially sensitive information needs to be discussed

• a network where business leaders may wish to network freely with each other - be able to disagree, argue, debate etc without what they discuss being open to misinterpretation to those not within their industry

I’m sure you can think of other examples as well.

It can be very valuable for victims of trauma to speak openly about their experiences without feeling judged or put down by others. Public spaces on the web can be uncivil and unruly, jostling spaces, just like any street or the subway in rush hour. A safe space for such discussions would need to be private.

Similarly, with any other matter that is sensitive whether financial, personal or in business, private networks may be the only way that social media can be used effectively.

Debate, discussion, disagreement and argument in are all part of the process of negotiation or coming to a decision or consensus in the Western democracies. Sometimes there are disagreements between people on the same team or same Board or the same committee while they work out their ideas and before they come to a firm conclusion. It may be that where social media is used to facilitate this process, it needs to be private between the relevant people so as not to have the process hampered by those who are not meant to be involved in that process. It also may not be appropriate for these people who are playing on the same team to be seen by their stakeholders in the process of the disagreement if that is going to be misinterpreted as a problem in the leadership and cause unnecessary instability within the corporation or their market - when in fact it is merely a process of interrogating an issue that will ultimately be resolved.

I find this issue a challenging and very interesting one. I agree whole-heartedly with my colleague who upholds the value of openness and lack of controls on the blogosphere as a whole. And yet, I find that there are circumstances when in fact you can only have openness within a ring-fenced “safe” area.

What do you think?

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Photo: thanks to Aaron Jacobs on flickr.com

Note: ZenGuide is updated Mondays and Thursdays

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According to a Microsoft survey, 75% of blogs hosted by Blogger.com are spam blogs. These are the free blogs that have “.blogspot.com” as part of their domain name that up till now have been used primarily by personal bloggers and those who don’t want to spend any money on their online presence. This disturbing new trend was reported on a legal blog, Real Lawyers Have Blogs, in April 2007, by Kevin O’Keefe a US lawyer.

He makes the point that law firms who use the free Blogger platform to save money are therefore in a blogging network surrounded by spam blogs. I would add my voice to this concern - as a business owner, are these the kind of blogging neighbours you want associated with your corporate blog? If “.blogspot.com” is widely known as the blogging platform of choice for personal bloggers, people who don’t want to invest any money in their web presence and now spam bloggers , what does it say about your brand to have that as part of your domain name?

I reported awhile back on the recent US survey that indicated that 75% of the wealthy in America read blogs. This is a great opportunity for businesses who would like to reach this group via blogging. But the wealthy and powerful are most likely to be used to top-quality, high-value goods, services and experiences. Will your .blogspot.com domain and generic template give them a blog-visiting experience that is going to meet those expectations?

I came across a US-based life coach who was offering services that would help his client achieve “excellence” and “peak performance”. His copy was all superlatives of that nature. But his blog was a .blogspot.com blog - and he was using the first template you come across when signing up to a blog on Blogger. I have to say, I didn’t believe that he believed a thing that he was saying.

There is a reason why designer goods stores and top-notch service firms are fitted out luxuriously with top quality wood and shiny marble, gleaming glass and indoor exotic plants and water features. They all add up to say “We’re worth it” and “You, as our customer, deserve the best visiting experience.”

For a business to have a free .blogspot.com domain - especially if you don’t even make an effort to customise the generic template - seems to me increasingly like trying to setting yourself up as luxury goods outlet offering Gucci and Versace products and then selling them out of the back of your car on a lay-by.

The survey “Connecting Web Spammers and Advertisers” can be read as a pdf file. It has been said by other commentators that the survey was commissioned by Microsoft, who are rivals with Google, the company that owns Blogger.com and the outcome was bound to have something negative to say about Blogger. Personally, I like Blogger as a starting point for new bloggers - because it’s free and it’s easily customisable, it’s a great place to practice your blogging skills. It’s also ideal for personal bloggers and others who have little or no budget. But for business or corporate blogging, you really need to see blogging as part of your brand and marketing strategy and act accordingly.

I’ve also blogged earlier on the merits or otherwise of free blog platforms in my post “Are You Worth It?”.

Disclosure: we offer a bespoke website and/ or blog design service starting from £500 and a year’s hosting from £30. But you don’t have to use our design services - our consultancy is about helping you enhance your online presence not just selling web design services. So, if you want a bespoke blog, one place to start is to speak to the people who designed your main website and see what they can do for you - or if you’d like to find out more about how we can help with designing your integrated website and blog, by all means email or call me via the Contact Us link at the top of this page.

Photo: thanks to alaska.net

A recent survey by the wonderfully  named Luxury Institute reveals that over three quarters of the rich in America read blogs - up 25% from two years ago. In contrast, only one quarter of the general population read blogs. A third of rich Americans use social networking sites as compared to only 16% of the general population. The “rich” in this study were 1000 web users making more than US$150,000 (GB £75,000) a year.

This is good news for businesses with high-end goods or services to offer - especially if they are blogging or considering a blog for their business.

The study focuses only on America. I expect that one could make a correlation with the same demographic over here in the UK, or anywhere else in the world. It wouldn’t surprise me that those with more disposable income would have the means to read blogs and interact on social networks - computers ain’t cheap. And knowledge, information and networking are valuable assets that contribute to the success of business people and professionals - so it is probably natural that they would be the ones checking out blogs for information and social networks for contacts.

I think that it’s not so simple as buying a whole bunch of ads on social network sites or on blogs. The audience is likely to be more sophisticated and have higher expectations than the general population so the content of a business blog or social network presence needs to be tailored with that in mind.

Technorati Tags: wealthy, luxury, blogging, social media, social networking, rich

Twitter is the new mobile-blogging social network using SMS (or texting) as a base for updating. People are working out diverse ways to use it to communicate, network and carry on up to the minute dialogue locally and across the world.

It’s perfect for up to the minute blow by blow accounts of events which can be received by subscribers on their mobile phones. The newest innovation is a Twitter page that is offering a blow by blow account of the UK Budget 2007. See www.twitter.com/budget.

Live coverage is expected at 12.30pm GMT today, 21 March.

Thanks to Nick Wilson for flagging this link.

For more about Twitter, see the posts on my other blog, Fusion View:

Twittering Away

Mind Map

Photo: thanks to guardian.co.uk