When Graham met Ben, part two.
Business and other things.
Graham interviews Ben, part two
November 10, 2011 By
When Graham met Ben
November 7, 2011 By
Finding your voice from Soft Cell to Marilyn Manson
September 9, 2011 By
Following on from a few posts on blogging, Sarah had a chat with new Bloke, Warren Cass about finding your blogging voice:
Finding your voice when writing can be tough, it’s hard to get the tone that is needed to convey the right meaning. We know from experience that sometimes good humour can come across as sarcastic and vice versa. A good writer can inject the warmth and emotion needed into their words but when you are starting out it can be harder to do this.
Image via Wikipedia
3 tips to find your blogging voice
- Write what you know and if you don’t know – research, research, reseach
- Figure out who you are and then be you with purpose, with confidence
- Write like you talk, but without the slang…
Of course when you have found your voice and have put your interpretation into the content you then have to look at how it sounds – does it sound unique even if the words are the same?
Take a look at one of the most popular songs of the early 80s – Soft Cell’s Tainted Love.
Distinctive… emotive
Now listen to Marilyn Manson’s version
Distinctive, emotive… stronger – better?
Of course both songs have their place, both have a distinctive voice but the words are the same.
It works in music, can you translate that to your blog? Can your own unique spin on a topic make it better, stronger? Better than the orginal?
To which Warren includes:
Tone of voice is a very important part of blogging for me as I don’t believe it should be too contrived. The question is, who is reading and is it YOU specifically or is it your business you want to represent?
If it is you, be authentic. You will find it easier to write and create new content if you are not constantly trying to think about another voice.
I personally choose a conversational tone because usually in a conversation people talk back to you. Isn’t this what you want to achieve? Engagement?
If you are not representing a business and are just wanting to share thoughts & ideas to raise profile, then you have a lot more freedom to express yourself, perhaps be a little more controversial. I would exercise a little more caution when its a business reputation on the line.
Flowers, they keep you out of trouble. Sometimes.
September 1, 2011 By
While the Earth will still spin if you forget your darling’s birthday or your own anniversary, your personal world may stop spinning for a good while. No matter how real or how good the excuse, it will not be good enough for the neglected partner and who can blame them? You may spend the next 11 months in the dog house if it’s an anniversary, and that can be tough.
Ideally, we would all love to be on top of everything, but in our fast-paced lives, that’s not always possible. Fortunately, that’s no reason to disappoint yourself or your loved one. As long as you remember the occasion which is coming up, with a quick search and a few clicks online you can have the beautiful, personalized bouquet on its way to your darling, and you can be at peace of mind for the rest of the week (or until the next event of course!).
Remember, a hectic schedule may prevent us from personally being able to give a beautiful gift of flowers, but that should not deter you from having a bouquet of fresh, heavenly-smelling flowers delivered to the right place at the right time. Many a crisis has been averted by our “sorry darling flowers”.
Today’s high tech world, which facilitates communication but often hinders face to face contact, has stumbled more than one of us when we really needed to be somewhere for someone. Dates added to our electronic diaries and then forgotten, emails gone adrift…
Happily, the more humanitarian side of our high tech world is catching up and providing the opportunity for us to still show our love and thoughtfulness, even when we physically cannot be at the location. Be it your mother’s birthday, best friend’s wedding anniversary, daughter’s second wedding… (don’t try missing that one, or you will be sending your daughter huge bouquet’s for the rest of your life, good for us florists, bad for family relations) the events are countless!
Getting flowers where they need to be, and most importantly, on time, is now a very practical alternative to hurt feelings of those who hoped for some sort of attention from you.
Unforeseen events preventing us from arriving on time with a gift will occur, but we can take care of the foreseen events. For instance, something as “unforeseeable” as traffic is actually quite predictable if you live in a built up area. If you know that a lot will be going on at work next week, plan ahead. A bouquet bought ahead of time is much more thoughtful than explaining a late night at work…. if it is a late night at work.
When you are gone for a business trip, a bouquet arriving with your sweetheart’s name on it will bring such joyful confirmation of your thoughtfulness and keep the heat off of you if it’s not purely a business trip; you’ve managed to squeeze in a round of golf and a sauna.
Online flower shopping may seem daunting, as many people like to personally choose not just the type of flowers, but the exact that they will give. And it is true, with online shopping you will choose the bouquet having seen a picture of the flower that will arrive as opposed to the flower itself; here lies the difference between virtual and actual shopping, and let’s face it not all of us me like actual shopping (except for Kip, he said so in the comments of another post). With virtual shopping, you must buy from a worthy florist with a reputation for their online deliveries.
A reputable Essex florist will provide top-notch bouquets even without you seeing the actual flowers. Once you have chosen your florist and bouquet, you can be assured that a fresh and beautiful bouquet will arrive on time. Depending on the flowers and the season, you may be ordering a bouquet, elements of which are coming from the Caribbean, others from South Africa a truly international delight.
As flowers are fragile, utmost care is taken in each step of their delivery, their combination into the bouquet you want, and the last stretch of the journey to the person you love. Customers who buy flowers via the phone are very satisfied, in the majority, as exactly what they want arrives when they want it to. Unlike them who may be somewhat dishevelled after their business / golf trip and in need of a good nights sleep.
The occasions to send flowers are not rare and far between. So many occasions are wondrous events in people’s lives, and if you cannot be there to share joy, nothing says you care as much as a smiling bouquet from you. Great suggestions for events that you may not personally attend can be friends’ or family’s births and baptisms, awards won, diplomas earned, engagements or marriage (brides are known to be under stress the last few weeks before the wedding a handsome bouquet from a caring friend who is sorry to miss the wedding is a beautiful gesture and will be therapeutic for the bride!).
Sad occasions also call for flowers, especially when we cannot be there ourselves to offer our support or sympathy. Remember those working late at the office flowers? If your caught with your pant’s down we’ll be selling your former spouse your funeral flowers 
When a friend is going through sickness, or a divorce, we need to offer all the moral support we can. When our presence is absent, flowers can do a lot to lift the mood of a person. Death is also a time when flowers are the best way to express grief and condolences. Illness and in health, flowers are the best companion to go, especially when you are not able to be present for the special event.
As it turns out, your physical inability to be present at an important occasion is no excuse for not sending your wishes. With online florists, you can send elegant flowers to represent you!
The flowers you buy and send via the internet are of impressive quality, at more competitive prices than are possible at actual flower shops, and will arrive at the address you send them to on time. There are countless holidays and occasions which beg to be complemented with flowers, and when we take the extra steps to send a beautiful bouquet, the receiver is glad and touched by the thoughtfulness of the sender, while the sender is glad at the amount of joy the brief minutes of online shopping have brought.
A few minutes of your time that creates memories that last almost a lifetime.
Jim
Jim and Mary Haran have a bespoke florists in Basildon, Essex and will happily help smooth over life’s difficult moments with a stunning bouquet from their flower shop. If you are in Benfleet call in for a cuppa.
“How do I know who is talking about my business or products?”…
August 24, 2011 By
…is one of the frequent questions I am asked when I am speaking about social media topics and tools at conferences.
In this post I am going to share with you a great tool for listening to your potential customers and customers; Social Mention.
Why should you listen?
You should listen out so that you know
- What is being said about your industry (useful for up to the minute blog posts)
- What potential customers are asking about your services
- What existing customers are recommending and why
- What your competition are saying
Sarah says it well over here - One mouth, two ears. Use them in proportion
What tools can you use for listening on social media?
Google Alerts are the obvious choice. Have you taken a look at Social Mention? Social Mention are the “Google alerts” for social sites, and the site updates in real time.
Let’s take a deeper look at Social Mention
Receive free daily email alerts of your brand, company, CEO, marketing campaign, or on a developing news story, a competitor, or the latest on a celebrity.
The first step is to set up an alert for your company name or search term.
Click to enlarge the image
Step two
Add your search details to the page and click create. You will be sent a confirmation email to confirm you wish to be sent the details via email.
Click to enlarge image
We can go now go back to the home page and select a search for our search phrase or keyword.
Click the image to enlarge
The great thing about this search is it’s in real time and you can select where you wish Social Mention to search. For example, you are blogging about Social Media, doing a blog search will list blogs that mention the term and you can select relevant sites to comment on.
If you search your company name or product you can thank the author for reviewing it and tweet out their posts. You can also find negative or neutral reviews and work on damage limitation.
With the questions aspect of search you can answer social questions relating to your industry enhancing your expertise and credibility – LinkedIn Questions is an excellent site for this.
Looking at the search results on Social Mention I can see at a glance what maybe possible tweets, blog topics or sites to comment on.
Click the image to enlarge
The next steps…
Set up a Social Mention alert for your company and your keywords / search terms and weekly search for blog posts to comment on (to build links and drive traffic back to your own blog) and to tweet out to your followers. By doing this you demonstrate that you are listening to your customers and potential customers.
Warren Cass
Visit Warren’s social media and marketing blog to share more, and hopefully we can entice him to post here more too.
Smurfs: Girls notice inequality
August 17, 2011 By
My daughters love the Smurfs.
Their elder sister is going to take them to see the Smurfs movie much to my relief and they are really excited about it. Except for one thing, they can’t both be Smurfette and they don’t want to pretend to be Papa Surf or any of the other Smurfs.
Image by thenoodleator via Flickr
Although only 5 and 6 they have noticed most of the Smurfs are men and they only have one girl Smurf; Smurfette. I have tried telling them that the world has changed since the Smurfs first came out, and yes there are more girls smurfs but you just don’t see them in the show.
“Well where are they then Daddy?” asks K…
“yeah dad, where are all the girls smurfs” says J…
“Scrubbing and cleaning out of sight” says mummy sarcastically.
How do we address gender inequality in kids TV shows? Because they notice when they are not represented equally.
Kevin
“the times they are a changing”
July 28, 2011 By
Greece is bankrupt.
Ireland is bankrupt
Italy is bankrupt but they’ve not officially announced it.
Spain everybody knows is basically broke too but the news us being buried and denied for fear of repercussions.
UK is seriously in ‘negative’ if you look at the figures of National Debt versus National Revenues America, God Bless America because she too is hiding scary figures that essentially indicate desperate negative cash flow and ability to sustain current lifestyles.
Image via Wikipedia
Bob Dylan wrote classic lyrics in the formative early 1960′s but how true those words ring true today – possibly more than we can ever ever imagine.
Take this one stage further – what if the times as in really globally Universe forces are a changing??
Ancient Mayan calendars predicted this short period of time as specific period in which we would see huge change as we go from, in their words, one period or era into another.
Ancient Christian or Biblical scripture talks about ‘the end of day’s
And maybe, just maybe they are correct.
But that it isn’t to mean a destructive cataclysmic event ‘Armageddon’ like but merely the end of one era or way of doing things and the start of another.
Maybe there is now a general awakening amongst millions of intelligent people that our current competition environment that sees ridiculous flouting of borrowing and greed whilst equally unbelievable poverty and oppression just isn’t best for our race or our planet.
Maybe inside of you – whilst you don’t really have an awareness of an alternative, you can see that something ain’t right and it needs to change.
The truth is often as humans we don’t change unless forced to. We resist change. We fear the ‘new’ because we’ve become comfortable and ‘safe’ in the old. Even when we know the old isn’t very good we stick to the ‘Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don’t’ principle.
And maybe God or the Universal intelligence also knows that … And just maybe the change we fear is being gently but surely forced upon us.
We know destroying forests is killing the planet.
We know that the imbalance between haves and have-not’s both internally and internationally isn’t really fair or moral.
We know that burning fossil fuels isn’t helping our planet and that there are several proven alternatives – but that the ones in control currently of the oil burning power and wealth are holding back technology until they can release them and maintain their grip on our monies.
We know that politicians start out with good intentions – but too often our governors become corrupt and the whole system of governance policing and business and banking smells terribly.
We know that we are taught to share as children – but shown in commercial, ‘greed driven’ society that you win and fight for your share of the pie and then hold on to it.
We know that we are taught not to lie or steal – and see blatant evidence in all power corridors of both and then also see that their money and connections buy them escape from justice.
We know all of these things and many more.
We know, we feel it is wrong and yet we bury our heads.
We watch as nations are exploited because we temporarily enjoy cheaper clothing or other ‘needs’ as a result. We watch, we know and by our in-action we are complicit.
And maybe that’s why on a deeper level we hide our voice
And thus maybe the Universe is taking charge.
Maybe the times are a-changing because as a global family, as a race we all know it needs to be changed but we’re not sure to what or how to impact it.
Maybe it’s all good
So I guess we sit back and enjoy the ride … but think about it.
If our banking and commercial structure crumbles power shifts
If power shifts responsibilities shift
If you become more responsible what would you do??
Think about that
Because if virtually all European countries go broke the interconnectedness of the world means a total restructuring of commerce and power – and that means you and I will have a whole new life to live.
Some of the things we cling to right now will be gone. We will have to adjust our values and expectations. We’ll have to go back to what we know deep inside. You will have to be responsible.
It’s good to share
It’s good to be kind
It’s good to help
It’s good to be truthful.
Change is good.
Just a thought!?
“the first ones now will one day be last, for the times they are a changing”
I wonder…was our old friend Mr Zimmerman right??
Have a thought filled day!
Always with love
Ben
Ben Kench is the leading light behind the business booster academy, hands on help for small businesses.
How I became a golf blogger or How to turn rejection into money
July 12, 2011 By
Let’s start with a bit of time travel. About 2 years ago my fledgling digital marketing agency was eagerly chasing every opportunity that moved. As a consequence we found ourselves bidding for three similar projects at the same time, for different companies in different parts of Europe. We lost all three bids.
When I followed up with our contacts, the feedback was the same. “You have great ideas, but you don’t have the experience of having done it before.”
Well, excuse me, at that time, you could count the number of brand related SM and UGC aggregation sites on the thumbs of one hand!
So, I got mad, and decided to build one such site to prove a point. And thus CelebrityTweeter.com was born. We killed the site after 6 months because as a proof point it had taken a life of its own that we could not sustain (perhaps the subject of another blog post? (yes please, Ed)). But what it did for us was to demonstrate that we could help our clients exploit social media very effectively and thus a new and profitable business stream was born.
Last year I decided to repeat the exercise (the proof point and not the rejections!) but the focus was on golf. Why? Because apart from my family I live to play, talk and watch golf. I loved it from the day my mate Andy and I ‘borrowed’ his dads clubs and hacked about the school playing field. And my first job was in a pro shop and I could have been a contender (who I am kidding, I was good but never good enough to make it on tour).
So, Digital-Golfer.com was born. The premise was to build a site that tracked all the pro golfers on tour who use Twitter. The site now tracks over 150 pro’s from the mens and ladies tours, provides updates from each weeks tournaments and even shares content from fans as they post tweets and pics from tour events.
But the CelebrityTweeter.com model wasn’t working. We get lots of traffic, but they don’t hang around. Of course, golf fans are different to celebrity watchers. So, how could we deliver this content in a more meaningful way and is it wanted?
Ah ha! Let’s create an App, something that brings this all together, wherever you are. That makes it easy to keep up with all the news from inside the ropes on the course. All from the comfort of your shiny Smartphone.
To test the idea I decided to use an App self-publishing tool rather than develop a native App. It has its limits, but it meant we created the App very quickly and we can easily revise and test the format every week. Its hit the mark with nearly 300 downloads just by promoting to our Twitter followers in the last month or so.
You can download the Digital-Golfer app for free from the WidgetBox marketplace. Just scan the QR code into your Smartphone and off you go.
Apart from the fact that I now have my own golf app, what’s the payoff? Well, we are now developing native apps for two clients (non-golf), we are talking to a golf course operator about some exciting new ideas, and we are working on another golf app using augmented reality.
So, an initial rejection can turn into something quite extraordinary. As we celebrate our 3rd birthday as a digital marketing agency I’m more excited than ever as we now explore this niche market, and it helps that it’s one that I love.
David
About the author
David Long is the co-founder of mktgDIGITAL, a digital marketing agency, with offices in Farnborough and Paris, that focuses on channel marketing systems and services for the technology sector.
Too busy for business networking? Here’s how you can fit it in
July 6, 2011 By
A guest post from Richard White. Richard is the author of ‘The Accidental Salesman – Networking Survival Guide’. In this post he shares 5 ways to find time for business networking, even when you are incredibly busy. You get a free download the first 3 chapters of Richard’s book here.
People who use business networking to find clients often go through the feast and famine cycle. They are short of work so they do lots of networking. After a while they start to get business coming through and eventually they get very busy. They are in feast mode. Work is flowing in and it seems like it will go on for ever. In fact they are so busy they cut right back on the networking activity that helped them get there. Eventually, when the work starts to dry up but they do not do anything until they are back to famine mode and the cycle starts one more time.
It is better to invest time in business networking when you do not need any help so that you are able to get the help when you do need it – like when you are looking for your next big project. But how do you find the time? Here are 5 ways to network when time is severely limited.
Network at meal times
Even busy people need to eat. Networking and food go together really well. That means there are three opportunities every day to meet up with your contacts and share some time. If you are away from home then ask you existing contacts to introduce you to people they know close to where you are staying. Networking over food may be more expensive than just meeting for coffee but the extra cost can be justified by the time you are saving. If you agree to split the bill then you can keep costs to a minimum.
Join a networking group
Most networking groups meet at meal times so instead of just meeting with one person you can meet with lots of people. It’s not about meeting new people. It’s about nurturing relationships with many people at the same time. Try and get people in your network to join too. Meeting a group of 30 contacts on a regular basis will save a lot of time and cost compared with individual meetings.
Organise your own networking meetings
If you do not have the time to attend business networking events then why not organise your own meetings a local restaurant at a time and regularity to suit you. Not as a money making scheme but as a time saving device. Get a virtual assistant (VA) to do most of the work. If you are busy earning good money then paying a VA to do the running around is a great investment.
Use online networking sites
Online sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Ecademy are extremely effective time saving devices for building your network and staying in touch with your existing network. There are more online social networks being created all the time.
Most of the new networking sites seem to be focused on specific areas of common interest. I find that most people I know either use Facebook and/or LinkedIn in addition to the specialist online social networks. The specialist networks like Ecademy are good for making new connections but I normally end up keeping in touch with them on LinkedIn or Facebook once I get to know them.
Use Skype
Whilst it’s great to meet up with people face-to-face we can always catch up with people via telephone or Skype. It’s a lot better than just email or exchanging messages on Facebook and Linkedin. These days you can use video on Skype although I must admit I normally prefer to use the voice only option.
If you are in feast mode then why not start making more time for networking. If you are in famine mode and busy finding more business then why not do the above anyway so that you will be able to continue when you start to get busy.
Shifting dead vans
July 4, 2011 By
My wife gave me an ultimatum last year and she had that look that said “defy me at your peril”. She said no more dead vans.
As a same day courier business we use a lot of vehicles, so when one comes to the end of it’s natural life it only seems proper to keep it for spares. When we got back together (nearly a decade ago) she (my immortal beloved) said that she didn’t want to live in a house that was filled with motorbike spares. So I sold the motorbike.
Then she reminded me that she did not live in Dagenham (yes, she’s a snob as well) and didn’t want any dead, defunct vans knocking around on her driveway either. Well for the best part of 6 years I ignored her and I had a few spare Transits laying around. For me having a house with grounds meant I could preserve all the dead vehicles for spares.
Well last year she had one of those tantrums that smiling sweetly and promising Haagen Daz won’t get me out of. The vans had to go.
Image by aldisley via Flickr
What do you do with a vehicle that no longer works?
Scrap ‘em or Ebay ‘em seemed to be the only answer.
I know in recent years that the scrap value has gone up greatly. So I rang around a few scrappies and got some prices in. They were not that impressive so I thought some more about the Ebay option. Having bought some vans off of ebay in the past I find the honesty of people selling there refreshing.
So I started to list the vehicles suggesting they were for spares or repair. Like a vet can revive a bloody steak I believe a great mechanic can revive what seems like a dead van… and they do.
I sold the driveway vans and they went to new homes. Both revived the vans and now they are working for someone else.
Just last week my very last driveway van went. It wasn’t a non runner – I have learned my lesson, I don’t use them as spares as much as I would like. I have the habit of buying new parts, so I sold it before it died on the driveway. 4 blokes travelled down from Leeds to collect the van and they were thrilled with it. Even the sky blue colour. Getting chatting to them I found out they made a great living at buying and selling vans on ebay. They had their finger on the vehicle market’s pulse and they work out how much they can break a van for to sell over repairing it. What started as a hobby now keeps the 4 of them employed.
These guys are real ebay entrepreneurs, they are creating business, jobs and having great fun while they do it. They even offered me another van. I would have taken them up on the offer but Red was standing in the doorway with that look in her eye again. No new vans this week then.
Kev
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