Posted by admin on January 25, 2011 under Business | 
Although many small businesses begin with only one or two members of staff – the founders – most growing businesses quickly recognise the need to create a larger team. Not only can this spread the workload but a well-selected team can bring in more energy, creativity, drive and knowledge than the founder alone might possess. A small, closely-knit, highly motivated team can be an unstoppable driving force.
The authors of The Beermat Entrepreneur call the members of this core team ‘cornerstones’. They suggest that the ideal mix is one entrepreneur providing strong leadership, surrounded by four ‘cornerstones’ – one for sale, one for finance, one for product development and one for project delivery and customer service. In real terms, most small businesses cannot afford such a big team, and don’t really need it to begin with. However, even bringing one other person in to the business can make a huge difference to its success during the first year or so.
In many cases, the original team will be composed of the founder, or founders, and one or two relatives or friends who have been roped in along the way. This works well if everyone is committed to the success of the business and prepared to work hard. As we’ve seen the early days of a business are defined by long hours and a painfully demanding workload – there is no room for the half-hearted or unenthusiastic. Not only will they not pull their weight, but they will sap everyone else’s enthusiasm too.
I’ve heard it said ‘never work with friends or relatives’ and it’s true that in some cases this leads to disaster. However, a team who like each other – and have a friendship beyond the business – can also be extremely efficient and powerful.
Jude, Business adviser
Remember that just because you enjoy spending time with someone socially it doesn’t mean you will like working with them. Ask yourself what they would be like to work with. Are they hardworking? Enthusiastic? What do they have to offer your business? Try to find people whose skills compliment yours, who can bring something to the business that fills ‘gaps’. For instance, if you are fantastic on the finances but weak on marketing, you need to find someone who can bring something extra to the marketing side of the business.
A recent London Business School survey of CEOs found that they considered the major factor that had contributed to the success of their businesses was ’selecting the right people with good attitudes who are loyal to the company and who want to excel in their careers’.
Defining Roles
Whether you decide to go into business with others as equals or you employ them as part of your original team, it is very important to define roles carefully. Everyone needs to know what is expected of them and where the boundaries of their ‘area’ lie. In businesses with two or more equal partners a lack of clarity about roles can be a major source of conflict, taking up valuable time that might be better spent focused on other aspects of the business. If you have a management team, you need to give them space to fulfil their roles and feel that their contribution is valued. This doesn’t mean handing over control, final decisions will still rest with you (or if they don’t you need to be clear about exactly who is the boss – only one person should take this position or squabbling and infighting can result).
Consider the following key roles and divide them between your core team. You should all be clear on who is going to take each role.
Business leader – who takes the final decisions? In other words, the boss.
Sales person – who sells to your customers? Identifies customers and carries out your customer research?
Finance person – who manages the money and the associated administrative work?
Supply management – who locates suppliers, negotiates with them and maintains adequate supply levels.
Core business – who does the core tasks of your business, by which we mean the things that your business is actually about? This might mean making a product, providing a service or something else.
Marketing and PR person – who promotes your business to potential customers and raises the profile of your business?
Some of these roles overlap, so good communication is also of key importance to your business.
Importance of Role Clarification
People do either one of two things in a business – they either add value or they add cost. There are no grey areas.
One of the most important ways to ensure that your core team members are all adding value is to help them clarify their roles.
There are a number of different aspects to role clarification:
Prescribed role – This is what the business uses to set down the individual’s overall goals and objectives. It is usually called a ‘job description’ or something similar and it sets out the person’s responsibilities, authority, and key tasks, as well as their position in the business hierarchy.
While this is a useful starting point, it does not take account of personal differences and changes in circumstances such as growth of the business or the need to cover weak performances by others.
Personalised role – the prescribed role is only part of the picture. These are factors internal to the individual which will affect the way he or she performs in the role.
This includes their abilities, skills and strengths, as well as their expectations of the role, their assumptions (about the role, the business, the sector. etc.), their values and ambitions.
Perceived role – the perceptions and expectations of others in the business will have an impact on the individual. For example, they will have their own views on what the priorities of the role should be as well as the boundaries: ‘I don’t think Sales Managers should…’; ‘I expect you to…’ These can limit or restrict the way a person performs, but if expectations are high and positive they can raise the person’s game, enabling them to perform to their full potential within their current role.
From the Business Team at Learning Curve; offering a range of unique development programmes for small businesses.
Posted by admin on January 17, 2011 under Business |
Hyundai has been getting a lot of attention these days as a company that cares about its customers and part of this success can be credited to social media marketing. By integrating a customer relationship management (CRM) strategy with social media along with their traditional marketing, Hyundai has branded itself as an altruistic company that really does care about its’ customers. In fact – Hyundai has jumped ahead of every other car manufacturer in the critical customer satisfaction index (CSI) category. Here are a few examples how Hyundai is applying their social media marketing strategy in key parts of their business and how it is paying off.
Promotion
Hyundai’s Assurance Program began in early 2009 when the economy was at its worst and unemployment was rising rapidly. The Hyundai Assurance Program promised that if you got laid off from your job, you could return your car and not even have to worry about honoring the rest of the note payable. The promotion was innovative but coming from a major car corporation was it believable? The attention the campaign received from the press and from many blogs and websites was skeptical.
Hyundai began promoting the idea on Facebook and Twitter. They asked everyone to buzz and tweet about it and people responded with enthusiasm. The idea of social networking for business exposure is not new but the strategy was extraordinary because it laid the groundwork for the campaign and gave it credibility. It was a brilliant way to market a promotion that really did work. Sharing this information on Facebook and Twitter turned out to be a big plus for the car company’s marketing campaign.
Hyundai sales are up 6.2 percent through November 2009. This marks the eleventh consecutive month of year-over-year gains in retail market share by Hyundai. The Hyundai Assurance Program is without doubt one of the reasons their sales have increased this year while other car manufacturers have floundered.
Corporate Responsibility
Zafar Brooks, Director of Government Relations and Diversity Outreach at Hyundai, has a refreshing perspective on the value of social media when combined with corporate outreach programs. The Hyundai “Hope on Wheels” program fights pediatric cancer by funding cancer research programs across the country. Brooks understands the importance of authenticity and relevance in social media outreach, particularly on behalf of corporate charitable programs.
He said: “Consumers are more sophisticated now — corporate social responsibility programs are no longer something that is ‘nice’ to do, but it’s expected of the company,” noted Brooks. “Simultaneously, consumers will smell-out what is not authentic — Hope on Wheels isn’t advertised, but is part of the news we share with our brand loyalists,” he said. “It is a part of our story because it is a part of who we are and what we are about. Social media should be authentic and organic.”
Mr. Brooks added, “Brand leaders must align themselves with a cause that is consistent with corporate values so they can illustrate their relevancy. Leadership has to establish the priorities around which we stand and make it part of our messaging point.”
Brooks concluded: “All social media should link together with a common objective to develop a program based on who we want to talk to about what we want to accomplish. Social media outreach must be part of a cohesive approach. Consumers will smell-out what is not authentic!”
Aftermarket
Hyundai Aftermarket recently announced the launch of a new social media campaign. The goal was to give Hyundai owners a new way of finding content on the internet about modifying their vehicles. The interactive social media campaign involves additional features being built into the Hyundai forum that owners can use effectively to get the word out about what they are doing to make their cars stand out from the rest. Twitter accounts and Facebook “Fan Pages” have been built so that owners can follow live updated news feeds about Hyundai Aftermarket as well.
“Finding important and relevant information is not easy when you are unfamiliar with how to perform certain modifications,” said a Hyundai spokesperson. “Having a forum and website where answers to important questions are laid out for you, would help with modifying your Hyundai to its highest potential.”
While the site has been branded as the “web’s most premier Hyundai forum” and currently is the oldest Hyundai forum on the internet, it has been designed for both the amateur and professional car enthusiast in mind. The site is built on the principle of being very easy going and helpful to anyone who may or may not know a lot about Hyundai’s. Users register for free and can partake in discussions about Hyundai Accents, Tiburons, Elantra’s, Sonata’s, Santa Fe’s and the all new Hyundai Genesis.
In addition to providing great technical content, hyundaiaftermarket provides great off topic discussions ranging in everything from technology to music & movies to even food and health/nutrition.
Posted by admin on December 22, 2010 under Business |
Blogging is a fairly new social media platform that is fast becoming a popular form of marketing for many businesses. As a professional blogger myself, I believe that every business should participate in blogging. Just like every business should be following what people are saying about them via social networks and social media, every business should be blogging as well.
Many business owners believe that having a company blog or participating in social networking is a waste of time and provides no return on investment. Tell that to Dell, the computer company that attributed $3 million in sales due to Twitter.
So, why should your company have a blog? Here are a couple reasons:
You have more of a chance of being discovered in a search engine like Google. Unlike regular websites, blogs are on the search engines’ radars because blogs are updated more often. Search engines love fresh, relevant content.
Blogs enable your company to interact with your customers, plus you can build a community of loyal customers who appreciate your services and what you have to say. By providing value via tips, news or articles on topics related to your business, you establish a relationship with your customers. They will remember you the next time they need your product or service.
A good example of a business that provides value via their blog is this San Diego Cosmetic Dentist…
Dr. Timothy Collins and Dr. David Landau are dentists who own a practice called Complete Dental Health located in San Diego, California. Besides owning a regular static website that contains a host of information about their business, they also own a blog that offers dental health tips and advice, plus news about the dentistry field.
Let’s say that someone in San Diego was searching for a dentist, but this web-savvy person wanted to find a dentist with a blog. He/she does a Google blogsearch for “San Diego dentist”. Guess what blog shows up in the top results? That’s right – the Complete Dental Health’s blog shows up near the top of the list. So the potential customer reads the Complete Dental Health blog and likes the information. This potential customer then decides to call Complete Dental Health to set up an appointment.
Although this is a very simplistic example of what happens when you blog for business, maybe it will banish any of those thoughts that blogging is just a “trend” and isn’t worth exploring as a way to attract new customers.
Posted by admin on December 14, 2010 under Online Business |
Twitter is all the rage now; I wish I had a nickel for every time a client mentioned it. Succeeding in it is another matter, though, and at first it can be hellishly confusing.
When I first started, and was following dozens of people, I felt like I was in a busy sports bar during the Super Bowl. I remember thinking: I don’t know these people. I don’t know what they’re talking about. I must be in the wrong place.
It helps to know the rules and a little about the culture before you jump in. It’s not rocket science but it does take a little study and work.
1) Plan: First, think about why you’re even on Twitter.
Know what you want out of Twitter. Are you there for networking, building a brand, driving traffic to your blog? Determining this early will help guide your strategy and improve your odds.
2) Package yourself: First you need to pick out a Twitter ID. Consider your name first (I use @markivey); alternatively, you could use another name with your company, role or skills (example: @mediaphyte). You want something that will build your brand and/or illustrate your expertise.
And don’t skimp on your profile; make it sound engaging, and choose some nice wallpaper—this part is all about personal packaging (you can also customize your own wallpaper, using your company’s logo if you want). Study other Twitter examples because you need to get it right.
3) Follow the right people: Twitter is about following and being followed (more on connecting/conversing later) You can use the basic Twitter search or, better, one of the tools I recently reviewed like Twellow in my blog (www.ioncorporation.com/blog, date: Feb 6). These search engines can make life much easier for you by identifying the right people to follow.
Start with the influencers and industry experts in your industry. Find people with common interests and/or just people you want to track because they’re interesting. Check out some of the really big names here. Look for interesting directories and specialized lists; for instance, here’s 10 journalists worth following. And don’t forget your colleagues–you may have people all over your company tweeting. As one example, here’s a partial list of employees tweeting at Cisco.
4) Learn the lingo: Before you jump in and start tweeting, get up to speed on the lingo and abbreviations. Some common terms*:
• “tweet”: is a message.
• @ ID : A message with the @ sign preceeding the Twitter ID is a reply message; so if you want to send me a message, start with @markivey. (Note that your entire network can view this message).
• DM ID: Putting a DM in front of someone’s ID is a private message (you can only send private messages to people who follow you).
• RT: a retweet. If you find a post particularly interesting, you can copy and paste it and retweet it, as long as you give credit (tools like Tweetdeck have a RT button). (this is one of Twitter’s most interesting features, and how some Tweets go viral).
5) Manage efficiently: The last task is to download a “client” to manage your tweets and traffic. Twitter.com is ok for starters but you’ll soon want to move on to a better platform. These include clients like Twhirl and TwitterFox, which have built in search features, URL shorteners (which you’ll need) and nice interfaces to view and respond to your Tweets. Twitterfox is a Firefox extension, while Twirl is a downloaded application.
My favorite, though, is Tweetdeck.
What I love about Tweetdeck is you can arrange the people you follow into separate, manageable categories. I currently have four categories: “social media” (people who follow social media); “individuals” (business contacts, other influencers in other areas); Favorites; and “all.”
But you can set up categories for almost anything–influencers in your industry; friends/family/close contacts, sports/hobbies; special lists, like journalists or even by twitterers in your geographical area. Just add a new “pane” for each group.
You can also set up search features in separate categories to hunt for certain keywords, like your company name, personal ID or an issue or event (ex: China or World Series) . I have searches set up for “Twitter tools” and “Twitter tips.” The default search is search.twitter.com and Twitscoop, which reports on hot trends and keywords in Twitter.
One warning: Tweetdeck is a memory hog. It can also be addictive. Plan to set aside designated times, say 20 min. 3 times a day, to check it or you may wind up sitting there watching it for hours.
One way to become more efficient is to integrate Twitter into Outlook with a tool like Outwit. You can update your Twitter status and follow your friends without having to open any other applications.
Outwit allows you to schedule your Tweets to be delivered every minute to an hour, and dump them into a separate folder. This way you can check them at your leisure. You can also easily categorize them by name and save them, something you can’t do with Tweetdeck. One downside: your email box can quickly get overloaded (as if you need more email).
Posted by admin on December 7, 2010 under Business |
In recent years, blogs and social media monitoring have become a fundamental part of the press office operation and many PR agencies’ bread and butter services.
As social networking has matured, companies need to engage proactively to ensure their brands are effectively supported.
Traditional media such as magazines, newspapers and TV channels have increasing numbers of journalist-written blogs as part of their online presence, meaning a top tier of blogs are seen as being just as influential in the media landscape as their e-zines and print media counterparts. There has also been an increase in the number of business-led social networks, business users of blogs and micro-blogging tools such as Twitter and Google-owned Jaiku, and multimedia social sites like Flickr.
However, a huge portion of the blogosphere and social media landscape is not professionally produced and individually these sites do not have huge audiences. Collectively though, these smaller outlets comprise as much as 99 per cent of the social media landscape and together form a powerful force that the PR industry is looking to harness. As the majority of blogs and social media sites contain personal content written in the first person, viral issues and stories can spread quickly. The sites connect people and when issues spread virally across social networks, they become big news for organizations that they affect. This is why tracking blog buzz across the whole of the web is critical for reporting on brand image, online coverage, and building a picture of customer perceptions.
An example of how effective a viral campaign can be, was when an online grass-roots campaign was formed on the social network Facebook. Protesting against an overdraft charge that the bank HSBC was imposing on recent graduate accounts, thousands of students joined forces online through a viral Facebook group which generated massive media attention, and forced a u-turn at HSBC. Within just a few weeks of the group launching, the bank scrapped the overdraft charges.
Over the last year, the fact that blogs impact a company’s brand image online has become more established. Marketing, PR and communications departments are increasingly exposed to the impact blogs have on a brand’s reputation, whether that’s negative coverage of a product or an online petition or a campaign across social networks. As this issue has gathered momentum, companies have realised that blogs and social media need to be actively managed not just monitored.
Some progressive brands are already doing this successfully. US retail bank Wells Fargo for example has a team dedicated to responding online to bloggers’ issues and complaints in order to increase positive sentiment around the brand online and reduce the amount of negativity that might emerge.
What caused the need to move from monitoring to engagement? Early adopters have led the charge. And the masses have followed. We are seeing social media’s evolution in the business ecosystem move from early adopter to mass market status and web tactics are rapidly becoming better understood tactically and strategically as part of the PR mix. The challenge is to turn the opportunity into action.
